Judges 13 - 21 Questions and Answers

Q. I haven't seen any fighting since Israel's 9th judge, Jephthah. When is the next time we hear of God giving Israel into the hands of an enemy?	A. Judges 13:1 = After Abdon. The Israelites turned their backs on God and, by God's hand, the Philistines made them pay tribute.
Q. Did Israel cry out to God for help?	A. Judges 13:1 = No. God gets credit for intervening without being summoned this time!
Q. How did God intervene?	A. Judges 13:2-5 = God visited a childless man from the tribe of Dan, who was living in Zorah. His barren wife would bear Samson, totally dedicated and born for service to God as a Nazirite.
Q. How would this couple raise Samson?	A. Judges 13:4 = 1). His mother would eat only "kosher" food and drink from beginning of pregnancy 2). No hair would be cut from Samson's head.
Q. What would Samson grow up to be?	A. Judges 13:5 = Israel's 12th and last judge.
Q. How did Samson's mother react to the Lord's presence?	A. Judges 13:6 = She described to her husband, Manoah, that the Lord was like one of God's angels, terrifying to look at.
Q. Were they excited about having a son?	A. Judges 13:8 = Manoah felt inadequate to raise such a special child. He prayed for the Lord to come back for more detailed instructions on how to raise him.
Q.Was Manoah's prayer answered?	A. Judges 13:9 = Yes. The Lord appeared to his wife first, repeating the instructions. Note: Does God prefer men over women? No way!
Q. Did Manoah get a chance to talk with the angel?	A. Judges 13:10 = Yes. His wife fetched him.
Q. What did the Lord say?	A. Judges 13:13 = To help his wife to eat right during the entire pregnancy.
Q. Did Manoah offer the Lord anything else?	A. Judges 13:15 = Yes. A meal.
Q. How do we know this angel was God with them?	A. Judges 13:16 = He wouldn't eat the goat, but suggested Manoah make a burnt offering.
Q. What did the Lord say to Manoah in response to asking his name?	A. Judges 13:18 = "You wouldn't understand if I told you." Note: A mystery!
Q. Did Manoah prepare the sacrifice?	A. Judges 13:19 = Yes.
Q. The Lord was there when the sacrifices were placed on a rock. How cool! Did anything significant happen?	A. Judges 13:19 = Yes! As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the Lord ascended in the fire!
Q. How did Manoah and his wife react?	A. Judges 13:20 = They fell with their faces to the ground! Manoah expected to die.
Q. Why?	A. Judges 13:22 = He realized he'd just seen God!
Q. What did Manoah's wife think?	A. Judges 13:23 = She trusted God and expected that God wanted them alive because of the miracles and the sacrifice was definitely accepted!
Q. Sacrifices were accepted by heavenly fire?	A. Judges 13:20 = Yes! Note 1: False religion doesn't require heavenly intervention or accountability, for that matter. God is not far off! Live your life like you know it! Note 2: Isn't Samson's parents' relationship awesome? They had great equilibrium and grew together in their faith. What a foundation for Samson! The Lord worked through this balance of power in their relationship. God will work through your family dynamics too!
Q. So Samson was born in Dan's territory?	A. Judges 13:25 = Yes. In the town of Mahaneh-dan.
Q. When is the next time we hear of Samson?	A. Judges 14:1 = When he's a young man. Remember, he was born a Nazirite.
Q. Was he doing great things?	A. Judges 14:2 = No. He fell in love with a descendant of Ham, a pagan, a Philistine, and demanded his parents' consent to give her to him in marriage.
Q. Did they protest?	A. Judges 14:3 = Yes. Manoah and his wife knew how special Samson was, especially because he was a Nazirite, that Samson shouldn't marry a pagan.
Q. Did Samson listen?	A. Judges 14:4 = No. The Lord was behind this unlikely match.
Q. Why?	A. Judges 14:4 = To create an opportunity to disrupt the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at the time. Note: Don't judge! You don't have all the details! If your kids are rebelling and you have done all you can to raise them to fear God, trust Him to use their sin and turn it into good. God may just be doing something big! Samson's "big" involved an entire nation of Philistines who were oppressing his people. All Samson could see was his lust. He was a young man. (Sound familiar?)
Q. Did Samson's parents do the marriage match?	A. Judges 14:5 = Yes. Note: Do you trust God enough to be involved with your kids when the outcome promises to be distressing? Pray, pray, pray for your prodigals and love them; be ready to catch them with embracing arms. That is God's way.
