It’s the first Sunday of the year, so I feel kind of like I’m the opening act, getting you all warmed up
I’m also aware that a lot of us look to the start of a new year with hopefulness and with desires to make changes, perhaps with resolutions and desires to accomplish great things. Sometimes we’re thinking, “this will be my year”. This year I will be the hero of my own story. So the life of Samson came to my mind. He is one of those bible characters who seems to have stepped out of a comic book. A real action hero with a story filled with drama, tragedy and adventure.
Let’s read a short passage from his story. Judges 15:11-20
Some have compared Samson with Hercules. There’s actually a lot of similarities. They both had super human strength, they both faced trials and challenges, they both had riddles in their stories, they both had struggles with love and they both had movies made about them.
I actually did some research to see which story came first. Well it turn out that the context of the story of Heracles, that’s his real name, was supposed to have lived during the classical greek age of around 1600 BC. But the actual stories themselves were not written until between 500 BC and 50 BC by Euripides and Aristophanes who made no claim that the stories were anything but myth. On the other hand, Samson is known to have lived at about 1100 BC at about the same time as the Prophet Eli. The stories of the book of Judges were probably written a hundred years later during the reign of King David.
It’s really interesting that most people only give a cursory look at his story, as if it were a screen play for an action movie. For example, I want to show you the trailer for the actual Samson and Delilah movie from 1949 starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr.
Show Trailer
Kind of cool to see how special effects and artwork has changed in 66 years. Also interesting how the subject matter of what is considered entertaining has changed.
Have you ever considered what a hero looks like? Does he look like Rocky Balboa? Does he look like Luke Skywalker? Is anybody old enough to remember John Wayne? Is it measured by being the mightiest? Is it the prettiest? The most successful? Are they always the winners? It seems that in our society, we are pushed to measure ourselves and others in these ways.
Is it any wonder that we still have trouble looking past the color of our skin? What can we expect when we refuse to note the content of our character as the true measure of a person? When we are unable to look past shallow sound bytes, fashion sense and athletic ability to test what a person is really made of.
Here’s an example; did you notice the beautiful Hedy Lamarr in the trailer? She’s the one who played Delilah in the movie. She made 25 movies in her life time and was known as “the most beautiful girl in the world.” At 19, way back in 1933 she starred nude in a film called Ecstasy. She was a Hungarian Jew but an Austrian Fascist fell in love with her and they were married. He brought her around to business meetings as “arm candy”. This guy was actually an arms dealer and sold weapons to Nazis. He didn’t think there was anything else to Hedy but her beauty so he let her listen to private business dealings. Later Hedy was quoted as saying, “Any girl can be glamorous; all you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”
After 4 years, she thoroughly despised what he was doing and escaped to London where she was able to eventually sign a contract with MGM studios.
Here’s the really interesting part, in 1942 she received a patent for an invention. She invented a technology intended as a sophisticated anti-jamming device for torpedoes. Sadly, it was never used against the Nazis, but it came to light during the Cuban Missile Crisis and then started to receive extensive use in military technology.
Today, the technology she invented called Spread Spectrum or “frequency hopping” is actually part of the backbone of all cellular and wi-fi networks. She never made a penny from it because the patent expired before wireless technology became popular. She died relatively broke in Orlando 15 years ago.
All the fame and notoriety she received because of her appearance and yet she had an amazing mind that went relatively unnoticed in her lifetime.
I think Samson has a similar story in some ways. Let’s take a closer look.
There are great snippets in the story, that really do make a exciting story, but I want to focus on three specific times where God literally stepped in to work directly in his life. In all the things that happened and the mighty acts in his life, it’s fascinating if you take notice that there are only three times where it says that “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him”. I think that’s significant. Each of those times God was talking to him. Each of those times, I believe God was asking him something.
His story is found in Judges 13 to 16. Chapter 13 is the story of his birth and how he was dedicated as a Nazirite for all his life. Chapter 16 is the story of the actions that led up to his death. The bulk of his life is in chapters 14 and 15. Really the first scene in his life is Samson the young man looking for a wife.
Scripture says he saw her in Timnah. Now the interesting thing is that Timnah was about 3 miles to the west of Zorah where he lived. Timnah was a Philistine city and you got to wonder why he was looking for a wife there. On the other hand, Jerusalem was about 5 or 6 miles to the east in the opposite direction.
