Judges – God’s Grace in Dark Times

Samson and the Philistines – Ch 16:1-31 – Part 4

Samson’s Downfall and Death 16:1-31

Samson’s downfall and death begin with:

• Casual sin v1-3 - he has absolutely no resistance to temptation

‘he saw… and he wanted…’. Of course, we are warned in 1 John 2:16 ‘that all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world’. So much depends on how we look at things – here are some classic examples:

• Gen 39:17, 26 Lot’s wife looked back

• Ex 2:12 Moses looked this way and that but not up!

• Matt 5:28 ‘whoever looks at a woman to lust has committed adultery

• 1 Sam 6:19 ‘God smote the men of Beth-she-mesh because they looked into the ark

Of course, there is a right way to be looking too – as Hebrews 12:2 reminds us, we need to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith’. Other examples and challenges are:

• Num 21:8-9 everyone who was bitten but looked up at the bronze serpent lived

• 2 Peter 3:12-14 we are to be ‘looking for his appearing’

Despite his shameful failures, Samson was still able to carry the two posts, bar and all on his shoulders up the hill (apparently 38 miles!). Some commentators see this as a foreshadowing of Christ who carries his cross of our shame up to the hill of Calvary.

Samson’s continuing dalliance with sin means that he is:

Caught by sin v4-21 – he ‘fell in love with a woman’

This time his sensuous desire is deeper than just physical pleasure. If we fool ourselves that we can handle a little bit of sin, we will soon find out that it begins to handle us! Samson falls under Delilah’s spell and she begins to manipulate his love for her. He should have learned from Joseph’s encounter with Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39:12)! Delilah tries to tease the truth of the source of his extraordinary strength out of him. Her motivation seems to have been pure greed – the ‘rulers of the Philistines offered her a significant monetary reward but she may also have been intimidated by these powerful people who had no respect for human life other than their own. Samson tries to avoid revealing the actual truth but his suggestions become increasingly close to the mark – Samson is playing with fire! Firstly he claims that his strength could be overcome with:

• ‘Seven green cords’ – seven is God’s number and then:

• ‘new ropes… never used’ – the cart carrying the ark of the covenant was never used – then:

• ‘seven braids of hair… woven into fabric’ – seven is God’s number and he is introducing the significance of his hair - finally the actual source of his strength is revealed:

• ‘if my head were shaved’ – and the confession that he is a Nazarite – so dedicated to God.

Samson now experiences the:

Consequences of sin v20-25

This contains one of the saddest (scariest?) verses in scripture ‘… he did not know that the Lord had left him’ – as new covenant believers we can’t lose our salvation (Eph 1:13-14) but we can lose the sense of his presence in ‘falling away from grace’ (Gal 5:4; Heb 6:4-6). The danger is that we are no longer responsive to God’s Spirit in us and keep on just going through the motions of the Christian life but with no Holy Spirit power.

Samson is made blind… bound… enslaved… and humiliated as we are when we allow sin to overrule the Holy Spirit in our lives. He has been spiritually blind to his important calling as a Judge (leader) of God’s people and is now made literally blind. When we choose wilful sin as believers, we become impotent and insensitive to the Holy Spirit – but the end of Samson is the beginning for God!

Samson finally faces up to his violation of his and his parents’ vows that he would serve the Lord with his whole life. We should be careful in making vows to the Lord – as Ecclesiastes says ‘When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfil it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfil your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfil it.’ (Eccl 5:4-5)

Confession of sin v28-30 - ‘then Samson prayed to the Lord… please God strengthen me just once more’

(v28) - this is the first time Samson has prayed for strength but it begins with humble repentance ‘remember me’. This is echoed many centuries later as the thief on the cross dying alongside Jesus ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42). Samson has also come to the place where he is willing to die (v30) which is of course where every believer needs to come to if we are truly going to be effective as Christians. Paul declared ‘I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’ (Gal 2:20).

God did for Samson what he always does for us to if we genuinely repent and give our lives to the Lord. He restored his supernatural strength and enabled him to fulfil more in this moment of death than he had accomplished in his whole lifetime! (v30)

Conquering of sin v30

Samson had said to the servant ‘put me where I can feel the pillars…’ (v26) he then put ‘his right hand on one and his left hand on the other’ (v29) an unconscious representation of the cross.

‘down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it’ (v30) – the false spiritual worship and power of the Philistines was destroyed in one act! ‘They brought him back and buried him’ (v31) – just like Jesus except Samson stayed in the tomb!

Samson was at his strongest when he was at his weakest…

All the other Judges fought on behalf of a repentant people – Samson fought to stir up the people – like Jesus he went to his death alone but his death broke the powers of evil who were violating God’s land.

Conclusion

There are many disappointing aspects to Samson’s life but there are many important lessons we can learn. His life and ministry began as a result of his parent’s devotion to God and God used Samson to disrupt the Philistines who were polluting the Holy land with their idolatry. It was also a ‘wake up’ call for all Israel to be reminded that they were God’s covenant people and had the responsibility to cleanse the land and be a blessing to the world as they had committed to under the Abrahamic Covenant.

It is interesting to note too that Samson is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32-34 who ‘through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised…’ so while he didn’t seem to live by faith faithfully or consistently he did exercise faith and the Lord always honours that and can bring about great purposes even though our faith may be weak.

As mentioned above, Samson was at his strongest when he was at his weakest and he discovered:

God’s Grace in Dark Times