The life of Samson – The effects of disobedience and a carnal mind
Why is it that we so often fail to fully understand and do what God commands? The other day someone asked me to explain to him Samson’s role in the Bible. I put together the following information that will serve as a guideline to understanding at least one aspect of the life of Samson. Often, the downfall of a person starts much earlier than they could have had control over. Samson’s case is the same.
Do what God commands
Imagine for a moment you have bought a house from someone else. They vacate the property, and you move in. Do you expect to find anything belonging to the previous owner once you move in? Of course not. It is now your property and when you move in, you want to fill it with your own possessions. You do not want someone else’s stuff there, or worse, any of the previous occupants remaining there. This is exactly what the Israelites were commanded to do as they entered the Promised Land, and what they did not do. Failure to obey God’s commands at the time had severe consequences, not for them, but for others had, years down the road.
When we read the account of Israel’s occupation of Canaan, it was made clear to Joshua that every person in every city they attacked had to be killed. Read Joshua 11 in this regards. Note all the instances where Israel was told by both Moses and God to completely annihilate everybody in every city. Moses told Joshua this before he died, and God confirmed it. And they did, almost. They killed the inhabitants, destroyed their homes, burnt their chariots, and cleaned out the cities in preparation for the final phase: to settle in Canaan permanently. There were just three areas they did not kill all the local inhabitants: in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod the Anakims remained (Joshua 11:22). There were five areas under Philistine control, Gaza, Gath, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron. It is from the first three areas that there would rise people that would cause Israel great distress, and for one area it is still the case today.
These three areas, where the enemy had not been totally destroyed, became the centre for three problems:
- Gaza was the home of Samson’s first wife, and this started his association with three women outside his own nation (See Judges 14:1; 16:1; and 16:4);
- Gath was Goliath’s place of birth, who would tempt the armies of Israel (See 1 Samuel 17:4); and
- Ashdod became the home of the ark of God, after they had stolen it in Ebenezer (See 1 Samuel 5).
For this message, we look at how the result of disobedience to obey God’s commands to the letter, would result in problems much later on. God appointed Samson as a judge over Israel and he ruled for 20 years (Judges 15:20 and 16:31). However, Samson’s life was embroiled with trouble, and most of the time it had to do with the wrong women and his association with them. Samson’s parents did not approve of his first wife that he found in a Philistine city, Timnath (Judges 14:1ff). Later he would go to Gaza (Judges 16:1ff), find a woman and have intercourse with her. After that, he found Delilah, and this is where things really took a turn for the worse. Delilah, a native from a Philistine city, was his source of lust. He was not married to her, never intended to, and her constant biggering drove him nuts (verse 16). The fatal mistake he made was to give in to her incessant nagging, share the secret of his strength, and reveal what God had forbidden (Judges 13:5).
God’s plan was that Samson be sanctified and separated for a specific purpose, to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines (verse 5). God told Samson’s mother that he would be a Nazarite and that his head was never to be shaven. In addition, he was not to drink any alcohol (strong drink – Judges 13:7) or eat anything unclean. The same applied to the mother (verse 14). By being disobedient his sin did not change God’s plan for his life, the deliverance of Israel, but it did put a blemish on Samson’s character. Imagine how successful he could have been had he not fallen for the persistent moaning of the women in his life.
Notice how Delilah acts. Once he had told her his secret, she betrayed him by calling the enemy (Judges 16:18). While Samson was in a vulnerable position. The King James Version reads that “she made him sleep on her knees” while other translations say, “putting him to sleep on her lap”. Whichever way you look at it, it represents an intimate position to be in, just before being awakened by her call “The Philistines be upon thee”. The sad thing is that Samson thought that he would get away with it as he did in the past. Not this time. He did not know it, but the Lord left him. (verse 20). How sad.
Samson was taken to Gaza, his eyes were gouged out, and he was bound to grind maize like an ox or donkey. He could not escape. However, his hair started growing again, and thus he started regaining his strength, in preparation for one final assault on his enemy. While the Philistines were “merry” (verse 25) – probably drunk, they called Samson out of the prison to perform for them. Sensing this was his last chance to destroy them, he asked God for strength once more (verse 28), pulling over the two stone columns that held up the house. He died with the Philistines.
The other problem areas
We have dealt with only one of the three problem areas that were left standing and caused untold trouble for Israel. From Gathcame Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4) and from Ashdod came the Philistines who would steal the ark of the covenant. When we look at the three, it very much sums up what the situation is with many of us. Lust (mostly from Gaza or other heathen cities) causes you to lose your sense of responsibility. Goliath (Gath) represents those areas of your life that are filled with challenges bigger than what you are able to face on your own. Waning faith (Ashdod) when God’s presence is no longer felt causes believers to slide back into the world.
What was Samson's end?
Samson is no doubt in God’s presence at the moment as an Old Testament saint. We see this in Hebrews 11:32. But imagine what he could have achieved had he remained obedient. In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes that every man’s works will be tested. Some of us may find that we do enter heaven, but that we are saved as by fire, and we have nothing to show for our faith. Read 1 Corinthians 3:12-16. The problem in our lives is the flesh. We are God’s temple. Lust destroys what is supposed to be sacred. This does not only imply sex. Anything that outs man above God’s will for his life is lust, and lust is sin. The Holy Spirit cannot operate in such an environment. This happened to Samson (Judges 16:20) and God departed from him. One desperate attempt to make up for what he had done resulted in God giving him the power to overcome the enemy, but it also cost him his life. He is saved, but as by fire.
Conclusion
If you are struggling to cope with life, have a look at your past. Maybe there are areas where you did not completely surrender to God’s will for your life and have left behind some of your own will. Now the result of that will is haunting you. Find the Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod areas in your life and ensure they are cleaned out. Where there are remains of the old life, we tend to go back to them in the same way Samson went to Gaza and other Philistine cities to get a wife, when he should have sought a wife from his own people.
The discipleship process often overlooks this vital aspect. In our search to make converts, in our discipling them, we often neglect to assist them with the process of cleaning out the old to make way for the new. Leaving some of the old behind is just looking for trouble ahead.
Cleaning out problem areas of your life is not just possible; it is a process available to you. You have to take the first step to identify them, admit that there were problems, confess them as sin, and ask God for his forgiveness. Do this without delay.