Samson

Samson is the most unworthy hero in the Bible.

There are only five men who’s births stories are told in the Bible—Moses, Samuel, John the Baptist, Jesus, --and Samson.  Moses was the bringer of the Law of God, Samuel was the beginning of the prophets of God, John the Baptist and Jesus were—well, John the Baptist and Jesus. Samson was not in their class.  

Samson’s father was Manoah.  One day his wife was in the field, when a man came and announced that she was going to have a baby.  She was not to touch strong drink or eat anything unclean, nor was he to ever to get a haircut, because her child was to be a nazirite from birth.

A nazirite was a man separated by a vow of God.  He was a soldier in the Lord’s army, given over full time to the work of God.  There were two kinds of nazirites—those who fulfilled a temporary vow and those who made the vow permanently.  Samuel and John the Baptist were permanent nazirites.  Jeremiah was also likely a one, as well as some of the other prophets.  It was a great honor to be Nazirite, but it was also a great responsibility.

This is true for anyone who bears God’s name and is dedicated to the service of God    When we bear God’s name, we are scrutinized more carefully.  People judge God by our behavior.   We are in the same position as Samson. If we bear the name, we must also bear the responsibility of living up to it. 

Samson did not choose to be a nazirite. This was decided long before he was born. So he rebelled. He drank.  He caroused with women. He got into fights. Samson was an incredibly foolish and arrogant man. 

Samson’s behavior may have been foolish, but it is not all that unusual.  There are millions of believers engaging in the same kind of moral brinksmanship.  We engage in addictive behaviors and think we will not be hooked.  We flirt with women, and think we will not be seduced.  We watch enticing movies and television programs, and think we will not develop a craving for sin.  We fan the flames of passion and think we will not be burned.

After a while, we get used to sin.  It is the sin were used to that is the most dangerous. That is why Bunyan said.

“Sin is a monster of such awful mein

That to be hated is merely to be seen

But see too oft, familiar with his face

We first, tolerate, then pity, then embrace.”

The sensible thing for Samson to have done if he didn’t want to be a nazirite was to stop being a nazirite.  jThen at least he would not be hypocritical. But Samson could not do this, because he truly was a believer. Samson kept two and only two signs of the nazirite life.

First was his hatred of Israel’s enemies. The Devil objects to us loving God, an loving Christians, but if we want to hate sinners and other faiths, the Devil has no objections at all.  In fact, he encourages it. He is for anything that divides people and keeps the Gospel confined to only one group. 

It’s amazing how many people forsake their faith, yet think they are holy because they are against what God is against. God doesn’t care if you oppose Islam.  He wants you to be for Christianity.  God does not care if you are anti-Communist. He wants you to be pro-Jesus.  Samson was anti-Philistine, but that did not make him a good Jew. 

Samson’s hatred of the Philistines did not come from his faith, but his sense of his own worth.  He thought he was better and smarter than they, so he felt justified in hating him. He  forgot that the only thing that separates believers and unbeliever is belief.  Other than that, we are all pretty much the same.

Second was his hair.  A nazirite’s hair was a witness to his special relationship with God.    Anyone who saw his hair knew that this was a man of God. Anyone, that is,  but the Philistines.  Samson was not about to tell them.  Among the Philistines, though, he was just one more frat boy at the party. 

Samson wore his hair long as a witness for God. Then he refused to witness.  No one knew what it was for.  In fact, Samson was being an eloquent evangelist against God, since he was living proof of ineffectual faith

Eventually, it caught up with Samson, as it will eventually catch up with us.  When we try the limits of God’s patience, eventually we will fall.

Samson took up with a Philistine spy named Delilah.  He knew she was a spy. Three times she begged him for the secret of his power. Three times he lied. But eventually, Delilah wore him down, and he gave her the secret of his power—his special relationship to God.

Judg 16:4-22  Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."

7 Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."

8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered

Samson knew that Delilah set him up, but he did not care.  He foolishly thought he could outsmart her, so he came back for more.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."

11 He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

For the second time,  she betrayed him. For the second time, he did not care.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied."

He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin. , and he performed for them.

Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

A third time she betrayed him. This time he got nearer to the truth.

15 Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.

17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"

He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson’s life as a judge of Israel was an utter failure, and it ended in failure.  He lost his strength, his eyesight, and his freedom. He was a physically blind as he had been spiritually blind all his life. But there is redemption at the end.   Verse 22 turned the corner.  His hair grew back.

We can throw away our faith.  We can deny our special relationship with God, and we can suffer th consequences. But in the end faith can grow back.  It always grows back. God is ready to restore our faith when sin breaks us. 

That is why Samson is in the hall of fame of faith.  For most of his life, he had been a failure. But at the end of his life, Samson finally realized what God had been saying to him all his life—that the strength of our arm is not enough.  It takes God’s strength to save us, and make us the man or woman of God we were always intended to be.

Don’t wait until the end of life to find life. Don’t run from God.  Accept His power and his grace. 

What would Samson’s life have been if Samson had acted more like a believer than a brat?  Samson would have judged Israel. but that did not happen.  God redeemed us by his grace, and keep us by His blood.  Now we an experience God’s love and grace in our life. Jesus is the power of God onearth.   Do not confine him, but let Him have full possession of you, and He will use you greatly.