Quakes, Samson, and Sin

There's a famous Bible story that has stood the test of time and intrigues children and adults for thousands of years.

The story of zeal, sin, and finally triumph.

It's also the story of moral decline, a moral earthquake, if you will. We observed the one-year anniversary of the quake that hit Japan just a little bit ago. It's hard to believe it's been a year already since the terrible Japanese earthquake. The largest earthquake in the world was off the coast of Chile on May 22, 1960. That's the largest one that they've recorded. It was a magnitude 9.5 on the Richter scale. Approximately 1,655 people were killed, 3,000 injured, 2 million left homeless, and $550 million in Chile. That was in 1960. A tsunami caused 61 deaths in Hawaii, 138 deaths in Japan. 32 dead and missing in the Philippines. Half a million dollars damaged to the west coast of the United States. So that quake in Chile had an effect across the whole Pacific Rim. It was the largest earthquake of the 20th century. The death toll from that earthquake, while large, could have been worse if it were not for a series of very strong foreshocks. Each quite large in their own right. That made the population wary and careful and concerned when they started to feel these rumblings ahead of time. As we move into the sermon today, I'd like you to keep in mind the idea of foreshocks, of warning tremors. You've heard about the big one, right? California is bracing itself for what they call the big one. The San Andreas Fault, they say, could go at any moment. The San Andreas Fault Line has moved, on average, about every 150 years. Guess what? It's been 300 years since it last moved. So they say it's double over due to really, really shift. So California is bracing for the big one. The sciences of plate tectonics and seismology have advanced to such a degree, in recent years, that earthquakes are predicted in certain areas. They're expected, not the exact hour of the day or the exact day of the week, but they're predicted. They know when areas are at risk. And scientists can generally identify at-risk regions and periods of time. In 1975, for instance, seismologists forecast a major earthquake in the Liaoning Province of Manchuria. More than 2 million people were evacuated ahead of time from their homes. It was in the industrial city of Yingkao. A little over four hours later, a massive earthquake struck. And instead of tens of thousands of deaths, there were less than 300 deaths. Because the scientists figured that they had been warned and got people out of the town. The same is true with moral earthquakes, shall we call them. If we allow secret faults to remain in our lives, cracking our character, we may not be able to say exactly when a moral earthquake will happen, but we can be certain that it will eventually happen. It might be next week, next month, next year, or even as it was for our Bible hero, twenty years later. An earthquake is inevitable if we don't heed those warning foreshocks in our life. Faults create an innately unstable foundation. The Apostle Paul warned us in Gal. 6, verse 7, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. When we violate God's standards, we can be sure that we're not going to get away with it forever. When we break God's laws, whether they are spiritual laws or even physical laws, we eventually have to pay the consequences. If you defy the law of gravity, it's going to come back to bite you. It's the same spiritually. This is the story of the Passover. This is the story of unleavened bread. This is the story of putting out every sin. Even what may seem to be the smallest and most insignificant. We put them out completely so that the cracks of a moral earthquake don't take root in our lives. Because in our spiritual lives, we have to avoid the big one.

God's moral laws are not to be trifled with. Break them and they'll most assuredly break us. The Bible tells us in Numbers 32, verse 23, Be sure your sin will find you out. My mother's words are ringing in my ears on that one when I was a little kid. She thought that maybe I'd done something I shouldn't have and I denied it. She said, Well, you be sure your sin will find you out. I remember my mom telling me that. I'd like to cover a subject today that is, unfortunately, timeless. Let's introduce the subject with the hero of our story, Samson. The story of Samson gives us a window into the deception of sin and how it can overtake a person's life.

There is much caution in the story for us to take note of, especially at this time of the year as we concentrate on putting sin out and putting righteousness in. In the sermon today, I have seven sections that focus on the danger of sin. I've titled the message, as you heard, but it's a little bit longer than what was announced. Quakes, Samson and sin, avoiding the big one.

