Samson: It's Time To Flex Series

SUPER MEN - Samson: It’s Time to Flex

June 23, 2019

Judges 16:23-31 (p. 177)

Introduction:

I did a study for this sermon on some of the strongest men in history and here are some of them.

Pierre Gasnier - The French Hercules. He was born in 1862 and lived until 1923. He could rip a deck of cards in half…break a chain over his chest while expanding his rib cage…and even though he was only 5’3 and weighed 144 pounds, he could lift a dumbbell weighing 260 lbs. over his head.

Angus MacAskill - (1825-1863) - Nicknamed Giant MacAskill was known as the World’s Largest True Giant (no growth abnormalities)…at 20 he was 7’4 and eventually reached 7’10 and weighed 580 lbs. He performed for P.T. Barnum…He would lift a ship’s anchor weighing 280 lbs. to his chest…and he would also carry barrels weighing 300 lbs. a piece under each arm.

Alexander Zass - (1888-1962) was known as the Iron Samson…He could carry a horse on his shoulders and bend steel bars and break chains…He was captured while serving in the Russian army and escaped from prison by ripping the bars out of his cell.

Thomas Topham - (1702-1749) had his strengths faithfully documented by Dr. John Theo Desaguliers in a work called “A Course of Experimental Philosophy.” Topham’s feats included bending thick iron pokers against his forearm…He could lift 224 lbs. easily over his head with just his little fingers…His most famous act of strength occurred on May 28, 1741 when Topham filled 3 barrels with water weighing 1386 lbs. and lifted them from a tower.

We still seem to be amazed at feats of strength…I’ve got a good friend named Jason Aaron Witt that participates in the World’s Strongest Man competitions…I used to feed him cheeseburgers. Yes I paid LOL…It amazed me to watch him deadlift 500 lbs…pick up the back of cars…move giant stones to raise platforms and turn over giant tractor truck tires…I’m pretty sure my buddy Jason didn’t have any trouble opening pickle jars.

Our Superman today, Samson, would have been right at home with these guys…Judges 14:6 says he tore a lion to pieces with his bare hands…verse 19 says he killed 30 men in Ashkelon and stripped them of their clothes just to pay off a debt…In chapter 15 verse 4 he caught 300 foxes, ties their tails together with torches and used them to burn down the Philistine’s grain fields.

He could break new rope that the Philistines bound him with like thread…He killed 3,000 men in a fight with just the jaw bone of a donkey…he ripped out the city gates at Gaza, posts and all, and carried them to the top of the hill that faced Hebron.

Samson’s life is recorded in the book of Judges. After the Israelites inherit and possess the Land of Canaan from God, Joshua dies…and as the Lord predicted the Israelites forgot Him and His covenant…As a result a cycle begins in their history…they break covenant with God…God sends a nation to conquer and oppress them…they cry out for help…God responds by raising up “Judges” to fight for them. Judges are both military leaders and legal authorities…The book of Judges lists 12 Judges…Samson is one of them…

Here’s his introduction:

I. HE WAS BORN DEDICATED TO GOD

JUDGES 13:1-5 (p. 175)

Verse 24 tells us…“This woman gave birth to a boy. He grew up and the Lord blessed him and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him…

Bob Dylan wrote a song called “Everything Is Broken.” It’s lyrics say:

Broken bottles, broken plates, broken switches, broken gates, broken dishes, broken parts, streets are filled with broken hearts, broken words never meant to be spoken EVERYTHING IS BROKEN.”

He’s right…Everything is indeed broken. The Israelites got comfortable in the Land flowing with Milk and Honey (always loved that description of the Promised Land). They lived in houses they had not built…in cities others had constructed…they ate from fields others had planted…God blessed them tremendously…and then when they got comfortable…They forgot Him…And when you forget about God…things get broken!

In individual families and as a nation “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,” so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years. (v. 2) The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “You are barren and childless…but you are going to become pregnant and have a son.” (v. 3)

John Beukema describes it this way:

Everything is broken. The entire nation is in crisis, and on top of that there is a family in turmoil. God’s people, Israel, have failed spiritually, running after the gods of their neighbors, breaking the laws of the Lord. This spiritual failure led to social upheaval. God allowed the enemy to conquer and oppress them. 40 years of suffering at the hand of the Philistine army. Although God sent this discipline on his people, there is no record of them repenting or calling out to him for help. On top of this national spiritual failure and social upheaval, we meet a couple who struggled with infertility. Manoah and his wife are surrounded by brokenness. For 40 years they knew nothing but subjugation and defeat. The present looked as dismal as the past. And there was no glimmer of hope for the future. They couldn’t raise a family. There was no one to carry on the name, help their struggle to exist, or take care of them in old age. Everything is broken.