The Samson Problem (Judges 16:23-31)

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Good morning, please open your Bibles to the book of Judges, and we’re going to be in chapter 16 starting in verse 23 That’s chapter 16 starting in verse 23 and I recently learned the story of Spartacus. And if you don’t know, Spartacus was a real person who is a Roman slave turned Gladiator, and he wanted to change the world. He saw the evil of Roman slavery and wanted to do something about it. So he raised this army of farmers, slaves and other Gladiators, and went to war to change the world. And it looked like they were going to do it. They won battle after battle against the Romans. And everyone held their breath, wondering, is this going to happen? Are they going to change the world? And the wheels came off. Spartacus army was defeated. His friends were killed, and Spartacus himself died. And the worst part of the story is that nothing changed. Spartacus sacrificed himself heroically, and Roman slavery went on for several 100 years after that. In fact, it probably got worse for Roman slaves, because the Roman slave masters became more brutal to try and discourage any Spartacus copycats. And so those slaves were left wondering, is there anyone who can actually change the world? And I bet some people here have asked the same question, because our world needs to change, doesn’t it? It’s pretty messed up. And the worst part isn’t that the headlines are awful every day, it’s that the headlines are the same every day. It’s the same tragedies, the same horrors, the same problems, over and over again. And we’re left to wonder, can anyone actually change this? Can anyone change the world? And in our story today, we had a guy who’s convinced he could change the world, and so let’s see if he’s right. Before we hop into our story, there’s a few things we need to understand about where we’re at. So this scene is in the middle of the book of Judges. And judges takes place right after Israel arrived in the Promised Land. So the old heroes of Israel, guys like Moses, Aaron and Joshua, those guys, have passed away, and now Israel is in a state where they disobeyed God, and so God is allowing them to be taken over by foreign nations. And so the book of Judges follows this cycle. Israel Israel rejects God, and so God allows an enemy nation to occupy them. So Israel cries out to God, and then God raises a judge or a hero to deliver Israel. And so the cycle repeats itself over and over again. And this story takes place towards the end of the cycle Israel’s rejected God, and so the God, God has raised the nation of Philistia to conquer Israel for a time. And this leads us to our first scene called the smug party. Start me in verse 23 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. And so to understand this party, we have to understand who’s there. We have to understand who Samson is and who the Philistines were. So the Philistines were Israel’s neighbors from the country of Philistia, and they worshiped Dagon, who was this mermaid looking God, and they wanted Israel to worship Dagon too, and this made it Philistine. The Philistines really unique, as opposed to Israel’s other enemies. They didn’t fight a military war with Israel. They fought a cultural one instead. So the Philistines, they wanted to assimilate and erase Israelite culture, specifically the parts that worshiped Yahweh, the true God. Now this made the Philistines more dangerous than any other foe that the Israelites had ever faced. It’s the same problem the Native Americans face when the colonists would kidnap their youth and dress them in colonists clothing make them speak English. It’s not a military war. It’s an erasure of culture, that’s the conflict the Israelites are facing, and it’s honestly much more significant than a military conflict. And so God raised Samson to be their judge, to be their hero, and his origin story starts with them being born and dedicated as a Nazarite, and this was a special vow to mark your life. As blessed or holy. And there are three main rules, you don’t drink alcohol, you don’t touch dead things, and you don’t cut your hair. And so this vow, through making his life, marking his life as blessed, God gave Samson strength. If you’ve heard anything about Samson, you’ve heard that he’s super jacked, right? And so Samson, he wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider, but he had the origin of a superhero. However, his character did not measure up to his strength. Samson was as morally weak as he was physically strong. He didn’t fight for Israel like he was supposed to he got into petty bar fights. He rejected his parents often, and he was a player. He slept around and viewed women as objects for pleasure, not a good guy. Really hard to root fear. He doesn’t look like a hero. He’s different than a hero like Captain America or Superman, where the virtue is part of the reason they’re a hero. The character is part of the reason that they are respected. It’s kind of like Iron Man. He does heroic things, but