Judges 14:1-3
Judges 16:18-21
Topic: If I had just listen to momma and daddy……..
Has there been a time in your life where you had found yourself in bad situation that you wished you had never gotten yourself into? It was a situation that you could have avoided altogether because it was a situation that you had no business involved in the first place. It was a situation that had all the warning signs and all the red flags waving before your very eyes, but you chose to ignore the warning signs and the red flags warnings. And at the end of the situation, you found yourself saying these words to yourself:
“If I had just listen to momma and daddy…..”
“If I had just paid attention to what momma and daddy was trying to tell me back then……”
“If I had just did what momma and daddy had told me to do…..”
“If I had just listen, I would not be in prison, I would not be broke and homeless, I would not have dropped out of high school or college, I would not been pregnant out of wedlock, I would not been expelled out of school, I would not have been fired from my job……… If I had just listen to momma and daddy………
You know the bible does tell us in Exodus 20:12 to “Honor thy father and mother that the days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. And in Ephesians 6;1-3 says, “Children obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long upon the earth.
“If I had just listen to momma and daddy………”
In this message, we are going to learn about a man that if he had just listen to his momma and daddy; if he had just paid attention to what his momma and daddy was trying to tell him to do; if he had just did what his momma and daddy had told him to do, he would have had a happy ending to his life story. But instead he had a sad ending to his life story. And this man that I am talking about is Samson.
Now, most of us know who Samson is. Samson was known to be one of Judges of Israel. As a Judge of Israel, his main purpose was to deliver Israel out from the bondage of their enemies, which were the Philistines at the time. Also Samson was known to be the strongest man to have ever lived. He was a man who as anointed with extra ordinary strength. The reason why Samson had extra ordinary strength and he was so strong was because of the covenant that he had with the Lord. You see, when Samson was born, he was born as a Nazarite. And as a Nazarite, Samson was not to touch or drink wine, nor was he to have his hair cut because God supplied Samson’s extra ordinary strength through his hair. And through his hair, God gave Samson strength to kill a lion with is bare hands. Through his hair God gave Samson strength to kill 30 Philistine men all at once. Through his hair, God gave Samson strength to tie the tails of 300 foxes and set them on fire to burn up the cornfields of the Philistines. Through his hair, God gave Samson strength to kill a thousand of Philistines men with just a jawbone of a donkey. Yes, God blessed Samson with extra ordinary strength through his hair to defeat the Philistines.
But in Judges 16:21, we see Samson’s hair has been cut. His eyes has been gouged out. We see Samson bound up in chains and in prison, and we see him walking the grind mill all day long in the prison house. In other words, we see the strongest man who had ever lived defeated and incapacitated. Now the question is, How did the strongest man to have ever lived find himself in a defeated and incapacitated position?
Now, for a long time, I blamed Delilah for Samson demise because I said that if he had not got involved with Delilah, he would not have gotten his hair cut, he would not have lost his strength, and he would not have been apprehended by the Philistines. But as I gave a close look at Samson’s situation, I came to realize that it was Samson’s fault to find his eyes being gouged out. It was Samson’s fault to find himself in prison. It was Samson’s fault to find himself bound up in chain. It was Samson’s fault that he now find himself grinding the grind mill walking in circles all the day long. And the reason it was his fault because if Samson had just listen to his momma and daddy, he more likely would not have been involved with a woman like Delilah. Now it must be understood that Delilah was not the only woman that Samson had been with. In Judges 14, Samson had married a woman from Timnah, but that marriage ended up in divorce after seven days. Then Samson got involved with a prostitute in Judges 16:1-3. And then we read that Samson got involved with Delilah in Judges 16:4. And you would notice that all the woman that Samson got involved in were all bad women. Yes, they looked fine, but they were bad women. Yes, they smelled good in their perfume, but they were bad women. They dressed real nice, but they were bad women. And Samson would never would have gotten involved with these bad woman, if he would have just listen to his momma and daddy.
You see Samson problem was that he allowed his lust get the best of his judgment which caused him to get involved with the wrong type of woman. But this would have not been the case if he had just listen to his momma and daddy in Judges 14. We learn this much about Samson in Judges 14; he was hardheaded and rebellious. One day in Judges 14, Samson came home to his parents and told them that he had found woman in a place called Timnah that he wanted to marry. But the problem was this woman was a Philistine, who were enemies of Israel and they were people who did not worship the true and living God as Samson did. When Samson told his parents that he wanted to marry this Philistine woman that he had seen in the Philistine city called Timnah, they responded by saying, Why did you have to go to Timanh to find a woman to marry? There are some available woman right here in your own city to marry. Don’t you know the Philistine women don’t worship the same God you worship? Don’t you know that woman in Timnah do not have a covenant relationship with God, and that they worship idol gods? Why do you have to look for a woman to marry from Timnah? There are some good woman to for you to chose to marry right in your own town. Why don’t you pick someone within your city to marry?