So he’s off in the wrong direction and he’s looking for a girl. Scripture says he saw a woman. That’s all! He saw her. Didn’t talk, didn’t “friend” her or IM or tweet or anything. He runs back home and tells his folks, “get her for me, she’s the one I want”. His parents remember the circumstances of his birth, they are well aware of the commitments that were made as a Nazirite and that the people of Israel were not to mix with the people of Canaan. They try to suggest that he may want to look within his own community but he wants nothing with that. Later on, when he actually meets with her and talks with her, he reports back; “She is right in my eyes”. This is actually a phrase that is very similar to something that is repeated many times in the book of Judges. As a matter of fact, 10 times in the book a phrase like “the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of god” OR “everyone did what was right in their own eyes”.
This is the kind of relativism which is so dominant in our culture today. By Relativism, I mean, that there is a prevalent belief that there are really no absolutes. If you believe something, then that’s OK and that is true for you. And I believe something else and that is Truth for me. The problem with this is that a World without values is a world without value. I love what John Piper said; “Relativism poses as humble by saying: ‘We are not smart enough to know what the truth is – of if there is any truth.’ It sounds humble. But look carefully at what is happening. It’s like saying: ‘I am not smart enough to know which person here is my master – or if I even have a master.’ The result is that I don’t have a master and I can therefore be my own master. This is NOT humility. This is the essence of pride.”
Actually, Samson is very relatable to our culture today. He was kind of a spoiled young man, who focused on appearance and style and believed everyone should just do their own thing.
So despite his parents’ concerns, he takes them down to Timnah to see this girl. On the way he passes this beautiful valley area. Today, there’s a natural park there. Back then, it was a vineyard. Do you find it curious that although he was supposedly traveling with his parents he ended up in the vineyard by himself? Well, there’s a reasonable explanation for that. Remember that he was dedicated as a Nazirite. What were the requirements of this kind of dedication? You can read about it in Numbers 6 but they break down to this: 1. He can’t touch any dead body, not even of an animal. 2. He can’t eat or drink any product of grapes; that’s grapes, raisins, juice or wine. And 3. He can’t cut his hair.
By the way, Samuel, who was mentored by Eli just 6 miles away in Jerusalem was also dedicated a Nazirite. They were certainly both living at the same time though it’s hard to say what their comparative ages were.
Scripture doesn’t give any commentary on why he was in a vineyard, because it was fairly obvious to anyone who understood their ways and culture that he had no business there. It’s like an alcoholic going to a liquor store or a glutton going to an all-you-can-eat place. It’s not necessarily wrong, but you’re not doing yourself any favors.
So he’s strolling through the vineyard, all alone, doing nothing wrong when suddenly he sees a young lion charging and roaring at him. This is not a cub by the way, the word here represents a full-grown animal.
And at this time is the first time we see that the “Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him.” Now if the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon me while a lion is about to attack I believe I would rush upon the exit.
Did you notice what is not said here? It doesn’t say that the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him with strength or valor or for protection. As a matter of fact, none of the three times that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson does it give any indication of the intent of the Spirit. Yet so many believers have read these stories and automatically assumed that the strength of Samson came from the indwelling of the Spirit. I’m not sure I believe that’s the case. Certainly, if God wants to give somebody super human strength for special moments, he can do that. He probably HAS done that. But how does that explain all the other occasions in Samson’s life where he showed super human strength WITHOUT the specific indwelling of the Spirit? How about others who made the Nazirite vow? Samuel lived at the same time as Samson, he didn’t get super strength. John the Baptist was a Nazirite, he didn’t have super strength either.
Samson was just made strong. God made him that way. Have you ever watched the Strongest Man competition? Some people are just made different. Did the Spirit of the Lord come upon Samson when he killed single handedly an entire troop of Philistines who burned down his wife’s home? No. How about when he escaped from Gaza by literally lifting up the gates of the city and carrying them on his back up the hill? No. How about when he tore down the temple by toppling the main load bearing posts of the entire structure? No, look at the passages and you will see that there is absolutely no indication that God had anything to do with any of those feats of strength.
