Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
July 27, 1986
Samson - The Tragedy of an Undisciplined Life
Judges 13:2-5 and 16:21-30, NIV
What is a tragedy?
You may think of a tornado hitting a small town. Or an airplane full of people that crashes and burns. For most of us a tragedy is a terrible thing that happens to innocent people. Actually this is not quite true. Tragedy is a word from the Greek theatre. And in the classical Greek way of looking at it, a tragedy is a terrible thing that happens to a good person - but the good person has a fatal flaw. Others may think the person is undeserving of suffering, but someone who looks closer will see that the hero brought it upon himself. Tragedies don't just happen - they are deserved.
Samson is one of the best examples of a tragic hero. He had a tremendous abilities and opportunities - and he squandered all of it because he lacked self-control. You may know someone who is a truly tragic figure. Then again, the person who is setting themselves up for a fall might be you.
Samson began as a special person. His mother couldn't have children but an angel told her this would change. She would have a son and God would give him great power. But there was one condition: the child had to be brought up as a Nazirite.
A Nazirite was someone who was set apart to serve God. Three restrictions were put on them to be an outward symbolism of their spiritual devotion (see Numbers 6). First, they were not allowed to touch a dead body. This symbolized their purity. Second, they were not allowed to cut their hair. This made them stand out and it also symbolized power, because great warriors of that time had long hair. And third, they could not drink booze. Nothing even remotely related to the grapevine, including raisins. This symbolized their possession of the Holy Spirit. God didn't want people to think the spiritual glow on the Nazirite's face came from being tanked up. (compare Ephesians 5:18).
Samson was meant to be a great leader for the nation of Israel. They really needed one because they were up against the Philistines. Why were the Philistines so dangerous? We think of a Philistine as being uncouth - someone who picks their nose or belches a lot. Actually, they were just the opposite. They were friendly with the Jews. They did business with them and even allowed marriages. At one point the Jews even captured Samson and turned him over to the Philistines. They wanted to stay on their good side.
The worst enemy will never be the bloodthirsty ogre with hate and venom dripping off their tongue. It will be a friend who subtly, but firmly, tries to get you to compromise. The danger is that eventually you end up under their control.
Samson could have been the one to deliver Israel from this deadly enemy. He had tremendous gifts and power. He could kill a lion with his bare hands. He carried a city gate from Gaza to Hebron - that's 30 miles. At one point he single-handedly killed a thousand Philistines. He did this all with God's power. He was the only one in Israel with the gumption to oppose the Philistine threat. But Judges 13:5 says that Samson would only "begin" to deliver Israel. He would fail to complete his task. Why? What was Samson's flaw? I believe Samson failed to live up to his potential because he slipped in two areas: his religion and his morality. Samson's religion was focused in the three restrictions of being a Nazirite and the story of his life is how he broke each one.
He killed a lion with his bare hands. Not kosher. Even worse, he went back to scoop honey out of the carcass, and he knew it was a sin - 14:9 says he was careful not to tell his parents.
The restriction on drinking was probably broken as well. 14:10 mentions a wedding feast that Samson arranged in a Philistine town. The Hebrew word that's used for "feast" implies a drinking bout. It's like saying you're going to have a party at the VFW. Nothing more needs to be said. The book of Judges doesn't come right out and say Samson drank but the clear implication is that he did.
The third restriction is on cutting the hair. If you know nothing else about Samson you know about Delilah. She nagged him into telling her the secret of his strength and when his hair was cut he was enslaved.
Samson never really called upon God till the very end of his life as far as we can tell. He was a believer but he turned his back on his commitment to God. I meet many people who claim to be Christians, but have turned away from any meaningful service for him. They may keep going to church, they say a prayer before they sleep and of course they believe, but there is no spiritual power in their lives. As a young person they asked Jesus to be their Lord. And now they do nothing for him. Commitment to Jesus is easy to say, but does it show? Do people at your job think of you as a Christian? What about your own family? Don't squander your devotion to God like Samson did. Samson lacked in his religious commitment and he really lacked in morality. Throughout the Bible these two traits go hand in hand. If you are lacking in one, you'll soon be lacking in the other.
The moral shortcomings of Samson are legendary. He seemed to be basically motivated by selfishness and immaturity. He lost a riddle game with some wedding guests. To pay off the wager he killed thirty men and stripped off their clothes. He gets jilted, so he torches half the country. It's cute the way he did it - he tied foxes together with a fire-brand lashed to each one. Each violent action served his own selfish interests. He never rallied the Jews to save Israel like he was supposed to.
Selfishness was only part of his problem. If Samson had a weakness it could be summed up in one word - Women. He was led by his lusts and his lusts led him to some real low-lifes. In 14:1 Samson went to the Philistine area and saw a local woman. He decided to marry her even though the Law of Moses forbids it. Why did he want her? At the end of verse 3 he tells his parents -
"Get her for me. She's the right one for me."
As it turned out he never got her. She married his best man instead. Chapter 16 describes his next relationship. Verse 1 says -
"One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her."
What is a Bible hero doing with a prostitute? A good question. He was led by his lusts.
His final encounter with women was another Philistine named Delilah. She had one goal - to gain control over him. So she pestered him about his source of strength. He fibbed about seven leather throngs. Philistines jumped him - it didn't work. Then new ropes. That didn't work either. Weave his hair into a loom. He ripped it out. Finally he told the truth - shave my head. You think Samson could figure Delilah out. Every time he told her something, he got jumped. Now that his hair was cut, and his spiritual power gone, the Philistines overpowered him, gouged out his eyes and set him to work as a draft animal. They made fun of him like he was an exhibit in a zoo.
You can be a born again Christian and be led by your lusts. It's just a matter of choice. But when you are led by lust you are soon enslaved by it. If you're only out for a good time or some quick thrills you may be setting yourself up for a fall.
One of the things that is hard to understand about Samson is that God gave him all this power. Samson certainly didn't deserve it. But God used him anyway. Judges 14:4 is a crucial verse. Samson; led by his lusts, wanted to marry the Philistine girl. Verse 4 says, "it was from the Lord." This doesn't mean God approved. He just saw it as an opportunity to punish the Philistines because he could foresee the outcome. God can use anyone to do his will. It doesn't matter if you are obedient or decadent. But don't take comfort in this. Jesus said that God can use rocks to do his will (see Luke 19:40; compare John the Baptist's remark in Matthew 3:9).
Some Christians fool themselves. They know they are being disobedient, but they can point to answered prayers or some fruitful work they have done in the church and they figure God is smiling on them. Not necessarily. You may just be setting yourself up for a tragedy.
Tragedies can be avoided. (Become saved...become a committed Christian...get rid of the compromise in your life...)
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Typed on April 25, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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