Whose Strength is it Anyway?
Notes
Transcript
I remember as a child, and many of you may remember doing this as a child , my dad would sometimes put me in his lap while he was like driving around in a parking lot or something like that, and let me “drive the car”. He would be pushing the pedals, he would be steering, but he would let me put my hands on the wheel, and I really thought that I was doing something. I remember going into school and telling all my homies that I know how to drive a car. My dad let me drive the other day. You know how little kids like to tell everybody 100 times when they think they’ve done something cool. You know, I really thought that I knew how to drive that car, but in reality, I was never in control. My legs weren’t even long enough to reach the pedals, I wasn’t strong enough to control the wheel, I couldn’t even see over the dashboard. Without my dad there, I wasn’t doing anything. It was a totally different experience when my dad moved over to the passenger seat, and I was finally driving by myself. And that frustrating experience of truly learning how to drive is another story, for another day.
In our series in Judges, Strength in Weakness, we’ve been studying the life of the final judge in the book, Samson. As we’ve seen, Samson was a man with extreme character flaws, but God was using him to begin delivering the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson has already stirred up quite a bit of trouble with the Philistines, but thus far, he has had the strength to fight his way out of all his troubles. But, as we come to the conclusion of his story, we’ll see that Samson was like childhood me driving a car. He thinks that he is in control, he thinks he is doing this on his own. He is bragging about his strength and his ability to everyone that will listen. He knows that its his destiny to begin the salvation of Israel from the Philistines, but he thinks that he is going to do it in his own strength and on his own terms. He thinks that he in control, but when God steps to the side, Samson is going to learn how incapable he really is.
Many of us need to learn the same lesson that Samson is going to learn in this passage. It’s good to believe that God has a purpose for your life. It’s great that we understand the gifts and abilities that God has given us. But as a child of God, we must understand what gives us the power and strength to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. The title of this morning’s message is Whose power is it anyway?
Let look at the conclusion of this story starting with Judges 16:1-3
Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 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.” 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.
We saw last week that Samson went into a city that had been occupied by the Philistines and found himself a wife, but now Samson is in Gaze, the Philistine capitol and has found himself a prostitute. The terror that Samson has caused the Philistines is well-known, so the men of Gaza surround the house as Samson is making this business transaction, and they determine they are going to kill him when he comes out in the morning. Well somehow Samson learns that their are men waiting to kill him, so he gets up at midnight, goes to the gate of the city, rips up the doors and posts of the gate, throws them on top of his shoulders, and carries them up a hill. Now this is another amazing display of Samson’s strength. Some scholars estimate that the doors, bars, and posts could have weighed well over 1000 pounds, and Hebron was a good 40 miles away uphill. This was absolutely unreal, and I believe that Samson did this to send the people of Gaza a message. The city wall was the first line of defense for any attack on any city. With the gates to their wall now 40 miles away, they were vulnerable, and Samson was letting them know they were no longer safe. Once again, Samson’s strength was able to get him out of a sticky situation that he probably should not have been in.
Let’s continue reading with verse Judges 16:4
After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
You would think by this time that Samson would have learned his lesson. Philistine woman equals trouble. But no. Samson was hard headed to say the least. He meets the infamous Delilah in the valley or Sorek which is basically the border between the Israelite and Philistine lands, and the Bible says that he falls in love. Let’s keep reading Judges 16:5
And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
Samson was no longer just a nuisance. He was now on Philistine’s most wanted. It is not longer a militia of men trying to subdue Samson, the leaders of the Philistines are not involved. Upon hearing the Delilah is romantically involved with Samson, they offer her a large some of money to find the source of his strength so that they could punish him for all the destruction that they had caused. I’m sure Delilah was enticed by the money, but also, if she was able to bring down the Philistine’s public enemy #1 she was going to be a hero. She was going to be set for life. So she went to work. Honestly, she wasn’t very deceptive at all. She was pretty straight forward about what she wanted from Samson. Judges 16:6
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 mean she straight up just asked how they could defeat him. I think Samson knew that this was a setup. He tells Delilah that if they tie him up with seven fresh, undried bowstrings, then he would become weak like any other man. So the Philistine leaders gave Delilah seven fresh, undried bowstrings and hid a some men in a inner chamber of the house. Delilah tied Samson up, and yelled to Samson “The Philistines are upon you!” Samson quickly broke free, so obviously, that was not the secret to his strength. The Bible doesn’t mention a battle between Samson and the Philistine men, but you can imagine it didn’t go well for them.