As you'll see, the story of Samson is not generally a good example, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. This true story, one of the most well-known in all the Bible, especially by children, who doesn't like to hear a story about a superman, provides an important insight into deception and sin, and so we too must not be deceived. Samson is a striking biblical example of a man who suffered a moral slight, and his all-too-familiar story is told in the book of Judges. We'll be going to the book of Judges here in a moment. But he was a man who had it all going for him. He was young, strong, handsome, influential, a natural-born leader, perhaps, and his life story is one made for children's books, the story of Samson. He came from a good family. He had all the advantages of a solid upbringing, yet in the end, despite all these advantages, his life was ruined. Of course, it didn't just happen. In fact, Samson's demise was preceded by years of secret little faults. Little foreshocks that you might think were insignificant at first. Maybe we'd be tempted to believe there's really nothing to them. But in fact, these little foreshocks ran their course over a period of 20 years, cracking his character beneath the surface. So, what was it that really caused Samson's failure? Many of us who are familiar with the children's books might be tempted to exclaim Delilah. It was that conniving woman, Delilah, that undid Samson. Right? We tend to make a big deal about Delilah. Almost everything written and taught about Samson and his ultimate failure in all these books and stories centers on her. Movies! Samson and Delilah, the movie. And we're all too prone to think that she was his greatest fault. The root of his downfall. But in reality, some 20 years before he even met Delilah, some little secret faults started to run their course through his life, cracking it here and there, finally resulting in a catastrophic moral earthquake. Delilah just happened to be there at the end. And it's even easy for us to slip into sinful habits, moral compromises, ethical lapses or spiritual accommodations that we might rationalize away as unimportant if we're not careful. Cracks in our character, regardless of how small and imperceptible they may be at first, invariably, if not stopped, will cause incalculable damage, a 9.5 in our own lives, if we're not careful.

Leonardo da Vinci is quoted as saying, The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. And so we go to the Bible for what is true, as we look at avoiding moral earthquakes. So let's look at seven key points that help us to be aware of the danger of deception that can lead to sin. What can we learn from the life of Samson? How can we avoid the big one ourselves? The 9.5. The first point I've titled, Commit yourself to God. And of course, that's the foundation of our Christian lives. Commit yourself to God. There was a cyclical pattern in the history of Israel during the tumultuous days of the Judges. The people would indulge in sin and rebellion for a period of time. And then, as a result, they would fall into the hands of their oppressors. Quite often, the Philistines. Then, in the midst of their servitude, in the midst of their slavery, they would cry out to God in repentance, and God would deliver them. And often, by raising up a good judge or a champion. But then, in their newfound freedom, Israel would lull into a sense of complacency again over a period of decades. And then, the cycle would repeat itself. They'd find themselves at the hands of their enemies for about 40 years. They would repent, and then God would deliver them, and they'd be good for about 40 years. And then, they'd go into 40 years of servitude again. And this went on for centuries of good and bad times in ancient Israel. And the story of Samson is set against this backdrop. Once again, the people of Israel find themselves under the fierce tyranny of the Philistines. And Samson's birth is an answer to prayer from a childless couple. A couple that couldn't have kids. Look at Judges 13. Judges 13. Because in addition here, an angel of the Lord announces that Samson will one day be a champion to deliver his people from their despicable bondage. And this is in response to Israel admitting its sin and committing to God now for a period of time. Israel said they're going to be good now. Judges 13, verse 1.

Notice the great advantages that Samson had. He was dedicated to God from birth. He was a true gift of God to a godly couple. He was given a special calling. And indeed, he proved to be clever, intelligent, strong, the sort of man destined for success in life. And at this point in the narrative, the nation of Israel approached about 40 years or one generation of oppression. And now God raised up a deliverer, Samson of the tribe of Dan. Samson was the son of Manoah, whose wife, as I said, had been barren.

And throughout the Scriptures, we see that God sometimes caused barren women to bear the one through whom he would work. And this was done as a sign of God's involvement with the child from the start. And that any glory of the accomplishment was to go to God. Because this was from a woman who even couldn't bear children. So Manoah's wife was visited by the angel of the Lord, whom they actually later understood to be God himself, the pre-incarnate Christ, which this may have been.

Manoah recognized the seriousness of the news and asked God, how do I raise this child? And Manoah and his wife instinctively knew that if they were to raise a son who would do the works of God, they would need divine help, divine assistance in their parenting.

Notice Judges 13, verse 8. When Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, Oh, my Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born. Teach us, God, how to raise him. And this is certainly the case of parents today, because we live in a world that is largely lacking in godly values.

