WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

 SAMSON: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

ME I love life stories. I like reading biographies of men and women who overcame obstacles and failures to reach their full potential. In preaching it is tempting to paint everything in a positive light. I want you to be encouraged; I want you to have hope that the best is yet to come. 

But sometimes this is not reality. There are also life stories that serve as warnings to us not to waste the blessings and favor of God. Today’s hero is one of those stories. 

 

YOU There are two types of waste. In the first type, a man loses everything the world promises him for the sake of the Gospel. Such was Watchman Nee, the great Chinese pastor and teacher. He gives a personal example in his book, Why This Waste. “Let me give a personal instance. In 1929 I returned from Shanghai to my hometown of Foochow. One day I was walking along the street with a stick, very weak and in broken health, and I met one of my old college professors. He took me into a teashop where we sat down. He looked at me from head to foot and from foot to head, and then said, “Now look here; during your college days we thought a good deal of you, and we had hopes that you would achieve something great. Do you mean to tell me that this is what you are?” Looking at me with penetrating eyes, he asked that very pointed question. I must confess that, on hearing it, my first desire was to break down and weep. My career, my health, everything had gone, and here was my old professor who taught me law in the school, asking me, “Are you still in this condition, with no success, no progress, nothing to show?” But the very next moment—and I have to admit that in all my life it was the first time—I really knew what it meant to have the “Spirit of glory” resting upon me. The thought of being able to pour out my life for my Lord flooded my soul with glory. Nothing short of the Spirit of glory was on me then. I could look up and without reservation say, “Lord, I praise Thee! This is the best thing possible; it is the right course that I have chosen!” To my professor it seemed a total waste to serve the Lord; but that is what the gospel is for—to bring us to a true estimate of His worth.”

 

In the second type, a man loses everything God has promised him for the sake of the world. Scottish poet Horatius Bonar said in the late 1800s, “I looked for the church and I found it in the world; I looked for the world and I found it in the church.” Jesus declared, “If the light that is in us be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

 

GOD Last week we looked at a man, Gideon, who had nothing going for him at the beginning of his life, but became a great and mighty leader. Today we will look at a man who had everything going for him at the beginning but wasted it! He lost everything. God restored it to him at the very end of his life, but with great cost. His last chapter had not been written! Today we will examine the life of Samson, one of the most well-known Bible characters, but for all the wrong reasons. He had the greatest potential: miraculous birth, loving parents, early anointing.  He wasted it through “riotous living”, just like the Prodigal Son. He lost it all through selfishness, pride, lust, anger, and deceit. God gave it back to him, but it literally took his dying to fulfill his purpose.

 

PRAYER

 

TEXT The story of Samson is told in the book of Judges, chapters 13-16. We will look at a few key verses, but be sure to read the whole story on your own. 

 

Judges 13 ¹Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

 

The primary theme of the book of Judges is this repeated pattern: “Sin, suffering, supplication, salvation.” A secondary, but equally important theme, comes to full fruition in our hero: “There was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” This theme is stated in every remaining chapter, but Samson demonstrates it succinctly. 

 

Samson had a divine birth.

² Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. ³ And the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.

 

Samson had a divine purpose. 

⁴ Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

 

Samson had a divine calling.

The details of a Nazarite vow are in the book of Numbers. 

Numbers 6:1-8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. ‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD.

 

The woman tells her husband and God confirms the prophecy through vision and miracle. 

 

Samson had a divine anointing. 

²⁴ So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

 

Samson had everything going for him, but demonic influences robbed him of his spiritual destiny. 

 

Samson had a selfish heart. 

Judges 14 ¹ Now Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”

³ Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”

 

In spite of this selfishness, the Spirit of the Lord was with him. 

 

When a lion attacked…

⁶ And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart…

 

Samson had an angry heart.

When he killed to pay a debt…

¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men…

 

When he fought his enemies…

Judges 15 ¹⁴ When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. ¹⁵ He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. 

 

Samson had a lustful heart 

Judges 16 ¹ Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.

 

⁴ Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

 

The Philistines bribed Delilah to betray Samson. On three different occasion: fresh bowstrings, new ropes, weaving his hair, he protected the secret of his strength and rose up and defeated his enemies. But his lustful heart would eventually betray him. 

 

¹⁶ And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, ¹⁷ that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

 

Samson was mistaken. His power was not his hair, but his holy separation to God. God was his source and strength. 

 

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So, the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. ¹⁹ Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ 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.