Ironically, Delilah felt betrayed by Samson. She told Samson that he had lied to her. So Samson OK, OK. Here it is. If they tie me up with new ropes that have not been used, then I’ll be weak just like any other man. So once again, the Philistine men were in waiting, Delilah took new ropes, tied Samson up and said the Philistines are upon you! But again, the Bible says that he snapped those ropes like a thread
Now it was time for round three, Delilah tells Samson to stop mocking her and lying and give her the real secret to his strength. Samson said if they would weave the seven locks of his hair with fabric woven on a loom and then fasten it with a pen he would become like a normal man. So Delilah waited till Samson was sleep, and basically started making a rug out of Samson’s hair and leftover fabric. She weaved his hair into the fabric on her loom, and fastened it tight with like a tent peg. She gave Samson her favorite line the Philistines are upon you! And Samson woke up and ripped up the pin, the loom.
It seems like Samson likes this game, but now, Delilah turns up the heat a little bit. She uses the same line that Samson’s ex-wife had used to find out Samson’s riddle. If you don’t tell me, then you don’t really love me. Day after day, she pressed on Samson to tell her where he got his strength. The Bible basically she said the she annoyed him to death, and Samson finally gave in. He told her about his Nazarite vow and how his hair had never been cut. He said that if his hair was shaved, then he would lose his strength.
This time Delilah knew that she had him. She called up the Philistine leaders and told her to get their men, and her money ready. She had Samson fall asleep in her lap, then a man came in and shaved his head. Let’s read what happens next in verses Judges 16:20-21
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.
Samson thought this was going to be just another day at the office. But when he woke up to fend himself from the Philistines, his strength was gone. The Philistines captured him, gauged out his eyes, and made him to grind at the mill in their prison. For the first time in the book of Judges, we see God’s judge captured and defeated.
Now many point to Samson’s hair as the source of his strength. I mean he had been strong for his entire life and his hair had never been cut. When his hair was cut, his strength was gone. So his strength had to come from his hair right?
Sounds like good deductive reasoning, but it’s wrong. Samson’s strength did not come from his long hair, and his strength was not gone because his hair was gone. The end of verse Judges 16:20 tells us the real reason that Samson’s strength was gone.
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.
Samson lost his strength because God was no longer with him. Samson’s uncut hair was part of the Nazarite vow that he was to keep for the entirety of his life. Remember there were three major stipulations. He was not supposed to touch any dead creature which we saw him break as he took honey from the carcass of the lion. He was not supposed to have any drink from the grapevine alcoholic or non-alcoholic which he most certainly broke at his pre-wedding party because the word that is used there was often used to describe a week-long drinking fest. And the final stipulation was that his hair was to remain uncut for the duration of the vow, and now we see that part of the vow has been broken as well. Samson’s Nazarite vow was a picture of the commitment that Samson had to be used by God to accomplish his purpose. It was symbol of his relationship with God. When his hair was cut, that was the last straw. It symbolized that Samson was no longer committed to a relationship with God or with accomplishing God’s purpose for his life.
Now, maybe we want to give Samson a pass. He didn’t cut his hair off himself and break the final part of the vow. Delilah had it cut while he was sleeping. It was her fault!
While that may be true. All the responsibility for this falls on Samson. He never should have told Delilah about his Nazarite vow and that his hair had never been cut. Really, he shouldn’t have even been there. He knew Delilah’s plan. Up to this point, everything that he told her would take away his strength, she tried it. Samson knew what Delilah was going to do, but he thought that it wouldn’t matter. But He did not think breaking this final part of the vow would have any affect on his physical strength. He touched dead bodies and still had his strength. He drank and he still had his strength. Why would it be any different if he cut his hair?
Samson knew that this vow to God was his connection to the God of Israel. But at best, Samson was nonchalant about his relationship with God. By his behavior, we know that following God’s law was not important to him. But there was still that one thing. That one thing that said I am committed to the God of Israel. That he had not allowed his hair to be cut. And when he told Delilah that was secret to his strength. He was essentially saying, my relationship with God is not important to me. Go ahead, cut it. I’ll even lay my head in your lap for you. It doesn’t make a difference.
I think it’s clear that Samson thought that he was doing all of these amazing things - Killing a lion with his bare hands, killing 30 Philistines in Ashkelon, Catching 300 foxes and setting them loose in the Philistine fields, killing 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, and ripping up the gates of Gaza and carrying them 40 miles. Samson thought that he was doing all of these amazing feats in his own power. He knew God’s purpose for his life was to begin saving Israel from the Philistines, but he thought that he could do this without God’s power. Nothing had changed physically about Samson other than his hair being gone. His muscles didn’t suddenly atrophy leaving him weak when his hair was cut. He was shocked when he they Philistines captured him, and he couldn’t shake himself free like all the times before.