We who have children today need to ask God the very same thing, for wisdom in raising our kids. We mustn't forget to do that. And so God prepared to deliver Israel from their enemies, from their oppressors, through the person of Samson. And this was after the nation admitted the error of their ways and turned back to a commitment with God. So Israel then was going to be good for a while now, after being punished for 40 years.

And so a full commitment to God and seeking his teaching and his help is the first step in avoiding the big one. Commit yourself to God. Now that leads us to the second one, the second point, which is, avoid the situation that precedes the sin. It's very similar to one of the points in the sermonette.

Avoid the situation that precedes the sin. Samson was particularly advantaged. In fact, we are told that he was a Nazarite from his mother's womb. A Nazarite was someone that was specially set apart for the work of God. He was distinguished in holiness by three vows that he was to keep for his whole life. Three vows. First, he vowed never to drink wine or eat grapes or raisins.

Stay away from the vine. Second, he vowed to never touch a dead body because he was to live a separated, holy life, unsullied by the curse of death. And third, he vowed to never cut his hair. You can read about that in Numbers 6 if you want to. There are three parts of the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6. Each of these vow outwardly represented an inward commitment to holiness and righteousness and serving God. They are intended to be external symbols of an internal reality in Samson's heart and in his life. When men and women saw a Nazarite walking down the street, they immediately recognized him as a person of commitment.

A man of resolve, a man who took serving God seriously. But, sadly, Samson trivialized his status as a Nazarite early on in his life. Look at Judges 14.1. Let's skip ahead a little bit in the story. Judges 14.1. Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. The Philistines were pagans. They were the very oppressors God had raised Samson up to defeat. Yet there he was. Samson knew better, but still he went. And that was his first mistake.

According to the story, he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Right then and there he was smitten. And God warned the Israelites about marrying outside of their faith. Samson was to be different. He was to set a godly example, a Nazarite representing God's way of doing things. It seems that Samson was completely dominated by the desires of his flesh. As we read the story here, it seems he hadn't even had a conversation with her.

He hadn't met her. He knew nothing about her except what she looked like. Was Samson avoiding a situation that could cause him to slip into sin? Was Samson following the advice of God regarding marital relationships within Israel? We must put God first in our life. We must avoid situations that cause us to fall short of the mark. We have to avoid situations that can precede a sin.

Anything that comes between us and our Father in heaven is nothing short of idolatry. Doing something that we want to do, not what God says we should do. Putting something else before him. Samson was where he should not have been. Down there at Timna with the Philistines, down there with the godless people, he was not avoiding a situation that could cause him to fall short of his calling.

That's all right. As we proceed, you'll see that there were cracks developing in Samson's character. What first seemed to be minor foreshocks finally exploded into an unstoppable situation, a 9.5 that then he cannot stop. As we go through the story here, keep in mind what can we learn from this, and how can we avoid the big one? It's very important to avoid any situation that can tempt us and lead us towards sin. Thirdly, heed wise counsel. Listen to those who have godly advice for you. Judges 14, verse 2.

He went back home and he said, Mom and Dad, I've found the one. Dad, go down there and get her for me. He was ready for his parents to begin arranging for a wedding. And it seems he was yet to even actually meet his prospective bride. And so we start to see the small cracks developing in Samson's character. Of course, Samson knew better.

He was a Nazarite, but he persisted in his obstinate commitment to fleshly desires. Notice verse 3. Judges 14, verse 3. Here's the advice now coming from his parents. Then his father and mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me. For she pleases me well.

His dad said, Look, son, this isn't how we brought you up. This isn't what we taught you. We might say, Couldn't you at least find someone in God's church? Couldn't you find someone of our faith, who would be able to help you raise our children in the truth? But Samson wouldn't hear any of that. He rejected the advice of his parents, and he was resolute in his passion. He said, Get her for me. I know what I'm doing.

I can handle this. Samson decided that he knew what was best for him, and so he rejected the wise counsel and concern of his parents. He didn't heed that counsel, and his relationship with the woman from Timna did finally end in a catastrophe.

Judges 14, verse 5, the first part. Judges 14, verse 5, So Samson went down to Timna with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timna. Where did he go? To the vineyards of Timna. Almost without warning, Samson comes precariously close to violating one of the basic vows of his Nazarite commitment. To avoid even the appearance of evil, a Nazarite would stay away from a vineyard.

