Judges 16:2-5The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him." But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.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." Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. There are not too many stories out there about a girl who gets pregnant her first time having sex. Not too many news reports about car accidents where the driver was drunk and it was their first time ever taking a drink. Not too many death row inmates saying it was the first time they had ever committed a crime.
I wondered why the Bible tells us that Samson went and slept with a prostitute - why mention it? We can already see that Samson is not the upstanding man of God that he should be - so why tell us about it? I think it is to let us know that Samson was weak in this area, that by the time he got to Delilah - he was immersed in this type of sin.. That this was a tool that satan used to bring Samson down.
How do you think we fall to sin? If you are someone who's never used drugs - never been taken in by the lie that drugs are what you need to 'escape' to a better world, do you think that is going to be what Satan uses to lure you? No, he's going to use the things that he knows are your weakness. The bad traffic that causes you to lose your temper and your Christ-like example. The overwhelmed and unusually busy Saturday that makes you want to sleep in and skip church on Sunday. The higher bills that keep coming in that make you want to take advantage of a client by overchar
ging on your prices. Satan is not going to walk up to you and say - "Here, have some heroin and a hooker" - he is sneaky and manipulative and - patient. He can come after you day after day after day. How can we avoid his powerful temptation? Jesus. Again, the final answer is always. . . Jesus. If you get a powerful stain in your carpet - you have to get a more powerful stain remover. Satan is the stain - Jesus is the "Greased Lightening".
Judges 15:19-20 and 16:1Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. 16:1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.Even after the tacky way that Samson tells God he needs water - God provides. I think it might have been in this provision that God teaches Samson that he couldn't have destroyed those Philistines by himself just as much as he couldn't sustain life if it weren't for God. It is in these verses that we get a little foreshadowing - that's a literary term for: Here's what's going to happen...
These verses tell us that Samson will lead the Israelites for twenty years - we find out later that wasn't just the length left of his leading, that was the length left of his life. If you were reading a book and it told you how much longer you were going to be here on earth - would you start living life differently? Let's look back at Samson
After this battle, he heads into Gaza and sleeps with a prostitute - right after God gave him a victory over the Philistines!! I hate to parallel this with weight loss, but since that's my industry - it seems like a good tie-in. Many times members will lose all the weight that they desire while they are doing Weight Watchers, but as soon as they stop coming to the meetings - they start gaining it all back. Once they've gotten what they want - they forget the process and what got them there. They go right back to their old habits of choosing the wrong foods.
Samson doesn't spend any time alone with God, doesn't seek His guidance, doesn't call on Him for encouragement. This may be why he was seeking satisfaction through sex and we all know the devil is happy to provide that distraction for us. If you knew you only had 20 years left to fulfill God's purpose - how would you choose to live it? Like Samson, knowing that he was chosen by God so his place in heaven was secure and he could live life how he wanted? The funny thing is, as Christians, we ARE chosen by God and there IS a book written that says how much longer we'll have here on earth (God has it) - the question is - how will we make a difference for Him during our short time on earth and are we really seeking to serve Him or ourselves?
Judges 15:16-18 Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men."When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"I have a hard time empathizing with anyone who makes the statement, "I'm mad at God". Not that I don't sympathize with what they might be going through - whether a loved one has died or a serious illness has come over them - but to say they're mad at God seems a little bit . . . silly. The attitude that Samson has in these verses is the same as that person. God has given Samson victory over so many of the Philistines and now he has the nerve to tell God that He's not taking care of his physical need for water.
Who do we think we are? Beyond the fact the God has made it clear how much He loves each and every one of us, the promise that He will always provide for us and sent His only son to die so we don't have to spend an eternity without Him - how dare we ever think that God does not have our best interests at heart - let alone 'be mad at Him'. God is more than well aware of the tragedies that we face in our every day lives. The child who's health won't get better, the job we just got laid off of - but this is not His fault. In fact, it's OUR fault. God made it very clear what sin would cause - yet we spend our lives waving sin aside as if it was unimportant to pay any attention to it. The little white lie, the small rumor behind the desk, the small tweak on the income tax - all sin - all punishable.
Ellen DeGeneres made a comment that the church should have better things to do than figh
t the marriage amendment in California - like feed the hungry. Fighting sin is just one of the many things that Christians need to do. Homosexuality - whether Ellen likes it or not - is sin - and just like all the other sins, it should not be tolerated. God loves all of us and doesn't want ANY sin to be committed. Since none of us are perfect, we know this is a struggle - but we need to remember that this is not what God intended for us. Jesus came down and died on a cross because we can't stop this sinning - it's time He gets credit - instead of blame.
Judges 15:9-15 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. The men of Judah asked, "Why have you come to fight us?" "We have come to take Samson prisoner," they answered, "to do to him as he did to us." Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?"He answered, "I merely did to them what they did to me." They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said, "Swear to me that you won't kill me yourselves." "Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
Why Samson hasn't been turned into a recent major motion movie is beyond me. This one man has already killed many of the enemy and when bound by his own people and ready to be handed over to the Philistines, he miraculously breaks free and kills - yet another - thousand men. Can we name a movie equal? Pierce Brosnan as James Bond? Bruce Willis in Die Hard? Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible? This is the stuff movies are made of!!
