REPENT AND FIGHT ANOTHER DAY
Text: Judges 16:21-31
21 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.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD (Jehovah), and said, O Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah), remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God (Elohim), that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
1. Sin’s Results
1) The
- Sin has eventual and even predictable negative consequences. Sin’s betrayal comes at high cost in terms of paying and huge losses in terms of return on investment.
2) The
- Because of Samson’s sin, fall, and defeat, he gave the enemies of God an occasion to blaspheme God’s name. (cf. 2 Sam 12:14)
Andy Stanley: “Culture will bait you to the threshold of self-destruction, and then condemn you when you step through the door.”
2. Samson’s Restoration (vv. 26-31)
1) The return of Samson’s
- Samson’s hair is a sign of his separation to God. His hair slowly grew back. Its re-growth is indicative of something else slowly came back to God also – his heart.
- Samson humbled his heart. For just the second time recorded in his story, Samson prayed to God. Samson had become a very different man than the one who presumed on his strength and demanded God take care of him.
2) The return of Samson’s faith (vv. 28-29; cf. Heb. 11:32-34)
- Samson had been humbled into the dust and seen his weakness. He asked God to “strengthen me I pray.” Samson acknowledged his dependence on God’s grace.
3) The return of Samson’s
- Samson sought God and His Spirit to strengthen him. He got it, i.e. an understanding of where his strength came from and what his gift of strength was actually for. He was never strong. It had always been God working through him.
Tim Keller: “The most important moment of Samson’s life is his death. The most faithful event of his life is the manner of his death. And the most triumphant episode of his life is his death, as he at last, and at the last, performs the role of beginning to rescue God’s people…”
- Samson