Old Testament Series – Samson – Man of Strength - October 3, 2021
Judges 16:23-31
Last time in our Old Testament Series, we looked at the Israelites coming into the Promise Land and taking over the various countries around them. It was at this time, after the deaths of Moses and Joshua as their leaders, that Judges were instituted. They would lead the Israelites and judge their legal issues.
There were twelve Judges in all; one for each Israelite tribe. We last looked at Gideon, a judge who tested God over and over again. Today we’re going to look at Samson, a name that may be familiar to you.
Israel had a cycle of sinning, being judged for their sins by God and then repenting. What would happen was the Israelites would not turn to God unless they had been stunned by suffering, oppression and death. This suffering was not caused by God but resulted from the fact that the people ignored God. In this case, the Lord handed the Israelites over to the Philistines to be oppressed for 40 years.
The Philistines lived along the Mediterranean seacoast. From Samson’s day until the time of David they were the major enemy force in the land and a constant threat to Israel. The Philistines were fierce warriors and had the advantage over Israel in numbers, tactical expertise and technology. They even knew the secret of making weapons out of iron. They were a formidable enemy!
Don’t forget, the Israelites were God’s chosen people and for years they had served God alone but over time, they had become complacent. The Philistines had absorbed them into their culture and now there was almost no distinction between the Israelites and the Philistines. This is exactly what God had warned them about. The Philistines didn’t turn to the God of the Israelites, they worshipped their idols and sun gods and sex gods. They could have cared less about Jehovah, the one true God. For 40 years the Israelites had lived within the Philistine culture and God was ready to move them out of their complacency.
And here is this man by the name Manoah from the town of Zorah. His wife, after years of trying, was unable to get pregnant. That is until an angel of God came down to her and told her she would soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. But she was not to drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any unclean or forbidden food, as listed in the Laws given to Moses. The child’s hair was never to be cut and he was to be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. The angel said to her “He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”
This is important because many people in the Bible do not know their purpose in life until they are adults. But God gave a purpose to Samson even before he was conceived. And what is this Nazirite thing that the angel said Samson would be? According to Numbers chapter 6, a Nazirite was an Israelite consecrated to the service of God, under vows to abstain from alcohol, let the hair grow, and avoid defilement by coming into contact with the dead. Usually, it was an adult that took the Nazarian oath. But, in this instance, God had Samson’s parents take the oath. Samson would be a Nazarite from her womb: that is, his life was to be separated unto God. He was to be raised up as a deliverer for Israel against the Philistines who ruled over them.
God blessed Sampson as he grew up and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. But Sampson was a man of many flaws, yet in great faith overcame his enemies and fulfilled God’s will. Yet, throughout his consecrated life to God, he often took matters into his own hands – at times against the Lord’s commandments. All Samson had to do was walk in his destiny. Instead, he chose to walk wherever he wanted. His life is a shining example of how to know God’s will then ignore it.
Samson’s story is long and often confusing, so we are only going to hit the key points. As Samson grew older, he saw a Philistine woman from Timnah who caught his eye and he wanted to marry her. His parents were not happy; she was a Philistine! Samson had no business marrying a Philistine! The Philistines did not worship God and this woman was a Philistine who didn’t worship God either. But she was cute and at that time that was all Samson cared about.
The story continues: “Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.”
I don’t know why Samson didn’t tell his parents what he had done with the lion, but he didn’t. The Bible says that some time later he went back to marry this woman and on the way he saw the lion carcass which now had a bee hive in it. He stuck his hand in the hive and scooped out a handful of honey. He ate some of it and he gave some of it to his parents.
At his wedding feast Samson came up with a riddle for the Philistines to solve. He said: If you solve it, I will give you thirty sets of linen garments and thirty sets of cloths. This was valuable stuff so the people really wanted it. Then Samson told them his riddle: "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." For three days, the men tried and could not give the answer.
The Philistines knew they couldn’t come up with the answer on their own so they went to Samson’s wife to get the answer to the riddle and told her if she didn’t get the answer, they would burn down her father’s house with her in it. So Samson’s wife went to him and tried to get him to give her the answer. But he wouldn’t. She cried for six days, and on the seventh day he gave her the answer: “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion.” She had the answer and gave it to the Philistines. They then gave Samson the answer. He had been betrayed by his wife.
Burning with anger, Samson went up to his father’s house, leaving his wife. When he returned, he found out that her father gave her to another man. This infuriated Samson! He went outside, caught 300 foxes, tied them into pairs and fastened a torch to each pair of tails. The animals then ran through the grain fields of the Philistines. He destroyed their vineyards and olive groves. This then infuriated the Philistines, who sent 3,000 men to get Samson. When they caught him, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he snapped the ropes he was bound with, found a jawbone of a dead donkey and killed 1,000 Philistines.