The difference? Samson was real. Not that any of these actors didn't work hard fulfilling the role of the character they played - but in their real life, not a one of them grabbed pieces of a carcass and plowed through some terrorists after the turn of the century.
Samson's own men wanted to hand him over to the enemy and he willingly agreed to go. How confident are we in God to be willing to do that? Are we willing to take a stand for Christ because we know He is more powerful than anything we can come across. Are we confident that our strength, in Him, can defeat even the worst of enemies? Are we willing to take the offensive and say boldly "Abortion is wrong", "The Act of Homosexuality is wrong", "Infidelity is wrong" - and not be afraid of the repercussion of society.
Samson was just a man. He didn't work out every day. Didn't eat raw eggs for breakfast and hit the gym in the afternoon. He didn't indulge in steroids or other mass muscle producing drugs. His source of strength came from the same place we need to get it today. God. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us - Samson knew it - when will we?
Judges 15:6-8 When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his friend." So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.In 1992 in Los Angeles, the reports of the Rodney King incident raced over the airwaves and television stations. The seemingly senseless beatings by white police officers to the African American Mr. King rocked the attitudes of the community. The tension between the races in California remained strong.
The Philistines - unknowingly - have started their own war. Samson has burned their towns and they have retaliated by killing his 'ex'-wife and father. Samson in turn, slaughters many of them. This is now a vicious cycle.
While we know that God's purpose for Samson is to destroy the Philistines, there is a lesson inside of this. As true as we see it in the life of Samson - as true as it was in Los Angeles - it is true today. Violence begets violence. It only takes one to walk away. It can be as simple as a 
soft response to a spouses' rant. It's not always easy to ignore the person cursing at you from his car or the upset parent who's kid just got outrun by yours.
Jesus didn't yell at the men who pounded the nails in His hands and He didn't threaten the men who thrust the crown of thorns on His head. What an example to follow - what a testament of unconditional love - what a Savior.
Judges 15:1-5 1 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." But her father would not let him go in. "I was so sure you thoroughly hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your friend. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead." Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.Remember in February of 2003 when a South Korean Subway system was set on fire? A homemade fire bomb in a milk carton was thrown into the subway system and was immediately set ablaze. The fire grew too quickly for many to escape and, because of technical malfunctions, the subway car doors sealed shut leaving many passengers to be burned to death. Almost 200 people died that day. What would cause someone to do this? The man who was arrested was 56 years old. He had been in an accident and partly paralyzed. He was treated with poor medical treatments and became violent and depressed. This was the result.
Samson has just come back from his journeys and now realizes his wife is with someone else. Off he goes again on the Philistines. Samson, again, is not answering some higher calling - he is angry and he is getting revenge. We can see the hurt Samson is going through - even though we know it is of his own making.
On September 11, 2001. Nineteen men went on a mission because they were told to give their life for a higher meaning - in doing so - nearly 3,000 American lives were lost. Should we be mad at those men? Should we be mad at the arsonist in South Korea? Should we be mad at Samson? We SHOULD be mad at Satan. These are all examples of people, just like us, who were brought into this world as sinners and needed the salvation of Jesus - but Satan took a hold of them
and did whatever he could to stop God's plan. What are we doing to stop Satan? For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Those are God's words, not mine (Ephesians 6:12). One day, the devil will be done and everyone will see Jesus, but in the meantime - satan will take down everyone he can - how can we help these people? How can we let them see Jesus in us when it is so obvious that Satan has control of them?
Judges 14:18-20 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle." Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house. And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.
In the movie "Ocean's Eleven", A group of thieves and con artists get together to steal from the owner of a large casino. While their actions were wrong - because stealing is wrong - It was nice to see the owner, a rich, pompous, arrogant jerk, get something that was coming to him.
This is what has happened in this episode of 'Samson'. The wife has given up the information to the Philistines and they have won the bet. Samson - who has lost his temper - heads down to Ashkelon and kills 30 men, steals their clothes, so that he can pay up on his bet. The questions is, why would the Lord give Samson power to pay on a gambling debt?
God's purpose is so much bigger than what's right in front of our face. It was never about the gambling debt - Samson's purpose is to deliver Israel from the Philistines, and he just killed 30 of them in his anger. Maybe Samson has forgotten what the angel of Lord told his parents before he was born - maybe Samson doesn't care anymore, he's just living for himself.
God has a purpose for each one of us. We may not know what it is, but He does. We can choose to live our own life, like Samson, and be humiliated because of our pride, left by a spouse who was a bad choice, or any of the other things we will read about in Samson's life - but regardless - God's purpose WILL be fulfilled. Are we willing to do it God's way and reap the benefits of the purpose He has set up for us? Or will we be stubborn and try it our way and suffer the consequences while God's plan still gets carried out.
