SAMSON: PART TWO

Judges 14 - 15

Samson clearly lives in violation of the Nazarite vow undertaken by his parents on his behalf.

The Nazarite vow is composed of activities one is not allowed to do:

a). abstain from wine, intoxicating drink, vinegar and raisins;

b) never cut he hear during the time of consecration (some took a Nazarite vow for a limited time)

c) never touch or go near a dead body - even one’s closest relations.

During his lifetime Samson violated each of those specific prohibitions.

We could spend hours - even days - trying to uncover why Samson acted as he did - and likely never discover satisfactory answers!

Rather, this week and next let’s look at Samson’s life from a different perspective.

What is God Up To?

Perhaps the most important lesson I would want any believer to know:

GOD IS ALREADY AT WORK.

Too often we barge into circumstances and triumphantly announce that now that we are here, God can do what He needs to do.

I confess, I’ve been guilty of that very attitude. And more often than not whenever I express that, I fail.

SIGNS OF GOD’S PURPOSES

Judges 13:1 (HCSB)

The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines 40 years.

In response to Israel’s continual disobedience, God allows His people to experience consequences of disobedience.

As God’s people entered the land of promise, God specifically instructed them:

Deuteronomy 20:16–18 (HCSB)

However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them—the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

Clearly as the early chapters of Judges remind us God’s people did not obey.

As much as we would prefer to avoid the consequences of our disobedience, even believers will experience them.

Time doesn’t permit us to identify all the places in God’s Word where we see examples of God’s people’s disobedience.

Here are just a few:

Adam & Eve: Genesis 3:23-24

Genesis 3:23–24 (HCSB)

So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

The generation of adults who left Egypt bound for the Promised Land:

Numbers 14:28–30 (HCSB)

Tell them: As surely as I live,” this is the Lord’s declaration, “I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you 20 years old or more —because you have complained about Me. I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Ananias and Saphira:

Acts 5:3–9 (HCSB)

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field? Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!” When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him. There was an interval of about three hours; then his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?” “Yes,” she said, “for that price.” Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”

Yes, even as God’s people were disobedient, rebellious, and satisfied with the status quo, God was present.

Judges 14:3–4 (HCSB)

But his father and mother said to him, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me, because I want her.” Now his father and mother did not know this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

Had God’s people grown complacent? Remember that earlier generations i the era of Judges had cried out to God for relief.

No such cry is recorded in this instance.

God Always Acts To Preserve His Honor

No matter how far God’s people drift, no matter how disobedient God’s people might become, God will not surrender His glory.

Behind every act of God, behind every move that God makes be very sure of this:

Isaiah 42:8 (HCSB)

I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.

In this unusual wedding God is acting to preserve His glory - to demonstrate His power, His purpose, His presence among His own people as well as among the Philistines.

Judges 14:19–20 (HCSB)

The Spirit of the Lord took control of him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 of their men. He stripped them and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. In a rage, Samson returned to his father’s house, and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

During the marriage feast the Philistines provided Samson 30 groomsmen. Samson proposed a riddle - one for which only he knew the answer.

After several days of pressure from his about to be wife (the marriage had not been consummated) Samson relents and shares the answer with his wife to be.

She immediately shares the answer with those men ‘assigned’ to Samson.

Samson makes good on the promise (see Judges 14:12).

Actually, God comes upon Samson in a powerful way and Samson kills 30 leading men of Ashkelon - a leading city of the Philistines.

Samson returns home - angry.

Judges 15:14–16 (HCSB)

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord took control of him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like burnt flax and his bonds fell off his wrists. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed 1,000 men with it. Then Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them in a heap. With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed 1,000 men.

God’s stated purpose of creating a confrontation has come to pass in a significant way!

Prior to this confrontation Samson had gone back to Timnah, where his ‘wife’ and family lived.

As his ‘wife’ had been given in marriage to another, Samson took revenge (see Judges 15:3-6.

The Philistines take action - Judges 15:7-11.

Look again -

Judges 15:11–14 (HCSB)

Then 3,000 men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he answered. They said to him, “We’ve come to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Then Samson told them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.” “No,” they said, “we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord took control of him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like burnt flax and his bonds fell off his wrists.

Did you catch what the men of Judah said?

“Don’t you realize the Philistines rule us?”

These men - representative of the leading tribe of God’s people would sacrifice the life of one man - just to maintain the status quo.

The result: God empowers Samson to exact a significant price:

Judges 15:15 (HCSB)

He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed 1,000 men with it.

Judges 15:18–20 (HCSB)

He became very thirsty and called out to the Lord: “You have accomplished this great victory through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” So God split a hollow place in the ground at Lehi, and water came out of it. After Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines.

Samson’s selfishness is clearly evident.

Judges 15:18 (HCSB)

He became very thirsty and called out to the Lord: “You have accomplished this great victory through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

REFLECT AND RESPOND

Am I too comfortable with the status quo?

John Maxwell, a leadership coach had been quoted as saying:

‘Status Quo is Latin for ‘the mess we are in…”

That’s not a literal translation. It does capture the prevailing attitude among many.

This is just the way things are.

Why fight the way things are?

This was the attitude the men of Judah evidenced when they turned Samson over to the Philistines.

Samson, flawed as he was, allowed God to use him to confront the status quo.

It was costly. But remember - thousands of years later we are still talking about his willingness to be used of God!

God still acts to preserve His glory

Look around us. God’s people have always been His program for making Himself known.

Could God just zap evil? Yes.

Couldn’t God just turn every heart and life to Him. Yes.

When Jesus, after crucifixion and resurrection, ascended to the right hand of God poured out His Holy Spirit it was so that through His people His Name would be honored, glorified, spoken of, preached, taught in every corner of the world.

Currently our IMB is investing resources in Project 3000 whose aim is to discover where unreached and unengaged people are living, doing research about how to speak to them, in preparation for sending missionaries.

Here is an excerpt from one of those ‘explorers’

“I’m hiking very deep into a jungle region, a place apparently no foreigner has gone before. By the grace of God, I found a very small rough “hotel” which is basically just someone’s house I am sleeping in and paying them for it. I am in a village of about 200 people where there is no church, no Christians, and they are very closed to hearing or learning about the gospel. The closest town is two hours by driving, or roughly four or more hours by a walking trail. We will begin sharing all day tomorrow. I have also found some families of one of the unengaged, unreached people group(s) I traveled here to find and spoke with locals and gathered information on where they may be. I will walk that direction and try to find them two days from now. We are going to sleep now on sheets of plywood. Goodnight from here.”

— M.E.

God Always Provides

Samson was flawed. So are you and I. Yet when he cried out to God, God responded and his strength was renewed.

God is at work. Yes, we live in a dark world - but we cannot grow complacent. The way things are is not the way God intended them to be.

Yes, God is coming, sending His Son to set all things right.

Samson made a difference in his generation.

Are there Samson’s among us?

God is present.

God is at work.

Will we join Him?

While this song plays I invite you to join me here at the front of the auditorium -

perhaps just to pray;

ask for prayer

healing; spiritual strength;

indicate a desire to follow Jesus - maybe for the first time, - admitting your sin, believing that Jesus died for your sin and was raised for you, confessing Him as Lord and Savior

maybe you are ready to take the next step and be baptized

Come and identify with this church-

by letter from another SBC church;

by statement of faith and baptism of a church similar to ours

Folks, we need to stand together.

If one Samson made a difference what might a band of Samson’s make?