You might be wondering why is this important to us? Because God has a plan for Samson’s life - “He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” God is putting it all together, even though Samson is making some really bad mistakes.
And then comes another woman! I’ve got to tell you that Samson is not great at choosing women! This time it is a woman by the name of Delilah. You may have heard of her. Samson falls in love with her. The leaders of the Philistines go to Delilah and say, find out what makes Samson so strong. There was a very rich reward if she would do this. is rexcapades with
Delilah asks Samson straight out – what makes you so strong? Three times Samson tells Delilah what she wanted to hear – if I am tied up with new bow-strings, if I am tied up with new ropes, if you were to weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom, I would lose my strength and become as weak as anyone. And each time, Delilah would call in the Philistines to come and get Samson. Only he had lied! These things didn’t work! Finally, Samson tells her the truth. If she were to shave his head, he would lose his power. So, she calls on the Philistine leaders and when Samson falls asleep and she brings in a man to shave his head and “his strength left him.” The Philistines captured him and they gouged out his eyes, and sent him to prison where he was forced to grind grain.
Do you see how Samson’s actions were impacting the call on his life? Samson consistently chose pleasure over purpose! God had a plan and a purpose for Samson and all he had to do was fulfill it! He decided to marry a woman that God forbid him to marry and brought his own justice on the people who got in his way. He was a reckless romantic who pursued women and revenge.
Samson also lived for Samson. He didn’t care about anyone except himself. He was a narcissist. He used his gift of strength to pursue his own pleasure. Samson was all about Samson. God had given him the gift of strength and he used it to glorify himself.
So, what happened to Samson? Well, the Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering great sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!” Half-drunk, the people demanded that Samson be brought out so he could amuse them. He stood between pillars in the temple that were supporting the roof. He had his hands put upon the pillars saying that he wanted to rest upon them.
The temple was filled with the Philistine rulers and about 3,000 people. Samson prayed to God and said “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” With that he pushed against the pillars and the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. He killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. This was the start of the Israelites taking control back from the Philistines.
What are we doing with the gifts that God has given us? You probably don’t have the supernatural strength of Samson but God has given us other gifts. Some of you are great communicators; are you using your ability for personal pleasure or kingdom purposes? Some of you are gifted with numbers. Are you using your gifts to glorify God? Some of you are great care givers. Who are you caring for? It is a message that comes up often – each one of us, no matter what age we are, no matter what level of education we have, no matter what jobs we have had, has gifts that God has given to us. Are we using them for God’s glory? That is the question today and the lesson we can learn from Samson.
Judges 16:23-31
Last time in our Old Testament Series, we looked at the Israelites coming into the Promise Land and taking over the various countries around them. It was at this time, after the deaths of Moses and Joshua as their leaders, that Judges were instituted. They would lead the Israelites and judge their legal issues.
There were twelve Judges in all; one for each Israelite tribe. We last looked at Gideon, a judge who tested God over and over again. Today we’re going to look at Samson, a name that may be familiar to you.
Israel had a cycle of sinning, being judged for their sins by God and then repenting. What would happen was the Israelites would not turn to God unless they had been stunned by suffering, oppression and death. This suffering was not caused by God but resulted from the fact that the people ignored God. In this case, the Lord handed the Israelites over to the Philistines to be oppressed for 40 years.
The Philistines lived along the Mediterranean seacoast. From Samson’s day until the time of David they were the major enemy force in the land and a constant threat to Israel. The Philistines were fierce warriors and had the advantage over Israel in numbers, tactical expertise and technology. They even knew the secret of making weapons out of iron. They were a formidable enemy!
Don’t forget, the Israelites were God’s chosen people and for years they had served God alone but over time, they had become complacent. The Philistines had absorbed them into their culture and now there was almost no distinction between the Israelites and the Philistines. This is exactly what God had warned them about. The Philistines didn’t turn to the God of the Israelites, they worshipped their idols and sun gods and sex gods. They could have cared less about Jehovah, the one true God. For 40 years the Israelites had lived within the Philistine culture and God was ready to move them out of their complacency.
And here is this man by the name Manoah from the town of Zorah. His wife, after years of trying, was unable to get pregnant. That is until an angel of God came down to her and told her she would soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. But she was not to drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any unclean or forbidden food, as listed in the Laws given to Moses. The child’s hair was never to be cut and he was to be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. The angel said to her “He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”
This is important because many people in the Bible do not know their purpose in life until they are adults. But God gave a purpose to Samson even before he was conceived. And what is this Nazirite thing that the angel said Samson would be? According to Numbers chapter 6, a Nazirite was an Israelite consecrated to the service of God, under vows to abstain from alcohol, let the hair grow, and avoid defilement by coming into contact with the dead. Usually, it was an adult that took the Nazarian oath. But, in this instance, God had Samson’s parents take the oath. Samson would be a Nazarite from her womb: that is, his life was to be separated unto God. He was to be raised up as a deliverer for Israel against the Philistines who ruled over them.
