It’s not very pleasant to be around a spoiled, selfish, and incorrigible child. What is even worse is when that child grows up and continues with the spoiled, selfish, and rotten behavior. It’s sad when the child has been raised by good, decent parents, but ends up that way. Today we’ll look at one man, raised by believing parents, but who turned out making a shipwreck of his life. Let’s look into our Scripture.
The person we will look at today is Samson. Samson’s parents, Manoah and his wife, did not have any children, and they had prayed to the Lord God for a child. One day an angel came and told Manoah and his wife that they would have a son, and that he was to be dedicated to God as a Nazarite throughout his life, and his hair was never to be cut (Judges 13). Manoah and his wife did their best to raise Samson to love and follow Yahweh. However as we read about him as an adult, it becomes evident that Samson was spoiled, selfish, and always got his own way.
When Samson was an adult, he frequently consorted with Philistines, the enemies of the people of God. He met a Philistine woman, and came home and demanded that his father get her for him to be his wife. God had forbidden His people to marry unbelievers (Deuteronomy 7:1-4), yet Samson wanted what he wanted, and demanded such from his parents. Samson had also been blessed with great strength, a gift from the Lord which he should have used for Yahweh’s glory and to spread His message. Yet Samson used this unique gift whenever it suited him for his own pleasure, and whenever he lost his temper. Throughout Judges 14-15 we read of situations in Samson’s life where he allowed his lustful passions to lead him into the arms of pagan Philistine women and away from the Lord, and where he used the gift of great strength he had from Him for his own purposes.
That brings us to our Scripture passage in Judges 16. Samson had again taken up with a pagan woman named Delilah. The Philistine leaders wanted to know the secret of his great strength, and bribed Delilah with the offer of a great deal of money if she would find out from him that secret (vs. 4-5). So Delilah questioned, cried, and nagged Samson over and over again. Each time he told her a false reason for his strength, and each time she tried to trick Samson, only to find out he had lied to her (vs. 6-14).
Samson had a weakness for women of low character, the unsaved, and on top of that, Philistines, an enemy of Israel. Samson erred continually by going to Delilah daily, and allowing himself to be entrapped in her deception. She did not truly love Samson, either, as it is seen that she loved wealth more than she did him. Samson toyed around with Delilah at least three times, telling her lies, and then he would see that the Philistines were there, ready to try and subdue him. After at least the second time why did he trust her any further? His carnal, lustful nature had control of Samson, not the Lord. Although he had super-human strength, he could not smother his burning lust, nor see Delilah for who she really was.
Finally, after he could take her nagging no longer, Samson told her the truth (vs. 15-17). Samson’s strength came from his unique relation to God, based on his Nazarite pledge. His long hair was only a sign of it. When Delilah became more important to him than God, his strength was removed. Samson’s sin had caused him to forfeit the power of God’s presence (vs. 20). Samson was so preoccupied with lustful desires, he didn't even know the Lord had departed from him. How many times do we allow ourselves to be deceived by flattery, and give into temptation and wrong desires?
Now, with his hair shorn from his head, Samson was weak, and was taken in bondage, his eyes put out, and made a slave (vs. 21). He now had plenty of time to wonder if Delilah’s charms were worth turning from God. Samson had chosen to be with Delilah, and now he was paying the consequences. Weeks and months passed, Samson became repentant, his hair grew, and his strength also grew. Slowly Samson saw what his life of folly had brought him. God forgave Samson, but a lifetime of sin still had consequences to pay, and that is what happened with him. Samson ended up paying the ultimate price, his life, for his grave sins, but he did have one final victory, by also destroying many of God’s enemies (vs. 25-30).
As we look at Samson’s tragic account, we might wonder how things might have been if he had lived for the Lord instead of letting sin shipwreck his life. He never conquered his tendency to lust. It actually conquered him. God could have used him in special and wonderful ways. God still loved Samson. He heard his prayers of confession and repentance. No matter how long one has been away from God, He is ready to hear from them and restore them to a right relationship. However, it is better to not allow oneself to get that far afield from the Lord to begin with. As we see with Samson, that a believer, if they are governed by self-will and sin, can fall deep into folly. Let’s be sure to never fall into that trap!
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