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.
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