I believe the Spirit of the Lord rushing upon him had nothing to do with his strength. I believe that God in his infinite grace and mercy was reaching out to Samson as he does with each of us who are His. I’m not saying that God sent the lion, but I am saying that AFTER the lion showed up, God showed up. I am saying that when Samson was facing his lion, God was there. I think God was there and he was tapping Samson on the shoulder. And I think Samson shrugged him away and said, “Not now God, I got a lion to take care of”. Here’s the thing, God is always there for us when the lions are charging. But we have a problem, a problem of perception. We perceive the lion and we perceive that our problem is that a lion is about to eat us. And God says, “No, that’s not your problem at all.” And God is tapping our shoulders and if we are able to look past the lions, if we are able to trust in Him who can close the mouth of any lion… by the way, Samson surely knew the story of Daniel, if we are able to trust him long enough to take our eyes off the problem in front of us, God will look in our eyes and say, “child, your problem is not the lion, your problem is you’re headed in the wrong direction”.
I believe the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him to convict him. To remind him of what he had been taught; to reach out to him in the midst of his struggles. I believe God was saying; “Samson, are you headed in the right direction?”
There’s another reason I believe there is more going on here than God helping some guy deal with a wild animal. Look at what Samson did. He didn’t drive the lion away like Tarzan would do. He didn’t merely kill the lion. No, scripture says he literally tore it apart like a butcher would do with a little goat. That’s some excessive violence isn’t it? What was driving that kind of anger? Do you remember that he’s not supposed to touch any dead animals? He didn’t just kill this thing, he tore it apart! There’s some major touching going on there. But here’s the bigger issue. He’s all done butchering this lion, I suppose he’s gotten himself cleaned up somehow and he goes back to join his parents. He says NOTHING! If you killed a lion with your bare hands, would you keep it yourself? Heck no, it would be all over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
Who would hide the fact that he had killed a lion? Only somebody who was more afraid of the bigger lion that was still roaring in his own thoughts and heart and mind and soul!
It’s so hard to acknowledge that often we are prisoners of our own thoughts and feelings. That we’re prisoners of our own desires and sin. But that’s not the last page. God was just getting started with Samson, and he’s not done with you either.
One of the hardest things for people who are not of the faith to understand is that God speaks to His people. And one of the most important aspects of life for a Jesus Disciple is learning to hear God’s voice.
I think a big part of the reason is because we are inundated by messages of DO. Everything around us is screaming DO, EXPERIENCE, WORK HARD, PLAY HARD. Earn your way. Prove yourself. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing. But here’s the problem. For Christians, our life in Christ does not begin with DO. Our life in Christ begins with DONE. He’s done it all. There’s nothing else we need to do. What we need is to hear and to be.
God was poking our man Sammy on the shoulder, but he wasn’t listening. So let’s recap the story.
He’s going to Timnah in Philistine country to find himself a wife. He sneaks into a vineyard on his own. He gets attacked by a lion. He tears the lion into pieces. He hides this from his parents and continues on his way.
By the way, here’s a little spoiler for you, a little peak that in the end, he turns out ok. If he didn’t tell anybody about the lion, how did the story get in the book? At some point, we don’t see it now, but at some point he’s going to tell these stories and he’s going to be completely honest about how messed up he was. At some point, these stories will be used to teach some lessons. It’s not hopeless folks.
He meets the girl and gets his parents to broker the marriage. Some time later, maybe as much as 6 months he’s returning to Timnah and again sneaks into the same vineyard without his parents. He goes to look at the lion’s carcass and finds something very unique. There’s bees swarming around the carcass and when he looks closely, they have created a honeycomb and there’s real honey there.
Now that’s odd. I’ve done some research on this because I was interested. Yes, it’s possible for bees to make hives in a carcass, but it’s not very common. Actually, it’s pretty uncommon especially if the carcass is somewhat fresh. They prefer dry areas to build. Remember, this wasn’t in a dessert, this was in a vineyard so it’s relatively moist. Is it possible for a bee hive to be made so quickly. Actually, yes. Bees can produce about 3 pounds of honey as quickly as a week, much more than that in 6 months. And a carcass can decompose in 3 months, especially one that was torn in pieces.
So this thing he saw was not necessarily miraculous, but it was certainly odd and uncommon. This is the kind of thing most people would stop and go “hmmm”. What does Samson do, he shrugs and scraps the honey off the carcass and walks away eating it. Now remember, he’s STILL not supposed to be touching dead things and he’s eating honey that he literally scraped off a carcass with his own hands! He walks up to his parents with his hands all sticky and honey dripping from his mouth and they say, “What’s that?” Oh, just some honey I found. So he gives it to them as well. That’s like a parent who finds his kids eating a special kind of brownie that sometimes teenagers make and the kid gives it to his parents to eat as well. Are you getting the picture?
