THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
“Samson”
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Ben Bailey.
What do you know about Samson? Maybe you heard some things about Samson when you were young that stuck with you. Perhaps you heard about how Samson was a very strong man who took the jaw of a donkey and slew a multitude of people. Perhaps you heard how, with his strength, he killed the Philistines. On one occasion he pushed down the pillars holding up the building where idolaters were worshiping, and killed them. But what do you really know about Samson? We have heard the stories of how Samson is a great hero. But do we know the rest of the story concerning Samson? Samson is not really a Bible hero. Rather, he was a man who made a multitude of bad choices—but who, in the end, came to his senses.
We know that Samson lived in a very ungodly time—the time of the judges. He was chosen by God as a judge to deliver the Jews out of the hands of the Philistines. Judges 21:25 tells us what was going on during the time of the judges. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The people had dethroned God. And once God no longer was King, everyone was living in anarchy—living the way they wanted to live, and doing the things they wanted to do. Samson no doubt was influenced by that. Samson is a man from whom we can draw many examples of what not to do in this life.
For example, from birth Samson was a Nazirite. We read about this in Judges 13:1-14. A Nazarite was someone who had been separated from the normal things of life in order to be dedicated to special purposes of God. We read about this in Numbers 6:1ff. A Nazirite was to avoid any kind of strong drink at all times. In fact, Numbers 6:1-4 tells us that a Nazirite could not even eat grapes. Thus, a Nazirite had to abstain from certain things. A Nazirite also could not cut his hair, which, according to Numbers 6:5, was a sign of separation and holiness to God. A Nazirite also could not make himself unclean by touching a dead body (even the body of a family member). If someone in a Nazirite’s house died, he could not go over and touch that person (Num. 6:6-7). A Nazirite was to be holy. He was to be seen as an example of holiness. His life was to be filled with holiness because he was a symbol of the holiness of God (Num. 6:8).
Now, think about all the things that a Nazirite was supposed to be—and then think about all the things that Samson was not. Samson did not meet the qualifications for a Nazirite because he often did not keep himself holy. He did not do things that were right. He had his hair cut. He touched a dead animal. He caused himself to be unclean, and thus did not fulfill the Nazirite vow.
Aren’t there many things in the Nazirite vow from which Christians should learn? Let’s make this practical. Aren’t we to be separated for God’s purposes today? We are not to be “of the world,” although we are “in the world.” In 2 Corinthians 6:17 we are told, “Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’” Here we see two things. We are to be separate from everyone else, and we are not to have any part in things that are unclean. Our lives are to be dedicated to the service of God. In Romans 12:1 Paul wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.” Jesus said that our purpose was to put the kingdom first (Mt. 6:33). We are not to be “of the world” since worldliness is at enmity with God.
Plus, just as a Nazirite was to keep himself from strong drink, Christians are taught to stay away from alcoholic beverages. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” W.E. Vines noted that the word “sober” means “to be free from the influence of intoxicants.” There is no doubt that Peter is speaking here in a spiritual sense of sobriety to make sure that we are alert against the devil. But can a person be physically intoxicated while being spiritually sober? Absolutely not! If we are to be free from intoxicants, then we must not have anything to do with alcoholic beverages. Ephesians 5:18 says, “Do not be drunken with wine.” Proverbs 20:1 says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Bad situations have always occurred for God’s people whenever they got involved with alcoholic beverages. Think about what happened to Noah. He got off the ark, planted a vineyard, and became drunk with wine. Then one of his sons did something ungodly to him. Think about Lot. His two daughters decided that they needed to have children. So, they concocted a plan to get their father drunk to lie with him. Bad things happen when people get involved in drinking alcoholic beverages.
Also, like a Nazirite, our lives ought to be a sign of separation to the special purposes of God. What is one thing that Christians ought to be devoted to doing? We should be examples for Jesus Christ, and should be shining lights each and every day. In Matthew 5:16 we read, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We should be devoted to being shining examples. People ought to be able to look at our lives and see examples of Christ living in us. Titus 2: 14 tells us that we ought to be examples of righteous, sober, and godly lives. We ought to have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:15). People ought to be able to look at us as they did at Christ’s disciples in Acts 4:13 and see Jesus living in us.