A Nazarite was not allowed to eat as much as a single raisin or a grape or a grape leaf salad. Stay away from the grapes, yet there he was walking through the vineyard, coming very, very close flagrantly to defiling his vows. Why go anywhere near a vineyard if you're a Nazarite? The fact is, when we let our little fault begin to spread, we are well on our way toward a moral earthquake. One thing leads to another, and we find ourselves irretrievably on the downgrade, that Samson avoided the wise counsel of his parents.

Contrary to scriptural principles and counsel, Samson married a Philistine woman, who, by the way, was eventually given away to another man in the story. He could have chosen any Israelite woman, but Samson allowed his impulsive desire, rather than his faith-guided counsel, to control his behavior. And he became lustful and arrogant. Get it for me! So what's the lesson for us today? A little leaven can leaven the whole lump. It doesn't take much before the whole lump starts to swell and become leavened.

And Samson descended even further into sin, because he was unwilling to control his desire and submit to God. Next, he went to a Philistine harlot. We read in the story. Samson was now fully committed to following his lust. So a key point in avoiding deception and sin is, in avoiding the big one, ourselves, is to heed wise counsel, even the point of listening to our parents, of all things. Which a lot of kids don't think they have to do too much anymore. Point four is to replace wrong actions with righteous action.

You start to fill the glass with good, right? To replace your time of doing things you shouldn't. Replace wrong actions with righteous actions. People with too much time on their hands often get into trouble. Replace wrong actions with righteous actions. A lion attacked Samson while he was in those vineyards. That's Tim though. Verse 5, the second part now. Judges 14, verse 5, the second part. Now to his surprise, it says, A young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, And he tore the lion apart, As one would have torn apart a young goat, Though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

Then he went down and talked with the woman, And she pleased Samson well. But Samson did have superhuman strength. He tore that lion limb from limb with his bare hands, Ripped legs and arms are...paws are. But sin has consequences. We may be ingenious in our efforts to avoid those consequences Or to hide the sin. As Samson did when he faced the lion in the vineyard. But ultimately, even our best efforts at ingenuity are to no avail. I sometimes wonder if God didn't allow that lion to approach Samson in the vineyard, Just to wake him up, to alert him, to make him think, To threaten his life, Because Samson was where he should not have been.

Doing what he shouldn't have been doing as an Azerite. And it says that lion surprised him. He wasn't expecting that. So it's possible, I guess, that God allowed the lion to be there to warn Samson that, Hey, this is a dangerous place for you. A vineyard is a dangerous place for you. Many Bible authorities feel that throughout his life, Samson did disregard his first Nazerite vow regarding grapes and wine. That he did eat grapes and drank wine when he shouldn't have. It's felt by a lot of the biblical scholars that Samson took only one of his vows seriously, That of not cutting his hair.

And so could some of these initial quakes lead to a major 9.5 in his life? What do you think? What actually did happen to Samson? What about you and me? What do we allow in our lives that we shouldn't? How seriously do we take this Holy Day season to root out all of our character flaws and our faults? To root out our own fault lines and quakes in order to prevent the big one from happening to us?

One compromise leads to another compromise. Samson very nearly met with disaster because he was where he should not have been, Doing what he never should have been doing with someone he shouldn't have been with. And yet, lo and behold, at the very next opportunity, he returned for more.

It was almost as if he was winking at danger and sin. And apparently he thought he could get away with anything. Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman from the 1700s, says, Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it's hurtful. God wants what's best for us. He wants us to avoid sin because it's hurtful. Samson was continuing in his sinful actions, and there was no righteous behavior here to counteract it. Look at Judges 14, verse 8 now. After some time, when he returned to get her, that's the woman from Timna, He turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, He went back to the vineyard again. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of it in his hands and went along eating, verse 9. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them. And they also ate, but he did not tell them that he'd taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. Why would he not tell his parents where he got the honey?

Samson returned to the vineyard. Wrong move. And when he did, he turned aside to revisit his narrow escape, and there he violated the second of his Nazarite vows that he would not touch a dead body. Not only did Samson touch the carcass of the lion that he had slain, he actually eats from it. Samson was doing nothing to replace his sinful actions with righteousness. He continued to revisit the scene of the sin, and he's setting himself up here for the big one.

