The Book of Judges: Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay
Samson, Member of God’s Hall of Reclaimed Failures
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: Samson! The very name communicates strength! What else could you call a suitcase that can be thrown out of a helicopter or jumped on by a gorilla without so much as a broken latch than Samsonite! But the name Samson communicates something else—brute strength without moral power. As most of you know, we’re taking the last half of the summer to examine the lives of some of the lesser‑known men and women of faith referred to in Hebrews 11 as “those of whom the world was not worthy.” In other words, the world did not deserve to have these people live here.
If Hebrews 11 is God’s “Hall of Faith,” as we have referred to it often, then of all the names in the chapter Samson’s name may be the most suspect, for his sins are so obvious and his faith so tenuous. But if Hebrews 11 is instead, as a book I read this week claims, better viewed as “God’s Hall of Reclaimed Failures,” Samson may be the premier example in the whole list. No one had greater potential, and no one suffered more disastrous failure. Yet even he was restored to usefulness by God.
Last Lord’s Day we examined how Samson was called to holiness but prone to carelessness. As a man called to holiness, he enjoyed a unique birth, a unique life‑style, a unique enablement, and a unique mission. But there was evidence also that he was prone to carelessness. He misunderstood separation, he rejected authority, he refused to practice self‑discipline, and he squandered enormous potential.
This morning we want to delve a little more deeply into the specific steps that led to Samson being shelved for rebelliousness. Let’s read the first 25 verses of chapter 16:
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”
But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”
He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”
He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric and tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[c] And his strength left him.
Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,
“Our god has delivered our enemy
into our hands,
the one who laid waste our land
and multiplied our slain.”
While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.
Shelved for Rebelliousness (16:21‑25)
He toyed with temptation. Oscar Wilde once wrote, “I can resist anything … except temptation.”[i] I’ve heard other versions: “I can handle anything … except a problem.” “I can accept anything … except a disappointment.” But Wilde’s original is the most descriptive of Samson and perhaps the most convicting for us.
There are essentially three things we can do with temptation when it rears its ugly head: (1) we can yield, (2) we can resist, or (3) we can toy with it. Samson toyed with it. He assumed he was strong enough and sufficiently invulnerable that he could play with fire and not get burned. He was wrong. The Bible says, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12) And no better real‑life illustration of that truth is available for us than the case of Samson.
Sensuous women, as we noted last Sunday, constituted Samson’s Achilles heel. Three of them are mentioned in the four chapters of Judges that share his story, and all three were Philistines. The first he tried to marry even though God forbade intermarriage with the people of the land. The second was a prostitute with whom he had a one-night stand. And the third was a seductive and treacherous woman with whom he carried on a rather extended affair.
The first liaison, which occurred before his 20‑year judgeship, we talked about last week. Samson rejected his parents’ authority and demanded the Philistine girl from Timnah as his wife. God used the situation as an occasion to confront the Philistines, but the seeds of rebellion were clearly sown in Samson’s heart.
The second situation we have read about this morning in the early verses of chapter 16: “Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.” We do not know when this event occurred, but we can assume it was near the end of Samson’s 20‑year mission as Judge over Israel. Nor do we know why he went to the Philistine city of Gaza, where he would have been very unwelcome. But his going there reveals a weakness in Samson’s life—he often deliberately exposed himself to the enemy with a self‑confidence that is dangerous, no matter how strong one thinks he is.
Compare and contrast Samson’s approach to temptation with that of another OT character who was far less physically gifted but far more spiritual than Samson, namely Joseph. Samson was cruising in enemy territory, virtually looking for temptation; Joseph was at Potiphar’s home doing his job when temptation came looking for him. Samson saw a prostitute and hired her; Joseph was propositioned by a respectable woman but flatly refused. Samson saw his temptation as simply a logistical issue—namely how to get out of the city after he had satisfied his desires; Joseph saw his temptation as a spiritual issue—namely how to avoid sinning against God. Samson denied his vulnerability and went to sleep; Joseph recognized his vulnerability and fled.