he looks like a scumbag while doing them sometimes. So Samson is supposed to be this great hero, but he looks more like a villain sometimes. And not only is Samson not a good guy, he’s also a loser. He he gets tricked by Delilah, this Philistine woman, into giving up the source of his strength. And so the Philistines, they come in, they shave him, and they capture him, and they gouge his eyes out, blinding him. So he’s not just a bad dude, he’s also a failure. He didn’t do what he was supposed to do. They made the Philistines. They made him a slave, and threw a party to celebrate his loss. And it wasn’t just to celebrate his loss. It’s smug towards Samson, but it’s also smug towards Yahweh, the God of Israel. Now these Philistine rules are throwing the party. They’re same exact guys that captured Samson and they threw this part of the show off has the feel of an Oscar acceptance speech, except instead of thanking the academy, they’re thanking their God, Dagon. And we see that. We see that in verse 23 our God has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands. The Philistines think Dagon gave them Samson. And this is the party, a party celebrating the defeat of an enemy. It most certainly is. The Philistines hated Samson. He was their number one enemy because they didn’t really mind Israel, right? They wanted Israel to come worship Dagon with them. They didn’t have beef with Israel, but they hated Samson, and it makes sense Samson was functionally a terrorist to them. Look at verse 24 it says the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain Samson was a thorn in the side of the Philistines for his entire life. He got he killed a bunch of them, he stole their clothes, and he burned down their fields to get so he’s basically their Boogeyman. And to capture the boogeyman would have been a big deal. It would have been the talk of the countryside guys. We got him. It would have been their we got him moment. Or rather, Dagon got him. They gave this victory to Dagon. They say our God has delivered our enemy into our hands. And this cheer is not just pro Dagon, it’s also anti Yahweh. They’re celebrating that Dagon is stronger than Yahweh. They captured Yahweh s champion. Therefore, do the math, Dagon is stronger than Yahweh. It actually reminds me a time my dad and I went to a Nebraska football game and we played the Iowa Hawkeyes, and it was a terrible game. Always is Iowa won, but the walk to the car was the worst part, being surrounded by Iowa fans cheering not only their team’s victory, but my team’s loss. And there was one guy that was walking next to me the entire time chanting my own team’s cheer at me over and over again. Now, I’m not a violent person, but I was hoping he’d swing first I had the gospel. Www, the worst part wasn’t that my team lost. The worst part was that that guy was right. I couldn’t say anything. Nebraska lost, Iowa won, Samson lost, the Philistines won. Yahweh lost, Dagon won. In the mind the Philistines, no one could say anything against them. They won full stop, except they were wrong. Dagon had nothing to do with it. We can actually see who delivered Samson to them just a few verses earlier. Look at 1620 it says, But he, being Samson, did not know the Lord had left him. God. That Yahweh allowed Samson to be captured by the Philistines. So the whole premise of this party is built on a lie. The Philistines are celebrating a victory that doesn’t even belong to them. So this whole party is an incorrect challenge to Yahweh, and even though it’s built on a lie, the Philistines, they’re having a very great time. So they’re in high spirits. But only one thing can make this party better. Look at verse 25 bring out Samson to entertain us. They brought out their enemy to dance for him. How humiliating the hero of Israel, this champion of Yahweh is the entertainment. It’s a similar shame to a guy who loses his fantasy football league, and his friends give him a bad haircut, they put him in a tutu tutu, and they take him to a baseball game, and just everyone’s laughing at him, and they’re laughing because he lost, and that’s where Sam says at right now, he’s the lowest point of his life. He’s blinded, humiliated. He’s the guest of this honor at his own party. He’s hopeless. So what does he do in this moment? He does what a lot of people would do when they are in need, he prays. Leads us to our next scene, the selfish prayer. Let’s read down in verse 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple so that I may lean against them. Now the temple was crowded with men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there. And on the roof were about 3000 men and women watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more and let me, with one blow, get revenge in the Philistines for my two eyes. This part, party is ramping up, and we know it was loud. You look at verse 27 it says there were 3000 Philistines on the roof, which implies there was a lot more on the ground floor. Lots of people, means lots of noise. They were loud and taunting