Judges 16:22-30
Samson’s Fatal Flaws

The life of Samson is a strange life. Samson was a man of God. He was
called of God, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and empowered by God.
    1. 4 chapters (Judges 13-16) in the Word of God are dedicated to
        Samson.
    2. 4 times the Bible says the Spirit of Lord came upon him.
        \\#Judges 13:25, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14\\
    3. Samson had angels announce his birth and declare his life
        purpose was to be Israel’s ruler \\#Judges 13:5\\.
    4. He had the miracle of super-strength.
        a. Slew a lion with his bare hands \\#Judges 14:6\\.
        b. Killed 30 Philistines by himself \\#Judges 14:19\\.
        c. Fought an army—single-handed \\#Judges 15:8\\.
        d. Killed 1000 soldiers with a mule’s jawbone
            \\#Judges 15:16\\.
        e. Prayed and received water out of the mule’s jawbone
            \\#Jud 15:19\\.
        f. And my own personal favorite, when Samson was in Gaza and
            knew his life was in danger, he picked up the gates of
            the city—stone and all, and carried the gates 40 miles
            to Hebron (Judges 16).
        g. Pulled down a coliseum \\#Judges 16:30\\.

Yet, Samson was a very sinful man. A person of God whose life was
repeated marked by sin! How tragic and, yet, how common.

This evening, may I show you three fatal flaws of Samson?

I. Samson was selfish.
    A. Selfish is the sin of putting yourself above others.
        1. Some gave the following definitions:
            a. Selfishness is the state of putting yourself above
                others.
            b. Pride is the state of loving yourself above others.
            c. And foolishness is the state of worshipping yourself
                above God.
        2. I think Samson was afflicted with all three of these, but
            we will put them all under the category of selfishness.
    B. Samson exhibited selfishness when he put his desires above the
        desires of others, a trait that he did often.
        1. Samson was being selfish when in \\#Judges 14:2\\, he
            loved and became engaged to a Philistine woman—against
            the objects of his parents.
        2. When in \\#Judges 14:9\\, he took honey out of the lion’s
            carcass, breaking his Nazarite vow.
        3. When in \\#Judges 14:11-13\\, he made a bet with thirty
            men at his engagement feast.
        4. When in \\#Judges 14:19\\, he slew 30 Philistines so that
            pay the bet and then left his bride at the altar!
        5. When in \\#Judges 15:4\\, he burnt the Philistine’s fields
            because his wife married another when he stood her up at
            the altar.
        6. And so it goes.
            a. Not once do we read of Samson avenging the glory of
                God or even another Israelite.
            b. Never once did he set a wrong right or stand for a
                principal or an honorable thing.
            c. Every single battle he found and every demonstration
                of his God-given strength was because he felt wrong
                or slighted in some fashion.
            d. His second biggest display of strength came in
                \\#Judges 15:8\\, where he fought the Philistine
                army with the jawbone of an ass and slew 1,000 of
                them, but it was over what they had done to his
                fiancee whom he had stood up.
    C. Selfishness is the root of all sin.
        1. It was the sin of Satan.

Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the
sides of the pit.

        2. It was the sin of Adam and Eve.

Ge 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

        3. If you and I will look back in our lives, we will see
            that our biggest mistakes (sins) were made when we were
            attempting to please ourselves at the expense of someone
            else!
            a. Achan wanted a Babylonian garment.
            b. Judas wanted a few coins.
            c. Samson wanted pleasure.
        4. It is all selfishness and it all leads to the same heap
            of ruin.
            a. You cannot live discounting others and God and come
                out ahead!
            b. God has woven judgment and disaster into the fabric of
                the cosmos.  It simply won’t work.
        5. Hence, the Bible teaches us to deny ourselves and our
            wants.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Titus 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world;

        6. Those who live selfishly are condemning themselves to a
            lonely life of misery.
            a. Selfishness cuts us off from God.
            b. Selfishness makes us displeased by others.
            c. Selfish people don’t even like themselves.

II. Samson was rebellious.
    A. Being rebellious as an outgrowth of being selfish.
        1. It is the act of putting yourself over authority.
        2. This is selfishness not merely of the heart but of
            actions.
        3. Obviously, rebellion puts you on a collision course with
            authority.
    B. You can see rebellion in Samson’s disrespecting his parents.
        1. Samson’s parents tried to guide their son in the right
            path.

