Liam Hungate
We are back in the Redemption Series after a short break. Last time we covered Gideon: a doubting man God patiently met where he was, shrank his army to 300 so Israel could not take the credit, and used to bring 40 years of peace. Even so, Israel was back in idolatry soon after he died.
This week's focus is Samson. Gideon started weak and ended well. Samson starts with every advantage, and we watch what happens when someone lives in disobedience.
Passages: Judges 13-16, Numbers 6, 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 11
Judges follows the same pattern again and again:
It is easy to call Israel foolish. But many of us live the same cycle: we sin, hit a wall, cry out, God rescues us, we coast, and then we drift back. One of the biggest mistakes in reading Scripture is reading ourselves out of it, treating it as "them" and "what they did" instead of "me" and "what I do." Paul says all Scripture is useful for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). So the question for the week was: what can Judges teach me about my own walk with the Lord?
Samson's story begins with a new cycle in Judges 13:1, which marks 40 years of Philistine rule. The number 40 shows up in Scripture as a period of testing or trial, usually followed by a turning point of judgment or deliverance. Think of Noah's flood, Jesus' time of testing in the wilderness, and Israel's wandering in the wilderness.
Before Samson was born, the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) appeared to his parents, as God did with Abraham and Sarah before Isaac, and with Mary before Jesus. Two promises were given:
The Nazirite vow had three main practices:
God set Samson apart as a very visible display of His provision and protection.
Samson's parents offered a sacrifice to the Lord, honoring Him and also afraid after speaking with Him. His mother said something wise (Judges 13:23): if the Lord meant to harm them, He would not have accepted their offering. God's work in the past is a promise of His future care. The same is true for believers. God has accepted the perfect offering of Jesus on the cross for us, and what He has already done for us is the evidence of what He promises for our future.
Samson was born with the Spirit of the Lord on him and every advantage: a calling, the Spirit, and godly parents.
When Samson grew up, he was not focused on honoring the Lord. He was distracted by women. The core problem with the first woman was that she was a Philistine. God's law (Deuteronomy) told Israel not to intermarry with the pagan nations, and Samson either forgot or ignored it. This is comparable to God's call for believers not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever, especially in one of life's most important commitments. God can still use Samson despite his disobedience, but not as fully as He could have if Samson had obeyed.
On the way to arrange the marriage (Judges 14:5-10), Samson flirted with temptation again and again, even with the Spirit on him. The point: spiritual power and spiritual gifting are not the same as Spirit-produced character. On a team, skill gets you on the field, but character decides what you do with it. A good player who is a bad teammate is really just a bad player. Samson had the talent and was used by God, yet he was still immature. That is why we need the Spirit's lasting fruit, not just His temporary power.
Samson had plenty of highs and lows. Sometimes he was willing to be used by God, and other times he gave in to sin. Sometimes he kept his Nazirite vow, and other times he ignored it. He divided his life into categories: "God cares about this part of my life, but not that part." That is not how it works.
Picture a house with locked rooms. We hand Jesus the keys to the living room, but keep the bedroom, the basement, and the bathroom locked. Jesus has a claim over our entire lives, not just the parts we give Him.
One area Samson would not give to the Lord was his lust for women. He fell for another Philistine woman, Delilah, who loved money more than she loved him (Judges 16:4-6). Three times Samson gave her false answers about the source of his strength: bowstrings, new ropes, and weaving his hair into a web. Each time he broke free. He was playing a game, and his attraction had made him lose all sense, like ignoring red flags because you are crushing hard on someone.
Eventually he got tired of her nagging and told her the truth (Judges 16:15-17). Ironically, it was his weakness for women that exposed the source of his strength. Delilah lulled him to sleep and shaved his head, and his strength left him.
The hair itself was not magic. Samson had already broken his Nazirite vow on various occasions. The point is that without his hair, he finally had to face how often he had been disobedient to God. Judges 16:20 says the Lord had departed from him. Samson's strength was never in his hair. It was in his relationship with God. He had worked against that relationship so many times that God finally withdrew the Spirit's supernatural strength.
Samson saw the delay of God's judgment as a sign that God did not care about certain acts of disobedience. We cannot mistake God's patience for His approval. It is like speeding. Going 15 MPH over the limit for 10 years does not mean you will not be pulled over tomorrow. The law did not change. No consequence yet does not mean there never will be.
After his arrest, the Philistines blinded Samson. Since lust of the eyes was his biggest struggle, that may have helped him in a way. Scripture also notes that his hair began to grow back. Blind and in chains, Samson saw more clearly than ever. In that humble place he began to understand God's heart. Everything was stripped away, and he recognized his need for the Lord.
While the Philistines celebrated and displayed him like a trophy, Samson made one final, selfless choice (Judges 16:25-30). His last act fulfilled the role God had set out for him all along: delivering Israel from the Philistines, a work he carried on for 20 years. Samson is also one of the few people named in the "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11, the chapter that lists people of faith.
Samson is a picture of a believer living in disobedience. God still used him mightily, but he never got to enjoy the benefits. His life ended in personal tragedy, shadowed by the waste of great potential. For us, that raises two questions: where are we being disobedient to God, and where are we mistaking God's patience for approval?
The answer is Jesus. He is the true deliverer who finishes what Samson and the other judges only began. Christ lived a fully obedient life, all the way to death on the cross, to pay the price for our disobedience. All we have to do is accept that gift and be saved. Then we should not live carelessly and take that gift for granted. Let's be obedient people of God.
These are the questions the youth leader used in small groups. Use them as written, or pick one.
A few easier openers if you want to start smaller: