Samson and Me (Part 2)
Junior Level

This week we will continue our study in the life of Samson, a man who was chosen by God from conception to begin the rescue of Israel from the Philistine people.  As stated in last week’s introduction, we can see characteristics of Samson in ourselves as we journey in life thus the name of this study, Samson and Me.  I again urge each one of you reading to notice the similarities of Samson in your own life and use this study to learn from Samson’s failures and his victories.  This is why God placed these accounts in His word, so that you and I and could learn from them, and know that no matter what we are facing, no matter how many times we fall down, no matter how many victories, God is steadfast and faithful in all things!  Praise HIS name.

Handout:  Samson and Me (Part 2)
Teacher's Guide Page:  Samson and Me (Part 2)

Samson and Me

Last week, we ended just as Samson in a furious rage had killed thirty Philistine men and took their garments to give to other Philistine men due to a bet that they could not solve a riddle.  Samson’s Philistine wife had been threatened that if she did not find out the answer to the riddle and tell them, that her and her father and family would be burned alive.  She cried, pouted, and nagged Samson everyday for a week until he finally gave in and told her the answer.  Then instead of being honest with Samson about what was going on, betrayed him by telling the enemy the answer.  After Samson gave the garments to those men he had the bet with, he went back to his father’s house and the word of God says He was furious.  Now God was in this and had a plan to use Samson to begin to free Israel from the Philistine rule.  The Philistines were the enemy and the betrayal had caused Samson to burn with rage.  God’s Word tells us that we can be angry but not to sin in that anger. 

Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”

Psalm 4:4 “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah.

When the enemy does things to us, we are allowed to have that Godly anger to rise up in us as we prepare for battle!  We do not have to sit quietly by and just allow him to beat us to death!  We can rise up in that anger and fight back with our swords of the Spirit which is the word of God!  We can be angry but we must not sin and stoop to levels of sinful ways to try to get back.  The only way we can truly win battles is to obey God and fight back with prayer and His word as well as obedience in what He tells us to do.  Samson was so angry and rightly so.  Remember the saying I told you my dad always says, the best way to eat up a hot potato is to wait for it to cool down.  That is what satan does, he waits for us to cool off and then he will strike.  He cannot touch us when we burning with passion and on fire for God.  Samson had killed thirty Philistines but their evil was far from over. 

Judges 14:20 “But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.”
They thought he was mad about the riddle; wait till he found out that his wife was given to another man!  Let’s see what happened.

Judges 15:1-6  “After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, “Let me go in to my wife, into her room.” But her father would not permit him to go in.  Her father said, “I really thought that you thoroughly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.”  And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!” 4 Then Samson went and caught three hundred foxes; and he took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.  Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?”  And they answered, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.” 

1.  You and I cannot make a deal with the devil and expect to be a winner.

Think about that for a minute, the Philistines burned her and her father with fire.  This is the exact same thing they threatened her with when they wanted her to get the answer to the riddle for them.  She did what they wanted and they ended up doing it anyway! 

You and I cannot make a deal with the devil out of fear what he might do.  You and I will NEVER win when we make dealings with him.  Whatever thing he is threatening us with, he WILL do it anyway after we sin and give in to him.  NO!  We must be wise and say no to any “deals” he will try to make and we must trust God to handle him.  God is all powerful and He can help us.  I believe had this woman and her father gone to Samson and told him that the Philistines had threatened them and that they did not want to betray him, then God would have helped Samson to protect them.  Instead out of fear they chose to make a deal with the devil and they paid for it with their very own lives.  Be warned that he will do it to you and I as well if we will allow him to.

Judges 15:7-20

7 Samson said to them, “Since you would do a thing like this, I will surely take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.” 8 So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam. 9 Now the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves against Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” 
So they answered, “We have come up to arrest Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.” 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What is this you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.” 12 But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.” 

13 So they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.” And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. 14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said: 

“With the jawbone of a donkey, 

  Heaps upon heaps, 
  With the jawbone of a donkey 
  I have slain a thousand men!”

 17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
2.  ALWAYS Believe, Trust, and Obey God!
Samson had a great victory over the Philistines.  God was with him and gave him great strength to defeat them in this battle.  Notice that the men of Judah delivered Samson to the Philistines, they did not offer to help him fight them.  His own people were turning him in to the enemy!  That must have been hard for Samson, but God did not need a lot of men, just one man to be willing to obey Him and fight!  Samson had been betrayed and then his wife and father in law had been burned alive.  This was a tragic and very painful time in Samson’s life.  The devil knew that God had a great plan for him and he was trying to hinder him at every turn, but Romans 8:28 was alive in Samson’s life and God used something horrible in his life for good and gave Samson this great victory over his enemies.  Each Philistine that Samson defeated, was one less that would be used against God’s people Israel, slowly but surely God was delivering them from the hand of the Philistines with just ONE MAN and Israel didn’t even know it yet!  What an Awesome God! 

Has the enemy caused something tragic and painful in your  life?  Do you feel as if you are fighting a battle all alone?  Do you feel as if your own has turned on you and handed you over to the enemy?  Rest assured Child of God, He does not need all of them to win this battle, and He may be just going to use you to do it!  You stand strong and know that your God will fight this battle for you.  When you are on His side, you cannot be defeated!  What you have gone through now is just a set back, it’s just a time of regrouping, God is going to deliver you and give you great victory if you continue to believe in Him, and to trust and obey Him!  Romans 8:28 was active in the life of Samson, and Hallelujah it is alive and active in your life and my life today!  Believe it!  Know it!  Trust it!  God’s promises are always true!  If God has allowed it in your life, then He will use it for your good and His glory!

Romans 8:28 “For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

We are going to break here, and continue our walk through the life of Samson next week.  I hope that you will be encourage with what we have studied today and know that God is still God.  He loved Samson and Child He loves you.  Whatever you are going through today, God wants to use it for your good and He wants to give you great victory.  Keep believing and NEVER give up!  You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.  (Philippians 4:13)  God is and will always be faithful!

Dear Righteous, Heavenly Father…

I bow before You today just thanking You that You are faithful.  You are steadfast and You do not change!  Father I love that no matter where I am, up or down, left or right, right side up or up side down in life, YOU ARE STEADY!  I love that You are holding me and if I will just believe You, trust You, and obey You, things will work out!  I love that I can ALWAYS trust You.  It gives my heart so much joy, peace, and comfort that I can trust You!  I know that You will NEVER do anything bad to me.  You will NEVER allow anything in my life that You will not turn and use for my good.  I smile today because in that truth I do not have to fear anything!  AMAZING FATHER…my heart beats because of You, You have been so wonderful that my heart has fallen deeply in love with You.  You are my love, my life, my best friend.  You are my Father!  You are my Jesus, My Savior, My Redeemer, My rescuer.  You saved my soul and You continue to save me everyday from the snares that satan lies out for me.  Your Holy Spirit comforts me, You strengthen me and encourage me, You scold me when I do wrong and You show me how to get back on the path.  In all things You are faithful to me, and You love me, because You are good.  I can jump into whatever You tell me to jump into because I KNOW YOU WILL CATCH ME!  I love You and I praise You.  I ask today that You comfort all those who are going through a hard time, encourage their hearts to know that You are up to something amazing and they will come out the victor if they will stay on Your side!  Thank You for providing for me and for keeping me, thank You for loving me and being faithful to me, thank You for mercy and grace, and thank You for being trustworthy.  I love You and I praise You forever and ever.  In Jesus lovely name I pray and praise…Amen.

~*Cindygirl*~
October 20, 2019