Samson

Unfortunately, as we are about to see, Samson broke every single part of the covenant. He was supposed to live a life of commitment, but he chose to live a life of chaos.

Samson was the last judge sent to rescue Israel. Their vicious cycle had repeated a dozen times at this point.

Once again, they had turned from God, and their impending tragedy looked like the end.

God's people were facing their most powerful foe yet — the Philistines.

It was a massive army of skilled soldiers who were notorious for their conquests on horseback.

They had God's people surrounded on every side.

Samson was supposed to save Israel by defeating the Philistines.

However, arrogance got in the way.

Samson decided to fight the entire nation on his own with no help from his soldiers, generals, or even God.

Towards the beginning of the story, it actually looked like he might pull it oﬀ. Like most tragic stories, heartbreak leads to havoc.

After his wife cheated on him (Judges 14), Samson took his anger out on random Philistine soldiers.

He charged them while carrying an animal skull and began to slaughter them one at a time.

Samson killed nearly a thousand skilled soldiers with the jaw of a donkey (Judges 15:13-20).

Samson was strong, but he was also as stubborn.

He should have been a hero, but he ends up looking far more like a villain.

People try to set Samson up to look like a Hebrew version of Hercules — tall, strong, and handsome.

It's true that God blessed him with superhuman strength.

However, he tragically let that blessing go to his head.

He used his strength for evil.

Judges 16:4–5 CSB

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 5 The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

Judges 16:15–21 CSB

15 “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ ” she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great!” 16 Because she nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out, 17 he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.” 18 When Delilah realized that he had told her the whole truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders: “Come one more time, for he has told me the whole truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought the silver with them. 19 Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.

Samson had all the potential in the world, but his life was poisoned by 3 things.

And these same 3 poisons can destroy our lives too.

Three Poisons that destroyed Samson’s Life

One: Poisonous People

Samson wasn't destroyed in the ways you'd think. It wasn't an army, tank, assassin, or bear-wrestling injury.

Samson's life was ruined because he trusted the wrong person.

He thought he was in love, but she was a spy.

Delilah ultimately turned him into the Philistine army for some quick cash.

Be very careful letting poisonous people into your life.

We live in an era when poisonous people can get to you like never before. You don't even have to look for them; they can just appear in your direct messages.

Here are some examples:

Critical Crowds: Have people ever talked down to you over and over? They always have a critical thing to say, and you always leave a conversation feeling worse about yourself. Those people are poison. Some people want to help you live a better life by pointing out your mistakes, and you should hold on to those people. However, some simply seek to criticize. That's poisonous.

Pressuring Peers: These folks are always trying to push you past your boundaries. Every exchange is an opportunity for them to pressure you into bad choices, change your mind about your convictions, or even hand you something you already refused. Those people are poison.

Backstabbers: These are the people who are nice to your face, but you find out they are spreading rumors behind your back. They always seem so curious in a conversation, but they don't really care. They're just fishing for information. Be careful because those people are likely poison.

I get it. This seems awfully critical. Let's make this clear. Most people are not poisonous.

Within your community, there are plenty of people who love you, cheer for you, and want the best for you. Embrace them!

Ask God for discernment and He will help you find the right people to cherish.

Bad people can pollute your potential, but good friends will take you far.

Yes, people shape you, but so does your perspective. Let’s look at another poison that polluted Samson.

Two: A Poisonous Perspective

Samson's downfall didn't start in his bedroom. It started in his mind.

He casually assumed that he knew better than God, so he did things his way.

He ignored God's commands.

He tried to do everything on his own.

He ended up in chains that he was unable to break.

Perspective is a powerful thing. Every single mistake you've ever made started in your mind.

An obsession with popularity can make you lose track of who you really are.

Worry can suck the joy out of life.

A negative attitude will eventually seep into your relationships.

Learn from Samson and pray for a purified perspective.

But there is one toxic trait that reigned supreme in the book of Judges and it’s the perfect way to conclude our series.

What’s the worst perspective of all? Pride.

Three: Pride

What was the perspective that ultimately took down Samson? It was pride.

He was a one-man show.

He was arrogant.

His pride made him use God's gift of strength for evil.

His pride made him use people instead of loving them.

Samson's put himself on a high pedestal just to cause more pain when he eventually fell.

Ultimately, Samson's pride preluded his destruction. It sounds extreme, but it's Biblical.

Solomon, one of Israel's kings, wrote it this way, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).

Watch out for pride because it is poison.

It will make you isolate yourself, refuse to own up to your mistakes, and prevent you from celebrating someone else's success.

Pride builds up walls and refuses to respond to constructive criticism.

While pride makes us build barriers, humility helps us build bridges.

Landing:

Samson was supposed to save Israel, but he failed. He was a deeply flawed judge, but there is good news.

While Samson struggled, God knew that a perfect judge was on the horizon.

The perfect judge showed up on the scene a few hundred years later.

Jesus was everything that Samson was not.

He embodied love, peacefulness, mercy, and humility.

Live like Jesus, not like a judge.

Try to wrap your mind around His humility.

Christ was God in the flesh, the King of all creation, but He came to earth as a servant.

Jesus formed the oceans, but He still washed the disciples feet.

Jesus created the earth, but He lived a simple life.

He thought of others before himself — all the way to His death on a Roman cross.