18. Samson’s Faith

 

Hymns: RHC 307 Amazing Grace, 289 Grace Greater Than Our Sin, 565 Have You Counted the Cost?

Hebrews 11:32c (KJV)

 ³²  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Samson …

 Samson’s Faith

OUTLINE

• Undergirded by God’s Amazing Grace

 

INTRODUCTION

Samson was consecrated as a Nazarite at birth. A Nazarite was to be separated unto Jehovah. The word nazir, which the word is derived, means “to separate”. His vow as a Nazarite included (1) His hair goes uncut (2) Refrain from partaking the fruit of the vine (3) Forbidden to contact with the dead (Judges 13:4, 5, 7, 14 c.f. Numbers 6:2-21).

Judges 13:4-5 (KJV) ⁴ Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: ⁵ For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Samson is the twelfth and last Judge raised by God to deliver Israel out their enemies’ oppression. This was Samson’s life mission given by God even before his birth told by the angel of the LORD to his mother.

This is the background story:

There have been 40 years of oppression from the Philistines because the children of Israel did again evil in the sight of the Lord (Judges 13:1):

Judges 13:1-7 (KJV) ¹ And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

Samson’s father’s name was Manoah from the tribe of Dan and Samson’s mother was barren till God visited her that she should conceive and bear a son.

² And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. ³And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. … ⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: ⁷ But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

When Menorah knew of God’s promise of a child, he besought the Lord for wisdom to bring up the child in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Judges 13:8 (KJV) ⁸  Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

Judges 13:24-25 (KJV) ²⁴ And the woman bare 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 him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

One writer puts it well, “Samson stands as a perplexing and enigmatic figure who judged Israel for 20 years. As a judge, he was without soldier or army and does not even seem to have been responsible for ending the Philistine oppression. As a person, he displayed tacit disregard for the values of his parents and the spiritual training inherent in his Nazarite heritage. He was impulsively sensual and even verbally vulgar. The narrative of Samson teaches us the evils of mixed or foreign marriages (Judges 14:3), the laxity of sexual relations and of playing with temptation.”

Story of BGR Went Amok

Samson’s problems with the Philistines began when he saw a girl from Timnah and demanded that his parents arrange for their marriage. When Solomon wrote the warnings of the snare of the strange woman, Samson certainly provided a life example for our study.

Proverbs 5:1-13 (KJV) ¹ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: ² That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. ³ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: ⁴ But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. ⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. ⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. ⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: ⁹ Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: ¹⁰ Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; ¹¹ And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, ¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; ¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Two women that came into Samson’s life that was against God’s revealed will, it was an unequal yoke, that led to great misery in his life.

(1) The woman in Timnah of Philistia whom he insisted to marry who has later given to his best man. She betrayed Samson to give the secret of his riddle to her people (Judges 14).

(2) The deadly attraction to the harlot Delilah who was paid to discover the secret of Samson’s strength causing the blinding of his eyes.

(1) Wandering from the Place of Obedience (Judges 14:1)

Judges 14:1 (KJV) ¹ And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

Samson went down to Timnah and saw a Philistine girl. He wandered out of the place of obedience in Israel where he is to find a spouse. Instead he went looked for a girl among the heathens. Samson was not guided by God’s Law (Exodus 34:11-16, Deuteronomy 7:1-4), his wayward feet led him in the way of sin. Because of the proximity of the tribe of Dan to the center of Philistine influence it is not surprising that Samson came in contact with a number of young ladies from Philistia.

Have you been to a disco or a pub? It is like what Samson is doing. A Nazarite seeking for fun, doing what comes naturally! Can we hope to find a good girl or boy there amongst those who do not love God?

 Stubborn to insist on his ungodly choice (Judges 14:2-3)

Judges 14:2-3 (KJV)² And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.³ Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Samson failed to listen to godly advice and the admonition from God’s Word. Samson’s determination to marry a Philistine girl was so strong, he was so self-willed that even his parents were unsuccessful to stop him.

He was physically grown up, stronger than his father. He understood his freedom to exercise his freedom. It was not guided by God. He simply insisted on his choice. His parents gave him good instructions which he spurned – “Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?”

The basis of his decision was carnal, he based his choice on the externals, what he “saw” that pleases him. He simply ordered his parents insisting on his choice when ordered his parents “Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”

His choice was against God’s Will:

God’s Law Regarding Choice of Spouse in the Promised Land

Exodus 34:11-16 “Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice.And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.”

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou. And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.”

It was against the good advice of his parents.

The girl was pleasing in his eye was the criteria for his choice – Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Samson failed to take heed of admonition and suffered the consequences of a failed marriage. He simply demanded from his parents – Do what I want! No questions asked. Does these words and actions sound familiar? An innumerable throng has followed in his steps, he was not open to criticism or direction from his parents.

Here, we can only surmise the many nights of despair in the hearts of Manoah and his wife, over the failure to guide their son’s choice, crying out to God for their wayward boy. This is the time of youth where the most enduring decisions regarding one’s life are made – education, marriage and vocation. This is the time when wise counsel and mature experience are imperative. Samson’s refusal to listen to parental advice, he also failed to pray.