Q. So Samson was thinking of his bride to be all the way to Timnah. Did God intervene at all along the journey there?	A. Judges 14:5-6 = Yes. A young lion attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. Samson was filled with Holy Spirit power and he easily ripped the lion's jaws apart.
Q. Did Samson relate the incident to his parents, who hadn't witnessed this event?	A. Judges 14:6 = No.
Q. Did the miracle make Samson change his mind about marrying this woman?	A. Judges 14:7 = No. Note: Do your kids seem a bit dense? God has already gotten through!
Q. Did Samson think of the incident later?	A. Judges 14:8 = Yes. He went home, but upon returning again to Timnah for the wedding, he went looking for the carcass of the lion.
Q. What did he find?	A. Judges 14:8 = A swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. He scooped up the honey and shared it with his parents. They were still clueless! Note: Samson's parents were probably preoccupied with how they went wrong raising their special son. Christian parent, don't waste time fretting over those things you no longer can control or prevent. You only have 24 hours a day and God is working!
Q. Who organized the wedding for Samson and his fiancee?	A. Judges 14:10 = His father, Manoah.
Q. Why did Samson throw a party in Timnah?	A. Judges 14:10 = It was customary in Timnah to throw a party with all male guests (a bachelor's party?). Someone invited 30 young men. The celebration went on for seven days.
Q. What did Samson do at his party?	A. Judges 15:12-14 = He made a bet. Using his lion experience in a riddle, he said if these young guests couldn't solve the riddle, they'd have to give him 60 robes. If they did solve it, he'd give them 60 robes.
Q. Did they solve Samson's riddle?	A. Judges 14:14 = No. They probed his new wife for the answer, threatening to kill her father and her if she didn't get the answer from Samson.
Q. What did she do?	A. Judges 14:16 = She didn't tell Samson she'd been threatened, but begged him to tell her the answer. She nagged him for 7 days, which is when the bet would culminate.
Q. Did Samson tell his wife the answer to the riddle?	A. Judges 14:17 = Yes. Then she told the men.
Q. Did Samson figure out they cheated?	A. Judges 14:18 = Yes.
Q. Did Samson pay up with the 60 robes, as agreed upon?	A. Judges 14:19 = Yes. The Holy Spirit powerfully took control of him, he went down to Ashkelon, killed 30 men, took their belongings and gave their clothing to the men who answered the riddle.
Q. What happened to Samson's marriage?	A. Judges 14:19 = Samson was furious about what happened and left his wife and went home to live with his parents.
Q. What became of his wife?	A. Judges 14:20 = She married his best man!
Q. Did Samson know about this?	A. Judges 15:1 = No. He didn't intend on divorcing her, he was just mad and stayed away.
Q. When did Samson return to his wife?	A. Judges 15:1 = Later on, during the wheat harvest. He even brought her a goat as a present. But her father wouldn't let him in the house.
Q. Why not?	A. Judges 15:2 = Her father was the one who gave Samson's wife to his best man. He thought Samson hated her for ratting him out.
Q. What did Samson's father in law offer Samson in her place?	A. Judges 15:2 = Her more beautiful sister.
Q. Did Samson accept the offer?	A. Judges 15:3 = No. Instead, he would exact punishment on the Philistines for this betrayal.
Q. How did Samson do that?	A. Judges 15:4 = Samson caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together in pairs, fastened a torch to each pair, lit them up and let them loose in the fields of the Philistines.
Q. Was Samson's live contraption effective?	A. Judges 15:5 = Yes. As the foxes went mad through the fields, all the Philistines' crops went up in flames.
Q. What did the Philistines do to Samson as a result?	A. Judges 15:6 = Nothing. Once they heard that his father in law gave Samson's wife away to his best man, their anger burned against his father in law and they burned him and Samson's wife to death.
Q. Was Samson feeling satisfied then?	A. Judges 15:7 = No. He was furious. After all, they just murdered his wife and father in law.
Q. What did Samson do as a result?	A. Judges 15:7 = Samson vowed to take revenge on the Philistines, killing many with great fury.
Q. Where did Samson live after that?	A. Judges 15:8 = In a cave in the rock of Etam.
Q. Did the Philistines end up attacking Israel?	A. Judges 15:9 = Yes. They raided Lehi in Judah and set up camp, intending to capture Samson there.
Q. Didn't the Philistines already rule over Israel at that time?	A. Judges 15:11 = Yes.
Q. How did the Judahites react to this raid?	A. Judges 15:11 = The Judahites gathered 3,000 men and brought Samson back, bound with new ropes.
