Samson: Strong Muscles, Weak Morals
Bible background:
Judges 13-16 tell about Samson… is he a success or failure? His leadership follows three little known leaders. Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. He is followed by two final leaders before God anoints Israel’s first king. Many times the cycle of Israel’s faith is recorded with their fall, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. But here we simply see that they have fallen and are oppressed by the Philistines, then immediately we read about the birth of God’s deliverer with no repentance mentioned at all.
Samson gets more coverage than any other Judge in the book. Why? His life is an array of selfish, brutal, vengeful, immoral, and ungodly expressions. He’s got great strength on the outside, but no control on the inside.
Samson was to be a Nazirite all his life. See: Numbers 6:2-21
Nazirite vow directives were to be Samson’s rule of life. Directives he failed miserably at keeping. Yet God’s blessing of strength was with him. Not until he foolishly entrusted the secret of his final vow to Delilah and she shaved his hair did God leave him. Even then God later answered his final prayer and restored his strength for one last act of vengeance.
Samson’s evil intentions were guided by God’s purposes. Whatever you think about Samson’s character, you must agree that God gave him an amazing gift of physical strength. Sampson is the Hercules of the Old Testament with a gift of strength not his own. A gift God used even as Samson abused it.
Questions for reflection on the lesson:
What other special births can you think of in the Bible?
Describe Manoah’s I.Q.
What special gifts has God given you to serve him? How are you using them?
What was Samson’s greatest strength and weakness? What are yours?
Why did God stay with Samson in spite of his sinfulness? Will God do that today?
How did God use Samson’s weaknesses to accomplish his purposes?
What would have been some differences in this story if Samson had been faithful?
Complete this sentence: The most tragic thing in Samson’s life was that he…
Why did Samson make the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11?
Lesson:
I’ve been preaching for 20 years now and I don’t remember ever preaching a lesson about Samson. After reading Judges 13-16 over and over, I know why. It’s hard to believe that he made it into the faith list of Hebrews 11. Samson was no role model. He was gifted but not godly, a Dennis Rodman of the Old Testament. God is in the gift giving business. But with each gift comes certain responsibilities. A study of the life of Samson shows us an example of what not to do with the gifts God has blessed us with.
Let’s look at the story of Samson again. Judges 13 tells us that Israel has forsaken the faith again and God has given them over to the power of the Philistines. The Philistines remained the scourge of Israel until David finally conquered them. They were around in the time of Abraham and Isaac. They learned to work with iron and made weapons and agricultural tools. 1 Sam. 13: 19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened.
Israel has sinned and they are now suffering under the power of the Philistines. If Judges followed its normal pattern we should hear Israel moaning and groaning and finally crying out to the Lord for deliverance. But that is conspicuously missing this time. Israel is beginning to accept their situation and fit in with the pagan nations around them. They are accepting the Philistine rule over them and not calling on the Lord for deliverance. Judges has 7 cycles of Israel’s faith with four parts each time. Fall, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. Here in chapter 13 we see the last cycle. This time the repentance is missing. The story jumps right to the announcement of the birth of Samson, God’s deliverer. Though people still speak of the Lord, they are assimilating into the pagan neighborhood and failing in the divine directive to conquer the land. Take a lesson on this, church! We must never get so comfortable with the world around us that we fail to follow the divine directive Jesus has given us. When we cease to evangelize and conquer the territory of Satan for Jesus, we cease to exist as God’s holy people. The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah’s wife and announces Samson’s birth. Samson’s name means “sun” or “daylight.” He is to be a Nazirite. Not a Nazarene, which means someone from Nazareth. Nazirite is a covenant name. It stands for someone who is set apart for God. The Nazirite vow involved three main things: No drinking wine or even touching grapes. No haircuts. No touching anything dead. It was a calling of moral excellence. In most cases this was a voluntary vow for a set period of time. For Samson it was a lifetime vow.
He was to practice self-denial, separation, and sanctification. He failed at all three.
As the life of Samson unfolds we observe the fall of Sampson in phases. 14:1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 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." 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?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
The first thing we learn about Samson is that he has a weakness for women. He can tear a lion apart, kill a thousand men with a donkey jawbone, tear off and carry city gates several miles up a mountain. But he can’t pass up a cute skirt. Along with his weakness for women we see his disrespect for God’s word and his parents authority. God clearly commanded Israel not to intermarry with certain pagans. God also clearly commanded children to honor their parents. Samson demonstrates his disregard for both. He will suffer the consequences. God uses this. God does not abandon Him. From this we learn a lot about God’s mercy and grace as well as about Samson’s character.
Look at a second step down for Samson. 5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a kid though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 7 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson. 8 When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. 9 So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.
Samson goes alone to the vineyards of Timnah. He’s not supposed to be among the grapes. God gets his attention. A lion comes after him. God provides strength to kill the lion. Samson heads down to meet with his Philistine girlfriend. Notice the words of scripture: she looked good to Samson. He’s chasing after his own fleshly desires. Sounds like Hollywood, huh? On the way home he checks out the lion carcass and finds a bee- hive in it. He breaks another part of his Nazirite vow. He scrapes honey from the carcass and eats. He also gives some to his parents but doesn’t tell them about the lion.
