This sermon from the book of Judges tackles about the story of Samson and the pitfalls of a hero. However, we have to note that these pitfalls are also common to ordinary people.
Text: Judges 13-14
We all learned that Samson was born to be a hero. Today, we will be looking at Samson’s weakness and his disregard of God’s law.
Disregard of God’s Law. Deuteronomy 7:3-4 talks about God’s Covenant with Israel concerning about marriage. “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.”
Israelites know their Law very well. They know about God’s Covenant. And for them there is a great deal of importance in keeping it. Looking at our passage, intermarriages that God is pointing out here is not because of blood relations merely but of the spiritual effect that it can have. The people around them are pagan. They have many other gods, and such has been the upbringing of their children. Marrying these people as God said will turn their children away from Him to serve other gods.
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[s2If current_user_is(s2member_level1) OR current_user_is(s2member_level2)]This is the reason why this principle is still being taught and will be taught in Christian communities like the Church. Even other religious groups teach this principle. There is something in marriage that will deeply influence you in what you believe, in your principles, in your faith. You want to keep it strong? Marry a Christian believer.
We can see in our story that Samson disregard this Law even with the opposition of his parents in verse 3. Look how he responded, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” But is she?
In verse 4, it is intriguing to read that it says “(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)” Does God really cause people to sin? The answer is no. He does not cause people to sin but he can use human sin and folly to accomplish His divine purpose. This means that Samson did sin, but God used that sin to accomplish His divine purpose for Samson.
Women. Even with his first wife, Samson seems to have a soft spot with his wife. In Judges 14:10, we can see that Samson held a feast for his marriage which is customary. And by the way, according to some scholars and some researches, wedding feasts in ancient Near East includes wine and beer thus, drinking is very much customary during those days. And yes, the passage did not mentioned about Samson drinking alcohol which is another violation of being a Nazirite.
Samson gave a riddle to the Philistines promising to give them thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. We don’t know exactly if this is for his entertainment or for just conceited boastful attitude. What we do know however is that whether the Philistines will be able to answer it or not, he will use it for his advantage.
The Philistines threatened his wife and so his wife threw herself into crying for days just for Samson to tell his secret riddle. Just a side note here, it seems that being a “wife” here is not exactly as wife that we are thinking but rather a betrothal.
Another incident with a woman here is found in chapter 16 verse 1. He slept with a Philistine prostitute. The third woman incident Samson had is in Judges 16:4, when he fell in love with another Philistine woman named Delilah. And she was used by the Philistine rulers to lure him into showing his great strength. His relationship with her ended up with his loss of his strength, captivity and even death.
Self-serving attitude. Samson was a conceited young man. It is probably because of his extra ordinary strength. We can see this kind of attitude when he found a Philistine woman and demanded to his father to get her to be his wife (Judges 14:2). His parents objected to from it but what can they do?
We can also see the incident when he saw honey from the carcass of the lion that he killed. He took it and ate it. He even gave his parents this defiled food and never told them about it (Judges 14:8-9). Then we can also see him involving in a riddle game. He lost the game initially only to have the Philistines pay for themselves of what was won. God’s will or not, we can see here that he serves himself.
Chapter 15 of the book of Judges talks about his vengeance against the Philistines because his wife was given instead to his companions. So he burned the wheat field of the Philistines. The Philistines found out that it was Samson so they burned his wife and his father in law to death.
So he want to get even with the Philistines. But he took refuge in the land of Judah to get Samson. The tribe of Judah was afraid and even handed over Samson to the Philistines. When he was handed down to the Philistines, the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him and broke out from his bind easily. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he killed a thousand men with it. A heroic action but another defilement from a dead body.
It is also good to note that there were only two instances here for the three chapters where Samson called for the Lord. The first one was when we killed a thousand Philistines with the jaw of the donkey and he was thirsty. So he cried out to the Lord for water (Judges 15:18-19). This incident also confirmed his divine appointment as a judge of Israel. And he led Israel for 20 years. The second incident of calling God was when he is about to die (Judges 16:28).
Notice all these events. These happened not because he was following God. It happened because of his own folly. It happened because he did what he wanted. But then again, God uses man’s folly for His purpose.
Conclusion
Samson was born to be a hero. He was born with special gifts. But even him have weaknesses. Women, self-serving attitude, and disregard of God’s law. Despite of God’s favor on him, he paid his sins with his life.
God called us to be his servants. Samson’s story tells us how we can become like him. Set apart for his purpose and become champion of spiritual war. But if disregard of God’s word, our own selfish self-serving attitude and other weaknesses overtakes us from our commitment, there is a sure payment for it. God loves us that even in the result of our disobedience, as long as we come to God we can always expect God’s favor of forgiveness.
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