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Samson’s Downfall - The Book of Judges · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me,
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  Speaker 1: I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith
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  Speaker 1: thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. Judges 16.6 Dear God,
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  Speaker 1: as the story of Samson rings in my ears, it
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  Speaker 1: helps me to learn the valuable lessons that lie within
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  Speaker 1: the words of Judges 16. Through Samson, I too realize
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  Speaker 1: that the strength of my abilities and the power of
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  Speaker 1: my moving on my behalf only come from my obedience
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  Speaker 1: to you and your word. I come against any thinking
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  Speaker 1: or behavior that would have me rely on my own understanding,
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  Speaker 1: causing me to believe that I can accomplish great things
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  Speaker 1: apart from you, Lord. I choose to walk in the truth,
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  Speaker 1: that I am simply God. because you are. As I
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  Speaker 1: continue on my journey to fulfillment and purpose, I will
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  Speaker 1: become self-correcting and aware of the moments I step off
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  Speaker 1: the path. Through your help, Holy Spirit, I declare that
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  Speaker 1: I live and stay in alignment. I will not sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: my anointing for the simple comforts and pleasures that can
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  Speaker 1: lead to my downfall. I am locked in and ready
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  Speaker 1: to finish the race of purpose before me. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for
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  Speaker 1: an incredible Bible story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Samson's Downfall In our last story, we saw Samson's strength
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  Speaker 2: and pettiness on display. He developed a rivalry with the
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  Speaker 2: Philistines over his wife, and out of anger and revenge,
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  Speaker 2: he burned their crops and slaughtered 1,000 of their men
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  Speaker 2: with the jawbone of a donkey. God used Samson's strength
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  Speaker 2: and foolishness as a weapon against the enemies of Israel.
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  Speaker 2: Now we see Samson's descent into his own sin. His
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  Speaker 2: foolishness abounds, and he finds himself captive to a witch
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  Speaker 2: in the armies of the Philistines, as inspired by the
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  Speaker 2: book of Judges.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
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  Speaker 3: saw how Samson used his strength both to exact his
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  Speaker 3: own revenge and as a tool in God's hand to
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  Speaker 3: push back the oppressive Philistines. His anger and quick temper
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  Speaker 3: left a trail of destruction and death across the region.
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  Speaker 3: But God used even Samson's failures to weaken Israel's enemy. Ultimately,
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  Speaker 3: Samson was filled with God's Spirit and righteously defended his
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  Speaker 3: fellow Israelites, leading to him being judged over the people
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  Speaker 3: for 20 years. But tragically, Samson's lust, disobedience, and foolishness resurface.
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  Speaker 3: And rather simply compromising with danger, he plunges headlong into sin.
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  Speaker 3: Entangled with an evil woman, his strength will be no
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  Speaker 3: match for her hold on his mind. It is a
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  Speaker 3: tragic tale of unchecked sin. But still, God will use
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  Speaker 3: Samson to ultimately win a victory over the Philistines. So
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  Speaker 3: listen to today's reading.
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  Speaker 2: It was dark, and the city of Gaza had fallen asleep.
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  Speaker 2: The only lights came from the dim candles illuminating the
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  Speaker 2: small room where Samson and the prostitute lay. Their shadows
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  Speaker 2: moved against the walls as they moved to one another's bodies.
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  Speaker 2: Throughout the night, Samson drowned out his sorrows and insecurities
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  Speaker 2: in the sheets of the prostitute woman. The Gazites had
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  Speaker 2: caught word that Samson was staying in the city. They
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  Speaker 2: surrounded the prostitute's home and set up an ambush at
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  Speaker 2: the gate of the city in case he escaped. They
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  Speaker 2: kept quiet, planning their attack for when dawn broke. They slept.
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  Speaker 2: not knowing that Samson escaped out the window at midnight. Stealthily,
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  Speaker 2: Samson moved through the alleys of the city towards the
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  Speaker 2: front entrance. Samson stood in front of the gate. The
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  Speaker 2: gate was looming over Samson. Four times his size and
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  Speaker 2: made of pure steel, the gate stood as a barrier
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  Speaker 2: between him and freedom. Samson gripped the steel beams of
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  Speaker 2: the gate and began pulling. Samson's arms were hard as stone,
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  Speaker 2: and his legs were planted firmly in the ground for support. Slowly,
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  Speaker 2: the steel began to rip off its hinges, and the
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  Speaker 2: gate lifted from its foundation. Samson rose the gate above
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  Speaker 2: his head and began to walk out of the city.
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  Speaker 2: With the strength of an elephant and the stealth of
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  Speaker 2: a cat, Samson stole Gaza's main form of protection and
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  Speaker 2: escaped into the mountains. Meanwhile, the Philistines were planning their
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  Speaker 2: attack against Samson. The lords of the Philistines plotted and
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  Speaker 2: schemed as to how they would topple the mighty man
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  Speaker 2: of God. Clearly no army, large or small, could come
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  Speaker 2: up against him, and they knew no other way to
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  Speaker 2: bring him to his knees. They did, however, know of
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  Speaker 2: one weakness Samson had, a weakness for beautiful women. They
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  Speaker 2: sent for a woman named Delilah and paid her 1,100
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  Speaker 2: pieces of silver to seduce him. She came to Samson
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  Speaker 2: with smooth lips and a sharp tongue. She stroked his
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  Speaker 2: hair and kissed his neck. Samson, in an instant, fell
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  Speaker 2: deeply in love with Delilah. Her seductive voice and clever
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  Speaker 2: words lured Samson into a daze of passion and vulnerability.
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  Speaker 2: She whispered in Samson's ear, Where does your strength truly lie?
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  Speaker 2: She leaned against him. Samson could smell her hair. She
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  Speaker 2: was intoxicating to him. How would anyone be able to
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  Speaker 2: capture you? Samson was enraptured by her, but still in
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  Speaker 2: his right mind to toy with her. Samson answered her
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  Speaker 2: and said, The secret is seven fresh bowstrings that have
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  Speaker 2: not been dried. Once they bind me, I become weak
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  Speaker 2: like any other man. So Delilah playfully bound Samson up
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  Speaker 2: while the Philistines lay in secret, waiting to ambush him.
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  Speaker 2: Then Delilah tested the strings and yelled, Quick, Samson! The
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  Speaker 2: Philistines are coming! And in an instant Samson broke through
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  Speaker 2: the strings ready for battle. So the secrets of Samson's
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  Speaker 2: strength was still a mystery. Delilah was upset with Samson,
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  Speaker 2: but Samson continued to toy with her. Three times she
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  Speaker 2: bound him, and three times he escaped, for he thought
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  Speaker 2: they were playing as lovers do. But Delilah only loved
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  Speaker 2: one thing, silver. and she would not receive it unless
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  Speaker 2: Samson was captured. Delilah wept in front of him, saying,
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  Speaker 2: How could you tell me you love me when your
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  Speaker 2: heart does not trust me? She cried, yelled, and pressed
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  Speaker 2: up against him and begged. Day after day she wore
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  Speaker 2: him down, and Samson became vexed beyond all reason. All
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  Speaker 2: of Samson's inhibitions melted like candle wax against Delilah's flame.
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  Speaker 2: So he told her the source of his strength. I
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  Speaker 2: am a Nazarite by birth. A razor has never shaved
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  Speaker 2: my head, and if it did, my strength would leave me.
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  Speaker 2: Delilah was satisfied. In the secrecy of night, she had
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  Speaker 2: Samson rest on her lap. She stroked his hair as
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  Speaker 2: Samson fell into a deep sleep. Delilah smiled as she
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  Speaker 2: looked at Samson, although she did not smile out of
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  Speaker 2: affection or love for him. No, she smiled because the
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  Speaker 2: Philistines were waiting just beyond the walls of her bedroom
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  Speaker 2: with her silver. She nodded towards the door and a
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  Speaker 2: man approached Samson with a blade in his hand. Together
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  Speaker 2: they shaved off seven locks of hair from his head.
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  Speaker 2: She tormented him, whispering lies and curses into his ears.
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  Speaker 2: Then with a loud shriek she yelled, Samson, the Philistines
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  Speaker 2: are here. The Philistines sprung onto Samson and tackled him
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  Speaker 2: off the bed, onto the floor. Samson struggled, waiting for
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  Speaker 2: a burst of strength to send the men flying through
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  Speaker 2: the wall, but he had no strength. You see, Samson's
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  Speaker 2: strength was not in his hair, but in the favor
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  Speaker 2: of God. Samson had spent most of his adult life
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  Speaker 2: straying from God, and he had now broken his last vow.
