Samson And His Failure

Then we come to the 13th Judge-Samson. In Chapter 13, we read of the family of Manoah that did not have any children. The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife one day and told her that she would bear a son, and that he should be brought up as a Nazirite. Then, Samson was born. The Lord blessed him and the Spirit of God began to move upon him (13:25). He was anointed-that was the secret of his power.

But unfortunately, Samson also backslid very early in life. Whenever he saw a pretty woman, he just could not control his lusts. He would forget all about his calling to serve the Lord and would go after that woman, whether she was a Jew or a Gentile made no difference to him, so long as she was good looking! This was his weakness throughout his life. God used him no doubt; but he had a great weakness for pretty women. Samson's behaviour stands in great contrast to Jospeh's.

Joseph lived before the Law was given and had much less revelation on God's ways than Samson had. Yet he stood true to God repeatedly...

and has therefore become an outstanding warning to all men for thousands of years!

In 14:5-6 we read that "Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnath. And when they were come to the vineyards of the town, behold a young lion met him raging and roaring. And the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion as he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his hand: and he would not tell this to his father and mother." He tore that lion to pieces, just like we would tear up a piece of paper. And he was so humble that he didn't tell anyone about it-not even his father and mother. I believe that Samson knew that it was the spirit of God that had enabled him to do that.

In 14:10, we read that...

his father went down to meet the Philistine woman whom Samson liked and got Samson married to her. This was in direct disobedience of God's Law that had clearly stated that an Israelite was never to marry a non-Israelite.

Samson's was an up-and-down life-sometimes up and but mostly down. We read in 16:1 that he went down to Gaza and he saw a harlot there and liked her and committed fornication with her. When he was caught, he pulled out of the gates of the city and walked off with them! Later, he met another Philistine woman named Delilah and fell in love with her (16:4). God must have spoken to his conscience many a time. But he would not listen. He probably rejoiced in the fact that God was using him-just like many spiritual leaders do today. Many will come to the Lord in the last day and remind Him of how He had used them in various ministries. But the Lord will cast all of them into hell, because they loved in sin in their private lives (Matthew 7:22-23).

If we keep on rejecting God's gentle warnings to our conscience, we too can destroy ourselves like those spiritual leaders.

Samson finally put his head on Delilah's lap and revealed the secret of his strength to her. She cut off his hair promptly and that was the end of his ministry. What a tragedy! A man who was such a mighty deliverer, was enslaved to his own lusts and passions. Paul says in I Corinthians 9:27, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway." In other words "making my body do what it should do, and not what it wants to do." That means that we are to make our bodies eat what it should eat and not what it wants to eat; sleep as much as it should sleep, and not how much it wants to sleep. We must control our eyes so that they look only at what they should look at and not what they want to look at. We must control our tongues so that they speak what they should speak and not what they want to speak.

If we don't control our bodily passions, we may preach wonderful messages and yet be cast out buy the Lord in the final day.

So much depends on our disciplining our bodily passions.

That is the message we get from the story of Samson who had a wonderful ministry that blessed so many people. But finally he himself was disqualified. So many men of God, with in the Church, have fallen a prey to a pretty woman.

Don't be impressed by the gifts that such men exercise or by the vastness of their ministries!

A leader falling into sin is a far more serious thing than an ordinary believer falling into the same sin-as we saw in Leviticus. To whom more is given, to them more is required as well.

If you are not faithful in your relationship with the opposite sex (or even the same sex), don't dishonour God's name by trying to be a leader in the Church.

Don't fool the people that you are a holy man of God, when you are living in sin. God will expose you publicly someday, if you continue to live like that. You may think you are clever enough to hide your sin, but your not clever enough for God.

He will expose you more than you have ever been exposed thus far.

In Chapter 16, we read of how Samson lost his power and how his eyes were blinded.

When a parish priest go after women, this is what happens. They lose their spiritual vision.

They can not see clearly any more. They may still be Catholic in their doctrines and be able to preach eloquently. But their spiritual vision would have gone.

Samson became a slave. But he had enough sense to acknowledge his sin toward the end of his life. He repented and finally destroyed many Philistines in his death (Judges 16:23-31)

Samson's story is the story of two lions- one on the outside and one inside his heart. He could overpower the external lion, but he could not conquer the internal one. This teaches us that the lion of sexual lust is far stronger and more to be feared than any external lion. What would you do if you saw a lion running towards you in a forest? You would turn around and run. Do you do the same when you see the lion of lust coming at you? the Bible exhorts us to "Flee fornication" (I Corinthians 6:18). That is the only way to overcome it- don't go anywhere near such temptation. Don't go anywhere near a woman who tempts you. Avoid flirtatious women like you would avoid hungry lions.

Samson lived under the old covenant. So no-one can make Samson's example his excuse for falling into immorality today. Samson did not have the New Testament, he lived prior to Calvary's cross, he had no Example as we have in Jesus today, and above all, he could not receive the Holy Spirit as an Indwelling Helper as we can. The way into the most holy place of fellowship with the Father was not yet open in those days. Samson did not have the blessing of godlyfellowship either. All of these we have today.