They arrive in town. Everybody’s been talking about it. It was the talk of the town. The country bumpkin from Dry Prong, Louisiana (yes, there is such a place, been there, done that) this country kid shows up in Princeton and he’s marrying the Dean’s daughter.
So when he gets there, they tell him, “Hey dude, we want you to feel welcome, so we worked out 30 groomsmen for you.” And of course, these guys are all stuck up Princeton dudes. It’s kind of cool that today when you call somebody a Philistine, you generally mean they are some kind of barbarian, but back then they were the cream of the crop. So we’re not told any details of what happened, but next thing you know, Samson is challenging them with a riddle that’s absolutely impossible to break because it’s based on his own personal experience with the bees.
Not only that, but he places a wager that was incredible. He bets them a full change of linen clothing; linen that was handmade; one for each of the 30. It’s hard to understand the comparison because clothing of that type and in that time was only for the wealthy. Normal people just wouldn’t consider the need to have clothing of this type. In today’s economy and culture, it would be similar to the expense of buying a new BMW for each man. It’s easy to understand why the men took this very seriously.
Did you see the riddle? “Out of the eater came something to eat, out of the strong came something sweet.” How could they ever guess the answer? After 4 days they have no clue and they threaten Samson’s wife to burn down her house. So she begs and nags Samson, manipulates him any way she can. It’s clear there’s no relationship because it doesn’t occur to her to say she’s being threatened. So as soon as she knows the answer, she reveals the secret. Of course, the 30 men gloat on knowing the answer and at that moment, Samson knows not only that he lost a bet he has no way to pay, but also that he was betrayed by his wife. That possibly he’ll never be accepted by these Philistines.
At that moment of brokenness and humiliation we have the second time that the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. And again, as with the last time, Samson wasn’t told that the way he should honor a bet that he made was to mug a bunch of rich guys, but that’s what he did. He goes to Ashkelon, a larger city about another 10 miles away on the coast. After he’s stolen the clothes and left mayhem behind him he pays his debts and returns back to his home in Zorah without seeing his wife. The scripture says that he went home in “hot anger”. If there was any doubt, the word used here is a clear indication that this is not a righteous anger. This is not about the people of Israel, this is personal. This is about feeling cheated.
What’s more, he knew he was wrong. Later on, his actions have major consequences and he says, “this time I will be justified when I do them harm”. So why is he angry? Let’s look at his recent choices; He went to Philistine territory to find a wife; He picked the girl; He decided to marry her; He prepared the party; He thought up the riddle; He made the bet; He named the price; He was the only one who knew the secret; He gave the secret away.
The Spirit was God was asking; “Samson, are you getting the message?”
Back at the vineyard, he saw a quick snack of honey but didn’t catch the symbol in the message. Israel was brought to the land of Canaan an unclean land but a land filled with “milk and honey”. He might’ve heard God remind him that though his tribe is a small tribe, but just as God can lead bees to create honey inside a carcass, he can bless his people in this unclean and corrupt land.
Over at his father-in-law’s house, he didn’t see the danger he was putting his wife’s family in. He didn’t want to accept the consequences of his own choices. He figured that because God had blessed him, character and integrity have nothing to do with him. As a result he caused a world of hurt around him and yet God is still speaking. God is saying, “Samson, are you getting the message?”
You may have doubts, fears and worries in your life. You may regret some life choices or consequences you have faced. But please hear this; don’t ever doubt God’s willingness and ability to speak into your life where ever you end up.
So let’s skip ahead to the third and last time God’s Spirit rushes upon Samson.
I’ll let you read up on the story on your own time. But Samson is now tied up. He was tied up by his own countrymen. He’s got 3,000 angry Israelites who are turning him in to the hands of the enemy. By the way, what a contrast with David; David had an old grumpy prophet who stuck a boney finger in his face and said, “You are the sinner”. And David repented sincerely. Samson has 3,000 men who are trying to hold him accountable but he’s not having it. On top of that, he’s got an army of 1,000 Philistines who are rushing and roaring at him. How did he get to this low point? He’s made mistakes. He’s sinned. He’s been hot-headed and selfish. He’s hurt people around him and God is saying, “Samson, are you fighting the right battle?”
