Samson and Me (Part 3)
Junior Level

This week we will conclude our study of the life of Samson.  It is my prayer that you have looked at his life and the things he did and compared them wisely to that of your own.  Of course your life will not be exactly the same but Spiritually there will be parallels of Samson’s life with most of us.  We can take theses lessons and apply them to ourselves and be saved from the enemy if we will be wise and obey what God’s word says.  God bless you all.

Handout:  Samson and Me (Part 3)


Samson and Me

Last week we read that Samson had a great victory over the Philistines.  He escaped the enemy once more by the Holy Spirit.  Let’s read on to see what else happened in the life of this strong, chosen man of God.  Did he learn to stay away from temptation, or would he continue to flirt with the devil?

Judges 16:1-3 “ 1Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.3And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and 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.”

If you remember back in the previous lessons, Samson has already gotten in trouble because a woman.  He got away from his enemies and had great victory.  God has been merciful to him.  Here we see him going to another woman’s house, a prostitute.  His enemies came to get him once more, and Samson was able to escape them.  Samson is playing with fire.  Sometimes we can do something and have a very close call with danger, but instead of learning from it, we will continue on and almost feel invincible but however when we keep putting ourselves in positions of compromise we are more likely to be overtaken with the enemy.  No one is invincible.  God is merciful and He will protect His children, but if we choose to keep flirting with the devil, playing with fire, we will eventually get burned.  The things God tells us not to do, they are not to rain on our parades, they are because He knows what is best for us.  He sees the hidden dangers and knows the paths we should take that will lead us to righteousness.  When we really trust Him, we will obey Him.
Judges 16:4-9 “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.6And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. 7And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.  10And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.”


Wow!  Where is he finding these women?!  This woman has betrayed his trust, for money and has sided with the Philistines and Samson now knows this, what will he do next?  Will he tell this evil person to stay away from him?  Would you?   Would I?


11And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 12Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. 13And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.14And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.”


Are you kidding me?!  Once again this woman has betrayed him, and she has the audacity to whine and cry that he has not told her the truth!  There’s no way Samson will fall for this again…will he?


16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” 
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him,[a] and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 

Samson kept flirting with the enemy.  He kept laying his head in the devil’s lap.  He foolishly gave the secrets of his heart to the enemy, not being tricked, he knew well that she was not trustworthy.  I believe Samson had forgotten that his power came from God, not of himself.  He gave his heart to this woman when it should have been given to God.  All wisdom and discernment went out the window and Samson absolutely just handed himself over into the hands of the devil.  Notice the enemy once again used a woman whom Samson loved.  They knew his weakness would be there.  What is your weakness?  Does the enemy use it?  Of course he does!  We may give Samson a hard time, thinking how foolish could he be?  However, if we look very closely at our own lives, most of us have behaved very much like Samson.  We can get so entangled in something or someone and we know that it is dangerous but time after time God is merciful and we escape the dangers and the pain, and instead of being thankful we allow it to make us feel as if we are invincible just as Samson believed and before you know it, we are trapped. 
Verse 20 grips my heart with horror as I’m sure it did Samson.  He did not know that the LORD had departed from him.  The LORD had departed from him…can you imagine?  Can you imagine how God’s Spirit must have felt when He had to leave Samson knowing what was about to happen to him?
 You or I don’t know what it is like for the Holy Spirit to depart because He lives in us.  We are so blessed.  The indwelling Holy Spirit wasn’t always so.  Back in the days before Jesus died on the cross, God’s people lived under the law.  They lived in the dispensation that was before or on the other side of the cross, which was before Jesus came and paid the sin debt.  They did not have the Spirit of God dwelling inside them all the time.  At that time, the Holy Spirit came only for the sake of empowerment to complete a specific task.  We know God would choose someone or a few and empower them with His spirit to get something accomplished, but not everyone had that privilege.  How do we know this?  Here are some scriptures that will help you understand.  
Numbers 11: 29 “And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake?  Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”
Also we find in Psalms 51:11 David prays “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” 
When Samson would overcome his enemies the Bible says that the Spirit of the LORD would come upon him.  So we know then, that the Holy Spirit would come and go.  However, after Jesus laid down his life and was the supreme sacrifice for the sins of the world.  Those that accepted and believed would receive God’s spirit living inside to lead and guide us.  We are so blessed living in the dispensation of grace, and having the gift of the Holy Spirit in us.  We should be ever thankful and never take Him for granted.  For a moment think what it would be like if God’s Spirit left you?  That would devastate me.  There would be no reason for living anymore.  Samson had played around with the devil and kept on and on until the enemy finally stole his joy, his peace, his strength.  Satan is patient enough to wait around for however long it takes to steal your joy and your power with God. 


