Do you notice Samson’s emphasis on this woman’s looks? Verse 2 says, "I saw a woman…get her for me…." Verse 3 says, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me." Now the Holy Spirit mentions Samson’s focus on the external once again: "She looked good to Samson." Do you suppose God is trying to get our attention? What happens when you focus only on the externals? Watch and see.

Last Sunday my message was called "Sense and Sensuality." In it I talked about the meaning and some application of 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. Let’s re-read that passage to help us get up to speed for the message this morning…

I won’t repeat last week’s message here and, for those of you parents who might be concerned, I am sensitive to the fact that we have the children in the assembly with us this morning. I do want focus again though, for just a moment, on Paul’s words in verses 3 and 4: "…that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor…."

The man whose story we are going to consider this morning didn’t do that. In fact, it seems that throughout his life the presence of unbridled sensuality brought him trouble. At times his passions were literally out of control. In his story we are warned about the difficulty and disappointment that come from living a life of undisciplined sensual indulgence.

I’m speaking, of course, of Samson, one of the judges of Israel in the days before the kings. Sunday school teachers love to tell Samson’s story. He’s the Incredible Hulk of the Bible. Long-haired, endowed with super-human strength, he killed a lion with his bare hands, confounded the friends of his in-laws with a riddle that involved a swarm of bees, set 300 foxes tails on fire, avenged himself on 30 Philistines and later killed a thousand enemy soldiers single-handedly with the jawbone of a donkey. He broke the strongest bonds, carried off the gates of Gaza on his shoulders, and pulled down the Temple of Dagon. Yet a woman perhaps half his size rendered him powerless on his worst bad hair day. His story is told in Judges 13-16. We’ll be going there this morning if you would like to join me.

Since we are considering the issue of "Sense and Sensuality" we’ll look at Samson’s story from that perspective. I’ve called my message this morning, "How to Make Your Life Miserable by Not Controlling your Passions." I think you’ll see why as we move along. Someone has accurately observed that the key points of Samson’s life revolved around his relationship with four women: His mother, a Philistine bride, a harlot, and a woman named Delilah.(1) Only the first relationship was godly.

To help us keep our bearings, I’ve divided up the four chapters of our text into four parts: 1) His strength, 2) His weakness, 3) His seduction, and 4) His Vindication. My intention is to cover the first two in this message and the last two next Sunday.

We begin then with:

The source of Samson’s great strength had two sides, one divine, and the other human. The divine side of Samson’s power is presented in the early verses of chapter 13. We’ll begin there. Verse 1 gives us a one sentence summary of the times into which Samson was born.

Behind that little word "again" is a series of cycles of oppression and deliverance for God’s people that had gone on for nearly 300 years before Samson’s birth. From the death of Joshua to the establishment of Saul as the first king, Israel was a loose confederation of tribes gathered around a central shrine – the Ark of the Covenant. Without a central human leadership, everyone "did what was right in his own eyes,"(2) with dubious results and difficult consequences. During those days the people easily drifted away from God and into the idolatry of the nations surrounding them – a direct consequence of their failure to obey God in destroying those nations of Canaan when they first possessed the land. As they drifted away from Him, God allowed their enemies to oppress them until they came to their senses. When they cried out to Him for help He would raise up a "judge," a charismatic "hero" leader who would rally them and drive back the enemy. Samson was the twelfth in a series of 13 of these colorful men and women. The judges were a diverse, never perfect lot. Probably the only thing they had in common was their God-given restorative purpose. During the oppression/deliverance cycle that involved Samson, God had allowed a fierce enemy called the Philistines to dominate Israel. To begin their deliverance, He gave a son to a barren couple from the tribe of Dan.

That part about "no strong drink" would be good instructions for any expectant mother, but in this case there was more to it. The angel told Mr. and Mrs. Manoah that they were to have a special son with some special instructions as to how he was to be raised.

We see in this verse both the divine source of Samson’s strength and the statement of his life’s purpose. His God-given strength would reside in the vow not to cut his hair. It doesn’t say that here. In fact, it isn’t actually stated until chapter 16, verse 17, when Samson told this, his closest family secret, to a woman named Delilah. I’ve long wondered whether Samson’s parents knew of his great strength from the beginning or they just figured it out as time went along. The text doesn’t say but I surely can imagine some interesting times in their lives as the boy grew up. Raising Superman couldn’t possibly be uneventful!

