The Life and Times of Samson
The Besetting Sin
Judges 16:1-3
The last couple of scenes we have considered in Samson's life have been encouraging, especially after there had been so much disappointment. But, our hope is short-lived for as we enter Judges Chapter sixteen, we find him falling back into the same sins that had so disappointed us in earlier studies. You could say that it is the same song, second stanza, and still off key.
As we have often been reminded in our study on Samson, his life is an example of what could have been. Having been chosen of God and appointed to be a deliverer of the children of Israel, equipped and empowered with an unusual power to fulfill his calling, Samson was a skeleton of what he could have been and could have done.
I believe that God equips every believer to serve Him according to His will for our life. Yet, sadly and tragically, many, if not most, believers will live the whole of the Christian life without realizing what God could have done with them and through them. Our Churches are full of Christians who have no idea what God's will is for their life. They never fulfill their God-given purpose.
Phillip Adams said, "It seems that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever."
I am aware that serving God is more than having confidence or taking risks. It is following God's will. However, the will of God gives every believer vast potential to do things they otherwise never could have done and to be a person they normally could have never been. Yet many believers never realize what they could have done or could have been for God.
In Judges 16 we see one of the reasons why Samson never lived up to his vast potential. Let's look at the scene before us by first considering:
1. The Problem
Judges 16:1
This is the second time we see Samson having woman problems. First, there was the woman in Timnath (cp. 14:1), and now a harlot in Gaza. These words epitomize a statement made by the writer of Hebrews in 12:1: "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us."
You will note that the writer speaks of "the sin." It is a definite article indicating one particular sin. Sin rears its ugly head in our life in many ways, but in this case the writer is talking about a particular sin. He is describing one particular sin that seems to prevail and be dominant in our life.
"The sin" seems to be a particular sin a person is especially vulnerable to and seems to have the most trouble with. In Samson's case, his besetting sin was women. The lust of the flesh in this area was the one particular sin in which he was the weakest. As for us, this one sin may vary from person to person.
What may give me the most trouble may not be a real problem for you. What gives you the most problem may not really be a struggle for me.
Whatever the sin, it is good for us to realize and remember that there is an area in which we are most susceptible and vulnerable. It may have its roots in the life we lived before we were saved or just a part of our constitution, but none-the-less there is "the sin" that we must constantly and carefully guard against.
Hebrews describes it as "the sin that so easily besets us." This one particular sin is a sin that so easily and quickly trips us up as we run the race of life. The statement is often translated as the sin that so easily entangles us or causes us to stumble. As John MacArthur says, "It wraps itself around us so that we trip and stumble every time we try to move for the Lord."
This sin is the sin that is our nemesis. It is the one thing that keeps knocking us down. I have seen people come to the altar and cry out to God for forgiveness for a sin they have committed. They are sincere and there is not a ounce of hypocrisy in their sorrow and repentance. They ask God to forgive them and then do alright for a few days or a few weeks. But then, that same sin pops back up in their life. There are dozens of areas in which they have no problem, but this one thing keeps tripping them up and bringing them down.
We saw Samson and the woman at Timnath and all the problems it caused in his life. Then, for a short time we saw him at some of the finest moments of his life.
But then, once again, we find a woman bringing him back down again. Women were his besetting sin. They were his greatest weakness and were always the cause of tripping him up.
As long as we are in this body of flesh we will have problems with the flesh. That is why it is indispensible that we walk in the Spirit.
The Bible says in Galatians 5:16, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson he was victorious in his deeds. When he walked in the flesh he fulfilled the desires of the flesh.
The same is true for us. If we walk in the Spirit we will not walk after the flesh. Every day we must kneel at the foot of the cross and die to the flesh and arise to walk in a strength and power that is not of our. We must die to self and walk in the Spirit.
In Greek Mythology, Achilles was the son of Peleus, king of Myrmidons, and Thetis, a sea goddess. Achilles was the greatest, bravest, and most handsome warrior in his army. One of the tales about his childhood relates how Thetis held the young Achilles by the heel and dipped him in the waters of the river Styx. Through the magic power of the water, Achilles became invulnerable in every part except his heel by which he was held. The small part untouched by water was vulnerable. It was in the heel that Achilles was struck by an arrow and killed.
There is our "Achilles heel." It is that area in which we are most vulnerable. It is our besetting sin. It is that problem area of our life.
Now generally speaking, this problem in our life leads to
2. The Peril
verse 2
When we yield to the flesh it always exposes us to certain dangers. When Samson yielded to his flesh and went into the harlot at Gaza it placed him in certain dangers.
When we find Samson in Gaza we find him about forty-five miles from his hometown in the southernmost city of the Philistines. One wonders why Samson was so far from home. Did he think that he would never be recognized and that no one would know about his sin? Whatever the case, the enemy learned of his presence and sought occasion to kill him.