 

What a sad statement! The Lord had been with him before, but he had crossed the point of no return. God had left him. The anointing of God is a dangerous thing. We have sin in our life and God still blesses us. We begin to feel that we can do whatever we want and God will still move. Then disaster strikes. 

Psalms 50:16-21 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.

Proverbs 29:1 He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

 

What was the result: Waste. 

Judges 16 ²¹ Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

Our great hero is now blind, bound, and bullied. He is literally working as an ox, pulling a heavy wheel in a circle to grind grain. 

The great apologist Ravi Zaccharias once said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

 

But there is still hope! The last chapter has not been written!

 

Samson had a repentant heart. 

Judges 16 ²² However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

What an awesome statement. It is more than just an objective editorial observation. It is a testimony of a repentant heart, a renewed call, and a reclaimed purpose!  The cry of the Prodigal Son has a similar ring. 

Luke 15:17-18 But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

 

Samson fulfills his purpose. 

The Philistines threw a big party to celebrate their victory and called for Samson to appear so they could mock him. 

²⁶ Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” ²⁹ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. ³⁰ Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So, the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

 

WE What can we learn from Samson? Allow me to call on John Maxwell for help as we make a few applications to all our lives. 

1.    Address areas of weakness.

Samson had several glaring issues he did not deal with. 

2.    Axe deception.

He who covers his sin will not prosper. 

3.    Act purposely. 

Samson acted impulsively in anger, pride, and revenge. 

4.    Avoid being consumed by a besetting sin.

Samson was ultimately overcome by lust. This is a common area of failure. Solomon spent the better part of four chapters in Proverbs addressing this issue. Maybe it was because he had 300 wives and 700 concubines! They eventually led him away from God and it cost him the Kingdom! Let me mention just a couple of his proverbial observations.

Proverbs 5:8-10 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

Proverbs 6:32-33 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.

5.    Access your gifts for the right reasons.

Samson used his gifts to his own ends, to enrich himself. He was a narcissist to the core. 

1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation (gifts) of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

 

YOU There is good news in this story. If we repent, God will accomplish His purpose in our lives. It may come at great cost, but the end will be worth it. Samson may not have lived up to his potential, but he did deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines. This is what he was born to do. So today, if you are living away from His will for your life, it is never too late to come back. Return to Him today and let Him restore you to everything you were born for. 

 

 

THE NOBODY WHO SAVED EVERYBODY

 “THE NOBODY WHO SAVED EVERYBODY”

CONNECT Some years ago one of the best selling books was “The Search for Significance”. Many people search for significance in life. They wonder if they will ever be able to make a difference in the world. It is exactly these people who God has destined to be a “difference maker”. That includes you!

 

This is certainly true of a man called Gideon. He saw himself as nothing, but God saw him as a “history maker” God looked not at who he was, but he would become. Gideon was “The Nobody Who Saved Everybody!”

 

BACKGROUND Gideon would become a judge in Israel, and his story is told beginning in the Book of Judges. A judge was someone God would raise up to deliver His people. There is a pattern repeated in the Book of Judges again and again: sin, suffering, supplication, salvation. The people would sin; God would allow them to be overrun by an enemy; the people would cry out to God for deliverance; God would raise up a leader, a judge, to deliver them. The children of Israel were living in Canaan, the Promised Land, but not possessing it. 

 

In this episode, the Midianites, one of Israel’s ancient enemies, have taken control of the land and are stealing everything the Israelites have. They cry out to God and He promises to deliver them. Enter Gideon. 

 

MESSAGE: How does God take a nobody and transform him into a mighty man of God? He takes him through a series of steps.

 

THE CONDITION

 

Judges 6:11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.

Threshing wheat in a wine press. What a miserable dry life. You have to hide the wheat or it will be stolen. A place that was intended for abundant wine has become a place of stale dryness and lack. This is where God finds his candidates for greatness. 

 

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

 

If you hate where you are, God may be getting you ready for greatness.

 

THE CALL

 

12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

 

Jesus Himself comes to Gideon. Just as He comes to everyone. 

 

John 1:9 That was the true Light who lights every man who  comes into the world.

 

What was Gideon’s response?

 

Judges 6:13–16 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

 

His first response is to blame God for his circumstances. 

 

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

 

His second response is to question his own ability. This is also a slap at God. He feels God has not treated him fairly when He was doling out gifts, abilities, talents, and favor. 

