TRUCE by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  Today, we are celebrating communion during our worship service as well as having our churchwide Thanksgiving meal. This is a great time to understand the true significance of why we do both these meals. Eating together has many benefits beyond just nutrition. Eating together can help resolve conflicts. Eating together can help build friendships. Eating together can help create lasting bonds. In ancient times, when you ate in the home or tent of another, you were now in a trusting relationship with them. In other words, for you to eat at the dining table of someone and then turn against that person would be unthinkable. Among the Slavic people and people of the east, there is the tradition of the bread and salt to symbolize peace. Today we come to another episode in Samson’s life that is often misunderstood. It’ll make sense as we get into our message today titled “TRUCE.” Main Point: As we take part in the Communion, remember that it symbolizes peace between us and God through Jesus Christ and peace between us in this church family.

Judges 16 (page 396 Pew Bible) 1 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. 2 When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.” 3 And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Context: As I was reading this passage, I’m sure many of you were saying in your minds – “Dr. Shah/Pastor Shah – we’ve been loving how you have helped us see how the judges were the good guys. It’s been eye-opening and even life-changing for us, but how are you going to defend this? There’s no way that you can say that Samson going to a prostitute is good…” Once again, don’t forget that the Scriptures never condemn Samson for that. In fact, it repeatedly says that he was moved mightily by the Holy Spirit. The Book of Hebrews holds him up as a model of faith. When we apply the filters of Christ and the Christian life to Samson, we see that he was a type of Christ. We will find that in this story as well. With that said, let’s look at this passage carefully [I’m relying on the work by Gordon P. Hugenberger, “Samson and the Harlot at Gaza (Judges 16:1-2)”]:

For starters, Samson did not come to Gaza looking for a prostitute. Listen again to Judges 16:1 “Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there…” He made a trip of 15 miles from his hometown of Zorah for a different reason other than just to satisfy his sexual needs. Where God’s people were at the time, he could have easily found a prostitute among one of the tribes of Israel.

Next, we need to examine the meaning of the expression in Judges 16:1 “…and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.” The Hebrew words are “wayyabo eleha” or “bo el.” Of course, in the context, it may seem that this is obvious. That expression is actually found hundreds of times in the Hebrew Bible. Most of the time, it is about entering into the company of others and has nothing to do with sexual relationships. In fact, it is found about 15 times in the book of Judges:

• Judges 3:20 “So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber)…”
• Judges 4:21 “Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.”
• Judges 6:18 (Gideon to the Angel of the Lord) – “Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You…”
• Judges 13:6 “So the woman [Samson’s mother] came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome…”

I can go on and on. There is one where it could be taken that way – Judges 15:1 “After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, ‘Let me go in to my wife, into her room.’…” Now that you understand that Samson was not some wild and unruly man, do you really think he is telling his father-in-law – “Let me go and have sex with my wife in her room?” To the contrary, he is saying to his father-in-law – “Let me go to my wife in her room to talk to her.” If things had gone differently and his father-in-law hadn’t given her to his best man, I would imagine Samson walking into his wife’s room and saying, “I understand that they threatened you to betray me. I don’t hold that against you. You did what you could to protect your family. I have already forgiven you. I love you.” Plus, it is redundant and awkward to say – “Let me have sex with my wife in her room.” Samson came to the prostitute in Gaza for something other than just her services.

To understand why Samson came to the prostitute in Gaza, we need to ask – “Did any other God’s people also go to a prostitute before declaring war over them?” Remember the spies who were sent to Jericho? Joshua 2:1 “Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ So they went, and came to the house of a harlot (zanah = prostitute) named Rahab, and lodged there.” Unless you think that Joshua’s spies also slept with Rahab or one of her girls, this coming to the prostitute’s brothel was not for sexual reasons. By the way, the same words “bo el” are also used here. Joshua 2        3 “So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.’ 4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.’” There is a play on words happening here. The king of Jericho was saying to Rahab – “We know that some men came to do sexual business with you” and Rahab was lying to him – “Yes, they did have sexual business with me, but they’re gone, and I don’t know where. She was lying to the king for both statements – sexual business as well as where they went. In fact, she lied some more – Joshua 2:5 “And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” By the way, the “gate” is mentioned here and in the Samson narrative. Joshua 2        8 “Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: ‘I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us…’” The point that I am making here is that both Samson and the spies lie down, but it was not for sex. We believe that the spies at Jericho were chaste, but then we unfairly incriminate Samson in Judges!

