In the Mid Bleak Winter

SAMSON: Broken for God

SAMSON - Broken for God

Judges 16:4-31

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The life of Samson / a glimpse into how vital / to locate that purpose of God 

In many people's eyes / Samson was a colossal failure

- if ever there was a flop in the Bible / it'll have to be Samson

- if ever there was a person who lost the Spirit of God / Samson 

You see Samson was destined to be one of the greatest judges in history

but he ended up / performing in a circus ring

Great potential / a dreadful tragic end 

It is only through grace that we see his name doing in Hebrews 11 

impressive line-up of successful people / spiritual hall of fame 

His name was clearly etched there / Samson

squished between such giants as Gideon & David & Samuel

The name Samson / Hebrew word “shemesh” / “sunshine”

 Perhaps he was called "Sunny boy" at home

and undoubtedly he brought much sunshine into his home 

You'll remember that his mother was previously barren (13:2)

Samson was a gift to his family  / And he was a gift to his people

- he was born into this world to fulfill a purpose

- and for that purpose / he was made very strong

But what was the secret of his great strength ? 

Many Sunday School pictures of Samson 

portray him to be a massive hulk of a man

- much like the enormous Arnold Swadzenegger

with arms / back / & thighs rippling with bulging muscles 

- a huge mammoth of a man !

But if he had looked like that do you think Delilah would've asked him

“Hey! tell me dear what is the secret of your strength ?”

It was because he looked so ordinary / perhaps even frail

No! / Samson did not get his strength from his muscles

- It was divine strength 

Samson's strength laid in two things

One / the promise of the Lord  /  Two  the power of the Lord

The promise was unconditional / the power was conditional

First / Samson was strong because God made a promise to his family

- the promise was made even before he was conceived

God said to his mother: “You’re sterile and childless 

but you’re going to conceive and have a son

I need a boy who’ll deliver this land from the Philistines”

There is really no big secret in Samson’s strength 

At the back of his strength were these words:

"He shall deliver Israel / from the hands of the Philistines"

He was strong because God needed a deliverer

God needed someone to deliver Israel / from the hands of the Philistines

He was strong because God needed a deliverer

Second / He was strong because God made him strong 

God provided him with power

But this provision of power was conditional

The angel told his mother:

One - he was to abstain from wine 

Two - no razor shall come upon his head / public sign of vow

Three - he was to touch no dead body

Samson had to take the Nazarite vow (Num 6:1-8)

signifying a life consecrated / dedicated to God

Samson had to live a different kind of life from people around him

He had to avoid anything that soils his holiness

He had to be clean inside him

otherwise all those outward abstinences wouldn’t mean a thing

He had to live a dedicated life and it was hard for him

And you'll understand why he didn't tell his mother 

about the lion's carcass

But all this was hard for Samson

He didn’t submit to God / didn’t try to see what God was saying to him

Instead / he used his strength / to bring honour to himself

He was always getting himself into trouble

and he would cry to the Lord / to bail him out

Someone said that Samson was the Popeye of the Bible

he had a fantastic sense of humour but he was short on character

Five times he got his nation into a mess 

when he ought to be the one / to deliver his nation from trouble

And he was a man who couldn’t control his drives

But he didn't know when to stop / until in the end he lost all his strength

How did Samson come to lose his strength ?

Well / he went through the whole gamut of human relationships

His very first recorded words: “I saw a woman”

A Philistine girl caught Samson’s eye / and it was “lust at first sight”     

This was a Philistine / and Samson wasn't even supposed to touch her 

Philistine / uncircumcised race / outside of God’s covenant 

But it did bother Samson / that he’s violating the Law

And he hadn't even met her before

- He chose her solely on the basis / of her physical appearance

And right there at his own wedding feast he got himself into trouble

with the others in the wedding party

    and his bride ran off with the best man

And once he broke a vow / the second one seemed easier to break

and he started touching things he wasn’t supposed to touch

- like the dead lion / but he couldn’t resist the honey in the carcass

And from then on / it was down / down / down for him 

He sank so low / he didn’t feel any sense of shame 

in seeing a prostitute / and fraternizing with the enemy? 

