I want to challenge your faith!

Big, Dumb and Ugly!

Bad Boys of the Bible

Samson

SAMSON LIKED FLIRTY WOMEN,
LOTS OF LUST BUT LITTLE JOY.
WITH EYES CUT OUT, BODY CRUSHED,
UGLY CAME TO THIS PLAY BOY.

Judges 13-16

Our next character from the Bible was big but he was also very clever and definitely had a way with the women. Why then, you might ask, is Samson in a chapter about being dumb and ugly? I’m glad you asked!

You see, Samson, like most clever, goodlooking guys, had a dumb, ugly weakness. It was playboy.
No, I’m not talking about the magazine, although he probably would have subscribed had it been around back then. I’m talking about his playboy lifestyle.

The story of Samson can be found in Judges 13-16. His life teaches us about the dangers of lust, living on the edge and flirting with alluring women.

To get the full effect, you really need to read this story for yourself. Yeah! I know! We tried that before and you aren’t buying it. Okay, okay. I’m flattered that you like my summaries but you really need to start reading this stuff for yourself. It makes a great read!

Just in case you are still unconvinced, here goes the Cliff Notes version.

BIG MUSCLE: Like Goliath, Samson was also a very strong man. In fact, Samson is often referred to as the strongest man to ever live.

In Judges 13:7 and 16:17, we are told that the secret to Samson’s great strength was in the promise that he kept before the Lord. Samson was a Nazirite and, as such, he could not have fermented drinks, eat unclean foods or cut his hair. To do these things would be a violation of his oath and would bring the removal of his Divinely given super-human strength.

On one of his many trips, Samson was attacked by a lion. The Bible says that he was so strong that he actually killed the beast by tearing it apart with his bare hands. (14:5-6) I’m impressed!

But Samson was given big muscles for the express purpose of delivering God’s people from the cruel oppression of the Philistines. (13:5) Samson liked his job and he took great pleasure in not just punishing the enemies of God but humiliating them along the way.

On one occasion, he was surrounded by his enemies. No doubt fearing his great strength, they decided to wait until dawn to overtake him. Samson, however, escaped in the middle of the night. And, just to make sure they knew he was gone, he tore the doors off the city gate and then carried them along with their posts to the top a hill. (16:1-3)

On another day, Samson was bound with two new ropes. As his enemies came near he broke the ropes, grabbed the jawbone of a donkey and struck down a thousand men. (15:14-15)

After the slaughter, he made up this clever little poem;

“With a donkey's jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.
With a donkey's jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.” (15:16)

Samson, the original “Punisher”, loved his job and he did it very well!

DUMB MISTAKE: He did his job very well, that is, until he met Delilah. It seems that Samson always had a weakness for those of the feminine gender. In Judges 14:1-2, he saw a woman and he insisted that his parents get her for his wife. They tried, but that woman was eventually given to another man. In Judges 16:1, Samson took a journey and along the way he saw a prostitute. Giving in to the urge, he went in to spend the night with her.

But flirting with Delilah was his fatal mistake. Delilah did more than just solve a riddle (see 14:10-18), she got between him and his oath to God. In Judges 16:16, the Bible says that her persistent flirting wore him down and he told her his most intimate secret. For the love of a woman, Samsom traded away his spiritual virginity. Is it any different today?

UGLY END: After lulling the strong man to sleep on her lap, Delilah had Samson’s hair cut. His super-natural strength left him. (16:19)

Then, in words that only an evil, seductive, temptress could say, she awakened her lover and turned him over to his enemies. The Philistines celebrated his capture by binding him in shackles, forcing him into hard labor and gouging out his eyes. Lust was now a problem of the past.

Before ending this playboy story, it must be pointed out that, although Samson’s death was ugly, he did receive strength from the Lord to complete his assignment to bring judgment upon the Philistines. (13:5) In a less than glamorous climax to a less than glamorous life, Samson literally brought the house down upon himself and his enemies. Read Judges 16:23-30. Ugly but effective.

UGLY APPLICATIONS: In the end, Samson never really got to celebrate his final victory over the Philistines. When their pagan temple fell, he died too. Sad, don’t you think? No victory dance in the end zone. No high fives from Israel. No after game party. Just a temple to the head and it’s all over.

I wonder how much more Samson could have achieved if he had just kept his focus on God instead of pretty women.

DON’T PARK YOUR BRAIN,
THINK!

Samson made three fatal mistakes. Are you making them also?

1. Samson had a fleshly focus.

Name three things that your friends do to prove they love things of the world more than they love God.

What are three ways the world tempts you and your friends to focus on the opposite sex?

Read and discuss 1 John 2:16. What is the difference between “lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”? (KJV) Name one way that each of these can be seen in your peers. Read and discuss 2 Timothy 4:9-10

2. Samson played games with his Divine gifts.

What special advantages has God given you? Make a list of your friends and beside each name write a special advantage or talent they have been given. What are some ways you or your friends could be guilty of playing games with those abilities?

What are some ways that your peers “play games” when they should be worshipping? What can you do to help change that?

3. Samson had a fatal faith. In the end he trusted a human with the secret to his greatest advantage. The ability to choose God and accept His salvation is our greatest advantage. In what ways do some people trust humans with this choice?

Have you made the choice or are you trusting others to make it for you? In the end, who will pay for bad choices that are made?

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