Despite such promising beginnings as a young man, with everything in his favor, Samson showed himself susceptible to being foolishly enticed. God didn't want the Israelites intermarrying with pagan Gentiles, because he wanted them to honor him, and not get swept away in false religion. Samson took a Philistine woman as his first wife. And also, Samson as a Nazarite should have avoided any uncleanness. But he took the honey from the carcass of the lion, which would have rented the honey for him to be unclean. That's in Leviticus 11, if you want to check that out, as far as those uncleanness laws go. It's in Leviticus 11. In short, Samson was a hard-headed man.

But God would use that as a means of provoking the Philistines, and eventually delivering Israel. So one of the keys to avoiding sin is to put righteousness into our life, to replace the sinful actions, and thus help avoid a major spiritual quake. But Samson did not.

Number five is stay close to God. So not only do we commit ourselves to God, number one, but point five is stay close to God. Judges 15 verse 6 is where I want to turn to next. Judges 15 and verse 6. Judges 15 tells the story of the demise of his relationship with the woman from Timna. So here's what happens to that relationship. Judges 15 verse 6.

Then the Philistine said, Who has done this? And if what we skipped over was the fact that Samson caught 300 foxes. Now how do you catch 300 foxes? I don't know. But he caught 300 foxes, and I think it was he tied all their tails together or something, and he burned down a vast amount of Philistine grain and vineyards and olive groves. Had the foxes run through with torches on their tails, I theory correctly, and burnt down acres and acres and acres of olive trees and crops and corn. And the Philistine said, Who did this? Verse 6.

So what happened was, the woman's dad gave his daughter to someone else instead of Samson now. Maybe Samson was gone for a while. I don't know what happened. Anyway, she got given another man, and Samson came back and found her, now married to someone else. So what did he do? He burnt down all the vineyards. So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. They got burned alive in their own house. That's what happened to the woman from Tim though. So his marriage ended in tragedy. She burned alive with her dad. Now remember, all of these events we've read about today occurred some 20 years before Samson met Delilah.

It appears that he thought he could get away with violating his Nazarite vows without diminishing his effectiveness. He was still strong. He could still do what he wanted. And carried away by the passions of the moment, he somehow forgot that actions always have consequences. Those consequences may not be immediate. You may not be punished for the sin right away. But the punishment is sure nonetheless.

And it would be 20 years before Samson was entirely undone. But the stage was set early on in his life in those vineyards of Temna. The cracks in his character made the foundation of his life less secure. His secret faults, hidden below the surface to a lot of people, made what seemed to be unimaginable all too inevitable. 20 years later, Samson met Delilah. And then came the final blow. And thus his life ended in ruin. But disasters don't just happen. They're preceded by faults. And so it is with all of us. And marriage doesn't just fall apart. It's slowly and imperceptibly undermined over a long period of time. Cracks in the integrity of the relationship finally erupt into a catastrophic quake and then they get divorced. And similarly, ethical violations in the workplace all begin with small indiscretions that end in devastation. We must stay close to God to avoid such happenings. If we don't stay close to God and avoid the warnings of sin, then we fall. Almost everyone has heard of the term, slippery slope. That phrase refers to some sort of process that occurs so smoothly, many times unwarily, that once you get on that slope, you reach a point of no return and you slip and fall and you can't stop yourself. The slippery slope. Most people don't get up one morning and think, you know, today I think I'm going to begin an affair. Instead, though, it takes place in stages. One small thought leading to another over time into a chain reaction. And once on that slippery slope we drift ever downward, unable to stop our inertia. And eventually, our thoughts, eventually that speed carries us further than we ever thought we would go.

And so it's vital, here in point five, that we stay close to God. It reminds me of James 4, verses 7 and 8. James 4, verse 7, Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And in James 4, verse 8, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts.

So, stay close to God. Now, you would think that somewhere along the way, Samson would have learned his lesson.

Sadly, though, his disappointing experiences with the Philistines only deepened the pattern of rebellion in his life. It didn't get better. It went from bad to worse. He claimed belief in the ways of God. He claimed to be an Azurite. But the way he acted was far from it. And expediency had already made a mockery of his confession as an Azurite. And before long, his life was to be completely ruined. By the time Samson had his infamous encounter with the temptress Delilah, he had actually reinforced this way of life, these rebellious habits, for some twenty years. And during that time, the character of Samson had become so damaged, so weakened by these secret faults and cracks in his character, that he was unable to stop himself. And even in the face of obvious danger, he became a slave to his passions.