Big Question: Why did Samson and the spies at Jericho stay with a prostitute? Didn’t they realize how this would be perceived? Several popular reasons have been given:

• A brothel was like a “speak easy” where one could remain anonymous. Unfortunately, in both accounts, the word was out by nightfall that the spies were in Jericho and Samson was in Gaza.
• A brothel was like a tavern where once the alcohol starts working, one could hear some secrets on how to take the city. In both accounts, they didn’t need any local secret to take the city. The strategy for Jericho had nothing to do with any secret passageway into Jericho and the strategy for Gaza had nothing to do with what Samson did by ripping up the gates of the city.

There is a reason, and it is very fitting to the context of the passage and very applicable to what we will be doing during communion and during our church Thanksgiving meal later: In ancient times, the sharing of a meal in someone’s home was much more than just about hospitality. When an outsider would come into a city, it was imperative that he be examined by the “elders of the city.” Here, we are not referring to someone coming in just to sell some goods. This is someone or someone(s) who has/have come to tour the city. The elders at the gate would have a talk with the person(s), and depending on the status, even invite the person(s) over to their home for a meal. The purpose of the meal was to know one’s intention and even make a covenant of peace. We find covenant meals all over the Old Testament (McCree, “The Covenant Meal in the Old Testament):

• Melchizedek brought bread and wine to Abraham after he defeated the 4 kings of the North.
• Joseph had his brothers over at his home in Egypt for a meal in Genesis 43.
• The feast of the Passover was instituted between God and the Hebrews on the night when the Death Angel passed over the land of Egypt.
• Joshua unwisely made a covenant of peace with the leaders of Gibeon. They brought some dry and moldy bread and torn wineskins as if they had come from afar off. Joshua 9        14 “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. 15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.”
• Manoah (Samson’s father) prepared a meal for the Angel of the Lord.
• David had a special seat at King Saul’s dining table.

The whole purpose to have someone over your house and have the meal was to make a covenant of peace with them. Neither the spies at Jericho nor Samson wanted to make a covenant of peace with the enemy. Hence, they stayed with a prostitute and not with the elders of the city. See I Kings 13:9 for a strict prohibition to eat with the enemy. Furthermore, they went into the land not only see how wonderful it was, as God had promised, but they also saw how sinful it was, as God had warned.

Let me switch gears here – Samson was a type of Christ who repeatedly went to the home of sinners and had meals with them, even with prostitutes. Failure to understand Samson will lead to a failure to understand Christ. Matthew the tax collector had Jesus over for a covenant meal – Luke 5        29 Then Levi (Matthew the tax collector) gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Of course, we all know about Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who was short in stature and climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus – Luke 19:5 “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” The Pharisees and the scribes constantly judged his eating habits and never had him over their homes. Some even pretended to have a covenant meal with Jesus. Luke 7        36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. To summarize – a prostitute/adulterous woman came with a perfume jar. She began to weep at Jesus’ feet and wipe them with her hair and then anointed his feet with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” Jesus then gave the illustration of two men who owed a creditor money – one was 500 and the other 50. He pardoned them both, because they couldn’t pay him back. Who loved him more? Of course, he answered correctly – the 500. 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Matthew 21       31 “…Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”

Unfortunately, covenant meals were also broken. Saul broke the meal covenant with David by persecuting him. Judas betrayed Jesus after the Passover supper. That’s why Jesus, quoting Psalm 41:9 said in John 13:18 “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’

As we take part in the Communion and later in the Thanksgiving meal, I hope you realize what that truly means. There is peace between us and God through Jesus Christ and there is peace between us in this church family. Let no one try to bring disunity and discord in our hearts towards God and each other.

Is there peace between you and God through Christ? Are you saved? Is there peace between you and the Clearview church family?