Set Up for Failure
Judges 16:1–3 (ESV) Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
Samson's biggest problem was he never failed to get out of the terrible situations his own inhibitions got him into. The constant stream of successes he experienced as he played the fool with lust and women ultimately led him to a tragic false sense of security.
It's not good to always win. Winning can mess with our pride and pride is never a good thing. Scripture says:
Proverbs 16:18 (ESV) Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
The next verse in the narrative is a perfect transition from Samson's incredible feat of strength to his ultimate demise:
Judges 16:4 (ESV)After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Romans 5:20–21 (ESV) Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Samson's biggest problem was he never failed to get out of the terrible situations his own inhibitions got him into. The constant stream of successes he experienced as he played the fool with lust and women ultimately led him to a tragic false sense of security.
It's not good to always win. Winning can mess with our pride and pride is never a good thing. Scripture says:
Proverbs 16:18 (ESV) Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
The next verse in the narrative is a perfect transition from Samson's incredible feat of strength to his ultimate demise:
Judges 16:4 (ESV)After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Before we get to Delilah, let's look at Samson's actions in the first 3 verses of Judges 16. Samson has learned nothing from the earlier experience of loving the wrong woman. This time he finds a prostitute in one of the Philistine's capitals and sleeps with her. Talk about overconfidence! He heads right into the heart of Israel's enemies thinking nothing can touch him. Then he decides to preempt their attack against him by disabling their city's defenses (gates removed) in the middle of the night.
All this strength of Samson is very impressive yet nothing really changes for Israel. He is acting in the power of the Lord to do wonders but NONE of it sets Israel free. When the enemy can distort your mission and captivate you with your own selfish ambitions, he can lead you right into subjugation. That's what we see with Samson.
Back to the introduction of the Delilah narrative. Notice that Samson loves a woman "in the Valley of Sorek". The word, "Sorek" means "choice vine." Do you see how Samson has let his overconfidence lead him into the very places he should not be? As a Nazarite, any fruit of the vine was off limits. Yet Samson is in the epicenter of temptation, where the finest grapes produce the choicest wine.
Samson's life is both a warning and an anticipation of our hope in Christ. A warning in that we can get to a place where spiritual victories lead us right into the enemies deception that we are immune to his temptations. I have found that the strongest temptation does not come after defeat and humiliation but after I've really felt the Lord used me in some special way. The enemy loves to play on our vanity.
The hope of this short narrative is that we have a true and better Samson who did, in fact, disarm the gates of His enemies for OUR redemption and deliverance. Jesus promised:
Matthew 16:18 (ESV) on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Two thousand years later, the Church Jesus started is larger and stronger than ever. The contrast with Samson is most incredible on that point. For as Samson seems to be doing greater things, the nation is weakening under the influence of the world around it. Today the Church, albeit flawed in many areas is growing and influencing the world more and more every year.
So take heart Christian, your Savior has not only disarmed the gates of your enemies. He has taken you, His bride for himself out of the hands of his enemy AND He has changed your heart through His grace and placed the Holy Spirit of God in you for transformation leading to eternal life.
All this strength of Samson is very impressive yet nothing really changes for Israel. He is acting in the power of the Lord to do wonders but NONE of it sets Israel free. When the enemy can distort your mission and captivate you with your own selfish ambitions, he can lead you right into subjugation. That's what we see with Samson.
Back to the introduction of the Delilah narrative. Notice that Samson loves a woman "in the Valley of Sorek". The word, "Sorek" means "choice vine." Do you see how Samson has let his overconfidence lead him into the very places he should not be? As a Nazarite, any fruit of the vine was off limits. Yet Samson is in the epicenter of temptation, where the finest grapes produce the choicest wine.
Samson's life is both a warning and an anticipation of our hope in Christ. A warning in that we can get to a place where spiritual victories lead us right into the enemies deception that we are immune to his temptations. I have found that the strongest temptation does not come after defeat and humiliation but after I've really felt the Lord used me in some special way. The enemy loves to play on our vanity.
The hope of this short narrative is that we have a true and better Samson who did, in fact, disarm the gates of His enemies for OUR redemption and deliverance. Jesus promised:
Matthew 16:18 (ESV) on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So take heart Christian, your Savior has not only disarmed the gates of your enemies. He has taken you, His bride for himself out of the hands of his enemy AND He has changed your heart through His grace and placed the Holy Spirit of God in you for transformation leading to eternal life.
Romans 5:20–21 (ESV) Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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