 

16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

 

Jesus repeats the call and gives the secret to the victory. “I will be with you.” God never asks us to do it on our own. He will do the work.

 

THE COVENANT

 

Gideon finally realizes that a messenger from God is speaking to him, so he prepares a dinner as as an offering.  Jesus turns the dinner into a sacrifice that solemnizes a covenant.

 

Judges 6:20–21 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

 

Gideon realizes he has been with Jesus. 

 

Judges 6:22–24 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace (Jehovah Shalom).

 

Jesus is our peace. He gives us His peace. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ. 

 

We are in covenant with God. This means that everything we have belongs to Jesus, and everything Jesus has belongs to us. Whatever you need Jesus will supply. 

 

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

 

THE CHALLENGE 

 

The Lord now challenges Gideon to exercise his faith by tearing down his father’s idols. 

 

Judges 6:25–26 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 

 

When the men of the city got up to worship Baal the next day, they saw the idols destroyed and sought Gideons’s life. But his father stood with him and for him. God may test us by asking us to take a stand against our family, our friends, our culture or our traditions. This is to strengthen us for the battles to come.

 

Judges 6:34–35 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

 

Gideon responds and is filled and anointed by God. This is the key to his victory and our victory: being filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit!

 

Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

 

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…

 

Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

 

1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

 

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

 

When he is filled, the people join him to fight in the strength of the Lord. 

 

THE CONFIRMATION

 

Gideon asked for confirmation with the two fleeces and God answers. God never minds an honest question. There is nothing wrong with getting a confirmation of God’s direction. This can come as a Scripture, a overwhelming sense of peace, a word from another person, a sermon you hear, etc. The Lord is looking for obedience once we know His will. 

 

THE CAMPAIGN 

 

The Army The first thing God does is shrink Gideon’s army of over 30,000 to 300! Why? God wanted everyone to know the victory would be by God alone. God then gave Gideon a dream promising victory and all the people responded. 

 

Vision gives purpose and direction. Without a vision the people cast off restraint.  

 

The Weapons Trumpets, Pitchers, Torches, and Shouts. 

They blew the trumpets of war, broke the pitchers so the light of the torches would scatter the darkness, and they shouted the victory. So we must blow the trumpet in Zion, the church, that we are in a spiritual war.  We must allow the Lord to break us so that His light can shine out of us to scatter the spiritual darkness of this age. And we must shout the victory of the Lord over all His enemies!

 

The Battle The details will go on for several chapter. There too many details to cover for our purposes here. 

 

The Victory When the Army did as God directed, the enemy began to kill each other. When we as the church stand up, our  enemies will turn on each other and the battle will be ours.

 

Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

 

THE CROWN 

 

After the enemies are defeated, the people seek a ruler. They offer Gideon a crown. 

 

Judges 8:22-23 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.”

 

Gideon rejected the earthly crown, but embraced a heavenly one.

 

1 Corinthians 9:25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

 

2 Timothy 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

 

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

 

1 Peter 5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

 

This is the heartbeat of all of us: Lord, rule over us and let us labor for an imperishable crown. This is how a nobody can save everybody. 

INSPIRATION (From People magazine) Private Desmond Doss walked into the bloodiest battle of World War II’s Pacific theater with nothing to protect himself save for his Bible and his faith in God. A devout Seventh Day Adventist and conscientious objector, Doss had enlisted as a medic and refused to carry a rifle.

 

The fighting took place on the hellish Maeda Escarpment in April 1945. The battlefield, located on top of a sheer 400-foot cliff, was fortified with a deadly network of Japanese machine gun nests and booby traps. The escarpment, nicknamed Hacksaw Ridge for the treacherously steep cliff, was key to winning the battle of Okinawa. The mission was thought to be near-impossible, and when Doss’s battalion was ordered to retreat, the medic refused to leave his fallen comrades behind.

 

Facing heavy machine gun and artillery fire, Doss repeatedly ran alone into the kill zone, carrying wounded soldiers to the edge of the cliff and singlehandedly lowering them down to safety. Each time he saved a man’s life, Doss prayed out loud, “Lord, please help me get one more.” By the end of the night he had rescued an estimated 75 men.

 

President Harry S. Truman presented Doss with the Medal of Honor on Oct. 12, 1945. He was the first conscientious objector to receive the honor. He spent the first five years after the war recovering from his injuries, and ultimately lost a lung to tuberculosis. His injuries prevented him working full-time, and he devoted the rest of his life to working with his church.

MINISTRY TIME