Text: Hebrews 11:32-34; Judges 14
Title: The Dichotomy of a Drifting Samson (Saint)! - Part 1
Proposition: Although Samson was predestined to be a deliverer of Israel, his life decisions caused him to drift away from the determined purpose and plan of God, into personal destruction. We will be doing a dichotomy = a step by step examination of how a saint drifts away from God!
Intro: You’ll remember last week I pointed out the parallels between Samson and a Christian:
a) Both product of miraculous births
b) Both have a divine mission and calling
c) Both are empowered by the Spirit
d) Both can experience a drift and a departure!
A primary purpose of the book of Hebrews is to warn us against this:
Hebrews 2:1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. -NIV
The text we have been working from to examine a life of faith:
Hebrews 11 (NIV) 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
And as I have pointed out to you before: that though the writer of Hebrews does not point out their faults, flaws, and failures in this chapter, the bible as a whole is not reluctant to do so. It paints a honest picture of the people recorded in this chapter of the successes, their mighty exploits, as well as their failures. It paints a picture of them proverbially speaking with warts and all!
And another thing that I pointed out in past weeks that the primary purpose of the book of Hebrews can really be expressed in this one verse which is recorded in chapter 2…
Hebrews 2:1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. -NIV
The consequences of drifting can be catastrophic!
Hebrews 6: 4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.- NIV
That is why we should seriously heed this warning!
Hebrews 3: 12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.- NASB
So let’s look at how this could happen by examining the life of Samson, The bible tells us that Old Testament history is written for this purpose:
1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Let’s look at…
The Dichotomy of a Drifting Samson (Saint)!
By first looking at….
I. Samson’s Conception & Childhood!
There are ninety-six verses in the Book of Judges concerning the life of Samson, twenty-four of those verses deal with his birth.
Why does the Bible say so much about the birth of Samson? Perhaps it is to emphasize the point that Peter makes about all believers…
2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. -NIV
So when you consider Samson – you have to consider first of all..
A) His privilege’s!
1. He was born with a “spiritual silver spoon” in his mouth!
Judges 13: 2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.
1. His birth was - Declared by an Angel!
a) Putting him in the “elite” of redemptive history!
b) The “Mount Rushmore” of the faith!
i. Abraham and Sarai - Isaac
ii. Zachariah and Elizabeth – John the Baptist
iii. Joseph and Mary - Jesus
iv. Manoah and his wife -Samson
B) His protocol - The official procedure or system of governing his life?
Judges 13:4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5a You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb.
Judges 13:7b the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.'?”
Numbers 6:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite, 3 they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4 As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.
1. Point?
a) Grapes = the pleasures of this world.
Ecclesiastes 10:19a A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry;
Numbers 6: 5 “‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.
b) An outward symbol of his devotion to God!
1. His birth was - Declared by an Angel!
2. He was to be completely – Devoted to God!
3. He was - Divinely appointed by God!
Judges 13:5b He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
a) Deliverer!
4. He was – Greatly favored by God!
Judges 13:24a The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew….
A) Grew, ???????????? (way·yi?·dal)
1. To grow, become great or important, promoted, made powerful, praiseworthy
2. To grow up, to become great
3. To do great things Like Jesus!
Like Jesus he….
Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Judges 13:24b and the Lord blessed him,
b) Blessed Him - "To endue someone with power for success, prosperity, longevity, etc."
i. He is the only judge of which it is said “the Lord blessed him,” truly God’s favor was upon him in a very special way.
5. He was - Divinely Inspired and Empowered by God!
Judges 13:25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol
a) Stir -?????? -pa`am -to thrust, impel, urge, push
Judges Notes G.Bush 1852 –The metaphor is the repeated and somewhat violent strokes of the workman with his hammer. It implies a peculiar urgency, an impelling influence on the part of the Spirit, which made its subject invincible.
b) Point?
1. He was so greatly empowered by God in those moments, he could not possibly be defeated, by anyone or anything!
2. Samson performed superhuman feasts of strength unparalleled in history!
Ok now let’s look at…
II. Samson’s Bad Choices!
William Law- Nothing harms or destroys us but the wrong use of that liberty of choice which God has entrusted to us.
Why is that?
Zig Ziglar - Every choice you make has an end result.
The bible is replete with reminders of that!!
Deuteronomy 30:19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live, -NIV
Joshua 24: 14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” -NIV
A) Particular choices of Samson?
1. Choices that caused a drift, departure, and an inevitable death!
And here is what I want you to see…
B) Progression of the choices of Samson?
1. By that I mean, step by step, decision by decision, he drifted, further and further away from God!
C) Path?
1. He went down …..
Judges 14:1 Samson went down to Timnah….
a) Problem with that?
b) THE WORD “DOWN” OCCURS 1,125 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, AND IS OFTEN AN INDICATION OF WHERE A MAN IS HEADED SPIRITUALLY.
i. “Abram went down into Egypt…” (Genesis 12:10).
ii. “Judah went down…saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite” (Genesis 38:1-2).
iii. “Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, (Jonah 1:3).
