A. What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger
than a lion?
In the first article on Samson's Riddle
we found the following conclusions: [see Samson's
Riddle by Bill Somers]
a. Samson is a type of the Lord Jesus
b. Samson's wife is a type of the
Church
c. Samson's father is a type of God
the Father
d. The Philistines are a type of the
world
e. The honey is a type of the Word
Of God Revealed In Depth, or Revelation Knowledge
f. The answer to the riddle is Jesus
Christ
g. The act of giving the answer is
a type of The Revelation of Jesus Christ!
This is the Word Of God Revealed
In Depth
h. The act of Samson's wife telling
her people the answer is a type of the Church revealing Jesus to the World.
That is preaching the gospel to all the world and completing the great
commission.
i. One of the main lessons is that
the Church cannot effectively reveal Jesus to the World till she receives
that revelation in depth herself! That is till Jesus reveals Himself to
the Church. Then the world will see Jesus in the Church.
Now let's draw some conclusions from this allegory:
Looking at point G above, we understand that this speaks of Revival. That is Jesus coming to the Church and revealing Himself in awesome holiness and irresistible power is what we really mean by revival. Not lots of people getting converted. That comes next. Point H speaks of the harvest or ingathering that must follow revival.
Now the text tells us that this took place on the 7th day. Prophetically this means the 7th 1000 year period, in other words, the Millenium. Thus the revival and harvest will take place not before the Millenium but on and at the very beginning of the Millenium!
Now what else does the text tell us will happen at that time? What is the 'Rest of the Story'?
We just said that the revival and harvest take place at the beginning of the 7th millenium, not at the end of the 6th. Are there other elements here in Judges 14 and 15 that speak of other end time events?
If we look carefully, with spiritual eyes, there are several. I'm going to share what the Holy Spirit has allowed me to see so far. This includes:
the outpouring of the spirit;
further judgment on the world's economy;
the final persecution of the Church;
the redemption of the Jews;
the final battle and return of the Lord.
In part one to explain the meaning of the sweetness in the riddle, we said:
The honey, the sweetness is the word of God.
And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: …. Rev 10:10
For Jonathan, eating the honey brought him under a sentence of death! There was a price to pay.
Now let's look a some specifics:
17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.
20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. Judges 14:16-20
Verse 18 shows the reason for the Lord's anger against the enemies of the Church who have "plowed with his heifer". So, in verse 19, following this redemption, during this time of harvest, the Lord executes further judgments on those who have come against His Church. "The gates of hell shall not prevail." Verse 19 ends with the phrase 'he went up to his father's house'. This clearly speaks of the Lord's Visitation to the Church. But what about verse 20? In Young's translation it reads:
1 But it came to pass within a while
after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with
a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father
would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I verily
thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy
companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray
thee, instead of her.
3 And Samson said concerning them,
Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a
displeasure.
4 And Samson went and caught three
hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a
firebrand in the midst between two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands
on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and
burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards
and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who
hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite,
because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the
Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson said unto them, Though
ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will
cease.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh
with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock
Etam. Judges 15:1-8
The cycle is partly restated here in Chapter 15. Verse 1 speaks of the Lord desiring to Visit his wife, his bride, the Church at wheat harvest. This is the time of Pentecost! Also in this verse the father causes a delay in the visitation. In verse two he says " I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her." This speaks of the judgment the Lord must bring against his Church first. [Judgment must needs begin at the house of God.] These judgments will be so severe that it will appear that the Lord had abandoned his Church but it will not be so. For the redemption comes quickly after. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8
This is the Church interceding under judgment.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
The Foxes
Samson went and caught 300 foxes.
What do foxes stand for? First they are among the 'beasts of the earth'
and Jesus and the second Adam is obeying God's commandment to Adam in Genesis
1:28, to subdue the beasts of the earth or earthly demonic powers. [See
'which of You Convicts Me of Sin?' By Bill
Somers]
Secondly foxes speak specifically of demonic forces that come against the Church.
In Nehemiah, where the people are building the walls of Jerusalem, we see their enemies ridiculing them and their walls as weak enough for a fox to destroy. So a fox is a beast of the earth whose assignment is to attack the holy city, the Church.
It is this perfection of the Church that results from the redemption. It is made possible by the subduing of the foxes. When the foxes holes are closed off, and the birds nests are eliminated, then the Son of Man will have that place to lay his head, a Church purified and holy, and dedicated only to serving him. A Church that is finally willing to die for Him.
Now back to Samson [verse 4,5], his use of the foxes was to destroy the Philistines crops. Their corn, their wine, their oil. Their entire economy was laid waste. From our end time perspective this speaks of world wide economic disaster, one of the judgments we expect during tribulation. So when the world falls apart, the Church will come together!
Now obviously [let's face it] verse 6 pictures the final persecution of the Church.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: …. . Revelation 13:7
In Joel there is a reference to the vine and the fig tree.
And so we see that verses 7 and 8 picture the Lords final revenge against those who have destroyed his vineyard [the Church].
The next section looks at the end time finale with a focus on the Jews, the Men of Judah.
This shows the Lord's final revenge against those who have barked his fig tree [Israel].
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. [See Joel 3:4]
12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. Judges 15:9-15
What this is saying is that there will come a time when the World [Philistines] will come against Israel [the men of Judah] to make war. They pitched and they spread themselves means they come ready to fight.