Q. How did the Judahites manage to tie up this powerful man?	A. Judges 15:13 = Samson Let them, so long as the Judahites didn't try to kill him themselves.
Q. What happened when Samson arrived, bound in Judah?	A. Judges 15:14 = The Philistines came shouting in triumph.
Q. Did they kill Samson?	A. Judges 15:14 = No. Samson, filled with the Holy Spirit, snapped his ropes, picked up a donkey jawbone lying on the ground and slew 1,000 Philistines.
Q. How did Samson see his powerful strength?	A. Judges 15:18 = As a vehicle by which God accomplished great victory through him. Note: Are you using your best gifts for God's purposes?
Q. How long did Samson judge Israel?	A. Judges 15:20 = Twenty years.
Q. Did Samson annihilate the Philistines?	A. Judges 15:20 = No. They still ruled over Israel.
Q. Did Samson seek an Israeli wife after this terrible experience with pagan ways?	A. Judges 16:1 = No. Samson visited Gaza, a Philistine city, and spent the night with a prostitute.
Q. Was Samson at peace with these Philistines then?	A. Judges 16:2 = No. They planned an ambush for the next morning.
Q. Did it work?	A. Judges 16:3 = No. Samson got up at midnight, took hold of the city gates with its 2 posts, ripping them from the ground.
Q. What did Samson do with the city gates?	A. Judges 16:3 = Samson carried them on his shoulders all the way to the hill across from Hebron.
Q. When did Samson hook up with Delilah?	A. Judges 16:4 = Some time after the gates episode.
Q. Was Delilah an Israelite?	A. Judges 16:4 = No. Delilah lived in Sorek.
Q. Was Delilah similar to Samson's first wife?	A. Judges 16:5 = Yes. When the Philistines told her to find out the secret to Samson's strength, she nagged him until he told her.
Q. Why did she concede to do such a thing?	A. Judges 16:5 = For money and lots of it. Note: Not something an Israeli wife would ever do.
Q. Did Samson figure out that Delilah would betray him?	A. Judges 16:7 = Yes, from the beginning. Samson gave Delilah false secrets for his strength.
Q. What did Samson want Delilah to believe falsely about his strength?	A. Judges 16:7 = On 3 occasions, Samson told Delilah: 1).That If he wee tied up with seven new bowstrings, 2). brand new ropes, or 3). if seven braids of his hair were woven into the fabrice of her loom and tightened with the loom shuttle, his strength would leave him.
Q. Did Samson finally break down and confess the source of his strength.	A.Judges 16:17 = Yes.
Q. What was the secret of Samson's strength?	A. Judges 16:20 = The Lord, who was always with him. But Samson's strength would leave him if his hair was cut. Note: Samson's telling someone he knew was betraying him the source of his strength is inconceivable to me. Samson's parents must have been worried sick for their son and the behavior displayed that was so unconventional to one of Israel's anointed. Yet God's foretold plan of rescuing Israel from the Philistines would, indeed, be carried out through Samson.
Q. What did the Philistines do to Samson?	A. Judges 16:21 = They gouged out his eyes and put him in prison, bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain.
Q. Who was the Philistine's god?	A. Judges 16:23 = Dagon.
Q. Did the Philistines celebrate, attributing their victory to this false deity, Dagon?	A. Judges 16:23-24 = Yes. They got drunk and praised Dagon. Then they brought Samson out to show him off.
Q. Who was at this celebration?	A. Judges 16:27 = All the Philistine leaders, plus 3,000 on the roof.
Q. When is the first time we hear Samson praying to God?	A. Judges 16:28 = Right here.
Q. How did Samson pray?	A. Judges 16:28 = That God would strengthen him one last time to pay the Philistines back for taking his eyes.
Q. How did Samson address the Lord?	A. Judges 16:28 = As "Sovereign Lord."
Q. Where was this celebration of the Philistines held?	A. Judges 16:29 = In Dagon's temple.
Q. Where was Samson displayed?	A. Judges 16:26 = Standing between 2 pillars, his hands resting on them.
Q. Did Samson get his strength back?	A. Judges 16:30 = Yes. Samson also asked God to take his life there.
Q. How many people died?	A. Judges 16:30 = More than the entire amount he killed the rest of his life up to now.
Q. Did Samson have any siblings?	A. Judges 16:31 = Yes.
Q. Was Samson's father, Manoah, still alive when he died?	A. Judges 16:31 = No. His brothers buried Samson next to his father.