And, just as touching something unclean like a dead body would cause a Nazirite to be unholy, sin makes Christians unholy today. Isaiah 59:1-2 clearly teaches that it sin that separates us from our God: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Just like touching a dead body made a Nazirite unclean and unholy, when Christians bring sin into their lives it becomes a cancer or gangrene (2 Tim. 1:17). We must abstain from that kind of lifestyle. As God’s own special people, how we need to live lives of holiness! “Be holy, as He who called you is holy” (1 Pet. 1:15-16). We are to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. ”Without holiness, no one shall see God” (Heb. 12:14). There are some corollaries between Samson’s being a Nazirite and the Christian life today.
Now let’s think about some of Samson’s bad choices and sins. What was one of Samson’s problems? Samson was as self-willed and rebellious as any man of whom we read in Scripture. Look at Judges 14:1-4.
“Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, ‘I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.’ Then his father and mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ And Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she pleases me well.’ But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.”
There are a lot of factors that come into this. But hadn’t God told His people not to intermarry with pagans? Hadn’t He told them not to get involved with the Philistines, the Canaanites, and all those other people? Absolutely! But look at the self-willed, rebellious nature of Samson. His attitude was, “I see a woman who pleases me and makes me happy. Go get her!” His parents said, “Wait a minute Samson? Can’t you find a woman among your own people? Why do you have to get an unclean Philistine?” Samson’s attitude was, “I don’t care what she is. I like her, so you go get her.” Look at the pleasure-ridden, self-willed, rebellious attitude that Samson possessed. Strong heads are never headstrong. People who act from impulse and solely for pleasure will never be what God wants them to be. How foolish it was of Samson! This woman wreaked havoc in his life. If Samson had just thought through things, he could have done the will of God. Young people, listen carefully. We need to be sure that we act based on what is in Scripture. Our heads must be built upon the Word of God, not upon what we feel or what makes us feel good. Some people ask, “Why did you do that?” And the response often is, “Well, it just made me feel good.” Or, “What made you make that decision?” “Oh, it was an impulse. I just felt like it was the right thing to do in that situation.” That is what Samson did. We must not make decisions based on what we think, but instead on what is in the Bible. God’s Word will tell us what is right, and what we ought to do. Several passages come to mind about being self-willed. The Bible teaches that elders in the Lord’s church are not to be self-willed (Tit. 1:7). We are not to govern based upon what we want or what we feel or what we think. We are to do certain things in our lives because they are taught in God’s Word. All Christians are not to be self-centered, but Christ-centered. Jesus said in Mark 12:30, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.” Instead of being self-centered and saying, “I want,” or “I think,” or “I feel,” or “I need,” we need to ask, “What does God want? What would the Lord have me to do? What does the Bible say about this situation?” Living a life of rebellion to God is not the way to go. “Behold, to obey is better to sacrifice, and to heed better than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). God was not pleased with Saul when he made bad decisions out of rebellion. And He is not pleased with us when we do such things.
We also learn from Samson that he gave in to his lust instead of to the wise counsel of his parents. Samson had that “funny feeling,” and wanted more of it. So many young people today do the same thing. Christians are taught to “flee youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22). Instead of saying, “This person gives me that ‘funny feeling,’ and I want to be with him/her,” we are to flee youthful lusts. We are to come to the Word of God so we can find someone who can help us get to Heaven (Gen. 2:18-24). Young people, do not operate off of emotion alone. Rather, operate off of what the Bible says. Do not be like Samson.
What else do we know about Samson? Samson clearly violated the law of God as a Nazirite. In Judges 14:5-9 the Scripture says,
“So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.”