Samson continued to be an embarrassment to Israel

One day / he went to Gaza / the enemy territory

and he had their city gates ripped from their foundations 

and taken all the way to Hebron / 40 miles away! 

- estimated / gates might have weighed over 1,000 pounds

Bible times / gates of cities / considered symbol of their strength

- by removing the city gate Samson caused Gaza great humiliation

- immediately put on the Philistine’s “Most Wanted” list! 

Something had to be done about him

but the Philistines were too afraid to take action

- they needed to learn the source of Samson’s strength

But Samson / continued to fool around 

He could set ablaze an entire field of the enemy’s crops 

yet was engulfed / with the flame of his unholy desires

Until finally one day he met a woman who was to be his downfall

He became wildly infatuated with a highly flirtatious woman 

Her name - Delilah / has become synonymous with seduction

- mothers would name their daughters Ruth / but few Delilah

Now Samson thought / with Delilah only playing a little harmless game 

but her seductions were too powerful for him

This man had the strength to strangle a lion

but he could not strangle his unholy desires

He could snap the chains of his enemies

but he could not snap the chords of his own lusts

He was searching and not finding

but by his dallying with this Philistine woman 

the enemy came to know his weakness

and the Philistines enlisted her  to be their “secret agent”

And step by step / he walked further & further away from the Lord

until finally / the only thing that was left 

of the conditions for his power was the length of his hair

All other conditions for power were used up 

If he spends this / it will be the end for him

He had reached a very dangerous stage 

Time was running out for him

Like a limited bank account / that a person keeps drawing from

You can’t keep on doing that / without hitting rock bottom

Samson had been presuming on God’s goodness to bail him out

and now he’s come very close to the edge of the precipice

And he knew it

For he himself said: “Put a razor to my head / take my hair off 

and the last difference between me and all others will be gone” 16:17

And that / was what the Philistines did to him 

They cut his hair / and he was put out of his misery

All his inextinguishable rage and passion and appetite

put out! / just like that! / by a haircut !

They cut his hair / and all of a sudden 

all that God-anointed might / power / and purpose VANISHED!!!

And all of a sudden he became like just any other ordinary person

- the anointing’s gone / the call’s been revoked / strength sapped

But there’s something else / that makes this story very sad

A number of people / is perhaps the saddest verse in the entire Bible

“And he did not know that the Lord had left him” Jud. 16:20

He’d walked so far from God / didn’t feel the Spirit taking His leave

There is something immeasurably sad 

about the departure of the Spirit of the Lord

But there is something even more sad

And that is / when a person becomes so spiritually blinded

that he does not even know that the Spirit of the Lord

has taken His sorrowful leave

But he lost more than his beautiful locks of hair 

He lost the presence of the Lord

  Not because he had been shaved

but because God had been neglected

And what a tragic end!

They came in and they took Samson out 

and there / they cruelly gouged out his eyes 

Isn’t it ironical / the one / whose name was “Sunshine”

was destined now / to live the rest of his life in utter darkness

never to see the sunshine again !

And they bound him up with a heavy bronze shackles

But there really is no need for a bronze shackles

a sting of cotton thread / would’ve done the job 

He had squandered every ounce of strength

He was completely drained 

And they put a yoke around his neck to get him to work the treadmill And like a mule / he was there on all fours / hands and feet

every day / without end  

laboriously turning the millstones round and round 

grinding out the corn

And every now and again when the Philistines wanted to entertain themselves

they'd cry out: "Bring Samson out" 

And Samson would be brought out

And someone would call out to him "Pick up the grinding stone" 

and he would heave / and he would huff and puff

but he just couldn't do it

And at that / the life of the party would begin

and someone would shout "Pick up that sheaf of corn

and they would roar with laughter  !!

They would poke fun at him 

And you know what !

They praised their pagan God because of Samson's weakness  / 16:24

And that’s the big tragedy when you and I fail God

you not only fail yourself & the testimony of the Church 

- most of all / you smear / tarnish the good name of the Lord

And people often look at our weaknesses / and they’d mock God 

“Mustn’t their God be a weak God / look at their weaknesses ?”

