Samson Review (Judges 13-16) Samson is the final and climatic judge in the book of Judges. He judges in Israel for 20 years, during Israel’s longest oppression (40 years by the Philistines). Usually, in the Judge Cycle, when Israel was oppressed, the people would repent, cry out to the Lord, or fight back – but none of this happens. The tribes of Israel have forgotten the Lord. Israel has settled for serving idols. Sin and idolatry show themselves in our loves, our closest relationships. Samson’s love life is messed up, with one betrayal after another. But, what seems to be bad relationships turn out to be opportunities from the LORD to strike back at the oppressors – the Philistines. Israel is self-destructing as a nation. Israel is being Caananized – they are just like the worst of the nations around them, they are conforming to the sinful practices God warned them about. They are not set apart for the Lord in the land the Lord gave them. Samson judges in a time like ours – only much worse. Title: Samson and the Sovereign Lord Judges 16:28 (NLT), Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time.” • This is the key verse in chapter 16. • These are Samson’s final words. He prays this prayer when he is imprisoned and mocked. • Samson sees the LORD clearly, even when his eyes are gouged out. • In Hebrew you see three names of God—Adonai, Jehovah, Elohim. • What does the word Sovereign mean? In short, it means God is in control, even when the world seems out of control. It means, God is still working out His plans, even though we get off track. It means that no matter how chaotic life can become, ultimately, God’s will – WILL be done on earth as it is in heaven. • It also means, in this context, that the God of Israel is Sovereign, not the god of the Philistines. • God remembers Samson. Samson ends up exactly where the Lord wants him. Samson fulfills his mission. SCENE 1: THE OF GAZA Judges 16:5 (NLT), One day Samson went to the Philistine town of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute. 2 Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the town gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, “When the light of morning comes, we will kill him.” 3 But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of the town gate, including the two posts, and lifted them up, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron. • God gives Samson supernatural strength to tear down the city gates and carry them to Hebron – 40 miles away. • Hebron is Caleb’s town, where the bravest warriors of Judah live. • It is as if Samson is sending them an invitation – the gates of Gaza are down. Come and fight. Gaza is in the land of Judah. The Lord is with us. But, Judah will not fight for their inheritance. • The language here is the same as when Joshua sent the spies into Jericho, and they also went into the house of a prostitute to hide, Rahab. No one accuses them of favors, so why Samson? • I don’t think Samson has forgotten his mission/vow. He is on a mission from God to take down Gaza. SCENE 2: SAMSON AND • V4 – Sometime later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. • Samson’s love is genuine, just as it was when his wife betrayed him earlier. • But, the Philistines get between Samson and his women! • They promise Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver (each) if she can find out what makes him so strong. • There is a long lovers game going on between them (12 verses). • 3x Delilah says: Tell me the secret of your strength? How can you be overpowered? • 3x Delilah lulls Samson to sleep so she can tie him up. • 3x Samson plays along. • 3x he says tie me up and, “I will become as weak as anyone else.” • When we read this, we want to shout at the pages, Samson get out of there! • This flirting, if that’s what it is, serves as a kind of dramatization of how Israel flirts with idols. • Israel is Samson – Asleep and blinded by love with foreign gods. • Israel is Delilah - Betraying their Lord/the one who is saving them. • We fall for idols when they lull us to sleep. The sin of idolatry comes by way of relationships. • Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. But one of them does not love the LORD (or you) as they should. • Samson plays along with this dangerous game, but does not give up the secret of his strength until Delilah’s 4th attempt. Judges 16:5 (NLT), Then Delilah pouted, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t share your secrets with me? You’ve made fun of me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!” 16 She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it. 17 Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. “My hair has never been cut,” he confessed, “for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.” Judges 16:18 (NLT), Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come back one more time,” she said, “for he has finally told me his secret.” So the Philistine rulers returned with the money in their hands. 19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” Judges 16:20 (NLT), But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. 22 But before long, his hair began to grow back. 23 The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!” SCENE THREE: SAMSON SHAVED/STRENGTH GONE/CHAINED AS A • Delilah is like Judas, she betrays Samson for pieces of silver. • Verse 20 is the saddest verse in Samson’s career as a judge: “...he didn’t realize the Lord had left him!” • The Philistines to grind grain – and therefore serve Dagon (the grain God). • Verses 23-24 is a worship service! • The Philistines praise their god Dagon, in the temple of Dagon. • Samson is the entertainment. • Samson’s story is a war of the Sovereign God vs. false gods. It’s theological. It’s NOT about Samson/Delilah, or Israel/Philistines. It is about Yahweh/Dagon. • Which God is the Sovereign Lord? Who should Israel be serving? • Verse 22 brings hope and grace. God is not done with Samson! Judges 16:25 (NLT), Half drunk by now, the people demanded, “Bring out Samson so he can amuse us!” So he was brought from the prison to amuse them, and they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof. 26 Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, “Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them.” 27 Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them. SCENE 4: SAMSON BY MEN/HIS ARMS STRETCHED OUT Judges 16:28 (NLT), Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, 30 he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. • Matthew Henry, “The house was pulled down, not by the natural strength of Samson, but by the almighty power of God. In his case it was right he should avenge the cause of God and Israel. Nor is he to be accused of self-murder. He sought not his own death, but Israel's deliverance, and the destruction of their enemies.” • In the end, Samson is right where God has planned. He dies with his arms stretched out in one final act of deliverance for Israel. CONCLUSION: There is always hope as long as we cry out to the Sovereign LORD. Behind every human event is a theological conflict: God vs. the false gods of the day. The secret to a Christian’s strength is to admit our weakness. Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.” Be careful how we judge the Judges. Miles Van Pelt takes a positive view of Samson: “Samson is a type of Christ, not a type of you or me…. If we want to identity with anyone in the book of Judges, we should identify with the people of Israel—those who continue doing evil in the sight of the Lord despite his saving grace. Some readers may be shocked to discover that Samson is not portrayed as sinful in these chapters of the book of Judges. His marriage is not forbidden by the Mosaic covenant ... and he was born to kill Philistines. This was his special calling from the Lord, to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, and he is successful in this calling! Tragically, the way in which we think about Samson today is much like the way in which the Pharisees thought of Jesus: associating with the wrong women, eating and healing on the Sabbath, identifying himself as God, etc. We should be careful how we judge these saviors, all the more so as we erroneously liken them to ourselves.”