1. Firstly - He went down (he was headed in the wrong direction)
2. Secondly - He went down …..to the WRONG place!
Judges 14:1a Samson went down to Timnah….
a) Timnah? What is wrong with Timnah?
i. Timnah was only four miles from his hometown of Zorah.
a. True, yet although Timnath, was only four miles, a short distance physically from Zorah; it was spiritually it was a completely different world
ii. Timnah was Philistine territory!
iii. Timnah was the place of Israel’s enemies!
b) Problem with that?
i. He did not go down to Timnah to fight the Philistines
ii. He went down to Timnah to fraternize with the Philistines!
a. To associate with or form a friendship!
1 Corinthians 15: 33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” - NIV
iii. When Samson went down to Timnah, it was all down-hill for Samson from there!
3. Third bad choice - He went down, to the WRONG place, looking for the WRONG thing!
Judges 14:1b and saw there a young Philistine woman.
A) Were he saw -????????? (way·yar)
1. To see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
a) When he was considering marriage, he went to the wrong place to look for a wife!
4. Fourth bad choice – Because he went down, to the WRONG place, looking for the WRONG thing, he drew the WRONG conclusion, because he used the WRONG criteria!
Judges 14:2 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.”
a) That was the custom in those days.
i. The parents of a son would ask the parents of a daughter for her hand in marriage.
ii. They would then pay a dowry for her hand in marriage.
5. Fifth bad choice was– Because he went down, to the WRONG place, looking for the WRONG thing, and therefore drawing the WRONG conclusion, because he used the WRONG criteria. when WARNED, refused to heed the RIGHT advice!
Judges 14:3 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?”
a) Point?
1. While Samson needed his parents to arrange his wedding, he did not want their advice concerning it!
2. What does this reveal?
a) Disrespect for parents!
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.-NIV
b. Disregard for God!!
c) The WARNING against marrying an “unbeliever,” is one to the CLEAREST and most CONSISTANT teachings in the entire bible!!
a. Old Testament:
Deuteronomy 7:1 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. -NIV
b. New Testament:
1 Corinthians 7:39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. -NIV
2 Corinthians 6: 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will live with them
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.”
17 Therefore,
“Come out from them
and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.”
18 And,
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
3. Samson completely ignored ALL THIS!
Judges 14:3b But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”
6. Sixth bad choice was– Although he went down, to the WRONG place, looking for the WRONG thing, and drew the WRONG conclusion, when WARNED, refused to heed the RIGHT advice, because he was using the WRONG criteria!
Judges 14:3b Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”-NIV
Judges 14:3b But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”-ESV
Judges 14:3b But Samson told his father, “Get her for me, for she is pleasing to my eyes.”-BSB
Judges 14:3b they (His parents) asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.”-NLT
a) Problem?
1. Samson was basing his decision on mere physical appearance!
2. There is not even a record of his even meeting her!!
b) Point?
i. Samson was defying the first principle of “living by faith!”
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.-NIV
ii. Samson had an “Eye,” “I” Problem!
c) Problem?
i. What was Samson giving into?
ii. By and large, all sins are categorized in the bible in one of three ways:
1 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. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
a. The lust of the flesh is the desires that arise out of our sinful nature.
i) Flesh - s???- sarx
a) The sensuous nature of man, "the animal nature"
b) The earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and is therefore prone to sin and oppose God.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.-KJV
b. The lust of the eyes- is the desire to possess what we see or to have those things which have visual appeal.
i) The lust of the eyes is that temptation to look upon things we shouldn’t look upon or..
ii) To cast our eyes upon something with desire or pleasure, that God has told us not to look upon in such a way.
iii) In Scripture, we see that the eyes are the primary organ by which temptation to sin come from!
c. The pride of life - The Greek could be read literally as “the pretension of human life.”
i) The pride of life is anything that is “of the world,” that leads to arrogance, ostentation, pride in self, presumption, and boasting.
Genesis 3: 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, (the lust of the flesh) (and that it was pleasant to the eyes, (the lust of the eyes) and a tree to be desired to make one wise, (the pride of life) she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.-KJV
Anyway…Samsons’ downfall….
D) Progression?
Judges 14:1-2a One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye.
1. I SEE HER
Judges 14:2b I want to marry her. Get her for me – NLT
2. I WANT HER!
Judges 14:3 Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” – NLT
3. Get her for me!
E) Pitfall?
1. Samson primarily had an “Eye,” “I” problem!
I don’t want to get to far into this story, but…. when this marriage doesn’t work out his would be father in law said to him..
Judges 15:2 “But look, her younger sister is even more beautiful than she is. Marry her instead.” - NLT;
Judges 16:1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. - NIV
F) Penalty?
Judges 16:21a 21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes - NIV
a) Is this the ultimate penalty for repeatedly yielding to the lust of the eyes?
b) No can be a greater penalty!
Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.- ESV
No wonder Job said…
Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin? -ESV