Why did Samson not tell his parents about his killing of the lion? Why didn’t he tell them where the honey had come from? What was he trying to hide? By taking the honey out of the lion’s carcass, Samson had made himself unclean. He violated the Nazirite vow. Knowing that would have devastated his parents. Plus, look what he did to his parents. He gave them some of the honey, too. Notice Leviticus 11:27 as confirmation that Samson’s act violated the Nazirite vow. “Whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening.” By touching the dead lion and eating the honey out of the carcass, Samson had made himself unclean. He clearly violated the law of God. What lesson can we learn from this? We need to realize that we are under a law today. Galatians 6:2 tells us that it the “law of liberty.” James 1:25 tells us that it is the “perfect law of liberty.” We have the law of Christ that has been given to us in Scripture, and which tells us what we must and must not do. Those who break God’s laws today become unclean of sin. From Habakkuk 1:13 we learn that God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil,’ and that He “cannot look on wickedness.” It is sin that separates us from God (Is. 59:1-2). All of our righteousness, in and of itself, is like “filthy rags” (Is. 64:6). When we break the law of God today, our sin separates us from God. In Romans 6:23 we are told that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When we think about what Samson did and the devastating results of sin, are we any different from Samson if we give in to sin and become unclean as a result of having done so? Absolutely not—because we have separated ourselves from righteousness and have become severed from God, just as Samson was.
Samson also was a bad example because he gave in to peer pressure. In Judges 14:10-20 we see him giving in to what Delilah his wife wanted him to do. Instead of listening to God, he gave in to peer pressure and allowed his hair to be cut. He did things that were not right, and as a result he lost his strength and his eyesight. Then he finds himself in a Philistine dungeon. Why? It was because he gave in to peer pressure and made bad decisions. Young people, when you think about Samson, think about the horrible results of giving in to peer pressure instead of acting upon the Word of God. Today, many young people give in to peer pressure when it comes to things like tobacco. Why are you using tobacco? “Well, in FFA or some other class, someone was dipping snuff or chewing tobacco, so I thought it would be nice to try it.” Or, “Someone pressured me to do it, and now I’m hooked on it.” “Why do you smoke these cigarettes?” “Well, my parents did, or someone in my family did, or someone told me it would be ‘cool’ if I did it—and now I’m hooked on them.” Maybe you are using drugs because someone told you that they would make you feel so good, or because there was a crowd of people around and you felt pressured to do so—and, like Samson, you gave in to peer pressure, and now you have to keep injecting that needle into your arm. Maybe drinking alcohol is “the cool thing to do” in school. Maybe those who do not drink alcohol aren’t cool. So, you feel pressured to drink. Or, perhaps you feel pressured to have sexual relations before marriage. Or perhaps you feel pressured to curse.
Well, here is the good news, and something of which you can be sure. If you have to be “pressured” to do something, it cannot be good for you. If someone has to pressure you or make you do something, very likely that person is causing you to violate what you know is right. Even if you are not sure about something, did you know that doing it is still a sin? In Romans 14:23 we read, ”He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” What does it mean, “Whatever is not from faith is sin”? Faith comes via the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). We “walk by faith” (1 Cor. 5:7). If faith comes from the Word of God, and if we walk by faith, then if we cannot do something based upon the Word of God, it is a sin. If we are ignorant of whether or not we should do something, and we do it anyway, then we have not tested it to see if it’s good or bad. Young people, do not give in to peer pressure. Be brave enough and bold enough to stand up for what’s right. Be like Daniel, who is a powerful example of a young man who did not give in to peer pressure. He was in captivity at the hands of others. But he refused to drink their wine or eat things that would make him unclean. Look at how God blessed Daniel’s life as a result. We need more people like Daniel who won’t give in to peer pressure instead of being like Samson and giving in to peer pressure.
Samson also was a man who gave in to worldly concepts rather than biblical concepts. He was not concerned about what God wanted. He wanted a Philistine woman, so he decided that he would have her—no matter what. He consorted with harlots. He allowed his hair to be cut. He became unclean of his own volition. Samson bought into worldly concepts rather than the concepts of God as presented in His Word. Today we must not be like Samson. Instead, we need to be like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Notice the beautiful words of Hebrews 4:15—“We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus is the model Whom we need to follow. We need to follow His pattern because “He committed no sin; nor was guile or deceit found in His mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22). We need to follow the pattern because He loved His enemies (Mt. 5:44-45). Jesus went about doing good. People said about Him, “He has done all things well” (Mk. 7:37). We need to follow Jesus’ pattern when it comes to self-sacrifice. How we need to give ourselves more fully to the cause of Christ! Think about the Macedonians. Before they put one dime into the collection plate, they first “gave themselves to the Lord.” How we need the same dedication, zeal, and fervor to serve God that Jesus had. Someone has rightly said, “Sometimes we study history’s examples —not to learn what to do, but to learn what not to do.” Such certainly is true of Samson’s life. Samson had great potential. He had great strength, but he gave it all up for his lust of the flesh, worldliness, and his desire to make others happy rather than God.
