THE FALL AND RISE OF SAMSON (Jdg 14:10-18; 16:1-31)

Samson was a judge in Isreal for 20 years. The judges were military leaders in times of crises empowered by the Holy Spirit. Samson is one of the most difficult men to understand. He is a strange man, physically strong but spiritually immature. His name means ‘Sun Child’. Samson was a miracle child, born to a woman who had been barren. God’s angel told his parents about the boy’s purpose in life. Their son would be a lifetime Nazirite, from his mother’s womb. In Hebrew, the word ‘Nazarite’ means ‘separated’ unto God. He had the greatest potential to be a Man of God, but he failed in many ways. He recovered his testimony at the end of his life. He is among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. Praise the Lord!

In the Old Testament, any person who wanted to serve God better, even if he was not a Levite, he could do so, by taking a Nazarite vow. The vow is a decision, an action for those who desire to yield themselves to God completely. The Nazirite vow (Nu 6:1-21), has 5 features: It is voluntary, can be done by either men or women, has a specific time frame, has specific requirements and restrictions, and at the end, a sacrifice is offered. During the time of the vow the person does not drink alcoholic wine, does not cut his (her) hair and he doesn’t go close to a dead body, not even if his parents die. In the New Testament, there is a command that is similar with this vow. Apostle Paul says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:1,2). Selah!

Samson had godly parents. They thought him the Word of God and told him about the command of the angel that he is a life-time Nazirite. He cannot cut off his hair. When he became an adult, the Holy Spirit gave him supernatural strength. For example, he killed a lion with his bare hands. He killed 1000 Philistines only with a donkey jawbone. God gave this supernatural strength to him to fight the Philistines. The condition of keeping this strength was submission to God’s will. Willing and unrepentant sin could take the strength away. Samson knew that! But he was careless with his life. The great Physical strength of Samson hid a great weakness of character. He did not take seriously his calling as a Nazirite. For most of his life, he was not a spiritual man. That is the sad part of his story!

Samson was led by the lust of his eyes. He ‘saw a Philistine woman’ and told his parents that he wants to marry her. The parents were not happy. The Philistines were the oppressors, the enemies. At their wedding day, he gave ‘a feast’ that surely provided alcohol. This was against his vow as a Nazirite. Possibly drunk, he gave the Philistine guests a riddle. He said that if they can solve it, he will give each of them a new set of clothes. They went to his bride and asked her to find the answer from Samson. They said to her: “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?” 16 Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”  And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so, should I explain it to you?” 17 Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people” (Judg 14:15-17). Samson told her the secret answer because she nagged him, wept, and made his life miserable. She then told her people, the Philistines, who mocked Samson for being so foolish. He got angry and left his own wedding feast! His father-in-law gave his wife to his best man at the wedding.

Sometime later, Samson goes to a prostitute who was living in the Philistines city of Gaza. This is also against the vow of the Nazirite. He was almost captured by the Philistines. He escaped by carrying the gate of the city. “Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver” (Jdg 16:4,5). He now loves another Philistine woman called Delilah. The lords of the Philistines offer her 1100 pieces of silver, to find the secret of his strength. The promised bribe was great. It about 100 days’ worth of wages. For example, Abraham paid only 400 shekels of silver to buy the cave at Machpelah, as a burial place for Sarah (Gen 23:16). It is possible that Delilah was infatuated with Samson, that is why they had to bribe her to betray him. She loved money more. Delilah started nagging him to find out the secret of his strength. “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued” (Jdg 16:6). Both his wife and Delilah used enticement and nagging. To entice is a form of manipulation. It is temptation. To entice it means to attract someone to a place or activity offering pleasure, something he likes, arousing hope or desire. Sexual lust weakens the victim against temptation. Selah!

Samson did not see the danger coming. Sexual attraction can make a man blind to reality. She persisted in her nagging. His soul is vexed to death. He tells her his secret as a Nazirite. Delilah puts him to sleep on her knees and cuts off his hair. The Philistines captured him and removed his eyes. They bind Samson with chains, and he became a grinder in prison. He repents. God used Samson to bring down the Philistine temple killing 3000 Philistine rulers because they were mocking God. They gave glory to Dagon for helping them arrest Samson. His family people carry his body. He is buried in his father’s tomb. Samson made many mistakes in life, but he died in faith! Thank God!