By the way, fleeing is the biblical response to sexual temptation—not fighting, not rationalizing, not adopting New Years’ Resolutions, not even praying, but fleeing. 1 Cor. 6:18 commands us, “Flee sexual immorality.” 1 Tim. 2:22 adds, “Now flee youthful lusts.” If there’s someone who stirs up lust in your heart, stay away from her or him. Better to quit your job or change schools or even move to another city than to allow yourself to be seduced into an impure relationship.
To return to the story, somehow the people of Gaza learn that Samson is at the prostitute’s house, so they lock the city gate and decide to capture him when he gets up in the morning. But Samson doesn’t wait until morning. He gets up in the middle of the night and simply walks off with the city gates. Believe me, that was no simple task, for city gates in those days were designed to withstand the attack of all potential enemies. They were not only anchored deeply in the ground with huge posts, but they also were covered with metal armor to prevent damage from spears or fire. Nevertheless, Samson pulls the whole thing out of the ground, lifts it to his shoulders and carries it approximately 38 miles! Imagine the embarrassment of the Gazites in having their city gates stolen!
But even more pertinent, consider the effect his escape has on Samson. This time it doesn’t say that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, as it does for most of his supernatural demonstrations of strength. He does this in his own strength. He is able to break God’s law and escape unharmed (or so he thinks), and that causes him to let down his guard even further. The very next words in the text are, “Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.”
Now his toying with sin shifts into high gear. One cannot help but wonder at the unbelievable credulity and stupidity of Samson in not recognizing the true intent of Delilah; or, if he did, not leaving her immediately. If every time you woke up you were tied up in cords, or wrapped with ropes, or woven into a loom, you might guess that something was rotten in the state of Denmark. But Delilah’s physical attractiveness to Samson must have been so strong that he was willing to risk everything in exchange for just one more of her sexual favors.
Unbelievable? Yes, if it weren’t for the fact that many of us have allowed sin to make just as big a fool of us at times. Do you remember the song I brought back from Praise Gathering last Fall?
“Sin will take you further than you want to go,
Slowly, but wholly, taking control.
Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay,
Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.”
Samson found out how true that is.
Three times Delilah tries to get the secret of Samson’s strength from him and three times she fails. On the third effort, however, one can sense that the giant is about to fall, for he tells her the secret is in his hair. He withholds only the fact that it is in the length of his hair.
He broke his vow to the Lord. Verse 16 indicates that Delilah “prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.” Finally, and I might say, inevitably, Samson reveals to her that he is a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. “If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” You will recall, of course, that the Nazirite vow had other requirements besides that a razor never touch one’s hair. The Nazirite was also not allowed to drink any alcoholic beverage or eat any fruit of the vine, and he was not allowed to go near a dead body. Why aren’t those parts of the vow mentioned here in chapter 16? Many commentators suggest that Samson had already broken those requirements—when he scooped the honey out of the carcass of the lion he had earlier killed with his bare hands, and when he enjoyed a night on the town with his thirty groomsmen back in chapter 14. We probably don’t know enough about either of these two incidents to be dogmatic, but I’m inclined to agree that he had probably violated the rest of his vow already.
But God in His grace considered Samson still a Nazirite so long as he maintained the requirement of long hair, and God continued to grant him supernatural strength. Now, however, Delilah has his head shaved while he sleeps, and with the last symbol of his vow gone, his strength leaves him. We should not think that Samson’s hair was a magical source of strength. It was just the final shred of evidence that Samson no longer recognized God in his life.
He suffered incredible humiliation. I doubt if it is possible for us to understand fully the shock Samson must have felt when he woke up to Delilah’s cry, “The Philistines are coming,”thinking as he did, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” Instead, he finds himself for the first time in his adult life without supernatural strength. The pathos in those words in verse 20 is unsurpassed anywhere in the Bible: “But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”
Friends, there is no one so pathetic as one who was once a powerful instrument for God, who subsequently loses that vitality and power but fails to even realize it. How can one not recognize such a major change in his life? Because it happens so gradually. At first there is just carelessness, perhaps a failure to pray, a neglect of Bible reading and fellowship, then apathy, then coldness, and finally just a shell of religiosity. You have heard that it is possible to boil a frog to death and he won’t jump out of the pan so long as the temperature is raised gradually. I’ve never tried it so I can’t vouch for it, but I do know that some Christians go through a process very similar, oblivious to the tragedy that is unfolding right under their noses.
