It can happen to anyone.
Judges 13:1-16:31
The fuller the cup the more easily it is to spill the contents.
The higher the spiritual the greater the need for lowliness of walk before the God.
This morning we are going to take a look at the life of Samson.
Samson was a hero of Israel known for his great physical strength as well as his moral weakness. He was the last of the "judges," or military leaders, mentioned in the Book of Judges, Samson led his country in this capacity for about 20 years.
Samson lived in a dark period of Israelite history. After the generation of Joshua died out, the people of Israel fell into a lawless and faithless life. The author of the Book of Judges summarizes these times by declaring, "There was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The standard of Gods Word, His Law as handed down by Moses, was ignored.
Samson is a historic figure in the Bible---Samson's mighty physical feats are well-known. With his bare hands he killed a young lion that attacked him (Judges 14:5-6). He gathered 300 foxes (jackals; Judges 15:4, NEB) and tied them together, then sent them through the grain fields with torches in their tails to destroy the crops of the Philistines.
But in spite of his great physical strength Samson was a foolish man.
Another very important fact about Samson that people tend to forget was the fact that he was a Nazirite.
Nazirite--was a person who took a vow to separate from certain worldly things and to consecrate himself to God (Numbers 6:1-8). Among the Hebrew people anyone could take this vow; there were no tribal restrictions as in the case of the priest. Rich or poor, man or woman, master or slave-all were free to become Nazirites.
Nazirites did not withdraw from society and live as hermits; however, they did agree to follow certain regulations for a specified period of time. While no number of days for the vow is given in the Old Testament, Jewish tradition prescribed 30 days or a double period of 60 or even triple time of 90 to 100 days.
But there also was an exception to the rule—Three people are recorded in the in the Bible who were “Nazirites for life” or “perpetual Nazirites”-- Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. Before they were born, their vows were taken for them by their parents.
Once a person decided to make himself "holy to the Lord" (Numbers 6:8) for some special service, he then agreed to abstain from wine and other intoxicating drinks. This prohibition was so strict that it included grapes, grape juice, and raisins. Perhaps this was to guard the Nazirite from being controlled by any spirit other than God's (Proverbs 20:1; Ephesians 5:17-18).
While under the Nazirite vow, a person also refused to cut his hair, including shaving (Numbers 6:5). The purpose of this long hair was to serve as a visible sign of the Nazirite's consecration to the Lord (Numbers 6:7).
A Nazirite also refused to touch or go near a dead body because this would make him ceremonially unclean. The Nazirite could not even help to bury his own relatives. He could not even enter into the same house where a dead person’s body was.
The sad thing about Samson was that he seemed to be partially unconscious of the sacredness of his life. This was a major fatal flaw in his character as a servant in the walk of God.
His life was consecrated to God. Now what does that word consecrate mean?
Dedicated to a sacred purpose.
Just like Samson, when we become a Christian, our lives are consecrated to God and we shall see later, we can fall just like Samson did.
Samson forgot one important thing—his body was a temple--1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
It is so easy to forget that.
Samson's life was marred by his weakness for pagan women. As soon as he became of age, he fell in love with one of the daughters of the Philistines. He insisted on marrying her, in spite of his parents' objection (Judges 14:1-4). This was against God's law, which forbade intermarriage of the Israelites among the women of Canaan. On another occasion he was almost captured by the Philistines while he was visiting a prostitute in the city of Gaza.
Judges 16:1
Two Hebrew words are commonly used for prostitutes. One refers to priests and priestesses who performed sexual acts in the service of pagan gods (1 Kin. 14:24; Hos. 4:14). The other word refers to a common prostitute, such as the one Samson was consorting with.
Judges 16:4
Delilah was the third Philistine woman that Samson entangled himself with.
That is the story of Samson. That is the downfall of Samson. That is the big failure in his life. That is the weak point in his life—“he loved a woman.” No man falls suddenly into sin—he does it gradually.
The Philistines bribed Delilah to find out the key to his strength.
Judges16:5-20
She teased him until he finally revealed that the secret was his uncut hair, allowed to grow long in accord with the Nazirite law. While Samson slept, she called the Philistines to cut his hair and turned him over to his enemies. Samson became weak, not only because his hair had been cut but also because the Lord had departed from him (16:20).
Satan is doing everything that he can today to cause people to loose their strength. Samson’s strength was to be a secret, but she tricked him into divulging that secret. But Satan knows what your strength is this morning; he knows what my strength is this morning--- Nehemiah 8:10 For the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Our secret has been known to man since the creation—our strength is the joy of the Lord.
Just as with Samson---Satan wants to take away the source of our strength—our joy.
Psalms 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
David did not lose his salvation. He lost the joy of his salvation, and he wanted communion with God restored. For he found out, as the prodigal son found out, that there is not nearly as much fun in the far country as there is in the Father’s house.
Satan wants to interfere in every aspect of our life. He wants to get us to the point where we can’t worship God. The he starts doing things in hopes that we will be bitter toward God.
He attacks our health—our family---attacks our home life—attacks us financially. The he begins to break us spiritually—and he will take our song.
Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and song.
Judges 16:20
NIV reads I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
That’s kind of the way it is with Christians today---when a Christian finally realizes that he or she is in trouble and tries to shake free from Satan’s grip they realize then that their strength, their joy is gone—it has left them.
Satan will show Christians things that he thinks is wrong with their church, their family—their life and God. When he gets Christians to the point of doubt that is when he begins to take control.
Judges 16:21
But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes,
Christians that is exactly what Satan wants to do today, he to take away your strength, your joy of the Lord, he wants to take away you song, and blind to the things of God and get you to the point where you can not discern right from wrong.