Did Samson end his life in a good way? When Samson placed his hands on the pillars of a pagan temple and pushed them down so that all of the ungodly idolaters died, thereby sacrificing his own life, it probably was one of the greatest acts in his life. Unfortunately, however, he had not lived the bulk of his life so selflessly. Today I want to ask you if you are living a life of faithfulness to God. Are you living a life that gives God glory and honor? Or, like Samson, have you made some bad, worldly, lust-driven choices that will cost you your soul if you do not change your way? Who is leading you in this life? Are ungodly friends and peer pressure leading you to make bad choices? Or, are you following the choices that God wants you to follow? Are you chasing after the world and all that it supposedly has to offer? Or, are you giving God the glory and honor He deserves by following His will?
If you are not a Christian, more than anything we urge you to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The only way to save oneself from a world of sin is by obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” We must obey Jesus’ words if we are going to be saved (Heb. 5:8-9). What does Jesus teach that a person must do in order to submit to Him and obey His will? A person must hear the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Once a person realizes that the Bible is God’s Word today, and that it contains the complete message of salvation, then he must believe what it says. In John 3:16 God said that He gave His “only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” A person must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Then a person must change his or her life. It is a 180-degree turn from sin to God. In Acts 3:19 the people were told to “repent and turn again, that seasons of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord.” Then a person must make the good confession. Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Then one also must be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sin. In John 3:5 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” A person cannot be inside the kingdom, which Jesus is coming back to receive and deliver to His Father in Heaven (1 Cor. 15:26), unless he has obeyed the Gospel. Someone asks, “Are you saying today that baptism saves?” We are saying that the Bible says that. In 1 Peter 3:21 the Bible specifically and explicitly says that “baptism does also now save us.” If you have not yet obeyed the Gospel, we urge you to do so today. Or, if you, as a Christian, have made bad choices like Samson, make it right. Stop making those bad choices. Give yourself more fully to the Lord, and be dedicated to a life of holiness that will bring God the glory and honor He deserves. We hope and pray that as you think about Samson and the horrible decisions he made, you will make good decisions today.
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
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“Samson”
1. As this lesson begins, it states that Samson was not really a Bible hero, but instead was a different type of man. What kind of man was Samson?
2. According to Judges 21:25, in what kind of environment did Samson live?
3. The Bible depicts Samson as having taken a Nazirite vow. According to Judges 13:4-5, what did that vow entail?
4. What does Numbers 6:8 tell us about a Nazirite?
5. What does 2 Corinthians 6:17 admonish Christians today to do that is similar to what a person who had taken a Nazirite vow had to do?
6. In Romans 12:1 what did Paul admonish Christians to do?
7. What do Proverbs 20:1 and Ephesians 5:18 have to say about drinking alcoholic beverages?
8. What important point is contained in Hebrews 12:14?
9. What important message is contained in Isaiah 59:1-2?
10. According to Judges 14:1-4, what self-willed act did Samson commit?
11. What important principle is contained in 1 Samuel 15:22?
12. According to the information contained in Judges 14:5-9, Samson did something that violated his Nazirite vow. What was it?
13. In 2 Timothy 2:22, what does the Bible urge us to do?
14. What does Habakkuk 1:13 tell us about God?
15. According to Judges 14:10-20, what did Samson do that ultimately ended up in his own destruction?
16. How, according to 1 Corinthians 5:7, are Christians to walk?
17. What, according to Romans 10:17, is the ultimate source of every Christian’s faith?
18. What does the last part of Romans 14:23 tell us?
19. According to Hebrews 4:15, we have a perfect example to follow. Who or what is that example?
20. According to the New Testament, what steps must a person take if he or she wishes to become a Christian?
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