Intro. FINDING NEMO
Dad, Marlin, warns Nem: don’t go to drop off (he does); don’t go to boat(he does); don’t touch boat -- he does ... and is captured!
-shows the consequences for disobedience and toying with temptation
Audience: "You should have listened to your dad Nemo"
-in Samsom you wonder if God is thinking the same as Marlin -- "Don’t do that Samson" ... only to have Samson push the boundaries and cross the line again and again.
-Reader: "Samson, you’d better be careful or you’re going to get into trouble."
CHAPTER 16 -- Samson gets caught
RECAP:
-Israel ruled by Philistines
-prohecy and birth of Samson -- "Nazarite" -- don’t touch anything dead, drink fermented drink or get a haircut
-supernatural strength of Samson -- kills lion, then 30, then a town, then 1000 --- all due to the "Spirit of God"
throughout the narrative of Samson the one thing that stands out is that he is a hopelessly flawed character that God never seems to give up on. - he is proud, lustful, violent, vengeful
OUTLINE
Samson in Gaza (v.1-3)
-Samson basically has the attitude that he is indestructible
-he is so confident; he pretty much is flaunting his strength
Samson and Delilah (v.4-22)
"How can you say ’I love you’...?" -- does he really love her? He may have thought so, but was it really love?
The fact is neither really loved the other, but are using each other -- trying to advance themselves through the other
cp. Why we want not just a girl or boy friend, but an attractive one, or successful; or someone we can control or someone who will take care of us, or who needs us -- somehow enhances who we are; useful to us
We often pass over someone who would actually be very good for us; someone who could be an ideal companion and great friend, simply because he or she is not attractive enough, successful enough, over weight
WHY DOES SAMSON TELL DELILAH HIS SECRET?
cp. Superman telling Lex Luther about chryptonite.
Sure there was the persistant nagging; sure she was hot and they were in love
But surely he would have suspected something!
-was he so insane or deluded or in denial or overcome with desire?
What was going on in his mind?
What were the vows of the Nazarite? -- no barber, no booze, no bodies (dead) -- "set apart"
Q: Had he broken any of these vows before? Yes! He touched a dead lion, as well as the jawbone of a dead donkey. We can assume he drank at the premarriage party (which was the main thing done after all!).
Q: did he lose his strength then? Well ... no.
So why does Samson tell Delilah?
ANSWER: He believes he will keep his strength although he loses his hair.
-it does not say that “he did not know his hair was gone” but “he did not know the Lord had left him”. He must have known, the moment he woke, that his hair was gone, yet he assumed that his strength would have still been there. And why not?
So the answer to why he told Delilah is this--he did not really believe that his hair or his Nazirite vow was really the source of his strength. He had come to believe that his strength was simply his, that no matter what he did or how he lived he would not lose it. The “web of self-deception”, then was not just psychological, but theological. Samson was unable to see how dependent he was on God’s grace. He had come to see his strength as an inalienable right, not a gift of God’s mercy. He had a view of God that was “magical”, and idolatrous. -- Tim Keller
WHAT WAS THE SECRET TO SAMSON’S STRENGTH?
Philistines: Magic -- battle it with their own
Samson: Something that was inherantly his; by right. He was special.
cp. Why people believe they should have a blessed life; problem-free; go to heaven.
ANSWER: He had relationship with God. -- "the Lord LEFT him" = the Lord was WITH him previously
-loss of relationship is the ultimate consequence of sin -- leads to ruin
Lessons:
Don’t mistake faith in self with faith in God. -- very difficult to discern when things are going well
-success blinds us to our dependence
Don’t settle for religion without relationship. -- lead to ruin, as it did for Samson
WHY DOES THE LORD LEAVE HIM NOW?
-he is making a mockery out of his Nazirite vows
-He chose Delilah over God.
Lesson: Judgment is inevitable.
Q: Would you even know it if the Lord left you?
WHY DIDN’T THE LORD LEAVE HIM SOONER?
ANSWER : Because he is amazingly gracious and patient!
The amazing thing is that the Spirit doesn’t leave Samson until he cuts his hair - the last of the vows that Samson had broken
Some: Think God has left you because of some sin or failure or backsliding
-as if God is anxious to rid himself of you; just watching and waiting for you to screw up one last time
His kindness leads to repentance. -- our salvation is dependent not on our goodness but on God’s grace
-he is slow to punish and quick to forgive
Samson’s Final Victory and Death
What is Samson thinking while grinding away in prison? - forgotten; regret, shame
-“How could I be so stupid?” “How did it come to this?”
What if someone would have told him: “Samson, your greatest victory is yet to come. God is going to use you like never before.”
WHY DOES THE LORD RETURN TO SAMSON?
-signs that he did: hair grows back, strength returns, God listens to his prayer
1. To show Samson (and us) his faithfulness and grace.
-promise: Nazirite till death
2. To show the Philistine and Israelites (and all) that he alone is God.
-Real showdown: The Lord vs. Dagon
“The Lord is God”
-in mocking Samson they are really mocking Samson’s God
v.23-24 - it is no coincidence that Samson’s greatest triumph is in the temple of the Philistine god: Dagon.
In the collapse of the temple and Dagon, the Lord was demonstrating that all worship given to anyone but Him is futile; to live for or serve something else than the God of the Bible is to live for a lie and will lead to your ruin, as it did for those people in that temple.
Don’t forget, nothing matters more to God than his own glory -- it is his ultimate agenda
Makes sense: Nothing else lasts; is as valuable; satisfies
-if we were made BY God and FOR God, then only IN God will we find life, happiness, purpose
The crushing of Dagon, the temple, and the worshippers of Dagon all demonstrate the end result of worshipping and living for anything other than the Lord.
3. To begin the deliverance of Israel. -- which is why Samson was born in the first place as you recall
Compare with Jesus
Like Samson, Jesus dies alone; God saves through one man
“God had shown that He could deliver Israel with an army of willing volunteers; He had also shown that He could save with as few as three hundred...But when the Spirit of God came upon Samson, the Lord showed that He had no need for even three hundred. He could deliver by one.” (E.Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery, p.137)
Samson dies with the Philistines; Jesus dies with thieves
Samson’s greatest victory comes when he is at his weakest, when it is last expected - eyes gouged out, prisoner, strength gone, ridiculed, surrounded
Samson triumphs over his enemies through his death -- so does Jesus. Better: His death brings life.
Samson is crushed by the temple because of his iniquities, Jesus is crushed by God for our iniquities.
Samson calls out to God to remember him and God answers to show that he is with him again. Jesus calls out and is forgotten, so that we might, like the thief on the cross next to him, be remembered.
Gospel: In Christ you are UNFORGETTABLE!
SEEKER: God is patient with YOU … but his judgment is inevitable; don’t wait till tomorrow
“Remember me” -- look at me with favor; don’t write me off
-first prayer
-prayer in time of trial, fear; or in the face of realizing the distance, how far you have drifted; the prayer of the shameful and guilt-ridden
