Kids have a unique way of telling stories. Their heart is in it, but their mouths don’t always spit out the right words. Here are a few of my favorite headliner Bible stories stated by kids:
*The first three books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, and Laxatives.
*Noah’s wife was called Joan of Ark.
*Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.
*Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.
*David fought with the Finkelsteins, a race of people, who lived in biblical times.
*Solomon, one of David’s sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
*Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles and he pulled down the pillows of the temple.
Today we are starting a new series called “FACES” and we are going to take a look at a few prominent people who lived at different times and in different places. Their lives are detailed in the OT for us to examine and inquire about.
This new series is designed for both informational and inspirational purposes. With the information we can learn the events that transpired in their life and culture and their relationship with God. Then from that information we can gain inspiration in our own life today.
The first face we are going to study is Samson’s. We don’t have enough time to read the entire story right now, so we will take an overview of the big picture to get enough information to gain inspiration.
The story of Samson is found in the OT book of Judges but the real story begins before he was even born. The Israelites were God’s chosen people and for years they had served God alone but they had become complacent. The Philistines had absorbed them into their culture and now there was almost no distinction between the Israelites and the Philistines. The Philistines didn’t turn to the God of the Israelites, they worshipped their idols and sun gods and sex gods. They could have cared less about Jehovah Jira, the one true God. For 40 years the Israelites had lived within the Philistine culture and God was ready to move them out of complacency.
A man named Manoah and his wife were faithful Israelites who were unable to conceive a child. One day an angel appeared to them and told them that they would conceive. The angel told them that they were going to give birth to a son and he would be a Nazirite. The term “Nazirite” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “separated” or dedicated.” So their child Samson would be dedicated to the LORD. In those days people would take Nazirite vows for various reasons and they were usually only for short periods of time but Samson was to live his life as one who had been dedicated to the LORD for service his entire life. God had a plan for Samson, he wanted to use him to move the Israelites out from under Philistine control.
Judges 14 picks up the story.
“Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife." His father and mother replied, "Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She’s the right one for me." (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)” Judges 14:1-4 NIV
Samson had no business marrying a Philistine. The Philistines did not worship God and this woman was a Philistine who didn’t worship God either. But she was cute and at that time that was all Samson cared about so he set out to marry her.
The story continues:
“Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.” Judges 14:5-7 NIV
I don’t know why Samson didn’t tell his parents what he had done, but he didn’t. The Bible says that some time later he went back to marry this woman and on the way he saw the lion carcass which now had a bee hive in it. He stuck his hand in the hive and scooped out a handful of honey. He ate some of it and he gave some of it to his parents.
At his wedding feast Samson came up with a riddle for the Philistines to solve. He said: If you solve it, I will give you thirty sets of linen garments and thirty sets of cloths. This was valuable stuff so the people really wanted it. Then Samson told them his riddle.
"Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." For three days they could not give the answer.” Judges 14:14 NIV
The Philistines knew they couldn’t come up with the answer on their own so they went for Samson’s wife to get the answer to the riddle.
“On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?" Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer." Judges 14:15-16 NIV
The Philistines were ruthless and had every intention of killing this woman if she didn’t get the answer from Samson so she cried him a river to get the answer.
"I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?" She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
“Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
"What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?" Judges 14:16b-18 NIV
Then Samson says something that I find humorous to them. I realize in his context his words fit right in but they make me laugh.
“Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle." Judges 14:18 NIV
The story continues:
“Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.” Judges 14:19-20 NIV
The Spirit of God came upon Samson and he killed thirty Philistines form another city and gave their clothing to the men at the wedding and went back to his parents home. While he was there his wife was given to the best man at his wedding.
Samson loved this woman and planned on taking her back by force. Then her father stopped him and explained why ho gave her to another man and offered him his younger daughter. He said:
"I was so sure you thoroughly hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your friend. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead." Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." Judges 15:2-3 NIV
Samson took revenge for his stolen romance by tying the tails of three hundred foxes together and sticking a torch in the knot. The fox ran away through the wheat fields and burned all of them to the ground destroying all the cities crops. When the Philistines found out who did the damage they went up and burned his first wife and her father to death. Samson took his revenge by killing many more Philistines. After his did that he ran and hid in a cave outside the city.
The Bible says that the Philistines camped out near Samson and planned to capture him but before they had the chance, a group of 3,000 Israelites approached Samson and said:
"Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" He answered, "I merely did to them what they did to me." They said to him, "We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said, "Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves." "Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.” Judges 15:11-15 NIV
His own people tried to turn him over to their oppressors. That is how complacent the Israelites had become. They liked their rulers and were afraid that Samson was going to ruin their easy life. So they planned to turn him over to the Philistines so their lives wouldn’t be disrupted by his activities.
Next week we are going to finish Samson’s story by learning about his next fling named Delilah. So the question is, what do we do with the information we gathered this morning? Let’s turn this biblical information into personal inspiration.
• Samson prioritized pleasure over purpose.
Samson was special. God had a plan and a purpose for Samson and all he had to do was fulfill it. He knew he was special and that caused him to become arrogant. He decided to marry a woman that God forbid him to marry and brought his own justice on the people who got in his way. He was a reckless romantic who pursued women and revenge.
• Samson lived for Samson.
He didn’t care about anyone except himself. He was a narcissist. He used his gift of strength to pursue his own pleasure. Samson was all about Samson. God had given him the gift of strength and he used it to glorify himself. When Samson killed the lion he didn’t tell his parents because his parents would have glorified God. The same goes for when he took the honey out of the carcass. He didn’t tell his parents where the honey came from because he didn’t want them to thank God. Samson lived for Samson.
What am I doing with the gifts that God has given me?
What are you doing with the gifts that God has given you? You probably don’t have the supernatural strength of Samson but God has given you other gifts. Some of you are great communicators; are you using your ability for personal pleasure or kingdom purposes? Some of you are gifted with numbers. Are you using your gifts to glorify God? Some of you are great care givers. Who are you caring for?
This week I want us to leave here and think about how we are choosing to use the gifts that God has given us. If you are using them to glorify him in some way shape or form, great. If not, maybe now is the time to make some changes.
Over the course of his lifetime Samson became so focused on himself that he continually walked away from God. Time and time again Samson took his divine gifts for granted. And as we shall see next week, he didn’t even realize when the Spirit of God left him.