And you can read about a lot more of those sins in the intervening chapters here of Judges, chapters 15 and 16. There's a whole lot more to the story in Judges 15 and 16. It includes prostitution, touching more dead animals, and generally relying on himself instead of the strength that actually came from God. He wasn't really superhuman. There was nothing about his own muscles. It was God doing it for him. The slope had gotten too slippery, and Samson was on that downward slope, and he couldn't stop himself. And he didn't see the big one coming. Of course, that's a lesson for us today. Point six, then, is don't become enticed. We're going to look at the story of Delilah. Don't become enticed. Judges 16, verse 4 and 5.

After what had happened, he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was... drumroll, please... Delilah. Judges 16, verse 5. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him! Find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. After that time, Samson had been a dreaded scourge to the Philistines. They couldn't stop him, and he disrupted their reign of terror among the people of Israel. And he became a champion of freedom for Israel. And now, the Philistines saw an obvious chance, an obvious opportunity to exploit Samson, because they saw his obvious weakness for beautiful women. And they said, We can get him on this. Judges 16, verse 6. So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you. There's a quote from Queen Elizabeth I. She said, I pray to God that I shall not live one hour after I have thought of using deception. It was Queen Elizabeth. Now Delilah was up for it. Apparently, Samson still had some of his wits about him, and he lied to her. He didn't say it had anything to do with his hair. So Delilah, intent on her betrayal, proceeded to bind him while he slept. But when his attackers came out of hiding, he came into the bedchamber to pounce on him. Samson surprised them all, he tore off the ropes, and then he furiously killed them all. And, amazingly, Samson failed to learn from this narrow escape.

He was so smitten by his attraction to Delilah that he remained captive to her affections. And in a very real sense, Samson went from dumb to dumber.

Just as we can, if we're not careful, if we become captive to our temptations. And so, undeterred, Delilah pressed on, and she tried her ploy again. And although Samson was toying with complete disaster, he kept his cool, kept his mind clean, kept his wits about him, and deceived her and lied to her. Once again, Delilah called the Philistines out of hiding, and once again, Samson defeated them handily. Notice Judges 16, verse 13. And Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. So, Samson was weakening now. On this third attempt, he came tantalizingly close to telling her the truth. He started to talk a little bit about his hair now. He'd become so overconfident that he thought he could get away with just about anything. And that's what habitual sin will do to us. We become myopic in our thinking. We think we can get away with it when we get enticed. Judges 16, verse 15. He said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me?

You've mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength lies. How can you say, I love you? Maybe that's one of the oldest cliches in the book, right?

So then, like so many before and so many since, Samson fell for it.

Delilah pestered until finally his resistance was completely worn down and he relented.

That's remarkable that in spite of knowing what Delilah was up to, he knew she was trying to deceive him and get him in trouble and have the Philistines take him. But he actually told her the truth. Even knowing this. It's like he had gone down that slippery slope so far and there was no going back and he just thought he was invincible. So just 16 verse 16, It came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, like a dripping tap, I guess we read about in Proverbs, that he told her all his heart and said to her, No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.

So even in the midst of his collapse, Samson could still articulate the truth. He knew where his strength came from. He knew where his strength came from. He knew the laws of God. He knew he was supposed to be a Nazarite, and he still understood the significance of his calling. He could still stand and pronounce the truth in a persuasive manner.

Right up until the time of the whole collapse, he could still speak the truth. He knew how he was supposed to live.

But that night, Samson's ruin was assured. Delilah cut away his long Nazarite burial, and he was able to find the right to the right to the right. Samson was not close to God. He didn't follow his Nazarite vows, and he paid the penalty for it. Overpowered and blinded by the Philistines, he was afterwards forced to grind wheat. Some commentators suggest that he ground wheat as the women did, using a grinding stone and a plate. Others suggest that he was harnessed to a grinding stone like a beast of burden.

And then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

For years, he had flaunted his power over the Philistines. And now his enemies had him. And they used their power over him, while he was forced to live out his final days like an ox, like an animal.