Now the story could well have ended here / but for the grace of God

This could have been the end of our story / but not quite

For quite suddenly / we come across this line in the story

What is perhaps the most exciting line in the entire story of Samson

Judges 16:22 / “And Samson’s hair began to grow”

One day / when work was done / Samson sat there on the floor of the mill 

slouched over / with flour plastered all over his shoulders

a pathetic figure 

And as he sat there rubbing his head

he suddenly felt the stubbles coming through

he felt the follicles coming through

And suddenly he realised / that his hair was growing again

Now even if they had had mirrors in those days 

Samson couldn’t see them / for he had no eyes / but he could feel

Now / don’t let anyone of us here make the mistake of concluding 

“O his strength must be coming back again”

No / his strength was not to come back 

simply because his hair was growing / that condition was gone 

There was to be no more strength simply on account of length of hair

But the beautiful thing is this:

His growing hair began to make him nostalgic and reflective

it made him think back on the lost years of his life

He thought of what he might've been

- he thought of what he should have done

- he thought of the angel appearing to his barren mother

and bringing tidings of joy to the household

because he was to be a special child

- and he realised / that he’d thrown it all away

- and he realised for the first time that the Spirit of the Lord / had left him

And the more he reflected / the more his thoughts turned to God

And then all of a sudden he understood it all

It came like a flash of illumination

- he knew / for the first time 

that his strength didn’t lie / in the length of his hair

- he came to see / that behind his strength was Jehovah God 

who told him to grow his hair long

- and he came to realise / his total dependence upon God

 

        And like the prodigal son / sitting down among the pigs

eating pig's food / and coming to his senses

Samson came to his senses !

And he came to the point where God can restore him

And so as Samson sat there on the floor of the flour-mill

I believe God reached down from Heaven 

and touched that crusty heart of Samson and said: 

“Son / I still love you” 

Perhaps a story like this / make a few of you grievous

- you remember some things you did in the past 

which hurt yourself / other people / and God

You see the Bible tells us of the deep undying love of God

- there is not a person on this planet that God does not love

- and His love is not based on what you have done or not done

- His love is unconditional / overrides any past that you might have

- and if He is now gracious to Samson / He is gracious to you

But notice this / that though his hair grew / his eyes never regained their sight

Be careful / some sins have irreplaceable repercussions

the consequences of some sins / are permanent

There are some things that hurt a husband or a wife so deeply

- the forgiveness might have been released

- but nothing will ever be the same again

- the beauty of purity and innocence is gone forever

Samson’s hair grew / but he never ever regained his sight

But here he was / coming to his senses / and he began to pray

In the entire story of Samson / this is only the second time that he prayed

But he prayed / he said: “God remember me / and strengthen me”

A person’s extremity is God's opportunity

God must have said: “Samson I haven’t forgotten you / never forgotten you 

I’ve allowed all this to happen

I've allowed your eyes to be gouged out / your hands to be chained

So that at last / I've got you to the place 

where you would be willing to listen and willing to obey 

where I can use you

And Samson came to the point where he’s ready to rededicated his life to God

that he might now fulfill God’s purpose for his life

And God remembered Samson / and He took Samson to a place

- where the Philistines were holding a huge celebration 

at the Temple of Dagon - their god of grain

- the five lords of the Philistines / were there

- Delilah herself was probably there / seated at a place of honour

- along with over 3,000 men and women present

They would use this occasion to gloat / to mock the God of Israel

- to revel over the fallen Samson

who had become a symbol of Israel’s shameful defeat

a trophy of their conquest

 

And with the help of a servant 

they led Samson into the pagan temple / to “amuse” his captors

But once there / with the help of this servant 

Samson located the two pillars on which the building rested

And with a prayer and a request that he die with the Philistines

he anchored himself between two pillars 

pushed them apart and brought the whole temple crushing down

What a nightmare / the drunken laughter turned to screams 

Many were killed instantly / others trampled to death by panicked mob

Samson died too / not in an act of suicide

but as a martyr / who was willing to pay the price of death

for victory of God’s people

His final act / help fulfil the prophecy 

announced by the angel to his barren mother

“He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines”

Samson died physically blind / but there is no question 

that his spiritual and moral sights were restored

This story has been preserved for us in God’s Word for our learning

There are three lessons we may learn from this

One / God sometimes has to break you 

before he can bring you to a point / where you will listen

to what He has been trying to say to you ?

