This is my Sunday School lesson tomorrow so I thought I would share...
Samson, Delilah, and the World
The Lord has a
specific plan for your life, but we can alter that plan by the decisions and
choices we make and letting the world come between us and the Lord!
Judges ch 14-16
*Samson had a
downfall – WOMEN
*Samson had a
problem – WOMEN
*Samon’s parent
allowed him to give in to his indulgences (ch 14:3, 5, 7)
*Woman #1
- Ch 14:7 – a wife
of the Philistines - these were the people who had them captured; so these were
the enemy
-A lot happened
with this woman, while on his way to see her Samson killed a lion with his bare
hands (he wasn’t supposed to touch anything dead) and then later on when he
went to see her again he noticed a bee hive inside the carcass of the
lion. He got the honey and not only did
he eat it, he gave it to his parents! IT
WAS UNCLEAN!
*Our sins can led
others around us to sin! His parents
unwittingly broke the law and it was Samson’s fault! But if they had put their foot down and said
no, none of that would have happened.
-They had a feast for his father to meet his wife and Samson told the
guys that came to the feast a riddle (about
him killing the lion) and told them that if they could figure it out that he
would give them thirty sheets and thirty changes of clothes (v. 12)
-They couldn’t
figure it out so they threatened his wife that they would kill her family. So she set out to find out the answer to the
riddle. V. 16-17 – After 7 days she wore
Samson down and he told her the answer.
-He knew that she
had told them so he killed 30 of those men.
Her father, while Samson was gone, gave her to a “friend” of Samson’s. V 20 says a companion who he had “USED” as a
friend (don't just use people to make them your friend).
-Samson killed a bunch of Phillisitines after all of that happened with his wife. And became a judge in Israel for 20 years.
*Woman #2
Ch 16:1 – a harlot (one night stand)
-After he left her
the men of that city tried to kill him, more trouble!
*Woman #3
Ch 16:4 – Delilah (he fell in love)
-Delilah asked
Samson 4 times to tell him where his strength came from in ch 16: 7, 11, 13, 17
– Finally in v 17 he told her. (READ V. 16-17) She had worn him down, but I also
believe that he knew she was going to cut his hair!
-WHY WOULD HE TELL
HER? I mean she had tried everything that he had said up to this point. He was so infatuated with her that he was
blind to the truth. He didn’t want to
see that she meant him harm. He was out
of touch with the Lord and He believed that he could handle the situation. He thought his strength could get him
through. That’s what happens to us. We
forget where our strength comes from. We
start thinking we can do everything by ourselves and we don’t need any help
from the Lord! V. 20
*Something to think about
*Every time Samson
starts fooling around with the opposite sex he gets in trouble! He lets them come between him and his
relationship with the Lord.
*Delilah wore
Samson down, don’t let the world wear you down!
Don’t let the opposite sex wear you down to give in to their desires and
wants!
*He gave Delilah
his heart! Don’t give your heart
away! It will get you in trouble! Let the Lord have your heart, not only for
Salvation, but after you get saved, make Him your #1 guy and I promise He will
lead you to the right person and in the right direction!
*The rest of the story…
-We all know the
story, the Phillistines took Samson and enslaved him.
-They forgot about
his hair and it grew, they were having a feast to one of their gods and wanted
to make fun of Samson, they brought him out and he asked a child to help him
lean on the pillars of the house, he prayed (v.28) and acknowledged his need
for the Lord’s strength and pushed on the pillars of the house, it fell down killing about 3000 people.
*Something else to think about
*Do you want to
live your whole life chasing after things that aren’t good for you?
*Samson died right
with the Lord, I don’t believe the Lord would have allowed him his final
request if he hadn’t been right with Him, but think about what Samson could
have done with his life if he had just followed the Lord.
*The wiles of the
world wore him down, the opposite sex for him, what is it for you? Boys, money, clothes, acceptance, beauty...
*We have to beware
of how we present ourselves to the world and the opposite sex, we don’t want to
be that person who leads someone astray or hinders their relationship with the
Lord by enticing them.
*So don’t be a
Delilah and lead the opposite sex astray with your enticements!
*And don’t be a
Samson and think you can make it without the strength of the Lord!
Here's another blog that is WONDERFUL!!! Here are a couple of her posts that are related to this topic.
http://www.girldefined.com/christian-girls-post-seductive-selfies
http://www.girldefined.com/guys-speak-girls-showing-cleavage