I. INTRODUCTION

A. The period of the judges in Israel's history is well summarized by Judges 2:6-23.

1. After Joshua and the generation he led died, another generation arose in Israel who did not know God. This generation "did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals” (v. 11).

2. This apostasy marked the beginning of a repeating cycle in which Israel would sin against God, God would punish them by the oppression of other nations, Israel would cry out to God for deliverance, and God would raise up a judge to lead them from the hands of their enemies. This cycle repeated seven times during the time of the judges.

B. One of the judges and deliverers raised by God was Samson. Samson's story is the basis of our present character study. We will see that his life was marked by great strength, weakness, failure, and tragedy.

II. SAMSON'S STORY

A. Samson's birth and life was announced to his mother and father by the angel of the Lord (Judg. 13:1-25).

1. Samson's mother had been barren, but the angel spoke to her in verses 3-5, saying:

"Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

2. Samson was to be a Nazarite, which means "one separated” (Num. 6). The Nazarite was not to cut his hair, touch a dead body, drink a fermented beverage, or consume any product of the grapevine.

B. Samson is especially notable because of his exceptional and miraculous physical strength.

1. In Judges 14:5-6, Samson was attacked by a young lion, but the "Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand.”

2. In Judges 14:19, when Samson was angry due to the treachery of his Philistine wife, "the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them.”

3. In Judges 15:14-15, when the people of Israel had bound Samson and delivered him to the Philistines, "the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.”

C. The great physical strength of Samson was in stark contrast to his great moral weakness.

1. This moral weakness characterized Samson's life from the beginning. Notice Judges 14:2-3:

So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me.”

2. Further evidence of this weakness is seen in Judges 16:1, which says, "Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.”

3. Samson was a man of faith (Heb. 11:32), but his weakness prevented him from doing even more.

D. The moral weakness of Samson led to his great failure and the downfall of his life.

1. No man could defeat Samson, but it was his weakness for women that led to his demise. The particular woman who ruined him was Delilah, as we read in Judges 16:4-5:

After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

2. Even though Delilah enticed Samson, he lied to her three times about his strength and how to bind him. At last, he gave in to her and told her his secret in Judges 16:16-17:

It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, "A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

E. The great failure of Samson resulted in the tragic end of his life.

1. The evil Delilah "made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him” (Judg. 16:19).

2. The Philistines then bound him and gouged his eyes out (Judg. 16:21).

3. After some time, the Philistines brought Samson out of prison into the temple of their god Dagon for their amusement. There he stood between two pillars. (Judg. 16:23-25).

4. Consider Samson's tragic end in Judges 16:28-30:

Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.

III. LESSONS LEARNED

A. Samson's life is a story of unrealized potential.

1. We all have potential to do great things for the Lord. That potential is a blessing if realized, but it is a burden if unfulfilled.

a. Having potential means that we have abilities and expectations, but we have not done anything with these yet. Potential alone has no merit and deserves no praise.

b. The potential that we have is evidence that God has entrusted us with a stewardship for His sake. Consider 1Corinthians 4:2 – "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”

2. Having ability and talent is not enough. One must use it in the service of God.

a. This is the great lesson of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.

b. Notice Matthew 25:29 – "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”

B. Samson's poor judgment concerning women teaches us to look at a person's heart as God does.

1. Man tends to judge by appearances, but God judges by the inward person. Notice God's words to Samuel in 1Samuel 15:7 – "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

2. Consider some warnings concerning the error of judging a woman solely by her appearance.

a. Proverbs 11:22 – As a ring of gold in a swine's snout so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

b. Proverbs 6:25-28 – Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids. For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

C. Samson's failure demonstrates the offense of bringing reproach upon God.

1. The Philistines used His failure as an occasion to praise their idol (Judg. 16:23-24). Therefore, let us be warned, and may our failures never give an occasion for God's enemies to blaspheme.

2. Christians who forsake God "again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (Heb. 6:6). May we never bring such reproach on our dear Lord.

3. Consider God's words to Israel in Ezekiel 36:22-23:

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy in you before their eyes.”'”

4. May we always demonstrate the holiness of God by living in sanctification through Christ Jesus.