Judges 14:3  Then his father and his mother said
unto him, Is there never a woman among the
daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people,
that thou goest to take a wife of the
uncircumcised Philistines? …

        2. Samson’s response was to disrespectful rebellion.

Judges 14:3  …And Samson said unto his father,
Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

        3. I don’t know how Samson’s strength worked.
            a. It does not appear that he was always super strong.
            b. It does appear that he was always rebellious.
        4. Moms and Dads, rebellion is a by product of being born a
            sinner.
            a. The only remedy for rebellion is correction that
                slightly exceeds the rebellion.
            b. How far should I go?
                (1) Just a little bit further than your children.
                (2) Just enough to win the battle of the wills.
            c. Does that mean spanking a child?
                (1) When it is necessary.
                (2) The earlier the parents start winning the battle
                     of the will, the less corporal punishment will
                     be necessary.
                (3) For some, it may seldom or never be necessary.
            d. But Moms and Dads, you have to win the battle of the
                will.
                (1) This is not for your pride.
                (2) It is to teach your child submission.
                (3) Anger, retribution, frustration, aggravation—
                     they should never enter into discipline.
                (4) The only emotions that should enter are ones
                     like humility, love, compassion, brokenness.
            e. Every child will be a Samson some day.
                (1) The children get strong and the parents get
                     weaker and brute force is not the answer.
                (2) Teaching your children to submit to authority is
                     the answer.
                (3) For whatever the reason, Samson’s parents were
                     not able to do that.
    B. You can see Samson’s rebellion in making light of serious
        things.
        1. \\#Judges 14:10-15:20\\
            a. He was in a relationship with a Philistine woman.
            b. As far as we know, this woman was a pure woman, but
                she was not a godly woman.
            c. Marrying her was foolish, forbidden by the Law, and
                sinful.
            d. Yet Samson thought it was something to joke at.
                (1) He made riddles of it.
                (2) Stormed off in anger when his riddle was found
                     out.
                (3) And used the incident to stir up bad relations
                     with a ruling nation.
        2. \\#Judges 16:1\\ He was with a Philistine harlot.
        3. \\#Judges 16:4-21\\ He was in a long term relationship
            with yet another Philistine harlot.
        4. Samson had no respect for purity, for marriage, for the
            wishes of his parents, for the Word of God, for the
            position that by now he must have certainly know God had
            called him to.
            a. To Samson, holy things were a joke.
            b. So the world today laughs at the things that are
                holy—everything that is holy.
            c. It is all a sign of rebellion and selfishness.
    C. You can see his rebellion in disobeying God.
        1. To disobey God is not a sign of rebellion.  It is the
            height of rebellion.
        2. Why?  Because God is the height of authority.
            a. Adultery, breaking his Nazarite vow, letting his hair
                be cut—these were all indications that Samson had
                not respect for God.
            b. What did Samson hope to accomplish by rebelling
                against God?
            c. To rebel against the omnipotent is to place yourself
                in an unwinnable situation.
            d. It guarantees your demise—Samson’s selfishness and
                rebellion had only one destination.

III. \\#Judges 16:28\\ Samson was unrepentant.
    A. Samson never did repent.
        1. He asked God for another chance but he did not repent.
            a. He never said acknowledge he had sinned.
            b. He never asked God for forgiveness.
            c. He never turning to obeying God.
        2. He asked God to let him kill some more Philistines and
            because the Philistines were blasphemers of God, God
            allowed him—but he never repented.

Judges 16:28  And Samson called unto the LORD,
and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee,
and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once,
O God, that I may be at once avenged of the
Philistines for my two eyes.

    B. Why did Samson not repent?
        1. I suspect that he did not know how.
        2. He did not know how to humble himself, how to put himself
            down, how to take himself off the throne.
        3. He was so filled with selfishness, pride, foolishness, he
            simply could not bring himself to humbly acknowledge
            that he had been wrong and to ask forgiveness of
            another, even God.
        4. To be honest, I do have some suspicions that Samson was
            ever God’s to begin with.
    C. And what did his selfishness get Samson?
        1. It cost him every happiness the world could have offered.
            a. He lost his wife and chance for a family.
            b. He lost his rulership.
            c. He lost his eyesight.
            d. He was left to grind like a ox and laughed at like a
                clown.
            e. He died prematurely and unnecessarily.
        2. What a waste of the good gift of God!

Samson’s story is ancient history.  What will you do with what God
has given to you?

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