Reaping the Sad Consequence of his Choice (Judges 14:4-20)

The parents of Samson reluctantly followed their son to Timnath to arrange the marriage. God allowed Samson’s choice in His permissive will (Judges 14:4).

Sin of partaking touching the dead body of a lion (Judges 14:9)

Samson “had taken honey out of the carcase of the lion”.

Sin of partaking the fruit of the vine in his feasting (Judges 14:10, 12)

His father-in-law was convinced that Samson was an irresponsible and unconcerned about his daughter, and therefore, gave her to the best man.

Carl McIntire observed well, “The weakness of Samson’s marriage immediately appears. God had commanded, “Be ye not unequally qoked together with unbelievers.” The believer has one outlook, and the unbeliever another. The Israelite and the Philistine were of different orders; one the people of God, and the other people of Dagon.

The Philistines came to Samson’s wife and insisted, “Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to tale that we have? Is it not so?” Samson’s wife set herself to secure from her husband the answer. The best way to work upon any man is through his wife. The Devil worked through Eve. First, she began to cry. Tears win many an argument. They are stronger than bullets. Then she used the conventional method, “Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not.” When a woman begins to cry, “You don’t love me; you don’t love me; if you loved me, you would tell me,” her victory was at hand. In the third place, she said, “Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me.” Notice she says, “Mypeople.” She was of different blood, and marriage did not change this. Notice also, she says, “Hast not told me,” emphasizing the “me” in such a way that it implied that he had told others. Samson replied, “Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?” A man’s father and mother are sometimes the chief competitors with the wife. Samson told her that, though she might think he had told his parents, yet he had not. She continued her weeping; she actually wept before him the seven daos the feast lasted. Samson went up for a joyful marriage feast, and instead he had to argue with a weeping bride. The climax comes in these words: “It came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him.” She went to the limit and won the day. When her people therefore answered the riddle, Samson said. “If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found my riddle”. He knew his wife betrayed him. She was a geifer instead of a wife. Samson left her and went “to his father’s house. After a while Samson decided to return and when he did he found that her father had given her in marriage to another man.”[1]

(2) Failure to Control Youthful Lusts

The deadly attraction to the harlot Delilah who was paid to discover the secret of Samson’s strength causing the blinding of his eyes.

Judges 16:1-6 (KJV) ¹ Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. ² And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. ³ And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. ⁴ And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. ⁶ And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

Sexual impurity was the main cause of Samson’s fall. The “lust of the eyes” overwhelmed him. Samson “saw” the Philistine girl and could not say “no” to what he saw. It is interesting to note that at the end of his life, God ordered the events such that his eyes were being gouged out as if to remind what Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

The judgment was recorded in Judges 16:21 “But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.”

Carl McIntire observed well, “Samson was a man of mighty power and passion. The Holy Spirit gave him strength to slay thousands, but he had not brought into subjection his beastly, carnal lusts. … It happens that when a marriage goes on the rocks, greater sin follows.”[2]

Three times, she pushed him to reveal the secret of his strength and finally, he yielded. He was a great fall.

Judges 16:7-17 (KJV) ⁷ And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.  

¹⁰ And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. ¹¹ And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

¹² Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. ¹³ And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. ¹⁴And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

 ¹⁵ And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. ¹⁶And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; ¹⁷ That he told her all his heart,and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

Judges 16:18-21 (KJV) ¹⁸ And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. ¹⁹ And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. ²⁰ And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. ²¹ But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

• Undergirded by God’s Amazing Grace

Judges 16:22-31 (KJV) ²² Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. ²³ Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. ²⁴ And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. ²⁵ And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. ²⁶ And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

 God restored Samson his strength for his hair began to grow again. His God-given life purpose was to be Israel’s deliverer to bring honour and glory to God. Indeed, God cannot be glorified in his present state. But dealing with his heart, helped him to see his waywardness and in repentance and renewal of faith, understood God’s will!

Carl McIntire said well, “In the depths of his sin, Samson remembered his mother and the words of the angel to her before his birth. Thank God for that memory… He prayed the prayer of the penitent., He prayed the prayer of faith… There is not much left of Samson, but he would give his broken life to God – that was all he now had, and after all, only God’s cause was worth anything.”[3]

 ²⁸ And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. ²⁹And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. ³¹ Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

By the amazing grace of God, Samson dealt a great blow to the Philistines howbeit at the sacrifice of his life. He was willing to give it. God used it to wrought a great victory against the Philistines gods.

CONCLUSION

Thank God there is a way back for the penitent sinner. God will receive him. What amazing grace to know that there is no sin He cannot forgive. No repentant sinner He cannot use. Amen.

[1]Carl McIntire, A Cloud of Witnesses, Christian Beacon Press, 1980, 174-176.

[2]Ibid.,

[3]Ibid., 180.