I mean look at the circumstances. He’s got 3,000 Israelites on one side of him and 1,000 Philistines on the other side. What does he do? He picks up the jawbone of DEAD donkey, and starts fighting on his own. He wins the battle, but that’s not necessarily an indication of God’s will or his pleasure. If somebody robs a bank and gets away with it, they can be pretty sure it’s not because God was helping them. Scripture tells us that every Believer is indwelt with the Spirit. We are sealed with Spirit, we have been since the time God first touched us. Yet if we’re honest, we know we sin and make mistakes. The indwelling of the Spirit is not a guarantee that you won’t make mistakes, just the opportunity to work in agreement with God.
So let’s look at the aftermath of the battle. Once again, we have Samson’s own words. “with the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps”. Did you notice that the battle takes place at somewhere called “Lehi”? Do you know what that means? Lehi is the word for Jawbone. It’s not until verse 17 that we learn that actually Samson named this place after the battle. The name stuck, because 100 years later when somebody is writing the story, the place still has the same name it’s just been shortened. The name Samson gave this place is “Ramath-lehi”. This name can be a few things; it can mean “Jawbone Heights” or “Jawbone Throw” but my favorite and probably the most accurate is “Jawbone Hill”. Can you see the heap of bodies that Samson left piled up? Possibly at some point they piled some dirt on top of the bodies.
As soon as he finishes speaking, he throws away the jawbone. That’s not the act of someone proud of their achievement or of a warrior celebrating his victory. He’s looking at this blood-drenched unclean thing in his hands and he comes to himself and is disgusted with what he’s doing. He throws the bone away, he’s bone tired and weary and suddenly just so thirsty.
Can you sense God has been saying, “Samson, are you done yet?” There’s three details that help us see that something important is happening.
First, Samson finally comes to the end of himself. Finally he turns to God. Did you catch that? This is the first time in his story that we are told that Samson prays. How is that possible? All that he’s done at this point, all the decisions, all the deaths? This is the man chosen to be Judge of the Tribe of Dan and yet this is the first time we’re told he prays for anything. This is significant, not only because he’s finally praying, but because the content of his prayer. The first thing he does is to acknowledge that he was “granted” salvation. That’s not the kind of humility we’re used to from this guy.
Second, this is the first time that we see God actually interceding himself. Up to now, he has rushed upon Samson with the Spirit but has not interceded directly. Now scripture says that he opened a gap at Lehi and water gushed out. This is not something that Samson would easily forget. This is what God did for Moses.
The final detail that is telling is the name his gave this place after God causes a spring to appear. He calls is “En-hakkore”. This is another play on words that is very telling. The root word “kore” means calling out and the prefix “ha” means someone else is doing the calling. The first part of the name comes from the word “ayin” which has two meanings depending on the context; it can mean “spring” or it can mean “eye”. So the name of this place means two things; “Spring of the One who Called” and it also means “Eye of the One who Called”. The one who gave him to drink is the one who looks upon him and is calling him. It kind of reminds us of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman just a few miles away from this spot about a thousand years later. “If you would ask, I would give you to drink from a living water, and you would never thirst again.”
God was ready to fill his thirst, not just physical thirst but that deep down soul weary thirst that comes from hitting your head against our failures, our stubbornness our stupidity.
Finally Samson is ready to start. Now don’t miss this because this is the real heart of the story, this is the reason why Samson is mentioned in Hebrews 11 as one of the heroes of the faith. It’s not because of the hair, not because of the lion or the riddle, not because of the jawbone or even for destroying the temple of Dagon. The reason he’s listed as a hero of the faith is because of the next verse. It says simply, “he judged Israel for 20 years”.
A few months of craziness and reckless living fills two chapters because God is using his life to teach us. On the other hand, 20 years of faithful service gets only one verse not because it’s unimportant or insignificant but because that’s exactly what he was supposed to do. He was fulfilling his purpose. For 20 years he lived among his people, he loved them, he served them, he guided them. He prepared them for the kingdom that was to come.
THIS is the stuff heroes are made from. Don’t be seduced by the bigger and better. Go sit on your Jawbone Hill, we all have them. Ask God to fill your thirst, ask Him to guide you and be ready to be astounded for how simple his calling on you will be. He’s not looking for incredible acts of sacrifice or heroics. HE’s done it ALL! There’s nothing left for you to do, but to live humbly sitting in his Grace.
Here at the top of a new year, what a great time to really consider your purpose, your calling. Because here’s the most important thing to learn from Samson, his story is not really that different from our own.
Here’s one final word of caution from God. A life of service does NOT mean protection from future sin or disgrace. It does not exempt you from consequences nor release you to selfish living.