Samson. Let’s not forget Samson can’t see anything. All he can do is hear this party. He can hear the cheers and the sneers of the Philistines that are mocking him. I mean, I wanted to fight a guy over a football game. I can’t imagine what’s going on in Samson’s heart right now, and we can see his he’s doing something. Samson is hatching a plan of his own. Look at Verse 26 he asked a servant to put him where he could feel the pillars that support the temple so he can lean against them. So this servant helps him over. And that would have been so humiliating for Samson, this guy who was super independent, he was a hero of Israel. He couldn’t even walk to pillars to lean against them without the help of a servant. This the same guy killed 1000 Philistines with a donkey jaw bone, and so picture it Samson. He’s leaning against the pillar. The sound of the party is ringing in his ears. The pillars are rough and cold under His hands. His sweat is dripping on his body. He just got done dancing. He smells the smoke from the fire as the Philistines are making sacrifices, and he’s you can’t see anything. He’s just helpless and feels alone. Now, if this was a Marvel movie, this is where the redemption arc would begin. You can already see the Easter eggs for where the strength of Samson is going to come back. Look. You can see in verse 22 it says the hair on his head began to grow back after it had been shaved. Now this is an intentional hint that Samson is going to get his strength back. So we have Samson the get entertainment, the party thrown to mock him, and his God, he hears everything. This entire party is meant, party meant to mock him. And so he prays. So let’s look at it in verse 28 Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please God, strengthen me just once more. Let me with one blow, show these Philistines that you Yahweh are God. That’s not what it says, though, is it? And it doesn’t say, let me free Israel from the Philistines. It doesn’t even say, let me stop them from blaspheming your name. What does it say? Says, Let me get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes. Samson’s prayer misses the mark. It’s just as selfish as his entire life was. This isn’t a redemption arc for Samson. He’s the same guy he was before he lost his eyes. He’s been living blind his entire life. Judges 17 six says, In those days, Israel had no king. Think everyone did as they saw fit. Some translations will say everyone did what was right in their own eyes. And man, oh, man, that was Samson’s life motto. Everything Samson saw, he went after. Maybe you’ve heard the story, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, and later he saw honey growing in it, and so he grabbed it and ate it. Now that broke one of his the rules of his vow not to touch dead things, and yet he saw the honey. He wanted it, so he got it. And this was most clear in Samson’s dating life. Every woman Samson dated or pursued was a Philistine, someone of the enemies which this was forbidden by God. But Samson didn’t care. The women looked good to them him, so he wanted them. So he got them. Samson had been living blind to God’s law his entire life, long before he lost his eyes, and so Samson’s prayer is shows that he can’t see anything past himself. Actually reminds me of video games. So there’s this hang with me. There’s this weird trick about video game developers. So they have a really hard job to make these elaborate worlds. So they take shortcuts. And one shortcut they take is they only render or develop what the character can see. So in video game world, everything else around the character functioning doesn’t exist. It’s gray blobs of code. All only that’s real is what the character can see on the screen, and that’s how Samson lived his life. God’s law. Way God saw the world was just gray blobs that Samson didn’t look at. What was real to Samson was only what he could see. I You. And now it’s easy to look down upon Samson’s prayer, but our prayer life isn’t very different, is it? I mean, how often, what when we pray to God the most often when we need stuff, right? How often do you ask God what he needs from you? Like Samson, God’s desires the way he views the world. They’re gray blobs that we don’t look at or consider. So we need to have a fully rendered prayer life, a fully a full view of the world we can see the way God does. So yes, we should thank God for the food that we eat, but also that he would reveal sin in our lives. We should ask God for help in trials, but also pray that His will be done in our lives. We should pray that those we know and love would come to know Jesus and become believers, but also for those that would never get to meet that God’s kingdom would come on Earth. We must pray for the seen and unseen things. We must have a fully rendered prayer life. Unlike Samson, the only things that matter to Samson was what he could see a pot of honey and a dead lion. Samson saw good food. God. Saw a broken vow, a pretty woman from the enemy. Samson saw a good time. God saw a broken commandment, a party celebrating a false god. Samson saw a chance for revenge. God saw a chance to deliver his people. And so what does God do with this selfish prayer of Samson? Let’s find out. In our final scene called the saving power, look at verse 29 then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood, bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than when he lived. Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtol and the tomb of a Noah his father. He had led Israel in many for 4020, years now, Samson’s weary arms were stretched out, and we see in verse 30, he yelled, let me die with the Philistines, and he brought the house down. And now I wonder if Samson’s final words cut through the noise of the party, if all the Philistines paused for a moment, if his cry didn’t surely the crack of the stone pillars would most definitely stop the party. All the cheers would switch, the screams in an instant, the temple would crumble and the Philistines became defeated, but so is Samson. The last sounds he heard was the cheering switching from sounds of horror as those that were just mocking him died. Samson sacrificed himself to defeat the enemy. And so the story of Samson ends with the simple phrase, Thus. He killed many more when he died than while he lived. And often people will read this story and look at that line as a vindication of Samson’s life. He wasn’t perfect, but in the end, he did the right thing, but we just saw that Samson didn’t die for justice. He’s not like Spartacus. He didn’t die a heroic death. He died for revenge, and so verse 30 reads more like a lament than a vindication. It’s a harsh critique of Samson. It’s pointed out that Samson killed more Philistines in His death and His life. That is not a praise. It’s a scathing question, the same question an employer will ask of their staff, what did you do with all this time? Samson led Israel for 20 years. He was probably 40. What was he doing? What was he doing with his life? He was supposed to defeat the Philistines. He was just squandering that purpose for his entire life. And so the story of Samson is not one of redemption. He was the villain at worst and a lousy hero at best, and he didn’t change anything either. The verses and chapters after is after Samson’s burial tell us that Israel went right back to rejecting God. So Samson, he could, he could take out the Philistines, but he couldn’t defeat Israel’s greatest enemy themselves, their wicked hearts that led them away from God. And yet God answered that prayer, which is crazy to me, but God granted Samson strength one last time, and this shows the goodness of God that he uses imperfect people for his perfect plans. God used Samson to show the Philistines the true strength of God, and also to deliver Israel from the Philistines. So Samson’s selfish prayer was accidentally in line with the will of God. So let that encourage you, no matter how messy you feel or how imperfect you are, God can use you for His perfect plans. And make no mistake, God is the hero of this story, not Samson. Samson wasn’t even the hero of his own life. At every turn, God was using and working through Samson. In spite of Samson, God kept giving Samson his spirit and strength to accomplish His perfect purpose. Samson was a messy hero. God is a holy savior. We don’t need Samson. We need God. And that’s big idea for this message. We don’t need a hero. We need a savior. The story of Samson shows the problem with heroes. Heroes like Samson or Spartacus, they don’t change anything. And when they die, they stay dead. The world keeps moving unchanged. This story shows that we don’t need a hero. We need a Savior, and only one guy fits the bill, the humble carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus, Christ, the Son of God. Jesus is the better Samson. He’s the Holy Savior whose death changed the world forever. When Jesus was wavering in the garden, what did he pray, Father, make me free of this burden. No, he prayed, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours. Be Done. When Jesus was mocked by his enemies at his death, what did he pray? Father, remember me strike them down to get revenge for nailing me to this cross. No, he said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. When Jesus was on the cross, did he yell, let me die at his enemies as his arms were outstretched, just like Samson. No, he died surrounded by enemies, celebrating his downfall. He was humiliated, in pain, and he cried, It is finished. And Jesus died for his enemies. He did what he set out to do. When Jesus was buried by his friends and family, did he stay in the ground? No, he rose again three days later, conquering the greatest opponents, life has to offer sin and death. So we like heroes like Samson, but we need a savior like Jesus, one who is holy and able to change the world, to be a perfect sacrifice, to take our place on the cross and to rise from the dead so that we could live forever with Him. So let me ask you the question, Why would you settle for anything less than