Those words, "he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines," correspond to the history mentioned back to verse 1: "…the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years." The child to be born to this couple would have a special purpose in life. For this purpose he would be raised as a "Nazirite." (Don’t confuse that word with "Nazarene." The two are totally unrelated.)

My New American Standard Version gives Numbers 6 as the cross-reference for the meaning of "Nazirite." It’s an interesting read and I encourage you to check it out when you have some time. Basically, a Nazirite was one who took a special vow before God to be wholly devoted to Him. For the duration of the pledge the Nazirite was to remain different from others in both diet and appearance. There could be no haircuts and there must be total abstinence from all products of the grape. This later requirement was perhaps intended to keep the Nazirite from any kind of intoxication that might cloud his thinking. (It’s too bad there wasn’t some equivalent that could have kept Samson from cloudy thinking in the area of his sensuality!) Usually a person was bound to the Nazirite vow by his or her own choice for a self-determined duration. Samson is unique in that the angel of God prescribed his vow before he was born and this vow would be for life. Incidentally, the Nazirite vow seems to have disappeared with the completion of the Old Testament. John the Baptist, if indeed he was a Nazirite,(3) is the last one mentioned in the Bible. He died before the New Covenant began.(4)

It was an amazed Mrs. Manoah who informed her husband of the news after the angel’s visit.

The first source of strength for Samson then was God, as announced by the angel. His second source of strength can be seen beginning in verse 8 and continuing down through the end of this chapter. As we read through it I think you will see what is very evident, that is, that Samson had a godly home.

Manoah’s response tells us something about his character. After hearing the news from his wife, he went immediately to prayer. Manoah knew how to pray and apparently was on speaking terms with God because God heard him. So besides his God-endowed super strength, Samson had the wonderful advantage of two godly parents – a strength back then and a great strength today.

My, would I love to know all of the stories of Samson’s growing up years that this verse doesn’t mention! Can you imagine the family photo album? There’s one of young Samson breaking tree trunks over his knee and another of him holding the family’s ox over his head. And what do you say to a teenager who can carry off the city gates on his shoulders? What if he wants a hairstyle like the rest of the kids at school? (I’m being facetious here. We don’t know whether Samson had his super strength as a youth or whether it was only an intermittent thing. And of course, there were no public schools back then.)

So Samson had two sources of strength. He was divinely blessed and he had two godly parents. Tragically, he also had a severe weakness.

As chapter 13 ends, Samson has grown up. God’s spirit is stirring inside him, prodding him to be about his life purpose of delivering Israel. But something else was also stirring within him – something that would dominate his life from his youth until that day many years later when the Philistines gouged out his eyes.

Thus began the age-old struggle in the Manoah family between parents who often know what is best for their children and children who think mom and dad don’t know anything at all. Samson’s parents did exactly what God requires all parents to do when their kids are about to make the biggest mistake of their lives. They warned their son. But he didn’t listen.

Now would be a good time for any of us who might be thinking of disregarding the good, godly counsel of our families and friends to sit up and take special notice. A sensual bent coupled with a stubborn will is a dangerous combination. It leads to problem after problem! Samson here was thinking with his hormones, not his brain. To him at this moment, only one thing mattered: "I saw her and I want her."

Verse 4 holds what appears at first to be a theological enigma. I don’t have much time for it, but I will at least give it a mention. Let’s read it first.

The keyword here is "He." Notice that the NAS has it capitalized. If this is correct, and I believe it is, then it refers to God. God was seeking an occasion against the Philistines through this misguided, youthful attraction. What we have here is an example of God’s overruling providence against a backdrop of man’s thoughtless freewill bungling. Young Samson, God’s man, is out of control. God’s great purpose for his life, that is, beginning to "deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines," is temporarily forgotten. All he can think of is how good this woman looks. He’s so worked up he’s ready to disregard God’s covenant with Abraham and his people and marry a foreigner, indeed, a daughter of the enemy who was oppressing Israel. From human perspective, one would conclude that all was lost.

Yet that isn’t the case. God’s purpose is never lost, though the people He has proposed to use might be. You see God could and would work out his purpose anyway, even using Samson’s sensual bungling.