As we look at the actions of the enemy we can glean a couple of lessons about the spiritual enemy that every believers faces.
We read that when the Gazites, the inhabitants of Gaza, learned that Samson was in town, they surrounded the place where he was "and laid wait for him all night." The enemy of the spiritual life; the world, the flesh, and the devil are constantly watching and waiting for an opportunity to attack us. They are waiting for us to let our guard down.
Samson was in a place where he should not have been. He was in Gaza, a stronghold of the Philistines.
When a Christian inhabits the places of the world they put themselves in threat of being attacked by the enemy. That is why Solomon said in Proverbs 4:14-15, "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."
Judges 16:1 says that Samson "saw there an harlot." He put himself in a place that exposed him to his besetting sin and he wasn't long there that he found himself tempted. He entered into the path of the wicked and was surrounded by the wicked. As result, he fell into wickedness. When we put ourselves in tempting situations, especially situations that pull at an area in which we are particularly vulnerable, we are only asking for trouble.
As well, we read that the Gazites "were quiet all night" (16:2). The enemy does not always make his presence known. The enemy is very deceitful. Sin is so subtle that is makes us think there is no danger. Sin says, "No one will ever know," or "nothing will ever happen." Sin is always quiet about the consequences it reaps.
The motive of the enemy is made quite clear in the words "we shall kill him" (Vs. 2). Their objective was the total annihilation of Samson and a complete removal of him from the scene of action. They wanted to get rid of him for good. The spiritual enemies of the Christian life want more than to slap us around a bit and leave a few bruises. They want to destroy our testimony and the ability to be effective for the Lord.
The Bible says in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death." The price for sin is always death. Oh, sin will represent itself in forms of life; if you really want to be happy or really want to live, etc, but in the end it always brings death. It brings death to a joyful heart, a peaceful soul, a happy marriage, an effective ministry, and a admirable testimony.
Chang Hsien-Chung, a bandit leader who gained control of the Chinese province of Szechuan, killed 40 million people during his reign of five years (1643-1648). He ranks with the most murderous butchers in history. Chang slaughtered 32,310 students, 2,000 soldiers, 3,000 harem attendants, 27,000 Buddhist priests, 600,000 inhabitants of Chengtu (his capital), 280 of Chang's wives, 400,000 wives, daughters and sisters of his soldiers, plus 38 million inhabitants of the province of Szechuan in a single holocaust.
The most notorious butcher's are the spiritual enemies of the Christian. From the beginning, the highways of history are lined with their casualties. From the greatest to the lowest, the strongest and the weakest, sin has shown no respecter of person.
If one names the name of Christ they are the target and they will watch and wait until the opportunity arises to destroy them.
Last of all we see:
3. The Promise
We cannot avoid the temptations of the world around us, but we do not have to be a victim of temptation.
God has given us a wonderful promise that even in the face of temptation we can be victorious. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Temptation is a common experience of all men, but God always provides a way of escape that we may overcome temptation. As in previous situations, we have seen how God mercifully delivered Samson. Once again, we see God, in spite of Samson's foolish ways, delivering him from the enemy.
v. 3
For some reason, Samson became aware or sensed that he was in danger. The first step in defeating temptation is a consciousness of temptation. Sad is the day when we get to the place where we are numb to sin and the enticement to sin. The Bible speaks of it as a conscience "seared with a hot iron" (cp. 1 Tim 4:2). The idea is getting to the place where we are numb to the influences and effects of sin.
When we feel the first pull of temptation that is when we must react. Moody said that we cannot stop a bird from flying over our head, but we can prevent it from building a nest in our hair. The moment we start having those thoughts and feelings is the moment we must take steps to prevent ourselves from yielding to temptation. It is moment when we need to look for the way of escape.
The phrase "a way of escape" in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is formed by the definite article and a singular noun. In other words, there is only one way of escape. What is that way? The promise is: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able" (1 Cor 10:13). God Himself is our way of escape. As we look to Him, cry out to Him, and depend on Him we are able to escape and overcome the temptation that threatens us through Him that is faithful.
We read that Samson "took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron." Here we have described another great display of the strength that Samson possessed.
Samson lifted the doors off their hinges, pulled up the posts that held them, as well as bars that braced them, put them on his back and carried them 35 miles away, and that mostly uphill. Again, by the strength that was given him by God he was delivered from the danger that he faced. Once again, God in His mercy delivered Samson.
There is much to learn from the mistakes and failures of Samson. There is also much to learn from his deliverances. It is only by God's power and strength that we can overcome our enemies. We are as Romans 8:37 declares "more than conquerors through Him that loved us." May we learn from both the good and bad in Samson's life.
Let’s pray