But Samson said, “I want that woman in Timnah because she pleases me. She looks good. She smells good. She wears her clothes well. I want her and only her. And because Samson did not want to follow the advice of his parents, notice what Judges 14:5 says. It say that Samson went down and his father and his father to Timnah. Notice it says that “Samson went down.” .Then in Judges 16:4 it says that Samson loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, and in order to go to the Valley of Sorek or any valley for that matter, you will find yourself going in a downward direction. And notice the direction that Samsom took when he disregarded the advice of his parents. He went down. He went down to Timnah, and when he went to the Valley of Sorek and met Delilah, he went down. And there is a lesson to be learned right here. And anytime, you decide to that you are not going to do what your momma and daddy tell you to do, you will find yourself going down, down, and down. Not only that, anytime you find yourself not wanting to do what the Lord says, you will find yourself going down, down, and down.
Now notice something. When Samson tells his parents that he has found some woman in Timnah that he wants to marry in Judges 14, there is at least four things that Samson fails to do. First of all, when he tells his parents that he wants to marry this woman he saw in Timnah, he doesn’t even know the woman’s name. Fellas, before you get serious about dating or marrying someone, at least know the woman’s name. The same goes with the ladies…..at least know the man’s name before you even think about going out and marrying someone.
S
Second thing that Samson’s doesn’t do with the woman in Timnah is that he doesn’t take time to get to know her real well. He doesn’t take time to get to know her family real well. He doesn’t take time to get to know her friends real well. And the result of Samson not taking his time to know this woman and her background real well and not following the advice of his parents , this marriage to the woman of Timnah only lasted seven days. The marriage was so bad that Samson left his wife in anger and went home to live with his parents. Now check this out. Samson leaves his wife, and goes back home to live with his parents. Now that also tells me that Samson was not ready for marriage in the first place because when a man gets married, he ought to be living in his own place, and paying his own bills. The bible does say in Genesis:2:24 that when a man decides to get married, “he is to leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh.” But Samson could have avoided this heartbreak and this messy marraige with the woman in Timnah if he had just listen to his momma and daddy.
Now it has been said that when one has been through a divorce or a breakup in a relationship, one should chill out and not rush into a another relationship right away. One should give themselves time to heal before entering into another relationship. But we see Samson rushing into another relationship without giving himself time to heal from his divorce. First, we see Samson messing around with a prostitute in Judges 16:1-3. And then we see him in Judges 16:4 falling in love with a woman named Delilah which gave him no time to heal from his previous relationship. And because he does not take time to heal from his previous relationship, he continues to make the same mistakes as he did with his first marriage all because he did not listen to momma and daddy. So when he meets Delilah, he meets someone that he should have avoided at all cost because even the scripture says he loved her, but she did not love him. In matter of fact, she despised him. Yes, she did not mind him taking her out to dinner. She did not mind him buying flowers for her. She did not mind him giving her kisses from time to time. But she still did not love Samson. In matter of fact, she wanted Samson dead because he was defeating the men of Philistines, and making them look bad. And when the lords of the Philistines offered Delilah lots of money to find out where Samson strength lies and how he can be defeated, she did not hesitate to take up the offer.
You see, just because somebody smiles at you, laugh with you, or even go out with you , that does not mean that person is really into you. You see Samson should have never been caught up with a woman like Delilah because she too did not worship the Lord. She did not have a covenant relationship with the Lord. And the bible says II Corinthians 6:14 says, “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? You see this is what Samson’s momma and daddy was trying to tell him at first in Judges 14. They were trying to tell him that since he was an anointed man of God, who worshipped God, who had a covenant relationship with God, it is just fitting that he should marry someone who worship the same God he worshipped and was in the same covenant relationship with the same God. But Samson had a knack for women who did not worship God, who did not have a covenant relationship with God, and it brought a whole lot of mess into his life.
Now a question is being asked: If it were so wrong for Samson to be with the woman in Timnah, to be with the prostitute, and with Delilah, how come God himself warn Samson?
Well, in a sense God did warn Samson about his bad relationship that he had a knack for. First of all, God warned Samson through his parents. Secondly, God warned Samson through the lion that tried to attack him while he was on his way to meet the woman at Timnah. God warned Samson when things weren’t going well in the marriage to the woman in Timnah. God warned Samson when he left the prostitute in the middle of the night when he almost got captured by the Philistines who were awaiting to ambush him. And last but not least, God warned Samson when Delilah kept trying to find out how he could be weak like a natural man. Oh yes, God warned Samson about his knack for being in bad relationships. But most of all God warned Samson through the Word of God, especially when the Word of God was spoken by his parents.
Psalms 119:9 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to thy word.”
Proverbs 6:20-27 says, “My son, keep thy father’s commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee, and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life; to keep the from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adultress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? The answer to that question is no. You will get burned and that is what happened to Samson. He got burned in his bad relationships all because he did not listen to his momma and daddy.
Now, it must be understood that even though Samson messed up by getting involved in the wrong kind of relationships, God still loved and cared for him. God still used him for his glory. God still used him to defeat the Philistines. Likewise, God still loves us, and cares for us when we are in the wrong. He will still use us for his glory. But remember this, we still have to face the consequences of our actions when we do wrong. Just like Samson, who had to face the consequences of his actions for not listening to his parents concerning the relationships he was courting, we too will experience consequences in our lives when we stray away from God. But God is a forgiving God, and a merciful God who will forgive us our sins if we just repent and ask God for forgiveness. He will give us a second chance to do it right because He is plenteous in mercy and his love is everlasting. That is why we need to have Jesus Christ in our lives, and we need to stay in prayer and in His word so we can avoid getting involved in the wrong kind of relationships that will bring us down and ruin our reputation.
