Judges 13-17 - Blue Bible, pg 270
There is no other deliverer in the book of Judges that matches Samson s potential. He is called prenatally by Yahweh, stirred as a youth by the Spirit of Yahweh, and empowered with extraordinary gifts by Yahweh.
Yet, despite all these advantages, he accomplishes less on behalf of the people of Israel than any of his predecessors. Though he is impressive as an individual, he turns out to be anything but a military hero. He never leads Israel out in battle.
He never engages the Philistines in martial combat. He never experiences a military victory. All his accomplishments are personal; all his victories, private. Daniel I. Block, The American Commentary (Broadman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, TN), page 420.
Sermon Outline 1. When Samson walked with the Spirit of Yahweh/God 2. When Samson followed the sinful desires of his flesh 3. Application
1. When Samson walked with the Spirit of God/Yahweh
Spirit-Empowered Samson Kills a Lion (Judges 14:5-6a) 5 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.
6 Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.
Spirit-Empowered Samson Kills 30 Philistines in a Town called Ashkelon (Judges 14:19) 19 And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town.
Spirit-Empowered Samson Breaks the Ropes that Bound Him and Kills 1,000 Philistines (Judges 15:9-15) 9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi 10 They said, We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.
11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson 12 We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines. 13 So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. 14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came
shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.
God Answers the Prayers of His Spirit- Empowered Leader (Judges 15:18-20) 18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the
uncircumcised? 19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
2. When Samson Followed the Sinful Desires of His Flesh
Galatians 5:19-21 19 the works of the flesh are...sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
Samson s Sexual Immorality (Judges 14:1-3) 1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.
3 But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.
Samson s Sexual Immorality (Deuteronomy 7:3-4) 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.
Samson s Sexual Immorality (Judges 16:1, 4) 1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her 4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Samson s Disregard of God s Calling (Judges 13:2-5) 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and hand no children. 3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and
said to her, Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.
No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
What is a Nazirite? (Numbers 6:2-8) 2 When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 5 he shall be holy 6 he shall not go near a dead body.
7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head.
Judges 14:8-9 8 After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
9 He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.
The picture the [Book of Judges] paints of this man is ugly. Samson is disrespectful of his parents, callous toward his Nazirite calling, without any loyalty to his own people, compromising in his ethic, rude to his wife, flippant with his tongue, and driven by lust, egotism, and appetite. Daniel I. Block, The American Commentary (Broadman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, TN), page 437.
Spirit vs. Flesh (Galatians 5:17) 17 the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:16, 25 16 I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
3. Application How do we walk in step with the Spirit of God?
How do we walk in step with God s Spirit? Spend quality time = Daily Devotions Communicate = Prayer Listen = Bible Study Result: Life of holiness; fruit of the Spirit; answered prayer; great things for God and His Kingdom.
Disciple-Makers: Live by the Holy Spirit Being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, Disciple-Makers pursue a life of holiness, bear the fruit of the Spirit in relating with others, and shepherd others to do the same.
Benediction
Galatians 5:16-25 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to
keep you from doing the things you want to do 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.