What a long road he had to travel / to come to the light

He had to be blinded / that he may come to see the light

Living in a secular society / and increasingly denies God

it is easy for us to be 

either passively indifferent or actively fighting Him in our lives

But God has a larger purpose / than this world has for you

And if we’re not seeing that 

God sometimes has to take you down a very difficult road 

that your eyes may be opened

Maybe there is a hard ground in your heart

- a pride / an ego that’s bigger that it ought to be

- an inability to trust / a resentment

God can’t make use of you / until these things are dealt with

 

Is God taking you down a very difficult road / right now?

Some of you might be asking 

“Why am I so unhappy?” / “Why did God take my job away ?”

“Why is my husband so unkind to me ?”

“Why am I plagued with this mess I find myself in ?”

“Why am I plagued with this illness ?”

Have you ever pause / in the midst of your troubles

& ask the Lord to help you see 

if there is a hard ground in your own heart God is trying to break?

Hey! These things are for real

God sometimes has to use pain / so that He might get through to us

It could be that you’re hearing (ears) / but not listening (heart)

 

         Not all illness come from God / certainly not

Living in this world / we catch bugs and viruses

But God sometimes allows you to become unwell

just so He might get you to a place 

where you will slow down / and begin to really listen

It's a paradox isn’t it / to say that 

God will bring you through strange roads that you may find your path

Two / This ties in with the second lesson we may learn here / and it is this:

Sometimes it is only when we come to the end of our resources

that God steps in 

In the Bible / you get that strange word “begat” again and again 

Genesis 11 / the line of Abraham 

It was a long list / and then when it came to the name Sarah

it was followed by this haunting verse “But Sarah was ‘barren’”

Now for all intents and purposes / that should have been the end 

- and the Bible would have been a short book

- all human resources have run out / you just couldn’t proceed

But as we’ve seen again and again 

it is when human resources run out / that God steps in

And it looks like God has a special place for barren women

Again and again we find that / a barren woman is where God began

Hannah / who was barren / but she produced Samuel

Sarah / who was barren  / but she produced Isaac  

Elizabeth / who was barren / but she produced John the Baptist

The great lesson for us all here is this:

It is only when we’re willing to recognise that we’re reached end of road 

that God steps in / not before

As long as you imagine that you’re self-sufficient God will leave you to it

Moses had his inability to speak

Amos had his lack of training

Paul had his thorn in the flesh 

In each case God stepped in 

But we’ve first got to get to the point where we will rely only on Him

Three /  Third lesson from Samson

We need to ask the question: “Whom am I living for?”

Samson lived only for himself / his own gratification

did what gratified him / what pleased him

and didn’t care one bit / what God wanted for Him

I want for us to take a look at someone who did just the opposite

- his mother

Reading through the text carefully I stumbled

upon the fact that here was a woman 

who unlike her son / lived not for herself / but for God

The Bible introduced her very simply:

“There was a certain woman in Israel / sterile and barren”

She was so insignificant her name isn’t even recorded in Bible

She waited all these long years for a child

and yet when the Lord gave her a son

she gladly gave him back to the Lord

She could have kept him for herself 

but she remained faithful to God and dedicated him to God

Unlike her son / Samson’s mother lived for God 

We started off this morning affirming the fact that God has a purpose for you

life's main goal is to locate that purpose / work towards that purpose

And the thing that really matters is to

is to know that you are fulfilling the purpose 

for which God has created you for

The only measure of true success

is to be able to say / at the close of your life: 

I have lived for God / served His purpose