Don’t miss this. Samson understood that his strength was a gift from God, but he did not understand that his strength was powerless without God. He knew that God had given him an amazing ability, but he did not realize that it was the power of God that enabled him to use it.
Samson was like the child sitting in his dad’s lap thinking that he had the ability to drive a car, while in reality it was the dad who was really in control.
The lesson that Samson learned this day is an important lesson for all of us
Accessing God’s power comes from abiding in God’s presence
Accessing God’s power comes from abiding in God’s presence
God does not just give us ability, God gives us power. It doesn’t matter if you are the most talented or gifted person in the room. You may be able to sing, play, perform, compute, create, organize, assemble better than anyone else on the planet You may have some amazing abilities, but talent can only take you so far in God’s economy. In order to make eternal impact, in order to see your abilities reach their furthest capacity, we must operate in the power of God.
The key to tapping into the power source is our relationship with God. We can’t be like Samson and think we are going to accomplish great things for God when we are not committed to our relationship with God. We must walk closely with Him and rely on His strength.
Let’s look at John 15:4-8
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Jesus gives us the picture of growing fruit. The branch is not what produces the fruit, it is the vine that is wrapped around the fruit.. Jesus says that we are the branches, and He is the vine. If we are not all wrapped up, tangled up, abiding in the vine that is Jesus. We will not produce fruit. As the Bible says, we can do nothing. But when we abide in that that vine, we bear much fruit.
Accessing God’s power comes from abiding in God’s presence.
Samson’s recklessness and frivolity with his vow caused him to be separated from the presence of God leaving him powerless. But that is not the end of the story.
Judges 16: 22 is a very interesting verse that I believe carries a lot of meaning.
But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Samson was at his lowest point. He had messed up big time. But here I see a picture of God’s grace. You see like Samson’s hair, God’s mercy is new every morning. There is never a time where we have gone to far where we can’t come back to God. Let’s see how this manifests itself in the conclusion of this story.
For the Philistines, it was time to celebrate. I mean for this was like capturing Bin Laden or some other high profile terrorist. They Philistine leaders gathered the people together and make a great sacrifice at the temple of their god Dagon who was the Philistine version of Baal. They drank and praised Dagon for delivering their enemy into their hands. Once they were good and drunk, they called for Samson to be brought up from prison for their entertainment. Samson who is now blind and weak asks the boy who led him up from prison to lean him against the pillars that held the temple up.
Let’s pick up reading with verse Judges 16:28-31
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.
Finally, we see Samson call on the Lord - although his prayers still seems a bit selfish. “Strengthen me that I may be avenged for my two eyes.” Nonetheless, God answers Samson’s prayer. Samson grabs hold of the supporting pillars and with all the strength that he had left he broke the pillars bringing down the temple of Dagon killing everyone inside. Over 3000 people including the leaders of the Philistines and also himself. In this one act, Samson killed more Philistines than he had killed throughout his life.
God said that he would use Samson to begin saving the Israelites from the Philistines. I believe that Samson knew that, but this was probably not the way that he expected it to happen. He probably thought that he would win a great military and have a time of freedom and peace like the other judges before him. I’m sure murder-suicide was not in his plans.
Here are few applications we can learn from this story that will can help us as we build a relationship with God, that allows us to access the power of God.
Number one - A beautiful woman can get anything she wants from a man. Just kidding, that might be true, but don’t write that one down. Here’s the real number one
I. Keep God as your number one desire
I. Keep God as your number one desire
From the very moment that we meet Samson as an adult, it’s clear what was the number one desire in his life, and it definitely was not God. It was women. Samson would do whatever it took to keep these women happy. Making them his top desire rather than God is what lead to his demise.
We need to be sure that we keep God in His proper place in our lives. Don’t pursue after anything more deeply or more passionately than you pursue after your relationship with God. One of my favorite verses is Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
God knows our needs and our desires. He will not hold back any good thing from us. We need to seek God and allow Him to grant us these desires in way that glorifies Him.
II. Addictions can lead to destruction
II. Addictions can lead to destruction
Again, what’s the common denominator in every episode of Samson’s troubles. Women. Specifically - pagan Philistine women. The girl from Timnath, the prostitute in Gaza, and of course, Delilah. It’s obvious that Samson had an issue with lust and it’s likely that it led to some type of sexual addiction for him. He could not leave these women alone. In the situation with Delilah, it extremely clear that Delilah was not on his side. Every time he told her something that would take away his strength, she did that very thing. 4 times this happened! But he kept going back. It’s like the allure of woman kept him from thinking logically. Sure, Samson tried to resit, but all a woman had to do was to push the right buttons, and Samson was willing to sacrifice it all.
