There are enemies sent to prevent you from progressing in life. They will try to anything to discredit, detour or disconnect you from the God your serve.
SAMSON DOWNFALL
Everybody will face an enemy sometime in life. There are enemies sent to prevent you from progressing in life. They will try to anything to discredit, detour or disconnect you from the God your serve.
The devil is an enemy that was defeated by Jesus on Calvary’s Cross. Jesus died and rose again with all power in His hands. He gave Bible believers the power to overcome every enemy that we will ever face. The Devil was rendered powerless over God’s people. There had been a stripping, a shaming and a subduing of the Devil when Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave. God’s people must be aware of the every enemy that is sent to trick or trip them from the place of God.
In the case of Samson, we are going to examine how the devil robbed him of fulfilling his destiny and purpose in Israel through sexual lust and disobedience. We will also learn the importance of being spiritually alert to the tricks of the devil, no matter how subtle they may appear.
If you have ever read your bible, you will find that the story of Samson is one of the most fascinating stories in it. Samson was considered the strongest man in the Bible; however he had more weakness than strengths. The life of Samson was captured in the book of Judges. The story is told in four chapters of the book of Judges. Samson was young, strong, good looking, courageous and daring. He had a nose for trouble, a knack for hair raising escapes and plenty of girlfriends. Even with all those traits Samson was a disappointment to God.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is our perfect role model. He shows us godly wisdom and teaches us how to discerning the tricks of Satan.
Matthew 16:16-17
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.
This was Peter’s response to the question Jesus asked his disciples when they came to the coast of Caesarea, Philippi. What do people say concerning my identity? Do they know who I am?
Peter response with a divine revelation from the Father that Jesus was the Son of God. He received a commendation from Jesus because his response was accurate and from God. Yet, in Matthew chapter 16 verses 22 and 23, Jesus had to rebuke the spirit that was on Peter. Why?
Matthew 16:22-23
Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto you. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
As Jesus was sharing with His disciple what was going to happen in the near future, Peter tried to defend Jesus. Jesus had to rebuke Peter and remind Him of His mission on earth. Jesus came to save sinners and die on Calvary’s cross. Jesus job was to redeem mankind back to God. Peter did not fully understand Jesus purpose on the earth. Jesus corrected Peter and saw that the problem was inspired by Satan.
This was the same error of Samson; he allowed his love for Delilah to blind his discernment. Peter was unable to discern good from evil, just like Samson in the Old Testament. Today many men or women of God don’t have the spirit of discernment. They cannot tell what is of God and what is of the Devil. They lack the ability to discern correctly. This is often seen when making life-changing decisions.
SAMSON'S JOURNEY AND HIS FALL DUE TO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AND LACK OF SELF-CONTROL.
Judges 13:1-3
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and not bare. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
Samson was a miracle child; he was the deliverer the children of Israel were waiting for to deliver them from oppression. His birth was heralded by a prophecy, and contained in that prophecy was an instruction on how he should conduct himself and live his life.
Judges 13:5
For, lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
The instruction was that Samson was to be a Nazirite from his mother’s womb. A Nazarite is from the Hebrew word to abstain from or to consecrate oneself to God.
This consecration can be distinguished from an uncut hair to abstinence from wine. This means Samson was a child consecrated unto God, and he needs to have self-control and not be led by his fleshy desires. Samson had more weaknesses than strengths. His weaknesses included disregarding boundaries, lust, ignoring good advice, breaking rules, disrespecting his parents, overestimating his own cleverness, using anger as a tool, having a big ego, taking foolish risk, not listening to good advice, taking too much for granted, underestimating the enemy and losing sight of the big picture His calling and purpose.
Samson’s downfall began when he started disobeying the conditions for being a Nazarite, as stated by Moses in Numbers 6:1-22.
One of these instructions was that he should not come close to any dead body, but Samson didn’t only come by a dead body; he also ate from the carcass of the dead body.
