The Selfish Strong Man.

Introduction: The pattern gets broken. The people do evil in God’s eyes, but they do not cry out, and we do not see peace at the end.

There is deterioration in leadership in the book of Judges. How does God preserve his promise when his people stop being people of the promise?

2 - Some Leaders can be Self-Destructive.

The Angel of the Lord - Appears as a man, identifies with God - The second person of the Trinity - Comes to an infertile woman, and empowers her to have a child.

Samson - a Nazirite from before birth - His Mom participates while she is pregnant

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (The Nazirite Vow in the Old Testament)

The Nazirite Vow in the Old Testament

The Hebrew term for “Nazirite” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to separate” (נזר, nzr). Numbers 6 presents the distinguishing features of the vow as:

• abstaining from anything related to grapes and/or alcohol

• refraining from cutting one’s hair

• avoiding dead people (even family members)

So Samson is set apart like the people of Israel, but like Israel who has the presence of God, Samson is also self-destructive.

Judges 13:24–25 ESV

And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

His eyes are the main issue.

The story of his wife in Timna - He Saw her.

Judges 14:3 ESV

But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

Kills Lion, - tells riddle for thirty linen garments to wedding party.

At threat of death to here and her family - “Entice your husband to give the riddle - she does. - His response.

Judges 14:19–20 ESV

And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

Chapter 15 - Samson goes to be with his wife, but her father said he gave her to another & offered . Samson’s response.

Judges 15:3 LEB

And Samson said to them, “This time, as far as the Philistines are concerned, when I do something evil I am without blame.”

Jesus told us not to pay evil with evil, but to give room for God’s judgment. Second, he is going take out the result of his personal foolishness and the actions of one man on the entire people group?

He sets fire to the Philistine’s grain fields -by means of foxes.

The Philistines get upset and killed his former wife and her father.

So Sampson give the Philistines a thorough beating and then hid in Judah’s territory.

The Philistines come looking so the people from 3,000 men of Judah go to him

Judges 15:11 ESV

Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.”

Samson Concedes to be bound and handed over.

Judges 15:14–15 ESV

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

Judges 15:18–20 ESV

And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Yeah, he gave God credit, but No, this is all from his own selfish self preservation. - Yet in God’s grace he provides water like the Israelites in the desert rock. - But it does not get better. Next Verse.

Judges 16:1 ESV

Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.

The final story is with Delilah, and it says he fell in love with her, but she was more in love with money, than with him.

The Philistines ask her to find out the source of his strength.

Three times he shares with her a false way to subdue his strength, all three times it is a trap, the Philistines try to take him, out, but he still has his strength and he defeats them.

A fourth time she nagged him so much about his secret.

Judges 16:16–17 ESV

And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

So while he was sleeping she cuts off his hair, the Philistines come in.

Judges 16:20–21 ESV

And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.

When the hair of a Nazirite is cut off this is a sign that being separated for a special purpose for God is over.

However, one can re-covenant after a period of time and when they take the Nazirite vow again, and not shave ones head. And we get a hint at this with the next verse.

Judges 16:22 ESV

But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Philistines are thrilled with themselves, and threw a party to celebrate that their god Dagon saved them from Samson their enemy. When they were quite drunk they decided to bring him out for entertainment. Samson asked to be brought next to some pillars. and we get the second prayer from Samson.

Judges 16:28–31 ESV

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Again here again we see a couple of strange themes.

It was Samson’s eyes that got him in trouble, and it was his eyes that were gauged out.

Two Samson is completely being self-centered again. His reason for this prayer is to take revenge for himself. None of his actions at all through the Samson story shows he has any concern about the community of Israel. Here it is revenge for gouging out his eyes.

God answers his prayer. How do we make sense of this?

Conclusion: Samson is a schmuck, and God is up to something strange.

God’s Plan Can Not Be Thwarted.

What can we take away from the Samson Story?

Not leadership to emulate.

Creation, Sin, Promise - He took Israel to be a Nation Set Apart. To Bless them to be a Blessing. To be a showcase to the world of what it looks like for a nation to be in covenant relationship with God.

The Book of Judges is showing this Nation spiraling downwards. They seem completely unable to maintain their covenant relationship with God.

It is like they are married to God, but they keep chasing after prostitutes (other gods). Just like their leader Samson.

We will see next week that likely Samson has led them into Chaos even when he protected them from the Philistines.

Despite all of this, God holds to his promise. He stays committed to Israel. His plan can not be thwarted.

God does not endorse Samson’s behavior, but it is what he has to work with. He uses his poor behavior to keep Israel alive for his plan. He gives Samson Holy Spirit Power to that end.

- Let me apply this to our Presidential Elections. Both a promise and a warning.

- If a nation that has elections (different than how Samson is chosen). Has only a choice between the lesser of two evils. The caution is we are possibly in a stage of moral decay as we see here in Judges. We may elect a candidate that has the power to get things done, but the moral leadership and the way things are done will drive us into increasing moral decay.

- Bill Clinton influence in the Monica Luinsky case.

- But even if that is the case, when we look at our ultimate leader, Jesus Christ. His plan and his promises will not be thwarted. In fact, the evil that leaders do, God does not endorse but can use to protect his plan of redemption.

- Second caution around how we think about conflicts like the Israel Palistinian conflict.

- Two extreme points - Israel can do no wrong. The Bible itself written by historical Israelites don’t make this claim.

- Extreme two - The Palestinians are an occupied people and should wipe Israel off the phase of the earth - Mantra, “from the River to the Sea.” - This is evil

- Reality - God wants to preserve his people, he wants them protected.

- Irsael is made up of people who are affected by the fall, just like you and me. They are neither better or worse than. They have the capacity then to do evil things just like you and me, and scripture will hold them accountable as it does us. Yet they are made in God’s image and therefore honored as such to preserve life.

- Palistinians are also people affected by the fall, just like you and me. They are neither better or worse than. They have the capacity then to do evil things just like you and me, and scripture will hold them accountable as it does us. Yet they are made in God’s image and therefore honored as such to preserve life.

- I saw a joke on SNL about the middle east conflict. The punchline was, “Y’all Need Jesus.” - I get why that is a joke as Christians in that area “Crusades” have not always been helpful either.

But actually, this is the message of Judges. We will find out next week. We need a King. And the Redemption story points to Jesus.

For us as believers and leaders there is one more lesson.

We Need the Spirit’s Power and Character.

In the New Testament what Jesus brings and his greatest gift is the Holy Spirit.

In the Story of Samson we see all of the Power of the Holy Spirit, but none of the Character of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:19–24 (ESV)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

When we pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit we need to pray for both.

By the Spirit’s power Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons and proclaimed the Good News boldly and was raised from the dead.

By the Spirit’s character, Jesus resisted the temptation to be a Samson like leader in the dessert, and laid down his as a ransom for many.

Chart of Power and Character.

Application Point: Pray for all the Holy Spirit gives.

Application Point: Trust in God’s sovereignty even when the world seems like it is spiraling downward.

Conclusion: