Samson Part 2

In Hebrews chapter 11 we see mentioned by the writer the great people of faith.

In Hebrews chapter 11 we see mentioned by the writer the great people of faith.

Verse:

4 - Able

5 - Enoch

7 - Noah

8 - Abraham

20, 21 & 22 - Isaac, Jacob & Joseph

23 - Moses

Then in verse 32 as if to say I don’t have time to go through them all

Hebrews 11:

Hebrews 11:32–34 ESV

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Samson being listed in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews doesn’t make sense when we actually read the story of his life.

Last week we introduced Samson as the Judge with a miraculous birth.

Expound

First,

A Nazarite Vow: don’t drink anything from the vine, don’t touch anything unclean, not to cut his hair.

In chapter 14 we see Samson’s life begin to unfold:

Judges 14:1–2 ESV

1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.”

Judges 14:1 ESV

1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.

Judges 14

First of all what was he doing in a Philistine city? … and

Second, can’t he find a wife from his own people?

In verse 3 we see Samson’s Achilles heal… his greatest weakness

Judges 14:3 ESV

3 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.”

This the approach to life and morality that all of Israel has adopted…

Doing what was evil in God’s eyes, because it was right in their own.

This very first account of Samson’s life exposes two of Samson’s weaknesses as a Judge:

First, Samson is impulsive.

He is a completely sensual man - His senses control him.

He reacts to how he feels about what he sees, without reflection or consideration. He sees it - He takes it.

Second, Samson is unteachable.

He does not listen to parental counsel and authority.

Proverbs explains how proud and foolish it is to be unwilling to listen to the advice of others.

Samson’s pride is even more extreme.

Arthur E. Cundall says:

“In Israelite society the father was the head of the family and as such exercised control … including the choice of wives for sons (eg: ; ). It was exceptional for a son to contravene the wishes of his parents in this … realm (), for the unit was the clan and personal preference was subordinated to it.”

(Judges and Ruth, page 162)

Impulsive, and unteachable doesn’t just define Samson… It is a good summary of the state of Israel as a whole!

[1] Keller, T. (2013). Judges for You (pp. 136–137). Purcellville, VA: The Good Book Company.

The rest of chapter 14 and 15 are in essence the outworking of

who Samson is (impulsive, and unteachable);

Samson is (impulsive, and unteachable); who Israel are (virtually indistinguishable from the nations around them); and

who Israel are (indistinguishable from the nations around them); and

what God is doing (rescuing his people by prompting conflict with their physical and spiritual masters).

The story continues:

Samson is on the way to visit his would be bride when he is attacked by a Lion and with his bare hands kills the lion.

Gambles with his Philistine companions by telling them a riddle only to be double crossed by his future wife who tells them the answer.... He then gives into his senses and out of anger kills 30 Philistines with his bare hands.

Samson returns home to his Family and because of this his bride to be is given away to another man.

Judges 15:1–5 ESV

1 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” 4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.

Judges 15:1-

The story gets even worse...

Judges 15:

Judges 15:6–8 ESV

6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

No one comes out of this episode well.

Samson does not care at all about his God-given role, and is brutally violent;

So are the Philistines who burn to death Samson’s would be father-in-law and his daughters.

Samson is just like God’s enemies… except in all of this “The Spirit of the Lord comes on him”

Samson is just like God’s enemies… except in all of this “The Spirit of the Lord comes on him”

You see, God used Samson to create division between Israel and the Philistines.

Israel had become way too comfortable with the culture of their oppressors.

So Philistines plan to go to war with Israel so Israel does what you would expect and they turn their own countryman over to the enemy.

Judges 14:14–16 ESV

14 And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” And in three days they could not solve the riddle. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” 16 And Samson’s wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?”

Judges 15:14–16 ESV

14 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. 15 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. 16 And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.”

Again the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he defeated the enemy.

In chapter 16 we get to the most famous part of Samson’s life. His relationship with Delilah.

The chapter begins with Samson giving into his sensual desires and weakness and spending the night with a prostitute.

When the Philistines found out where he was they waited at night to ambush him....

Samson found out and that night so ripped the city gates from the wall and carried them 40 miles away to Hebron.

The more God blessed Samson, giving him strength to fight his foes, the more Samson grew confident of his own invulnerability; and the more he engaged in irresponsible behavior.

and the more he engaged in irresponsible behavior. In other words, Samson’s heart used God’s blessings as a reason to forget God.

IOW, Samson’s heart used God’s blessings as a reason to forget God.

“Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek”—Philistine territory—“whose name was Delilah”.

Judges 16:1–3 ESV

1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

Judges 16:4 ESV

4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

The name “Delilah” means “the night.” — now, Samson is lying in “the night’s” bed. And it will be his downfall.

The Philistine leaders approach Delilah and promise her money “if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength”.

