Judges 13:1-16:31
A Wasted Disobedient Stupid Life OR
Equipped but not Available OR Compromising Your Call OR Does Your Performance
Live Up to Your Potential? OR OR A
Reverse Fairy Tale!
Samson’s life resembles a fairy tale
in reverse. From birth he is blessed
with Godly parents, favor from the Lord, supernatural strength, and the acclaim
of his countrymen. Truly he is a
candidate for living “happily ever after”.
But by the end of his life he is blind, impoverished and performing the
humiliating duty of a beast of burden.
Equipped for the task of delivering Israel from Philistine oppression,
Samson instead spends much of his life violating his Nazirite vow and
compromising his calling. Only rarely
does his performance live up to his potential.
But God gives him one last portion of power, and by his death, Samson
destroys more Philistines than he did during his entire lifetime.
You can break down these chapter with
three titles: Consecration, Conquest,
Compromise OR Samson, the Promised Child, the Powerful Deliverer, and the
Pitiful Prisoner.
In Luke 12:16, Christ told His
disciples, “Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their
responsibility is greater.” Certainly
that includes the treasure God has entrusted to you. But what about your time and talents
as well?
Samson had so much, yet used it so
selfishly. What about the special
abilities God has given you? To play an
instrument…show hospitality to visitors or friends…console a broken heart…teach
a meaningful S.S. lesson? As you USING
them, or ABUSING them? Do you have a
talent that needs to be cultivated and put to use in the service of the
LORD? Look for opportunities to use it!
Nazarite Vow: No Wine, Hair cuts, or corpses allowed. The requirements of the vow might seem strange
unless understood in their symbolic sense.
Wine symbolized comfort and enjoyment.
Death represented defilement.
Long hair stood for God-given strength and dignity. By avoiding the former and maintaining the
latter, the Nazirite declared his total devotion to God. Numbers 6: 1-21. The vow can be made for a period of time or
for a lifetime. “At the conclusion of
the period of his vow of separation to the Lord” Samson’s separation was an outward one…it did
not happen in his heart!
A stroll through 13 – 16: THE CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN!
Once again Israel sinned by worshiping other
gods…conquered by the Philistines…subjection for 40 yrs. Only this time in the cycle, the Israelites
did not cry out in pleading for help and repentance. They did not want to be delivered…they had
grown accustomed to being in bondage!
What about each of us? Is there
bondage in our individual lives and we have become comfortable there?
Angel of the Lord spoke to the wife
of Manoah…no children (that was considered a tragedy) and she would have a son
and he must keep the Nazirite vow for his lifetime…he would rescue Israel from
the Philistines. She excitedly told her
husband all the details of the visit of the Angel.
She prayed that the Angel would
return…and He answered her while alone and she ran and got her husband. Manoah asked questions of the Angel…Angel
renewed what he had said about the wife’s cautions (good advice for todays’
prospective mothers) during the pregnancy and the Angel would not tell His name
(responded wonderful – Isaiah) nor eat, but asked for a sacrifice …then he
realized to Whom He had been talking.
Samson born and the Lord blessed him
as he grew up.
HE BECAME A DISRESPECTUL SON and HE
BECOMES A PLAYBOY! 14:1…Samson SEES a Philistine girl and wants to marry
her…parents objected. “She is the one I
was…Get her for me.” (ATTITUDE
problem?!) LUST DISTORTS SPIRITUAL
VISION! “She is all right in my eyes!” v. 3b
We need to have a Covenant with the
Lord regarding where we allow our eyes to focus: Making a bad choice of where to look leads to
trouble! Pornography extremely
dangerous…report suggests that it “rewires the brain…leads to fulfilling
whatever you LOOK at!” (Obviously Samson
was LOOKing)
The Lord was setting a trap for the
Philistines. The Lord uses all things in
our lives to glorify His name and benefit us!
On the way to where the young girl
lived, Samson killed a lion as easily as a goat…but did not tell his parents
(ATTITUDE problem!?) Arrangements made
for the wedding and when returning home, Samson stopped by to see the carcass
of the lion…Took honey from the carcass and gave some to his parents. (DID NOT TELL HIS PARENTS OF THE KILLING OR
OF HIS CONTACT WITH THE DEAD CARCASS…broke the restrictions of being a Nazirite
again!)
Samson threw a party before the
marriage…30 young men of the village/ custom of the day. There was drinking, foolishness and
gambling! Samson gave a riddle and made
a bet – 30 plain robes and 30 fancy robes…you must solve the riddle or give me
the same.
“Food came out of the eater, and
sweetness from the strong.” Fourth day
they inquired of the bride to be…get the answer or we will burn down your
father’s house with you in it. (JOKING
about his sin!)
Won over by the tears of the
woman: On the 7th day, he
told her the answer…and the young men won the bet because of the woman’s
unfaithfulness. “If you had not plowed
with my heifer (broken the rules – you don’t plow with a heifer!), you would
not have found the answer to my riddle.