God uses this too. It was an act of disobedience to his vow. He will face the consequences, but God in his mercy still does not abandon him.
Next Samson gets married. 10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. 11 And it came about when they saw him that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 Then Samson said to them, "Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. 13 "But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes." And they said to him, "Propound your riddle, that we may hear it." 14 So he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet." But they could not tell the riddle in three days. 15 Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, "Entice your husband, that he may tell us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?" 16 And Samson’s wife wept before him and said, "You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me." And he said to her, "Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?" 17 However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And it came about on the seventh day that he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have found out my riddle." 19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil, and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. 20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.
How would you like a marriage like that? Samson is out of control. This is not some church wedding. It’s a pagan wedding feast in Timnah! The wine capitol of Philistia. You can be sure Samson is drinking and partying along with all the rest. What would have happened if the story had ended here? Samson, Israel’s judge and leader! What are you doing? He’s joining the enemy! God actually rescues him from spiritual annihilation by the conflict brought about with the riddle. His marriage lasts a week. Do you see that one step toward the devil leads to a journey away from God’s will? Did God reject Samson here? No. Why? You tell me. God is gracious and merciful, not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.
But let’s continue: Later he goes back to Timnah to see his wife and finds she is married to his best man! Samson goes out and catches foxes and ties a torch between their tails and turns them loose in the Philistine’s fields and they burn their grain, vineyards and olive groves. The Philistines take vengeance on Samson’s wife and in-laws! So he got mad and slaughtered many of them. Then he retreated to Etam and hid in a cave. The Philistines attacked Judah and told them to turn Samson over to them. They did. 3000 Israelites showed up at Samson’s front door: 11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" He answered, "I merely did to them what they did to me." 12 They said to him, "We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said, "Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves." 13 "Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. 16 Then Samson said, "With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men." 17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. 18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. 20 Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
Wow! What an amazing sight. How many people do we have here today? Imagine 1000 dead bodies laying here in a heap. The riddler of Israel has been delivered again. God’s patience with this man is an amazing example to us. It’s too bad the story doesn’t end here. Samson is finally praying and God is supplying his need. This is the first time we read of him praying. It’s not a model prayer. But it’s a start. Then 20 years of leadership seem to follow. But the story is not over till it’s over. Samson’s eyes will get him in trouble again until the Philistines put them out. Look at the next verse: 16:1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. Not much has changed with Sampson. He’s flirting with the enemy again. And again God will deliver him.
You know, I get the strong impression that instead of this being the story of Samson, the deliverer for Israel, this is a story of God, the deliverer for Samson. In spite of Samson’s terrible immorality and character flaws, God sticks with him. He has broken two of his Nazirite vows. There’s only one left to break. He is hanging on by the hair of his head! There was no power in that hair. But it became the last straw in the process of Samson’s fall. And God even worked through that.
Samson’s final romance ends in disaster. “Delilah” means “weakness” or “brought low.” She was Samson’s final weakness who brings him down. The story of how she gets Samson to tell her about his hair is almost laughable if it were not so sad. Samson was blind a long time before the Philistines put out his eyes. God preserved this episode in Samson’s life. As I read it I always want to have a private conversation with Samson and explain a few things to him. Can’t he see what she is doing to him? This pictures well the folly of sin. He doesn’t trust her! He knows he can’t! She proves it over and over. But he tells her that he loves her. What does she love? Samson or silver? Delilah is just as twisted and trapped in sin as he is. They make quite a pair. As much as this story makes you hate Delilah, you’ve got to admit Samson had ample warning.
15 Then she said to him, "How can you say, ’I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength." 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. 17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man." 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. 20 Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I’ll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.
She learns the secret of his hair. She sets the trap. She puts him to sleep in her lap. She has it arranged with a barber. He sleeps through the hair cut, probably drunk. In come the Philistine thugs. She calls, “Samson, honey, the Philistines are upon you!” Samson thought… but he did not know… the Lord had left him. Those last five words are haunting. Then comes the blinding, binding and grinding.
I wonder how long Samson walked behind the pole pushing that grind stone around and around and around. I wonder what he thought about there in the darkness of his blindness. Days, weeks, months maybe? Then Dagon day comes. It’s the fish god feast! Samson is the prize of the party. He’s the central entertainment. Thousands came to celebrate and honor their idol for the capture of Samson their enemy. The temple must have been huge. Somehow the structure rested on two large pillars. They probably plan to end this celebration with Samson’s death. They would be right about that much, but Samson gives them more than they bargain for. God empowers him one last time. Samson’s life ends in a prayer. He dies a hero of Israel. His faith at the end is probably what won him the place in the hall of fame in Hebrews 11.
What does your faith story look like? Are you serving God’s purposes on purpose? Are you putting the gifts he has given you to work for him voluntarily? God wants to bless you. Be faithful to his call. Keep the vow you made to Jesus the Nazarene in baptism. Honor his word by following his will. Don’t wait. You may not have the final chance Samson had.