Delilah is never called a Philistine. Her name is Hebrew, meaning Weak or Poor. Compared to Samson, she was weak and poor. It is possible that she was a Philistine woman because 1) Samson was attracted to their women, 2), She had dealings with the Philistine rulers, and they would probably not come seeking out an Israelite girl for help, 3). She betrayed the Israelite hero to his enemies. The best way to describe Delilah is that she was charming, seductive, and a woman who led the man of God to his downfall.

LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF SAMSON

*God is sovereign! His will must be done! He uses even sinful people for His own purposes. Samson’s life is a combination of God’s sovereign will and human weakness. With all his sins, God used Samson to defeat the Philistines.  

*This is a story of Grace. “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom 5:20). Samson finished the race well. He is called a man of Faith being in the same group with King David! (Heb 11:32). Grace has the last word!

*The doctrine of election is manifested in Samson’s life. He was chosen before the foundation of the world. Samson said that without God’s anointing he will be ‘like any other man’. Backsliders lose power and become like ‘ordinary men’. But like the prodigal son, a backslider will always come back to God before he dies. God can never lose any of His children.

*Character is greater than gifts. Samson had many weaknesses: He did not listen to his parents’ advice. He had a hot temper. He had a desire for vengeance. He did not submit God’s gift of supernatural strength to the authority and leading of the Holy Spirit. No one can deceive God! Sin is something that we all struggle with. Sinful acts can leave our lives in ruins. These are great warnings for us all!

*Avoid ungodly people. “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1Cor 15:33).

*Examine yourself! Samson had great potential to be a spiritual hero. But he wasted most of his strength thru sin, especially sexual sin. Sin makes a man spiritually weak. Sin blinds us! Sin binds us! Sin grinds us! Confront your sins before the devil takes advantage of them!

*Walk worthy of the calling of God! (Eph 4:1).

*We should not become over-familiar with the unbelievers. “Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2Cor 6:14; AMP). Do not become emotionally and physically intimate with fornicators. “I wrote you in my [previous] letter not to associate with [sexually] immoral people” (1Cor 5:9; AMP). Seducing spirits will tempt you to submit to them. They attack as sexual sins, or as love for money. Be careful! “Flee fornication!” (1Cor 6:18). Flee the Love for money! Be content! Run, Samson, run!

*Compromise is dangerous.  A compromise is a situation when you accept something slightly different from what you really want, because of circumstances or because you want to please men. If believers compromise their beliefs, they damage their reputation and testimony. Never allow anyone to manipulate you to wound your conscience. This is considered the most painful scripture in the Bible. “And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So, he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him” (Jdg 16:20). The Lord has turned aside, has gone away from him. The supernatural strength of Samson was not in his hair. It was in his dedication of his life to God. His hair was only a symbol of it.

*Beware of the danger of doubt! Samson did not believe that if he disobeys, God will punish him. He finally had faith just before he died.

*Our wisdom, beauty and strength come from communion with God. Moses didn’t know that his face was shining from his encounter with God. Samson did not know that God’s anointing has left him. The strong man was ignorant that he has become weak. Samson did all the mighty acts only because God’s anointing was on him. People who carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit are fearless and do great exploits! But they can be ignorant of their spiritual status!

*Samson prayed before he died! He was a man of faith and prayer!

*Beware of the danger of pride and false security. Because God is patient, men commit sin and think all is well. Be careful! When we sleep, the enemy is not sleeping. Samson stopped fearing God. His eyes were the gates for his sin. After the enemies have removed his eyes, he repented of his sin. Jesus said: “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matt 5:28,29). The best way to keep your eyes is to look away from sinful things!

*How much do we open to people? Question: Are there some things the husband should not tell his wife? The answer is both yes and no. It depends. When two believers get married, they keep the unity of the Spirit by telling one another everything. They have no secrets. But if a believer is married to an unbeliever, the believer needs wisdom. The unbeliever is a slave to the devil who can use him (her) to attack the believer. Both Samson’s wife and Delilah betrayed him. Adultery and betrayal for money are the greatest sins against marriage and love! The wife should be on her husband’s side. The husband should be on his wife’s side. God calls both husbands and wives to Loyalty!

*Samson is a type of Christ. By his death, he killed more enemies than when he was alive. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14,15). Samson prayed with total faith that he would end his race in victory! With all his failures and sins, without eyes, Samson finally used his strength for God’s purpose. His name outlives Delilah’s name. She got the money, but Samson got his name among the heroes of faith! Glory!

*Finally, stay faithful to God and to His Word. Walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. For as long as you live, it is never too late to repent and go back to your first love. You have no excuse to stay in sin! You must finish well! Worship the Lord!!!