Samson Pt 1

Wasted Potential

S Adriano

He was the Emperor of football at one point of time, at his goalscoring and ruthless best, completely destroying opposing defenders. He had a golden left foot, was a slippery and tricky dribbler, and a great passer as well. He was the full package at striker and played prolifically up until the death of his father, according to him. His peak came when he trasferred to Inter Milan, but you could see the incosistencies long before the death of his father. The lack of commitment, constant partying, and such unprofessionalism eventually took its toll and only got worse after the tragedy in his life. He has actually declines so much that he was not able to get a spot on Miami United, which plays in the second division of US Soccer.

S Samson

Angelic announcement for his birth. Only Three others

-Jesus

-John the Baptist

-Abraham (Isaac)

Unique Gifts

-The strongest man

-Greatest warrior

BUT he is remembered by his inability to listen Wisdom, his inability to learn from his own mistakes and his inability to lean on God’s strength instead of his own.

My Son

I told him to stop jumping from sofa to coffee table. He didn’t listen and he regret it when he split his lip open after hitting his mouth in the table.

S Have you ever ignored something that your parents told you to do, or not to do, and regretted it later?

We all have

Samson did it but hopefully we can learn from him

Samson as a young adult, looking for the girl of his dreams

Judges 14:1–3 NET

Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye.When he got home, he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. Now get her for my wife.” But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is the right one for me.”

Remember Samson was a great warrior he could have chose any girl But he wanted the one that was prohibited, from the enemies of Israel. And his parents knew that

Maybe you want someone that somehow is prohibited for you. BUT People that love you don’t think is a good idea that you go after him/her. Maybe they are right.

Let’s see what happened to Samson

Judges 14:5–7 NET

Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him.The Lord’s spirit empowered him and he tore the lion in two with his bare hands as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. Samson continued on down to Timnah and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one.

SARCASM. As easy as to kill a goat with your bare hands

Judges 14:8–9 NET

Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass.

FUNNY “Gross, who eats honey out of a dead lion?”

But there is more

When the angel announced the birth of Samson he gave for how Samson should be raised.

As a sign that he was dedicated to God, Samson was never supposed to touch a dead body of any kind. And he knew how important this was for his future. That’s why he didn't tell his parents about the source of the honey

He refused to listen to his parents about the kind of women he should marry, and about how he should live his life.

Now let’s look at the consequences of this.

Judges 14:10–15:20 NET

Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. Samson hosted a party there, for this was customary for bridegrooms to do. When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes. But if you cannot solve it, you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.”He said to them, “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong one came something sweet.” They could not solve the riddle for three days. On the fourth day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. If you refuse, we will burn up you and your father’s family. Did you invite us here to make us poor?”So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder and said, “You must hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?”She cried on his shoulder until the party was almost over. Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle.On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!” The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes and gave them to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. He said to her father, “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” But her father would not let him enter. Her father said, “I really thought you absolutely despised her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!”Samson said to them, “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!”Samson went and captured three hundred jackals and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair.He lit the torches and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. The Philistines asked, “Who did this?” They were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite took Samson’s bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father.Samson said to them, “Because you did this, I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.”He struck them down and defeated them. Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam. The Philistines went up and invaded Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle in Lehi. The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking us?” The Philistines said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me you will not kill me.” They said to him, “We promise! We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in fire, and they melted away from his hands. He happened to see a solid jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. Samson then said, “With the jawbone of a donkey I have left them in heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down a thousand men!” When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down and named that place Ramath Lehi. He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?”So God split open the basin at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring En Hakkore. It remains in Lehi to this very day. Samson led Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.

At the end of all this, at least 1032 people are dead.

300 foxes have been burned alive.

All of the crops are burned. So no food

a marriage is ruined

And a war out of personal revenge almost started.

If Samson would have listen to his parents, All this thing would have been avoided. But also he would have funded the true purpose of his life. To unify Israel and conquer his enemies in justice

Do you even listen?

S God puts people in our lives to help us navigate through tough situations, but is not much good having them if we don’t listen to them.

Imagine if Samson had an actual conversation with his parents, trying to understand their point of view and also express his feelings to them.

But instead he completely disregarded their instruction.

What would happen if the next time you disagreed with your parents, you actually listened?

EXPRESSION “But there is only yelling”

S But what if you told your parents that you wanted to listen and that you wanted to understand their “WHY”?

Think of all that can be avoided if you are willing to listen.