Judges 14:8-9
And after a time, he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion, and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat, but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
This was a lack of self-control. Samson ignored the instruction and that mistake led to his untimely demise. As believers, we must pay attention to the instructions for our lives. The enemy was you dead and will stop at nothing to accomplish his plans. When you make one mistake it’s easy to overlook it and keep moving. We must never get into a place that we take things for granted. We must examine ourselves daily. If we have errored in any way, we must repent and not make the same mistakes again. Don’t become ensnared by the devil. The enemy starts with a secret sin; no one will know, but that’s Satan setting you up for destruction.
Judges 16:1-2
Then Samson went to Gaza, saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told to the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they compassed him in, laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
From the above verses, Samson was ambushed because of uncontrolled desires. He gave himself to fornication, which is something that was against his consecration as a Nazirite. Although God delivered Samson from their ambush, he didn’t learn from that mistake. His uncontrolled desires led him to his destruction. The enemy is waiting to try and destroy you.
Today some believers make the same mistakes Samson made in the Bible days. They disregard the call of God and become focused on the things of the world. A moment of pleasure is not worth an eternity in Hell. We must be super careful as to the risk we are willing to take. We must never take our eyes away from our purpose. The enemy is cunning and we must remain vigilant at all times. Yes, God has anointed us but that does not give us an excuse to be disobedient.
Samson may have never met Delilah if he had taken heed to the instructions from his parents not to take a wife outside Israel. Instructions are not meant to be a burden; rather, they are a safety net that shields us from evil in this journey of life.
Let’s see how he fell due to sexual misconduct:
Judges 16:4-5
And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, 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.
Remember the Bible said “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 Peter 2:16-17)
Entice him and see where his great strength lies” was the desire of his enemies.
Samson never knew how far his uncontrolled desires could take him. Those desires set up the perfect trap for Delilah’s schemes. Samson thought he was in love with Delilah but she was doing it for the money and for her people. Samson disobedience to instructions made him spiritually dull to discern that Delilah was seeking his destruction. One thing the devil does is that he never allows man to see the consequences of his actions. He will make you focus more on what you will enjoy temporarily while shielding you from the eternal consequences that action brings. It was obvious to suspect that Delilah was up to something fishy, but Samson was blinded by his desire. Sexual misconduct makes one foolish and blinded by pleasure.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Your role is to submit to God; the devil’s mission is to flee. The difficulty is that when we become complacent about the devil’s tricks, he continues to devise new ideas and strategies to bring us down. We saw how Samson proceeded in disobedience, yet God delivered him. Samson could have repented but he chose to stay in disobedience.
Job made a powerful declaration during his time of trials.
Job 31:1
I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes; how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl?
Job’s in his misery attempt self-justification however, he realized that positive mental cultivation was as necessary as sustenance for the body. He made a conscious decision to fight lust by forging a covenant with his eyes. This should be the creed of every believer.
The believer carries something important that has the potential to influence the world, but the devil will stop at nothing to prevent that from happening, and one of his techniques is sexual lust. Like Job, it is your obligation to actively oppose the devil’s plan.
Do not be reckless and claim to have the wisdom of God’s spirit. When you refuse to walk in the wisdom of the Spirit, you make room for the adversary.
Judges 16:18-21
And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. ] And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
This time, Samson’s disobedience brought him great consequences, and the tool the devil used was lust. The scripture says, “Delilah pressed Samson daily with her words.” Satan knows the believer is a threat to his kingdom and he would labour tirelessly to ensure the believer is destroyed. The enemy is always on his job. Believers must stay vigilant, focused and connected to God.
The Bible tells us to trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on our own understanding. Trusting God means choosing to be obedient to our parents, our spiritual authority and those who have rule over our lives. Trusting God is a sign that you are standing strong in the faith with the weapons drawn against the enemy.
Today, know that God has created you for a purpose and you must stand firm in the faith. Never allow the spirit of the enemy to catch you off guard. The Bible said “watch and pray.”
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