God blessed Sampson as he grew up and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. But Sampson was a man of many flaws, yet in great faith overcame his enemies and fulfilled God’s will. Yet, throughout his consecrated life to God, he often took matters into his own hands – at times against the Lord’s commandments. All Samson had to do was walk in his destiny. Instead, he chose to walk wherever he wanted. His life is a shining example of how to know God’s will then ignore it.
Samson’s story is long and often confusing, so we are only going to hit the key points. As Samson grew older, he saw a Philistine woman from Timnah who caught his eye and he wanted to marry her. His parents were not happy; she was a Philistine! Samson had no business marrying a Philistine! The Philistines did not worship God and this woman was a Philistine who didn’t worship God either. But she was cute and at that time that was all Samson cared about.
The story continues: “Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.”
I don’t know why Samson didn’t tell his parents what he had done with the lion, but he didn’t. The Bible says that some time later he went back to marry this woman and on the way he saw the lion carcass which now had a bee hive in it. He stuck his hand in the hive and scooped out a handful of honey. He ate some of it and he gave some of it to his parents.
At his wedding feast Samson came up with a riddle for the Philistines to solve. He said: If you solve it, I will give you thirty sets of linen garments and thirty sets of cloths. This was valuable stuff so the people really wanted it. Then Samson told them his riddle: "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." For three days, the men tried and could not give the answer.
The Philistines knew they couldn’t come up with the answer on their own so they went to Samson’s wife to get the answer to the riddle and told her if she didn’t get the answer, they would burn down her father’s house with her in it. So Samson’s wife went to him and tried to get him to give her the answer. But he wouldn’t. She cried for six days, and on the seventh day he gave her the answer: “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion.” She had the answer and gave it to the Philistines. They then gave Samson the answer. He had been betrayed by his wife.
Burning with anger, Samson went up to his father’s house, leaving his wife. When he returned, he found out that her father gave her to another man. This infuriated Samson! He went outside, caught 300 foxes, tied them into pairs and fastened a torch to each pair of tails. The animals then ran through the grain fields of the Philistines. He destroyed their vineyards and olive groves. This then infuriated the Philistines, who sent 3,000 men to get Samson. When they caught him, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he snapped the ropes he was bound with, found a jawbone of a dead donkey and killed 1,000 Philistines.
You might be wondering why is this important to us? Because God has a plan for Samson’s life - “He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” God is putting it all together, even though Samson is making some really bad mistakes.
And then comes another woman! I’ve got to tell you that Samson is not great at choosing women! This time it is a woman by the name of Delilah. You may have heard of her. Samson falls in love with her. The leaders of the Philistines go to Delilah and say, find out what makes Samson so strong. There was a very rich reward if she would do this. is rexcapades with
Delilah asks Samson straight out – what makes you so strong? Three times Samson tells Delilah what she wanted to hear – if I am tied up with new bow-strings, if I am tied up with new ropes, if you were to weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom, I would lose my strength and become as weak as anyone. And each time, Delilah would call in the Philistines to come and get Samson. Only he had lied! These things didn’t work! Finally, Samson tells her the truth. If she were to shave his head, he would lose his power. So, she calls on the Philistine leaders and when Samson falls asleep and she brings in a man to shave his head and “his strength left him.” The Philistines captured him and they gouged out his eyes, and sent him to prison where he was forced to grind grain.
Do you see how Samson’s actions were impacting the call on his life? Samson consistently chose pleasure over purpose! God had a plan and a purpose for Samson and all he had to do was fulfill it! He decided to marry a woman that God forbid him to marry and brought his own justice on the people who got in his way. He was a reckless romantic who pursued women and revenge.
Samson also lived for Samson. He didn’t care about anyone except himself. He was a narcissist. He used his gift of strength to pursue his own pleasure. Samson was all about Samson. God had given him the gift of strength and he used it to glorify himself.
So, what happened to Samson? Well, the Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering great sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!” Half-drunk, the people demanded that Samson be brought out so he could amuse them. He stood between pillars in the temple that were supporting the roof. He had his hands put upon the pillars saying that he wanted to rest upon them.
The temple was filled with the Philistine rulers and about 3,000 people. Samson prayed to God and said “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” With that he pushed against the pillars and the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. He killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. This was the start of the Israelites taking control back from the Philistines.
What are we doing with the gifts that God has given us? You probably don’t have the supernatural strength of Samson but God has given us other gifts. Some of you are great communicators; are you using your ability for personal pleasure or kingdom purposes? Some of you are gifted with numbers. Are you using your gifts to glorify God? Some of you are great care givers. Who are you caring for? It is a message that comes up often – each one of us, no matter what age we are, no matter what level of education we have, no matter what jobs we have had, has gifts that God has given to us. Are we using them for God’s glory? That is the question today and the lesson we can learn from Samson.