Judges: Disobedient People, Redemptive God

Introduction: Imagine a world with no leaders, no rules, and everyone just does what they think is right. Sounds fun doesn’t it? That is until you realize that everyone’s “right” starts to hurt someone else. *tell a story about a time when people acted like there were no rules and there were consequences*

(My example: when I was a kid we had this big tent that all the grownups had to set up for one easter service so all the church staff kids were hanging out in the youth room with no grown ups. Naturally, we HAD to play the instruments- and guess what happened? 4 year old Koleman broke the Youth Pastor’s guitar and my dad had to buy him a new one on a pastor’s salary- no fun for anyone involved!)

lawlessness is destructive, and we see that really clearly in the Bible in the Book of Judges.

Judges: A Time of People Doing What Was “Right In Their Own Eyes”

Review where we have been in the study

While Joshua was alive, Israel was obedient to living differently than the nations around them. They looked like God’s chosen people. But, after Joshua died rebellion began, and that is where we find ourselves in the Book of Judges:

Judges 21:25 NET

In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.

Instead of following God’s law, which was meant to set them apart, Israel kept falling into sin, worshipping idols, and forgetting who they were. When that happened, God would allow the other nations around them to attack and then he would raise up a judge. This is not a judge in the courtroom, but a warrior who would help deliver Israel from their enemies and point them back to God. They would obey God for a little while, and then fall away again and the cycle would repeat. This happened with 12 judges, but one of the most Famous was a guy named Samson.

Judges 13:1–5 NET

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.The Lord’s angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son. Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

Samson was set-apart for a purpose

Like Israel, Samson was set apart for a purpose.

Nazarite vow (a visible reminder that Samson belonged to God)

We are set apart too, designed to represent God in how you live

1 Peter 2:9 NET

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

God granted Samson incredible strength:

He ripped a lion in half with his bare hands when in attacked him (14:5-6)

He defeated an entire army with just a donkey’s jawbone (15:9-15:17)

He even ripped the city gate right out of the ground and carried them up a hill (16:3)

Basically, Samson seemed indestructible, like Superman. But the problem was, Samson did not respect his vow which gave him his strength. He touched dead animals, he drank wine, he broke his vow to God over and over again, and his disobedience finally caught up with him when he met Delilah.

Judges 16:4–5 NET

After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

Delilah tried several times to convince Samson to tell her what made him strong, and he lied several times but then:

Judges 16:15–20 NET

She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” She nagged him every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.Finally he told her his secret. He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, for I have been dedicated to God from the time I was conceived. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me his secret.” So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. She made him go to sleep on her lap and then called a man in to shave off the seven braids of his hair. She made him vulnerable and his strength left him. She said, “The Philistines are here, Samson!” He woke up and thought, “I will do as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

So the Philistines captured him, blinded him, and chained him up in prison

Samson’s Pride was His Kryptonite

You can be gifted and still fail if your heart is not right with God

Real strength is rooted in obedience to the Lord

This is obviously a sad story, but God still had a plan to use Samson.

Judges 16:23–30 NET

The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” When they really started celebrating, they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. They made him stand between two pillars. Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. Then I can lean on them.” Now the temple was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge against the Philistines for my two eyes!” Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life.

God Redeems When we Surrender

Samson was never the picture of obedience, but when he came to the end of himself and recognized he needed God’s strength and not his own, God said yes and used him to put the Philistines in their place.

Strength without obedience leads to destruction, and weakness with repentance leads to redemption.

1 John 1:9 NET

But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

Are you a Samson? Working on your own strength but weak where it matters? Or do you you recognize that real strength comes through Jesus being your boss? (gospel presentation)

Discussion Questions:

What stood out to you from tonight’s story?

Who was Samson, what made him special? What did it mean for him to be “set-apart”?

What are some ways Christians today are called to be “set-apart” or different from the world?

Where did Samson go wrong?

Have you ever had a “Samson moment” where you knew what was right but chose what felt good instead? Why is it so easy to get distracted from obedience?

What does Samson’s story teach us about the power of repentance? How can someone far from God get to God?

How can we grow in “spiritual strength” so we can be obedient even when its hard?