Judges Chapters 16-18

16:1 - If he is going to Gaza to look for prostitutes, he had to go on a long journey out of his way. This was no accidental sin - this was premeditated (And stupid walking into enemy territory).

16:3 - It is really cool that Samson has the strength to rip a gate off it hinges and carry it up a mountain, but it serves absolutely no purpose. He could have just destroyed the gate and left. His actions serve only to honor himself and show that his arrogance is a monumental as his strength.

16:5 - This is pretty interesting...Samson must not have been a huge guy physically. The Philistines are convinced that there has to be some magical secret to his immense strength. If he had been huge, they would have assumed it was the size of his muscles, but he was probably just an average sized guy who could rip city gates off their posts! I've never thought of it like that. Just goes to bring God more honor.

16:15ff - He gives in to lust AGAIN and pours his heart out to a pagan woman who has been tying to get him captured! He cannot see how destructive these woman are and continues to turn to them for love. It is also really sad that he admits to her that he is under a Nazerite vow, because that means he has always known about the vow. That means he has been breaking the vow on purpose!

16:20 - This is another sad verse...Samson is totally unaware that God has left him and he goes out to fight, only to be captured. He is so uninvested in his relationship with God, that he cannot even tell when God leaves.

16:28 - A sad end to the life of a terrible judge. Even in the end, he asks God for power only to pout out revenge for himself. He cares nothing about God, or God's people, or justice...he wants only to kill these people because of what they have done to him. He is still as selfish as ever, yet God chooses to use Samson with all his flaws to destroy Dagon utterly. All the leaders of Philistia are destroyed in the temple of their god by a blind, bald guy...if that doesn't show the power of Yahweh, I don't know what does!

17:4ff - Ironically, Micah means, "Who is like Yahweh?" It's ironic because Micah is nothing like Yahweh. He steal from his mom, makes idols and creates his own religion. Who is like Yahweh? Definitely not Micah!

17:13 - From the idols to the Levite priest, Micah sees everything as religion that he can control for his own purposes. He thinks he can manipulate things to get what he wants, like magic. This is how the majority of God's people operate at this point in the history of Israel.

18:27ff - The men of Dan steal the idols and the priest from Micah because they believe it will bring them power in battle, and because they believe just like Micah did that they can control God through those things. Then they head out and destroy a helpless group of people who are trying only to keep to themselves. None of this is sanctioned by God, in fact, it is in the book of judges to paint a picture of the degradation of God's people! Verse 28 implies that the people of Laish need a deliverer from the Israelites...meaning that the Israelites are the evil people in this scenario. This book just gets more and more depressing as the weeks roll on.