Proverbs 26:11 says
Like a dog that returns to his vomit
is a fool who repeats his folly.
This is a great picture of how sinful addictions capture our hearts and our minds. We have this addiction it could be alcohol, or prescription drugs, marijuana, sex, pornography, money, power. Have you ever seen my strange addiction? People are addicted to all types of things. Whatever it is you have this addiction and you know it’s bad for you. It leaves you feeling guilty, it causes you to alienate your friends and family, it stifles your relationship with God, you know it’s bad for. You know it is betraying you, but you keep on going back for more. Know that just like for Samson, that addiction will eventually lead to destruction.
If you are listening this morning and you have some type of addiction. Know that there is freedom in Christ. Christ death and Resurrection not only keep us from the penalty of sin, but also frees us from the power of sin. A popular Christian song says there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain, to break every chain, to break every chain. Your addiction does not have to end in destruction. The first step is to admit there is a problem, and then seek help. Some things can be handled just with accountability from other believers. Others may require professional help, but take that step and seek help. Don’t let your addiction end in destruction.
III. Don’t put yourself in dangerous situations.
III. Don’t put yourself in dangerous situations.
Samson constantly put himself in dangerous situations. Again, much of this was because of his sinful addictions. In every scene of Samson’s life, we see him pandering around in Philistine cities. He knew that the Philistines were after him, but yet in the face of danger was right where he wanted to be.
Christians, if you want to stay out of sinful danger, keep yourself out of dangerous, tempting situations. Romans 13:14 says
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
We are not to make provisions for our flesh to give into sinful desires. That means if you are finding yourself given to drunkeness, you probably don’t need to go to bars and you probably don’t need a 6 pack in your fridge. If you having a hard time staying away from sexual sin, you probably shouldn’t be spending time alone with people of the opposite sex. You hear me!? Don’t put yourself into situations where you’re going to say I don’t know? It just happened. Proverbs gives a lot of wisdom on this like Proverbs 4:14-15
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
IV. It’s never too late to seek God and be used by Him
IV. It’s never too late to seek God and be used by Him
As long as God gives you breath, it’s not too late to turn to Him. I don’t care how you’ve messed up in your past. I doesn’t matter what you have done. Jesus is waiting with open arms and is waiting for you to just call out to Him in humility. If you are already a follower of Christ, but maybe you have gotten yourself off track. You’ve been chasing after some worldly desire, or you find yourself trapped in an addiction. It’s never too late to repent of your sin, turn to Jesus, and start walking back towards Christ and be used by Him.
If you’re here this morning and you don’t know Christ. Jesus is waiting for you as well. There is no sin to deep, there is no sin too dark, that it cannot be covered by the blood of Jesus. Jesus gave his life on the cross and was resurrected three days later so that you can have eternal life in heaven when you die, but also so that you can live abundant life here on earth. Jesus wants to save you and help you to start changing things in your life so that you will look more and more like Christ. Don’t try to wait till you get yourself together. Like Samson, you can turn to God in your weakness, and God will strengthen you to accomplish his purpose.
Without a doubt, Samson’s story is supposed to point us towards Christ. We talked about how similarities about their birth and childhood, but there are also similarities concerning their deaths. Both were betrayed by someone who was close to them. Both were turned over to their enemies. Both of them were physically tortured. Both of them were put on public display to mocked by their enemies. Both of them seemed to be defeated, but when it seemed to be their weakest moment, God strengthened to achieve their greatest victory. Both of them laid down there lives to accomplish God’s purpose. But the biggest difference is that Jesus had the power, the Resurrection power of the Holy Spirit of God, to take his life back up again. And it’s that same Resurrection power, that same Holy Spirit power that lives in us and enables us to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.
Believers, God has called us to make disciples of all nations, which sounds like a huge task when you think about it. But He did not give us this mission without giving us the power to do it. He told the disciples in Acts 1:8
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.”
I want to challenge you to start operating in the power of God. How different would our church look if the people of God started operating in the power of God? How different would our church look if we stopped worrying about what we don’t have and focus our attention on what we do have. The Holy Spirit working in the lives of his people. How different would your life look if you stopped focusing on your insecurities, your inefficiency, your incapabilities and you starting focusing on the power of the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you. We need to access the power of God, but that starts with abiding in Christ.
I challenge you to really spend some extra time with God this week. You may want to choose a day and fast, or skip one meal each day, or turn of your TV one day. Whatever God leads you to do. But seek after God and ask God to help you to start living through the power of God and not through your own strength.