Temptation: Samson’s Downfall
How to avoid yielding to temptation
Good morning! Thank you Pastor for giving me this opportunity to teach God’s Word this morning. I would like to talk about a familiar character in scripture this morning. Samson is name of this man. I am sure that most everyone here has heard of him and is familiar with the basics of his life’s story. I am sure that you know that he had long hair and had a great strength that no one could explain. I am sure you remember Delilah and how she tricked him. And I am quite sure that you remember how in his final act of revenge he killed himself and many of his enemy. Samson’s story is an exciting one, but in many ways a very tragic one as well. What went wrong? Where did Samson get off the path of what God had for him to do? How could the most powerful man to ever walk the planet get sidetracked by a fair skinned temptress? Let’s see if we can unravel the mystery this morning.
I believe that the root of all of Samson’s problems came from the failure to recognize and avoid temptation. As we go through the story you will see how Samson was slowly but steadily on a path of destruction. Let’s see if we can identify where he went wrong and a way that we can avoid doing the same thing in our lives.
Judges 13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. 4Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 5For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
The first thing that I notice in the story of Samson is that God had a plan for his life. You see God had allowed the Philistines to rule over the Jewish people for some 40 years because of their disobedience to Him. But as we see over and over in the book of Judges, God raised up a person to deliver the Israelites. Samson was His choice to rescue His people. Samson’s job was to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
I believe that Samson never fully understood his purpose in life. I believe that he was so self-absorbed that he never saw outside of the box. He never realized that God had a plan for him. This made his falling into temptation very easy. He was the center of his own universe, so Satan’s job to lure him away from God was a very simple one.
If you want to avoid temptation and the destruction that come with it, you must:
1. See God’s unique plan for you.
Before you were formed in your mother’s womb God knew you. He had a plan for you. He designed you for a purpose that He insists that you accomplish.
Jer. 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. NIV
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
What is his plan for you? His plan is simple. He wants you to live a life that is totally dedicated to serving him. He wants you to go to your work place with Him lifted high, that all your co-workers and bosses can see Him. He wants you to live with your family constantly lifting Him high so that your family grows and develops into a Christ honoring and Christ centered family. He wants you tell everyone you know about the way He ransomed your soul from sin. He wants you to have a close and personal friendship with Him every day. He wants to work through you to reach a lost and dying world. That is his Plan for you. The first step to avoid falling into temptation is to see and recognize that God has a plan for you.
The very next chapter in Judges shows us a grown up Samson.
Judges 14: 1And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 2And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
A grown up that is not avoiding temptation. Timnah was a Philistine town. His purpose was to get rid of the Philistines not go into their towns and socialize with them! And definitely not to MARRY them!
Later in this chapter we Samson again making no effort to avoid temptation, but rather looking for it.
5Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 6And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
There were 3 parts to Samson’s Nazirite vow. He was to never cut his hair, he was to not eat or drink any fruit of the vine, and he was to not ever touch anything unclean. He knew this. He knew that these three things set him apart from others. So what was he doing in the vineyard without his parents? God knew he wasn’t supposed to be there so he sent a Lion to chase him out! God then gives him the strength to kill the lion. I believe that God was trying to do 2 things for Samson. One, to keep him from breaking his vow by eating grapes. Two, remind him that he had the strength to not just kill lions but to destroy the Philistines.
8And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 9And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
So he didn’t get the hint. Later on he goes back to look at the lion. He sees it and sees that some bees have made a hive full of honey inside the dried carcass of the lion. He scoops up the honey and eats it, and then give some to his parents. But he does not tell them where he got it. Why? Because he fell to temptation. He broke the first part of his vow. He was to never touch anything unclean. A dead lion is definitely on the list of do not touch! He then goes into town and gets drunk at his Bachelors party breaking the second part of his vow.
How could Samson have avoided this terrible turn of events? By backing up and not going to this little Philistine town to begin with, he never would have been tempted by this woman, never would have entered the vineyard, never would have touched the lion, never would have gotten drunk at a bachelor’s party.
I think we can learn from Samson that a good way to avoid falling into temptation is to stay away from things and places where we will be tempted to begin with. There are several places in the Bible that teach us this principle. Remember Cain and Able?
2. Stay Away from areas of temptation.
Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
The Bible tells us to be careful, and watchful, expecting to be tempted. That Satan wants to destroy us in any way he can. Our only defense is to follow God and actively resist Satan.
I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
I think that Samson had another problem too. After his lion experience he got cocky. At his bachelor’s party he challenged his 30 “friends” to solve a riddle.
12And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 13But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 14And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
This is quite the clever riddle. Very difficult to solve unless you knew what had happened in the vineyard. The Samson that we see here is a proud Samson. A Samson that is trusting in and relying on His own Strength and his own wit to get by. The result of this riddle is that his wife betrays him, he goes out of town and kills 30 men to pay the debt of the lost wager, and then his wife and her family are burned to death and to top it off, Samson captures 300 foxes, ties their tails together, lights then on fire and uses them to destroy the Philistines wheat, olive, and grape harvest!
