WOMEN IN SAMSON’S LIFE –  Part 2

Learn: Lamentations 3:22, 23

It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Read: Judges 15:1-20

1.What did we read in Judges 14:20, that Samson had not been told? Judges 15:1a

2. How did Samson plan to please the wife that he had abandoned in anger following her betrayal of him?  v 1b

3. What did the father of Samson’s bride tell him?  vv 1c, 2

4. What can we learn from this incident in Samson’s life about making a marriage with the ungodly?

5. How did Samson answer, not only the woman and her father for their treachery, but the Philistines as a people?  vv 3-5

6. As we look at the behavior of Samson, we are dismayed by what he does. His parents must have been heartbroken. Samson was called by God to be a Nazareite, wholly dedicated to the LORD. He certainly didn’t live up to his vows. What must we keep in mind throughout this account?  Judges 14:4

7. Of course, the Philistines were not just going to ignore the actions of Samson. Who did they blame for the loss of their crops?  Judges 15:6

8. How did Samson avenge the death of the woman that he had chosen for his wife? vv 7, 8

9. What did the Philistines do in order to gain advantage over Samson? vv 9, 10

10. All that Samson had done had begun with his desire to marry an ungodly woman. Now the whole tribe of Judah was in trouble with their enemies, the Philistines. How did the men of Judah deal with the situation that they found themselves in?  vv 11-13

11. The men of Judah, one of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel, were God’s chosen people. Samson had been called by God to be a judge over Israel, that is, a defender and spiritual guide. Explain why the action taken on the part of the men of Judah in order to appease the enemy, was not correct?

Genesis 17:7, 8   They forgot that the _________________that God had made with Abraham their father, who was the beginning of the nation of ______________, was an _________________ covenant.

Lamentations 3:22-25   They took their eyes off of God and forgot his continuous ______________toward them. They forgot God’s great____________________ and that he was ____________ to those who ___________him.

I Samuel 12:24   They did not _____________________how ___________   _______________ that God had done for them in the past.

Psalm 77:11, 12  They did not ___________________ on all God’s _____________ or ____________ to each other about what ___________ had ___________ for them.

Job 37:5  They did not believe that God could and would do things beyond their ___________________.

Psalm 50:15   So they did not call on the ____________ for _____________.

Proverbs 3:5, 6   Because of their unbelief, they did not ___________ in the ______________ with _______ of their ___________. But instead they _______________ in their own ____________ to solve their dilemma.

James 1:5   They did not _____________ God’s _______________ to solve their problem.

Matt 10:28    They ______________ the ______________ more than they ________________ God.

12. What are some words that summarize or explain how the men of Judah could have so callously given a man of their own people and he being a judge over them? Using what you have learned from the Scripture studied in question 11.

13. What practical lesson is to be learned for our own lives as to why we often make a wrong choice?

14. What measures can be taken by each of us to avoid falling into the trap that these men of Judah fell into?

15. In spite of the wrong action by the men of Judah and the danger that put Samson into, for the Philistines would surely have done great harm to Samson, how did the LORD preserve the life of his servant?  Judges 15:14-16

16. What danger did Samson find himself in after his great victory over the Philistines? v 18a

17. In this instance we see that Samson was trusting wholly in the LORD, what did he do? v 18b

18. What miracle did the LORD do to answer the cry of Samson?  v 19

19. How long was Samson judge over Israel? v 20

Read: Judges 16:1-3

1.What city that is much in the news is the focus of this account?

2. Locate the above city on your Bible map of the time of Canaan divided among the Twelve Tribes and also locate it on a map of today.

3. What kind of a woman did Samson go after in this philistine city?  v 1

4. Using Proverbs 5:3, Proverbs 7:10, 13, 16-18 describe this harlot woman that Samson went in unto.

5. Why was Samson attracted to a harlot instead of looking for a beautiful young Israelite woman to be his wife?  Proverbs 5:12,13;  Proverbs 7:7

6. How did what happened as Samson was with the harlot confirm Proverbs 7:21-23?

7. How did the LORD deliver Samson, even though he was doing that which was rebellion against the will of the LORD, and to further rebel, he was braking his vows as a Nazarite?  v 3

8. Knowing the character of God and that he is no respecter of persons, not matter what their place in his plan, will Samson be allowed to continue down this path of violating God’s will and mocking his name among the heathen?                         Explain. Hebrews 12:6, 7