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  Speaker 2: The Philistines bound him and pulled his head back. The
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  Speaker 2: Philistine lords looked down at Samson with cackles. Samson looked
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  Speaker 2: behind them as Delilah counted her silver. Tears streamed down
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  Speaker 2: his face as he pulled and kicked in futility. Samson
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  Speaker 2: looked at one of the men standing above him. He
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  Speaker 2: turned to the fireplace and pulled out an iron rod.
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  Speaker 2: Its tip was orange from the flames. He slowly approached
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  Speaker 2: Samson and drove the tip of the rod into his eyes.
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  Speaker 2: Samson wailed in pain, and his screams woke up the
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  Speaker 2: entire city. The men drug him out of the house
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  Speaker 2: and shackled him to the wall of the Philistine temple.
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  Speaker 2: Samson knelt in total darkness. Weakness was new to him,
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  Speaker 2: and he yelled in pain through the night. The lords
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  Speaker 2: of the Philistines gathered together at the temple to make
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  Speaker 2: sacrifices to their gods, Dagon. Together, 3,000 Philistines gathered to
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  Speaker 2: celebrate the capture of Samson. They drank, danced, and reveled
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  Speaker 2: in victory. The fire raged in the center of the
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  Speaker 2: large hall, and Samson could hear the snickering of Philistines
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  Speaker 2: passing by him. The Philistines called for Samson to be
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  Speaker 2: chained in the middle of the great hall to entertain
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  Speaker 2: the guests. Their hearts were merry and drunk. And they
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  Speaker 2: laughed at Samson and threw things at him as he
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  Speaker 2: was being brought to the center of the temple. They
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  Speaker 2: chained him between two pillars that held up the temple roof,
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  Speaker 2: and all three thousand men and women mocked him. The
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  Speaker 2: music grew louder, and they worshipped Dagon into the middle
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  Speaker 2: of the night. Samson was lost in his thoughts. He
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  Speaker 2: was supposed to be the deliverer of Israel, and here
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  Speaker 2: he stood blind and bound. It was not the Philistines
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  Speaker 2: that trapped him there, but his own pride and lack
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  Speaker 2: of obedience to God. Samson raised his head to heaven,
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  Speaker 2: unable to see. He took a deep breath. Oh, Lord,
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  Speaker 2: he shouted, remember me and strengthen me just this once.
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  Speaker 2: And then Samson began to pull on his chains that
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  Speaker 2: were attached to the two pillars. The Philistines noticed and laughed.
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  Speaker 2: Samson continued, and small cracks began to form around the
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  Speaker 2: foundation of the pillars. Samson screamed as he tore at
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  Speaker 2: the pillars. The Philistines' smiles began to fade, and Samson
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  Speaker 2: whispered to himself, Let me die with the Philistines. And
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  Speaker 2: in that moment he bowed with all his strength and
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  Speaker 2: pulled the pillars apart. The entire temple floor fell from
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  Speaker 2: the sky, and the walls toppled on top of all
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  Speaker 2: 3,000 Philistines below. Flames erupted from the center of the
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  Speaker 2: temple as stones crushed the backs of God's enemies. A
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  Speaker 2: cloud of smoke covered the wreckage. Dawn had broke, and
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  Speaker 2: the sunrise peaked above the hills. In the middle of
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  Speaker 2: the wreckage, among the bodies of the Philistines, lay Samson's
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  Speaker 2: dead body. In that moment, Samson accomplished more in death
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  Speaker 2: than he ever could during his life. The strongest hero
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  Speaker 2: Israel had ever known experienced more victory and sacrifice than
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  Speaker 2: he did selfishness. The story of courageous self-sacrifice would be
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  Speaker 2: perfected later on in another hero God sent. His sacrifice
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  Speaker 2: would topple the greatest enemy of them all.
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  Speaker 3: Our reading begins with Samson giving in to the cravings
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  Speaker 3: of his flesh. This Nazarite man, born with such promise
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  Speaker 3: and set apart for God, was anything but holy and
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  Speaker 3: separated as he wandered into Gaza. Samson made arrangements with
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  Speaker 3: a prostitute and took her to bed to satisfy his lust.
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  Speaker 3: His sin was not hidden either because word got out
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  Speaker 3: about the Hebrew strongman and hero in the Philistine city.