ANGER: The Spirit of the Lord enabled him and he
killed 30 men, took their clothing and paid his bet. He was furious about it and abandoned his
wife…went back home to live with mom and Dad.
The abandoned bride to be married Samson’s best man.
Samson took a goat and set out to sleep
with the bride during the wheat harvest.
Her father would not let him in explaining that she was wed and Samson
should marry her sister who was prettier.
Samson was FURIOUS…he threatened…”You can’t blame me for whatever
happens now. (Anyone who crosses me…well
it is YOUR fault what I do!)
300 foxes…tied tails together in
pairs with a torch between…lit the torches and let the foxes run through the
fields of the Philistines, burning the grain to the ground along with all the
sheaves and shocks of grain and destroying the olive trees.
The father and girl were burned alive
by the angry Philistines. (She was
unfaithful because of a threat, but ended up the same way!...burned up with her
father.) Samson vowed: “Now my vengeance will strike again!”…he
attacked them and killed many. ANGER! Then he went to live in a cave … Philistines
sent posse into Judah and raided…300 men of Judah went to capture Samson and he
got them to agree not to kill him themselves.
Two new ropes … Philistines excited but the Lord enabled Samson and he
broke the ropes…donkey’s jawbone…killed 1,000 Philistines.
The FIRST recorded prayer request
from Samson to the Lord… Samson was thirsty…the Lord caused water to gush out
from a hollow in the ground and Samson’s spirit was revived as he drank. Samson was Israel’s leader for the next 20
years, but the Philistines still controlled the land.
Chapter 16 At Gaza, (city close to Egypt) Samson spent
the night with a prostitute. V. 1 “saw
a harlot” VISION PROBLEMS AGAIN! Many men lay in wait to capture him. At midnight Samson left carrying the city
gates, gateposts lifted right out of the ground and carried them to the top of
the mountain across from Hebron.
POOR, FOOLISH, SILLY SAMSON: He had a terrible VISION problem…LUST ruled! He had no judgment of women! And no sensitivity to sin in his life!
Later on Samson fell in love with
Delilah. Five heads of the Philistine
nation went personally to her and demanded that she find out from Samson what
made him so strong…they wanted to overpower him and put him in chains. They promised 1,100 pieced of silver each for
her deception.
1st she asked with the
flattery of “I don’t think anyone could ever capture you.” Definitely opposite
of the N.T. admonition to “flee youthful lusts!” Samson answered with a lie! (green bowstrings) And of course, he broke
loose easily.
2nd Delilah pleaded with
PLEASE…and you are making fun of me.
Again Samson lied. (new ropes)
3rd Delilah You have
mocked me again and told me more lies…Now tell me how you can REALLY be
captured…Samson lied again! (hair woven in your loom)
Each time Delilah blamed him for his
lying and not sharing the secret of his strength. She never saw what a liar, bequiler she was! Had Samson begun to believe that his strength
was his own! His strength was
supernatural!
4th Delilah How can you
say you love me when you don’t confide in me?
Nagged at him every day and finally he told her his secret. DELILAH WAS PERSIST AS THE ENEMY IS TODAY! “My hair has never been cut for I have been a
Nazirite to God since before my birth….cut and I would become as weak as
anyone. Delilah realized that he had
finally told her the truth…so she sent for the 5 Philistine leaders…they
brought the money with them. She lulled
him to sleep, AS WE FALL ASLEEP IN THIS OLD WORLD! had his hair cut and then
woke him up to defeat.
Samson thought he was strong but he
was weak “I WILL GO OUT AS BEFORE” and began to realize that the Lord had left
him. Captured and gouged out his eyes
and took him to Gaza where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind
grain in the prison. JUST AS SIN CAN BIND
US UP TODAY…That is what the enemy wants for U and me! Backslidden and do not know it!
His hair began to grow again. Great festival to celebrate his
capture…sacrifices to Dagon…giving him credit…gloating over Samson’s
chains. People became ½ drunk…”Bring out
Samson and we can have some fun with him.”
Brought in Samson made to stand at the center of the temple between 2
pillars supporting the roof…”I want to rest against them.” 3,000 people and the 5 leaders making fun of
him.
2ND TIME THAT WE KNOW OF THAT
SAMSON PRAYED: Then, Samson prayed “O,
Lord Jehovah, remember me again-please strengthen me one more time, so that I
may pay back the Philistines for the loss of at least one of my eyes…he pushed
against the pillars with all his might…”Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down upon them
all.
Samson only BEGAN the job of freeing the
Israelites. This is a great story to share
with young people…a life that never reaches its potential because of sin, compromise,
lust and out of contact with the LORD. Aren’t
we blessed to have a precious Savior that always stands ready to forgive. Repentance and forgiveness – You cannot fall out
of God’s grace!
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