What motivates Delilah to betray her lover?

Two things. Greed and fame.

The other: fame.

The people who come to Delilah are “the rulers of the Philistines”

Samson is seen as a national menace.

For Delilah, it means that if she could turn him over to them, she would be a national heroine. So the potential wealth, power, and influence being held out to her is very great. She would be set up for the rest of her life.

Judges 16:6 ESV

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

I don’t about you but it seems obvious what is going on.

Samson respond to her question with a lie.

This goes on several times until Samson finally gives in and tells her the truth.

Instead of leaving after telling her the truth, he went “to sleep on her lap” (v 19).

Why?

Because he did not really believe that his hair or his Nazirite vow was 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.

He forgot his covenant with God.

Judges 16:20–22 ESV

20 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. 21 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. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Philistines believed that Samson’s strength was some kind of magic.... and unfortunately Samson believed that as well… and the one thing that lead to his downfall was taken away… his eyes.

But God’s power is different from what the Philistines believed. It’s built on a relationship with Him.

There is no divine power without discipleship. So Jesus sent his disciples out with the power of the Holy Spirit (). What is that power? The power of knowing that Jesus promised: “I am with you” (). To be “with” someone is a Semitic phrase for relationship. And so what mattered was not so much that Samson’s hair had been cut, but that “the Lord had left him” (). We cannot know why God chose to leave Samson to his own strength (ie: weakness) at this point, when he had not when Samson began to forget his covenant, his relationship, with him. Perhaps a line was crossed when Delilah’s love mattered more to Samson than God’s. Perhaps it was simply time to reclaim Samson spiritually, by giving him weakness in adversity, rather than strength and power. Whichever, God’s strength—which Samson had come to presume upon—is taken away.

In Acts we read:

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus sends his disciples our with the true power of the Holy Spirit.

The real power and strength comes this:

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So Jesus sent his disciples out with the power of the Holy Spirit (). What is that power? The power of knowing that Jesus promised: “I am with you” (). To be “with” someone is a Semitic phrase for relationship. And so what mattered was not so much that Samson’s hair had been cut, but that “the Lord had left him” (). We cannot know why God chose to leave Samson to his own strength (ie: weakness) at this point, when he had not when Samson began to forget his covenant, his relationship, with him. Perhaps a line was crossed when Delilah’s love mattered more to Samson than God’s. Perhaps it was simply time to reclaim Samson spiritually, by giving him weakness in adversity, rather than strength and power. Whichever, God’s strength—which Samson had come to presume upon—is taken away.

It’s the power of knowing that Jesus promised: “I am with you”).

To be “with” someone is a Semitic phrase for relationship.

And so what mattered was not so much that Samson’s hair had been cut, but that “the Lord had left him” ().

We cannot know why God chose to leave Samson to his own strength (ie: weakness) at this point, when he had not when Samson began to forget his covenant, his relationship, with him.

At this point in Samson’s life... Delilah’s love mattered more to Samson than God’s.

Perhaps a line was crossed when Delilah’s love mattered more to Samson than God’s.

Throughout Judges we see God using the weak to work his strength.

Now we see the opposite in Samson. God reclaims Samson spiritually, by giving him weakness in adversity, rather than strength and power.

Perhaps it was simply time to reclaim Samson spiritually, by giving him weakness in adversity, rather than strength and power.

For the first time in Samson’s life we see him call out to God in prayer.

Judges

Let’s read the rest of the story

Judges 16:28 ESV

28 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.”

Judges 16:23–30 ESV

23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained. 28 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.” 29 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. 30 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.

Judges 16:23-

Finish the story

We finally see Samson exercise real faith.

Two things stand out about Samson at the end of his story.

First, there is a new-found humility here. Samson recognizes that the God of Israel is sovereign (adonai)

Samson knows not only that God is his God (elohim), but also that he is the saving, covenantal, relational God of his people, Israel (Yahweh).

This is a very different Samson to the one who, on “his” own strength defeated the Philistines.

And Second, says that Samson was a man of faith, and surely this is the only place in the story where it could be said that Samson exercised faith!

Hebrews 11:34 ESV

34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Hebrews 1

Most interesting is the reference in : “[they] were made strong out of weakness” (ESV). This is a great insight.

Samson started off strong but deliverance only came when he was humbled and weak.

In , Samson first asks: “Remember me,” which is a humble request for attention. He knows he is quite forgettable, and that God has every right to ignore him. Second, he asks: “Strengthen me just once more.” Here (at last) is an acknowledgment of his dependence on God’s grace.

Here’s the take away....

Samson’s real temptation had been to believe that ...we are blessed by God because of something great and deserving in us… —His greatest failure was believe that his strength came from himself.

It is so hard to remember that we do what we do only because of God’s grace, and that God’s grace is given so that we might do what is pleasing to him and in the service of his people.