Q. Waht can we learn from Samson, who died so young?	A. 1). The futility of marrying a non-believer, who has no fear of God, no knowledge that we are all going to face God one day, either in joy or in sorrow. 2). Samson's non-believing wives had no sense of right and wrong. A child who grows up with parents who instill the God of the universe in him every day is miles ahead of a child who never or rarely hears of God. Consequently, they come from radically different mindsets. Instead of the believer affecting for good the non-believer, the opposite happens. Look at Samson's life. Miracles were a part of him, yet when he was drawn to foreign, non-believing women, they were his downfall. They didn't know any better and we don't see Samson eager to share His God. 3). We are awkward around intimate non-believers! Share Christ at arms' length. Life is, after all, about taking folks withus. Do you want to know that the one you married is hell-bound and doesn't want God? 4). It's not "every man for himself." It's "every man for God."
Q. Was Israel continuing to slip, even with all their deliverances?	A. Judges 17 = Yes. Idols, household memorials and graven images were an everyday thing in Israel. It was almost like the pre-USA's wild west.
Q. How did Israel get like that?	A. Judges 17:6 = There was no king or priest or temple, neither was God's word known.
Q. Is there another Micah mentined inthe Old Testament other than the minor prophet Micah?	A. Judges 17:1 = Yes. From the tribe of Ephraim (Joseph's son).
Q. Were the Israelites particularly bad because they had fallen away from God's ways?	A. Judges 17:1-4 = Not particularly. Micah wanted to have a temple and priests, but he didn't understand that making images and icons were not tolerated in the Law of Moses. He didn't live in a time where the Law of Moses was read.
Q. Did people feel drawn to be religious anyway?	A. Judges 17:4 = Yes. It wasn't even looked at as foolish. It looked more like they were playing "house."
Q. Why would one come to that conclusion?	A. Judges 17:2 = Because of the way this story was related. Micah stole 1100 pieces of silver from his mother, he returned them to his mother, who had cursed the unknown thief, and now she blessed him. Then she dedicated 200 of the coins to the Lord and had a silversmith make them into an image and an idol. These things were placed in Micah's house.
Q. Micah didn't think this foolish and a waste of silver?	A. Judges 17:4 = No. Micah set up a shrine, made a sacred ephod and some household idols, made one of his sons act as priest. It all seemed right to this Israelite! Note: Sounds like the Israelites reverted to pre-Abraham days. Remember that Abraham's father worshiped idols before God revealed Himself to him. Maybe the Israelites' attitude was very similar in each case.
Q. Where were the Levites?	A. Judges 17:7 = Apparently, some moved outside of their territory. One Levite arrived from Bethlehem (in Judah) looking for a good place to live. He happened to stop at Micah's house as he was traveling through.
Q. How was this Levite treated?	A. Judges 17:10 = Micah was thrilled to have a real priest show up and he offered him a job. This Levite would replace his son as priest in his homemade tabernacle. Micah even ordained him.
Q. This book of Judges keeps repeating that Israel had no king. What does the writer imply when he says that?	A. Deuteronomy = According to Deuteronomy, the king new God's word as did the Levites. Neither were teaching the Israelites the Law of Moses during this time.
Q. Did the tribe of Dan ever drive out their enemies from their promised land?	A. Judges 18 = No.
Q. Did Dan try elsewhere to settle?	A. Judges 18:2 = Yes. They sent out five warriors from amongst their tribe to find a place to settle.
Q. What did Dan happen upon by surprise?	A. Judges 18:2-3 = Micah's Levitical priest.
Q. How did they find him out?	A. Judges 18:2 = They spent the night at Micah's house and noticed the priest's accent and asked him where he was from.
Q. Did they consult with this priest about the outcome of their search for a land of their own?	A. Judges 18:5 = Yes. The outcome was good.
Q. How many warriors did Dan bring?	A. Judges 18:16 = 600 warriors of Dan.
Q. Did Dan attempt to make this siege of the city a god-sanctioned one?	A. Judges 17:19 = Yes. As best as they could, without knowing the Law of Moses. They took Micah's idols and the priest went along with them and they slaughtered the peaceable people of Laish and renamed the town Dan. Note: It doesn't take a whole lot of faith to slaughter a defenseless people without an army.
Q. Did Dan set up a Tabernacle and priests in their new hometown?	A. Judges 18:30 = Yes. They even had Jonathan, son of Gershom, a descendant of Moses, reside as their priest.