Does this mean God made Samson a bungler? Was he predestined to be sensual so that God could pick a fight with the Philistines? No. Had Samson lived as he should at this time in his life, God could have used that to fulfill His purpose.

Oh, so does that mean I can just do whatever I want to do and God will use me as He wants to anyway? My answer to that is both "yes" and "no." Yes, God will work out His purpose whether or not you and I choose to serve and obey Him. But if we get off course, it may not go so well with us. That was surely the case with Samson, as we will shortly see. Watch as it unfolds.

This is the first mention of the presence of Samson’s great strength. Apparently he was far enough away from his parents when it happened that they didn’t see it or hear it, and he did not tell them what he had done. Instead, they continued on their journey.

Do you notice Samson’s emphasis on this woman’s looks? Verse 2 says, "I saw a woman…get her for me…." Verse 3 says, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me." Now the Holy Spirit mentions Samson’s focus on the external once again: "She looked good to Samson." Do you suppose God is trying to get our attention? What happens when you focus only on the externals? Watch and see.

Between verses 7 and 8 Samson’s parents reluctantly negotiate the marriage contract with the woman’s parents, though it must have pained them greatly to do it.

Do you sometimes wonder why certain things are included in the text of the Bible? Hang on. As odd as this sounds, there was a reason for it.

Samson’s riddle totally stumped them. But these guys were not about to be bested by this Israelite hulk, so they hatched a plan.

They were offended and humiliated to the extent that they were ready to commit murder.

At this point it might be good for us to consider something that could have happened, but didn’t. All this woman would have needed to do was tell Samson about the plot, these guys would have been history, and she and her father would have lived. But of course, she and Samson didn’t have that kind of relationship. The two were not really committed to each other. Their union was based solely on externals. So she turned to the externals. And for that she knew Samson’s weakness.

A moment ago I pointed out that this woman was not truly committed to Samson. Theirs wasn’t that kind of relationship. But neither was Samson committed to her. "I haven’t even told my parents, so what makes you think I would tell you?" Not much "leaving and cleaving" going on there.

Samson was indeed, as someone has said, a he-man with a she-weakness. His wife’s weeping completely ruined their wedding feast, so finally, on the last day, he told her the solution to his riddle. She immediately told her people. When a relationship is based solely on externals, this is what happens. There are no deep loyalties. The relationship cannot stand the pressures that come to bear upon it.

I’m just going to hold my comments on that one…

What was that we said about loyalties? What was that we said about God working out his purpose in spite of man’s bungling, yet it not going well with us when we’re disobeying?

But the heartache wasn’t over yet.

What a slap in the face! Can you see how the stubborn, sensuous life leads to heartache and trouble? Samson’s life, though he had the calling of God, let his hormones rule him and he experienced one disappointment after another. His riddle was broken. His wife betrayed him. The best man at his wedding double-crossed him (the "companion" mentioned there in verse 2). His wife and her father were ultimately murdered. This would have made a good soap opera!

People whose lives are driven by the sensual desperately lack peace. Perhaps you know someone like this – one day infatuation strikes and everything is great, the next day the bottom falls out and they’re down in the dumps, maybe even contemplating suicide.

One of the aspects of the "peace of God that surpasses all comprehension"(5) is not all that difficult to see if you’re tuned in to listen. Common sense as seen in steady obedience to God that brings the sensual side of man under control yields a life of peace simply in that a person doesn’t have to reap a crop of "wild oats" that has been sown.

God doesn’t restrict us to ruin our fun. He calls for restraint for our own good. It’s what yields the best kind of life for the longest time. His law is not intended to be a straitjacket that binds us. It is a guardrail that protects us. The person whose life is out of control in the area of sensuality lacks this protection and will seldom find peace.

Earlier I told you that God is able to work His plan even when it seems that man has messed things up. We’ll see that next.

Samson retaliates in the next verses.

Next, the Philistines come against Judah to attack Samson’s countrymen unless they turn him over to them.

Don’t let all this mayhem and bloodshed put you off. This is all a part of God delivering His people from their enemies. Samson is stirring the pot so He can give His people victory over a brutal enemy. Samson was doing as the angel had said. He was "beginning to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines."

We’ll continue the Bible account of Samson next Sunday morning, Lord willing.

What have we learned that can be applied to our theme of "Sense and Sensuality?"