Jesus? Who are you going to trust to save you? Are you going to trust yourself? That’s our first. Worst response a lot of time, isn’t it? We think we can solve our own problems. I was talking to this guy a few months ago, and he told me, Jake, I’ve been protecting myself my entire life. I’m pretty good at it. Why would I let Jesus do that? It’s hard for me to take that guy seriously. When I look at his life, that’s a good job, I’d see a bad job, because, like all of us, he gets into so many problems that are our fault, that we cause. Because as much we try to protect ourselves, we cannot protect ourselves from ourselves. The things that we do or say hurt those we love and cause conflict in every part of our life, and that’s because we all struggle with sin, and sin breaks everything. We’re sinners that cause more problems that we solve, we get into fights, we lie to each other, to ourselves, we steal, we break promises. We can’t protect ourselves from ourselves. We’re not the hero. We’re the villains of our stories. So don’t trust yourself to save you. Trust Jesus. I can trust your parents to save you. I mean, remember, my car breaks down. I call my dad. I’m functionally an adult, but when I get sick, I still call my mom, but parents, they can’t save us. They can’t solve all the problems in our life. So Hey, kids, students, listen up. You’ve asleep. Wake up. The Bible says you should honor your parents. They’re on your team, but they cannot be your super hero, your Savior. They’re not meant for that. Your parents are human. Worst of all, they’re sinners, and they’re going to do things that and say things that leave deep wounds, and that’s normal, because they’re not perfect. So kids, love your parents, obey your parents, honor them. That Bible tells us to do that, but never says to make them your Savior. They aren’t meant for that. Don’t make your parents your Savior, and parents don’t pretend that you are your kid’s savior. There are problems you cannot solve for them. The best thing you can do for your kid is the point of the Jesus, the one who can solve everything for them. You can’t make their lives perfect, so don’t live like you can. So don’t trust your parents to save you. Trust Jesus. Are you going to trust doctors to be your hero? I’m sure everyone’s been there in the waiting room, wanting good news, dreading bad news, and sometimes doctors, they are able to deliver good news that we love doctors, praise God for that. But the good news is always temporary, because no doctor has ever defeated death. They’ve only delayed it. Death is undefeated, or rather it was. Jesus is better than any doctor because he did what no doctor could do. He defeated sin and death. Death could not keep Jesus in his clutches, and now death has no power over all those who proclaim Jesus as their Savior, and that’s why he died, because he saw we were in a world full of Spartacuses and Samsons that couldn’t save us. They couldn’t do anything for our greatest problem, death. But he came and lived the perfect life and died an undeserved death so that we could live. Jesus is the savior that we need. He dies so that we could live forever, and he makes death look like a distant memory. So don’t trust doctors to save you from death. Trust Jesus to deliver you from death. Heroes all fall short. They’re going to disappoint, and they can’t change our worlds. Jesus can. He’s the hero we don’t deserve, but so desperately need. So if you’re here and you’ve never really given Jesus much of a second thought, and you’re tired of saving yourself or being disappointed by your other heroes, let Jesus be your hero. He died for you. He died so that you don’t have to. And maybe I never clicked until now, but I know one thing, God brought you into this building today for a reason. So please, let him save you. Put your trust in him instead of yourself or any other lesser hero. Don’t sell. For less than Jesus, because Jesus is better than Spartacus, he’s better than Samson, he’s better than any other human hero we could possibly choose instead of Him, He’s the Savior we need, and he’s promised to raise all those who place their trust to him to new life, just let him in. Would you pray with me, Jesus? Thank you. You saw our need for deliverance. You didn’t let us stay there. You saw that we lived in a world that had no hope, a world full of lesser heroes that could not save us from our greatest opponents ourselves and from death, and we’re sorry that we don’t. We choose lesser heroes and we stray from you, Lord, but thank you that you died on the cross while we were your enemies, so that we could be with you and live forever with you. And I pray for all those here who haven’t placed their trust in you yet, who have decided or are still hesitant, not quite understanding what this looks like, Lord, I pray you would just speak to them this moment, just help them to see how beautiful you are and the hope that you provide Lord, and I pray we would all just trust you more and ourselves less. I pray this in Your perfect name, Lord, amen.