Q. For how long did Jonathan and his sons reside as priests in Dan?	A. Judges 18:31 = Until the Exile.
Q. Did the absence of the Book of Moses in the land continue to cause obvious deviation from God's ways?	A. Judges 19 = Yes. Levites were instructed inthe Law to marry only Israelite women and to treat them as holy. In this chapter is the story of a Levite who had a concubine (an Israeli one and a big no-no according to the Law of Moses) who cheated on him. In a series of circumstances, she ended up dead at the hands of Benjamites. This was the first time Israel ever turned on itself.
Q. Did the other tribes ask God what to do?	A. Judges 19:18-19 = Yes. And God answered. A similar strategy was done against Benjamin as was done in the war against Ai in Joshua 8:5. Running away, being pursued, being ambushed outside of their town as the pursued turned and pursued Benjamin. Only this time, the strategy was used against their own people.
Q. Did the Israelites kill off the tribe of Benjamin?	A. Judges 21:6 = Not entirely. There were survivors, but almost the entire people of Israel vowed never to give Benjamin their daughters in marriage, when they gathered at Mizpah, just before going to war with Benjamin. Note: I guess we see one reason why God said not to make vows at all.
Q. What would happen to the tribe of Benjamin?	A. Judges 21:9 = Israel made a plan so that they wouldn't become extinct. Here's how: 1). They kidnapped young virgins from Shiloh, with apologies to their parents, and made them Benjamin's new wives. 2). They investigated to find out if any clans did not seek to make revenge on the concubine and one clan, Jabesh-Gilead, did not. They sent 12,000 soldiers to wipe out the clan, except for the virgins. 400 virgins were given to Benjamin from Jabesh-Gilead. Note: This act is godless. Israel continued to murder fellow Israelites because it seemed right to them.
Q. What disclaimer keeps popping up in the Book of Judges?	A. "In those days, Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." It is the last verse in Judges and also appears in Judges 17:6. This lawlessness is blatant from the time Samson died, at which time Micah's idols came to be to the final event of Judges where Israel provided wives for Benjamin.
Q. What lessons can we draw here from the Isaelites of Phinehas' time?	A. 1). If we have a plan and a goal set, we can accomplish great things (ch. 20). When these Israelites set out against Benjamin, they didn't experience success until they finally, strategically moved forward. 2). Women living with men outside of marrige are not treated well. For whatever reason, they refuse marriage and end up non-committed to men they chare children with. The marriage contact is a statement of purpose, commitment and accountability to one another and under God equally. 3). Without the word of God repeated in your life, you are going to forget what God is all about. It is not hard to get lost in your spiritual life. Miracles or no, God's Word gives us a united focus. For some reason, Phinehas, who was charged with reading this Word to the Israelites at certain times of the year, either did not or else the Israelites would only hear it from their king. Either way, Israel did whatever they wanted and it was outside of God's will. Everything they did seemed right to them. Don't be deceived! Let God instruct you in your own copy of His Word. We don't do the rituals of the Old Testament, but there is so much more to learn from our Maker. How do we behave? How do we forgive? How do we get over ourselves and live lives of humility and mercy? Find out; open your bible and begin really living today. 4). Authors throughout the ages get lots of ideas for stories from God's Word. See if you can see familiar story plots and outlines, or just scenes in Judges. 5). Benjamin was prophesied by his own father, Jacob/Israel, in Gen. 49:27 to be a wolf that prowls, devouring his enemies in the morning and in the evening, dividing the plunder. Judges fulfills this prophecy. But even Benjamin produced a remnant. Ehud served as Israel's second judge.
Q. Were the judges appointed by God from different tribes?	A. Judges = Yes. There was a remnant of true believers in Israel and they weren't just in one tribe. Below is a list of the Judges and their tribes: #1. Othniel, who came from Judah #2. Ehud, who came from Benjamin #3. Shamgar, son of Anath, but we don't know where he came from #4. Deborah, who came from Ephraim #5. Gideon, who came from Manasseh #6. Tolah, who came from Issachar #7. Jair, who came from Gilead and west Manasseh #8. Jephthah, who came from west Manasseh #9. Ibzan, who came from Zebulun #10. Elon, who came from Zebulun #11. Abdon, who came from Ephraim #12. Samson, who came from Dan Judah maintained the priesthood ahd their righteousness. Judges were raised up from Judah and six other tribes. God's remnant was, indeed, throughout Israel. From seven tribes. Seven is always the number of completion for God.

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