1.  We cannot play with fire over and over and expect to never get burned! 
 Like Samson, you and I cannot keep sinning over and over and expect to keep favor and power with God.  Of course He will never leave us or forsake us, but if we want to have power and to have His anointing on our lives, we must walk in righteousness!  We cannot keep sinning and compromising with the devil and expect to live in victory, it does not work that way.  Satan is not your friend, he does not want to have a good time along with you, he wants to have a good time torturing you, hurting you, causing you much pain.  That is his goal, his focus.  He is clever and if we are not prayed up and in touch with God, the devil will eventually trick and trap us every single time.  The devil always will parallel God.  He wants to be God.  God has a kingdom.  Satan has a kingdom of evil.  God has angels.  Satan has evil angels and demons.  God is good, satan is evil.  He is the very opposite of God.  Now look at this next verse and think about this.  God says this about His children in Jeremiah 29.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
So we know that the devil wants the opposite of what God wants, so what is the opposite of that.  The devil says…
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the devil, thoughts of destruction, and evil, to bring you utter and devastating chaos and even death.”
Trust me, the devil NEVER plays nice.  He may appear to, and you may have fun with his offer, but there is a deep pit waiting just on the other side and you will fall into it if you do not turn and run as fast as you can the other way.  It will not be easy, satan knows what appeals to your flesh so he will design something that it will be impossible for you alone to say no to, you will have to depend upon the Holy Spirit inside of you to say no and resist it.  We are told to flee from sins and lusts of the flesh in 1 Corinthians 6, 10; and in 1 Timothy 6 as well as 2 Timothy 2, we are told to run away!  There are things that is hard for us to say not to once we are close to them, so we are to turn and run when we see the very first glimpses of danger.  The longer we stay, the closer we get, the harder it is to turn away and the easier it is for satan to ensnare us. 


James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Samson fell in love and was guided by his heart instead of being led by the Spirit.  People will tell us to just follow our hearts but that is so wrong.  We cannot do that because our hearts will get us into trouble most of the time.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
We must walk in the Spirit and be led by God in order to live in power, favor and in victory.
Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Judges 16:21-3021 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. 22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:  “Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,  The destroyer of our land,  And the one who multiplied our dead.”
 25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.


If you keep playing games with the devil and compromising with him, he will trap you just like he did Samson.  A once strong, vibrant man of God now blinded, and stripped of his dignity and enslaved by the enemy.  They laughed and made sport of him.  That is exactly what the devil will do to you and I if we allow him to ensnare us.  When we are crying out in pain he will laugh and make sport of us, but Praise the Lord this is not the end of the story!  God had a plan for the life of Samson, and it would be fulfilled.  He did not forget His servant.  Samson’s hair began to grow back and his strength started coming back with time.  You may have been trapped by the devil, he may have blinded you and caused you so much pain, but know Dear one that Your God has not forgotten you.  Repent and call out to Him!  With time you will regain your strength! 


28 Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. “
The wonderful side of this story is that God remembered Samson and was faithful to him just as He is always faithful to us.  Samson had a greater victory in his death than when he was alive.  The sad side of this is that Samson died with the enemy.  He did not learn from previous encounters of danger and he played around with the enemy until they trapped him.  We must be cautious and obey God if we want to live a life of victory.  We can do that by walking in the Spirit and running from the very appearance of evil.  Not just sin, but the VERY APPEARANCE of it!


1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
Proverbs 8:33 “Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.”
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”


Dear Righteous Heavenly Father…
Thank You for Your Love and Mercy.  Thank You that You are always faithful to us even when we are not faithful to You.  Father help us today to learn from the lessons in Your word, to learn from our mistakes and to run away from the temptation of satan.  Help us to be wise to his tricks and to walk in the Spirit.  Thank You for Your mercy and Your indwelling Holy Spirit and that You never leave us.  We will ever love and praise You.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen


~*Cindygirl*~
October 27, 2019