Not only does Samson experience shock; he also experiences shame as his sin boomerangs on him. Gary Inrig writes:
“He had done what was right in his own eyes and followed the lusts of his eyes; now the Philistines gouged them out. He had refused to discipline his own life; now he became a slave and prisoner of his enemies. He had visited a prostitute in Gaza and escaped without harm; now he was a prisoner in Gaza. He had pursued Philistine women; now the strong man was reduced to doing a woman’s work for the Philistines.”[ii]
One can be sure the Philistines, whose prisons were legendary as places of suffering and degradation, made life as miserable as possible for this one who had plagued them for 20 years.
But there is one more step of degradation awaiting Samson. A great feast is established at which the Philistine god Dagon is to be honored for their victory over Samson. The building at which this feast is held is a massive structure supported by pillars set on stone bases. There is evidently a covered portion around the perimeter with a large rectangular hole in the middle overlooking a courtyard. Hundreds of people could sit up on the roof and watch the proceedings below.
The liquor flows freely and then the chant begins, “We want Samson, we want Samson, we want Samson.” So he is led, blind, chained and broken into the temple. I can just see the people nearby spitting on him and poking at him and pulling his hair while the rest of the crowd jeers. He entertains them, not by his strength, but by the degrading acts they force him to perform.
What a tragic picture we see as this once great trophy of God’s strength finds himself shelved, rejected, and abandoned because of his rebelliousness against God. But not quite abandoned, for none of this has happened to Samson without God’s knowledge. Inrig writes,
“None of this is happening by accident. It is part of God’s grace in the life of Samson. It may not seem very much like grace, but sometimes God must strip away everything from our lives that keeps us from trusting in Him. It may be a very painful process, but, if we will not listen when God whispers in love, God will make us listen when He shouts in discipline. His purpose is not to destroy us; it is to build us up and teach us to trust in Him. God’s purpose is never to break us; it is always to refine us.”[iii]
That introduces us to the final chapter in Samson’s life, a chapter I have called simply …
Restored to Usefulness (16:26‑31)
I read a story about the British navy which was engaged in some peacetime maneuvers involving a column of cruisers. They were steaming along in formation when a signal was given to execute a 90‑degree turn. The maneuver went off flawlessly except for one cruiser, whose captain missed the signal. The ship almost collided with the one in front, and, when it swerved to avoid a collision, the whole convoy was thrown into confusion. Only some very skillful seamanship by the other captains prevented a serious accident.
When some order had been regained, the admiral on the flagship sent a message to the captain who had caused all the trouble, “Captain, what are your intentions?” Immediately the reply came back, “Sir, I plan to buy a farm.” He knew without being told that one missed signal had terminated his naval career. Failure meant drydock.[iv]
I want to say this morning that I’m glad God doesn’t operate like the British navy. First, I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that …
Restoration is possible. If you don’t believe restoration is possible, then you must not know about Noah or Abraham or Moses or David or Elijah or the Prodigal Son or Peter or James and John. And you must not know Augustine and Martin Luther and John Newton and most of the great saints who have carried the Gospel down through the centuries. And you must not know about Charles Colson and Gordon MacDonald and Mike Andrus. Friends, God’s very nature is that he seeks to save the lost and to restore the fallen. No matter how far we fall in our spiritual experience, we do not fall beyond the possibility of God’s forgiveness.
God does not drydock failures; he refits them. However, restoration is not only possible; it is also painful.
Restoration is painful. It is painful, first, because it demands repentance. Many have sought restoration without true repentance. They think that a quick acknowledgement that a mistake was made should clear the air, satisfy everyone, and restore them to leadership. But even a cursory reading of Psalm 51 will disabuse us of that notion. It is only a broken and contrite heart that God will not despise. Could it really be any other way? Can we expect that a holy God will wink at our sin and allow us to be His ambassadors to a watching world that is on a freight train to Hell if there has been no deep contrition for sin, if the lessons he has tried to teach us through discipline have not been learned?