All of this commotion was caused simply because Samson was focused on himself instead of God’s plan and God’s message. The 3rd step to not yielding to temptation is to:
3. Spotlight God’s plan and His Word in your life.
If we will get into God’s Word and read it and more importantly, apply it to our lives, it will illuminate the path that God has chosen for us to walk. It will shed light on those temptations and reveal them to be the traps that they really are.
Psalm 119: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Another major problem that Samson had was that he was looking for happiness in all the wrong places. He was looking for love in all the wrong places. I imagine that growing up would not have been easy for Samson. All that hair had to make it hard to get a girlfriend. Every time he played on the high school football team the other team would forfeit, he kept breaking all the schools baseball bats. I am sure the other kids made fun of him, from a distance. Seriously though, Samson was not a happy person. I think he didn’t like being different. He wanted, more than anything, to be like everyone else. I think he resented this vow that God had placed on him before he was born. He resented not having a choice. He was most unhappy with life. So he sought happiness in the arms of foreign women. Sin and rebellion made him happy for a season. But it also led to his destruction. To avoid the pitfalls of temptation we need to:
4. Search for happiness by accomplishing God’s plan
It is hard to be tempted to do things you know are wrong when you are happy and content doing the things which are right! There is no better feeling, no happier existence than knowing that you are living in the perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
To live in this way, to discover what God’s perfect plan for your life is, you must:
5. Select God over things of this world.
Scripture teaches us that no man can serve two masters. We must choose.
I John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Whatever temptations you may be facing right now, they are behind door number 1 and God is behind door number 2. In this game called life, you cannot have both doors. You much choose one. Samson choose door number 1 and had to pay dearly for it.
In the final chapter of the Story of Samson we have another character introduced. Delilah. What a name. Ever known anyone named Delilah? I haven’t. It carries such a stigma doesn’t? It is almost synonymous with sin itself isn’t it? Once again Samson is looking for love in all the wrong places and ends up in bed with Delilah. It is in this chapter that the cost of temptation finally catches up to Samson. You know the story. Delilah literally nags Samson to death in order the gain the secret of his strength. Remember though, that his strength did not come from his hair, but from the Spirit of God that was in him because he had not completely broken his Nazirite vow by cutting his hair. As soon as Delilah had taken that secret away from him and had his hair cut, the Spirit of God left him because all three parts of his vow had been compromised. The true tragedy of this part of the story is that when he woke after his hair cut, he didn’t even realize that the Spirit of God had left. That speaks volumes to how far away from walking with God Samson truly was. All because of a failure to avoid temptation.
The results of final flirtation with sin was grievous.
Judges 16:21But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
The next lesson that we can learn from Samson is that when we sin, when we do fall to temptation, which every single one of us will do in this life, we must:
6. Swallow your punishment and grow from it.
a. There is always punishment for sin.
i. It blinds you.
Blinding will take place as we lose our moral compass and vision.
ii. It binds you.
Binding will result as we lose our freedom and liberty.
iii. It grinds you.
And we’ll spend the rest of our lives grinding out a purposeless existence.
What a horrible sight Samson must have been. Head shaved, empty eye sockets full of puss. Down cast head deprived of all the pride that once resided in him. And a life that was devoid of the presence of God. His punishment was great, but it was exactly what it took to make Samson finally turn to God for help. In the last part of this story we see the Philistines making sport of their new captive. The man that tormented them for some 20 years, the man who had carried off the gate to their city, the man who they could not bind or capture, was to be used for the main attraction and entertainment for a feast to one of their gods. This feast was held to thank this god for helping them capture Samson. Samson in his humiliation prayed a prayer.
28And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me,
He called upon the Lord acknowledging that His strength came from his Creator. He then asked
I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
He surrendered to God’s plan and placed himself second to those plans. If we fail, if we do fall to temptation, we must do two things that Samson did:
7. Seek forgiveness and Submit to God’s plan and His favor.
Psalm 38:18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Samson lived his life his way and only turned to God in his final moments. You know the rest of the story.
29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Once he was submissive to the plans of God, in his final act, he killed more Philistines when he died, than when he lived.
We can learn a great lesson from Samson. We need to submit to God’s plan now rather than later. It is so tragic that Samson waited until he was blind and chained before he accomplished God’s purpose.
How about you this morning? What is the main temptation that you are dealing with? Is there more than one? How are you doing in avoiding temptation? Are you flirting with it? Are you deeply engaged in it? Are you temporarily enjoining the benefits? Are you suffering the consequences? Will you turn to God now while you still have a life to live for Him? Or will you wait until your last breath to turn back to God?