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  Speaker 3: It was the chance they'd been waiting for to defeat
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  Speaker 3: the one man that stood between them in total dominance
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  Speaker 3: over Israel. But Samson snuck out under the cover of night,
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  Speaker 3: taking with him the whole city gate, which he ripped
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  Speaker 3: from the ground. The Philistines' attempt to defeat Samson had
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  Speaker 3: been thwarted again. But it wouldn't take long before an
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  Speaker 3: even better opportunity arose for the Philistines. Samson became enamored
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  Speaker 3: with another Philistine woman named Delilah, and she was troubled
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  Speaker 3: with a capital T. Delilah captivated Samson, and the leaders
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  Speaker 3: of the Philistines saw their chance to pounce. They summoned
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  Speaker 3: Delilah and paid her to seduce Samson and get him
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  Speaker 3: to give up the secret to his strength. They knew
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  Speaker 3: that without his might, Samson was just another man, easily defeated.
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  Speaker 3: Delilah happily obliged, her eyes on a prize of silver,
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  Speaker 3: a payoff. So she asked him how he could be defeated.
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  Speaker 3: How could he be subdued? What is the source of
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  Speaker 3: his strength? Now Samson was not completely stupid. He wouldn't
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  Speaker 3: give up his secret easily, but he can still have
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  Speaker 3: some fun. And we see how clever Samson can be,
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  Speaker 3: and he no doubt knows it, pridefully thinking nobody can
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  Speaker 3: get the better of him. No wonder the Bible tells
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  Speaker 3: us that pride comes before a fall. Three times he
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  Speaker 3: gives her a wrong answer, and each time she tries
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  Speaker 3: and fails to subdue him. Finally, she tells him if
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  Speaker 3: he loves her, he will tell her his secret. Tragically,
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  Speaker 3: Samson reveals that his head must never be shaved. That
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  Speaker 3: very night, his head was shaved, and with the breaking
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  Speaker 3: of the Nazarite vows, God's favor departed along with his strength.
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  Speaker 3: For the first time ever, he was powerless, but not
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  Speaker 3: because of his hair, but because of his broken relationship
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  Speaker 3: with God. The Philistines bound Samson, mocked him, and gouged
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  Speaker 3: out his eyes. Blind and bound, Samson was imprisoned and
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  Speaker 3: made to turn at a millstone over and over. Here
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  Speaker 3: we see the blinding and the grinding power of sin.
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  Speaker 3: He could hear his captors worshiping their god, Dagon. Not
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  Speaker 3: only were they mocking Samson, but mocking the god who
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  Speaker 3: gave him his strength. Samson's physical blindness and bondage were
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  Speaker 3: a direct consequence of his spiritual blindness and bondage to
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  Speaker 3: sin that had put him in this terrible place. And
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  Speaker 3: as he turned the mill, Samson must have talked to
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  Speaker 3: God and seek forgiveness for his sin. His hair began
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  Speaker 3: to grow back. It became, again, an outward sign of
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  Speaker 3: an inner renewal of his faith in God. So when
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  Speaker 3: Samson is paraded into the center of the temple to
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  Speaker 3: be mocked, he asks to lean on the columns, and
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  Speaker 3: then he cries out to God in Judges 16, 28,
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  Speaker 3: O Lord God, please remember me, and please strengthen me
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  Speaker 3: only this once, O God, that I may be avenged
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  Speaker 3: on the Philistines for my two eyes. He prays for
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  Speaker 3: one more opportunity to glorify God. God filled Samson once
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  Speaker 3: more with superhuman strength and he pulled down the pillars,
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  Speaker 3: destroying the pagan temple and killing 3,000 Philistines. Samson sacrificed
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  Speaker 3: his own life to defeat the enemy. It is a
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  Speaker 3: powerful story of renewed faith and repentance. And no matter
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  Speaker 3: how far we may have fallen, God will pick us
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  Speaker 3: up if we trust in him and once again find
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  Speaker 3: our strength to go forward. Dear Lord, we thank you
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  Speaker 3: for your forgiveness. We know, like Samson, we have failed
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  Speaker 3: you many times. But we also know that when we
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  Speaker 3: trust in you and revive our hearts in you through
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  Speaker 3: repentance and faith, we can be restored. God, restore our
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  Speaker 3: hearts in you, and may we repent of every sin
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  Speaker 3: that we may stand strongly for you. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com
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  Speaker 3: That's JackGraham.org. God bless you.