Secondly, restoration is painful because it does not erase the consequences. Samson’s hair begins to grow, but he doesn’t receive his eyesight back. Samson would never again be able to do what he could have done if he had not sinned. But God would give him one more great mission. This comes in response to a prayer from Samson, the only time we ever read of him praying before using his strength. That’s significant to me. We tend to do in our own power what we do well naturally. But God wants us to submit even our natural talents and gifts to the power of His spirit.
The result of Samson’s prayer is both immediate and spectacular. By faith in God he pulls on the two main pillars of the temple and it collapses in dust and death. In a few moments 3,000 Philistines and Samson lay dead. One might think, “What kind of restoration is it when the one who is restored loses his life in the process?” I think we must not overlook the fact that God answered Samson’s prayer specifically. He said in verse 30, “Let me die with the Philistines!” The consequences of his sin were more than he cared to live with, but he wanted to die accomplishing something significant for God and His people. God allowed that.
A third truth we must learn is that …
Restoration is gradual. Forgiveness is immediate; restoration is gradual. Before Samson was allowed to experience that one final victory, he had to endure many months, perhaps even a year in that dungeon. God made him wait until his hair, the public symbol of his Nazirite vow, grew long again. Verse 22 says, “But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” I like that verse; it is a verse of hope. Your hair can begin to grow again, too.
Friends, there is a reason why restoration must be gradual. When a sin occurs in our life, it is usually not the product of a moment. Nearly always, it is the result of sinful habits in our life which are the accumulation of years of disobedience. Those habits must not only be unlearned; new habits must replace them, and that process takes time. The Lord’s purpose is not just to forgive our past, but to guarantee our future.
Conclusion: I can think of no better way to conclude our brief study of the life of Samson than to offer hope to anyone who has been shelved due to rebelliousness. Your rebelliousness may not even have been blatant like Samson’s; it may have been very subtle—just little acts of omission or careless deeds of disobedience, but you know in your heart that you’re on the shelf in respect to effective use by God. Here are some practical steps to restoration.
1. Admit and repent of your failure. See yourself for who you really are—not an incredible hulk, powerful and invulnerable, but a poor, blind sinner in chains.
2. Accept God’s forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 is still true: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3. Be patient with God and with people. Restoration takes time. What you need more than anything right now is not a ministry but rather a deep personal walk with God. As you allow God to put your own house in order, He will, in His own time, once again use you in His family, the church.
I might also warn that people are not always as anxious to restore as God is. You may need to allow them extra time to work through their own disappointments and to see that your repentance is real. Be patient with them.
4. Be available for God to use you. Don’t accept Satan’s accusation that you are all washed up. When God brings opportunities into your path, take them, even if some refuse to forget the past.
There was a very capable evangelist whom God used in a significant way in the British Isles. But he lost interest in spiritual things and drifted into a life of sin for many months. The Lord convicted him of his rebellion, and he returned in repentance to the waiting arms of the Father. Finally, after a considerable period of waiting he accepted a public ministry once again, rejoicing in the forgiveness of God.
One night, when he was in Aberdeen, he was given a sealed letter. Just before the service began, he read the unsigned letter. It described a shameful series of events he had been engaged in during the time he was away from the Lord. His stomach churned as he read it. The letter said, “If you have the gall to preach tonight, I’ll stand up and expose you.”
He took that letter and went to his knees. A few minutes later, he was in the pulpit. He began his message by reading the letter from start to finish. Then he said, “I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I’m ashamed of what I’ve read, and what I’ve done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven.” God used that letter and the rest of his ministry as a magnet to draw people to Jesus Christ.[v]
Samson is a member of God’s Hall of Reclaimed Failures. You’re eligible too, friend. Jesus died for sinners, not for the righteous. Trust Him today.
DATE: August 13, 1989
Tags:
Restoration
Temptation
Patience
[i] Oscar Wilde, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/oscar_wilde_125647
[ii] Gary Inrig, Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay, 257.
[iii] Inrig, 258.
[iv] This story is cited by Inrig without attribution, 254.
[v] This story is cited by Inrig without attribution, 259-260.