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“I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” Judges 14:2 You have to use your imagination to picture Samson. He has been in the weight room, and he looks magnificent. He has bronze skin and deep-set eyes, and his abs are toned to perfection. One day, this Old Testament hunk is in a town called Timnah, and he sees a Philistine woman. She must have been a...

The woman bore a son and called his name Samson. Judges 13:24 Before we come to Samson’s story, here are three things you need to know about him. 1. Samson was a believer. Hebrews specifically tells us about “Samson… who through faith …” (11:32, 33) did many things. That means we should expect to see him in heaven. For all his flaws, Samson was a man of faith. Samson had a special place in God’s p...

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Judges 13:1 Today we begin looking at the story of Samson. Most of the book of Judges takes place at a time when God’s people were under great oppression. The Philistine army had invaded their soil, and a foreign power was in control of their country. God’s...

As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry. Genesis 27:34 No one wants their life to end the way Esau’s did. So how can we avoid Esau’s plunge to disaster? First, submit yourself fully to the authority of God. You have to begin with the heart of the problem. The heart of Esau’s trouble was that he was godless. If you want to avoid his plung...

“Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.” Genesis 27:29 The promise God gave to Abraham now belonged to Jacob. Try to imagine the scene a few moments later when Esau arrived with a meal for his father: “Sit up, Dad. I’ve got your stew, and I’m ready to receive your blessing.” “Who are you?” Isaac asked him. “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (27:32). Then Isaac r...

He [Isaac] said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” Genesis 27:24 One day Isaac told Esau to go and prepare a meal for him, and after that Isaac said he would give Esau his blessing. But when Rebekah overheard this, she rushed over to Jacob. “Your father is about ready to announce God’s blessing. He wants to give it to Esau, but you can pretend to be your brother and the blessing w...

Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:34 If you lose touch with God, you will become confused about values. The values on which true wisdom is based are not just plucked out of thin air. They are based on the character of God. This is the great issue of our time. Our nation has lost touch with God and now we are confused about values. Having turned from God, we have lost sight of the value of h...

See to it that no one... is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. Hebrews 12:15-16 Esau was the firstborn son in the family God had chosen to bless. It’s hard to imagine a greater privilege than that. Priceless gifts from God were placed in his hand, but he couldn’t see their value. All that mattered to Esau was the next meal, the next fishing or hunting...

“Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!... I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Genesis 25:30, 32 Esau wasn’t a great thinker or planner. He tended to go with the flow and live for the moment. When he felt hungry, all that really mattered to him was getting some food. The problem with living at the level of impulse is that over the course of a lifetime all kinds of...

Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So [Esau] swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Genesis 25:33 One day Esau was out hunting, and when he came back he was hungry. It just so happened that his little brother, Jacob, was cooking some stew in the kitchen. You know what it’s like when you’ve been working a long day, and you missed lunch, and traffic was backed up on the way home. Your head thump...

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23 We have been looking at Bible characters who took a plunge to disaster, to discover what we can learn from them, so that we won’t follow in their footsteps. Today, we look at the story of Esau. Esau’s story begins in the matern...

“My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Genesis 4:13 It would hardly have been surprising if God had ended Cain’s life right then and there in the fields. But in the mercy of God, the world’s first murderer was given another chance. If you were Cain’s friend, you might counsel him like this: “Cain, God has not cut you off. He is speaking to you. He is showing you mercy. Don’t miss this opportu...

[Sin’s] desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. Genesis 4:7 Never underestimate the power of sin. The quickest way to take a plunge to disaster is to allow a sin into your life and then say to yourself, “It’s not a big deal. I can handle it.” Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). In other words, sin has the power to rule over you. Once you let sin in...

“If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.” Genesis 4:7 This is the first time the word sin is used in the Bible. “Sin?” Cain must have said. “What is sin?” Sin is more than simply a choice that you make. God is saying that there is a power at work in the world and it is like a wild animal. When you refuse to do what is right, it will sneak up on your house. It will crouch outside the d...

“If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Genesis 4:7 We don’t know whether God spoke to Cain when he was at the altar or later. But let’s assume for a moment that God spoke to him in an audible voice, as He often did in the Old Testament. Cain was still smouldering when God spoke to him, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” (4:6). Cain knew the answer. “Because I’m fed up with my...

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. Hebrews 11:4 Very often, the New Testament gives us the key to understanding an Old Testament story, and the New Testament tells us quite clearly that the difference between Cain and Abel was faith. Cain was a man without faith. He came with hi...

Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. Genesis 4:3-4 The first family did not have a church. They had some kind of altar. Perhaps it was just a pile of stones, but it was the place where they met with God. Each boy brought an offering. Cain had a crate of fruits and vegetables; Abel had some an...

And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. Genesis 4:2 Sometime later, another little bundle of life came along, and Adam and Eve named him Abel. We aren’t told how old Cain was when his brother was born, but we can probably assume he had a mixed reaction to the arrival of the new attraction, as most older brothers do. Here was some compe...

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.” Genesis 4:1 Having sinned against God, the first man and the first woman were now outside the Garden of Eden. They were living under a terrible judgement, but God had graciously given them hope in a great promise: a deliverer would be born. An offspring of the woman would inflict...

Now these things happened to them [Israel] as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 1 Corinthians 10:11 Wouldn’t it be nice to go off on a long cruise to a warm place with magnificent scenery, endless food, and a good book to get lost in? What could be better? Unless, of course, the name of the cruise ship happens to be The Titanic . Over...

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Why should you be steadfast and immovable? Why should you extend yourself in serving the Lord? Why should you pledge your life to Christ? Why should you do what He calls you to do, no matter how hard or how costly that may be? B...

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 Do you see the contrast between the experience of a believer and the experience of those who do not believe? First, the experience of a believer: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:57). The...

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 What about believers who are living when Christ returns? Like believers who have already died, believers who are still alive will also receive the gift of the resurrec...

Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 The first thing you need to know about believers who have died is that they are with the Lord. To be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). The second thing you need to know is that Jesus will bring the souls of believers who h...

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 1 Corinthians 15:50 Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Mat. 6:10). And one day, His kingdom will come, and it will last forever. Isaiah prophesied, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to up...