And his humiliation was complete.

Samson was blind, bound, belivelled. And for their parties, for their celebrations, the Philistines would bring him out and mock him. The Philistines would bring him out and mock God and mock Samson.

Samson lost his strength, he lost his sight, he lost his freedom, he lost his usefulness, he lost his reputation, he lost everything after such a promising beginning.

But it didn't just happen. It was preceded by years of secret faults that finally led to a 9.5 quake. The big one.

What lesson is there in all of this for us once again? Think about it during this week of unleavened bread.

How many little cracks are we willing to let form in our lives?

What are we doing about it? If so, are we turning to God every day? Don't become enticed by Delilah like Samson did.

Don't become enticed by the world, is what we're saying. Watch out for the big one.

Now, the final point here is, number 7, join the list of the faithful. Join the list of the faithful. Because in our story now, we turn to the point where Samson finally saw himself for what he was, and he turned to God. And here's a lesson for us. Point 7, join the list of the faithful. Deuter 16 verse 25.

Deuter 16 verse 25. The Philistines here had a great feast. So it happened when their hearts were merry that they said, Call for Samson, that he may perform for us, as they often did. So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them, and they stationed him between the pillars. Here they had the man of the God of Israel, and they wanted him to perform for them. Blind and bound and belittled, Samson was nothing more than a humorous sidelight, like a grotesque freak show to them. Deuter 16 verse 26.

Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them. Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. In verse 28, Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, O Lord God, remember me I pray, strengthen me, I pray just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes. Then Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he pushed with all his might, the temple fell on the Lord and all the people who were in it, for the dead that he killed, that his death, were more than he had killed in his whole life.

And this final scene is well known.

Samson brings down the temple by toppling the two pillars, which killed him and all the Philistines inside.

Until recently, critics thought that this was an unlikely dramatic myth.

How could a whole temple be destroyed by one man toppling two pillars?

It was just this past decade, however, that a Philistine temple was fully excavated, revealing that the structure of the temple rested entirely upon two central pillars, barely six feet apart. That's how the Philistines designed the temples. They uncovered one. And given the weight distribution on those pillars, it would have been entirely possible for the Biblical story to have ended exactly like that.

A lot of Bible stories are like that, where people and critics ignore them or say that they're just a myth, and then what happens, they uncover something and find out it was true, after all. And that keeps happening more and more. The end of Samson's life is a solemn reminder that there are consequences for sin. For twenty years, Samson assumed he could get away with all these secret faults in his life that lay beneath the surface, but he was wrong. The tectonic plates finally collided.

He thought he could get away with a few minor indiscretions from time to time, but he couldn't.

But thankfully, at long last, he realized that the strength he once possessed was not his, but God's.

With all of his great advantages thoroughly squandered, Samson finally began to truly understand. And in that prison, he surrendered his life completely to the will and purpose of Almighty God. We'd like to read one final passage in Hebrews 11, verse 32. Hebrews 11 and verse 32. Because as the saying goes, better late than never. And now we find Samson listed in the faith chapter in Hebrews 11, verse 32. And this is very encouraging. We are told that we can turn to God at any time, even when all seems lost. Even when our eyes are gone, even when we are imprisoned. And Samson's name was, in the end, recorded in the Hall of Faith. Hebrews 11, verse 32. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson. Jephthah, also of David, and Samuel, and the prophets. Who, through faith, verse 33, subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness, were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

For the lesson in it for us, don't wait for the 9.5 quake to hit you spiritually.

Join the list of the faithful now. Become listed in the Faith Hall of Fame yourself.

Watch out for those secret faults, those little cracks in our character.

Samson really is a striking biblical example of a man who suffered a moral slide. A terrible moral slide. But as we've seen, it didn't just happen. Samson's final demise was preceded by years of indiscretions, years of faults. Faults that began very insignificant at first, just walking past a vineyard, getting a little too close. We might be tempted to think there's really nothing to them. But over a period of two decades, cracking his character beneath the surface, Samson's life ended with the big one, the 9.5. Thankfully, at the end of his life, he realized that the strength he once possessed was not his. It came from God. Samson finally began to understand. And he's listed in the Faithful of Fame now. We can learn from his mistakes. That's why it's here for us to read.

The Bible tells us that these examples are there for us to take note of.

And so I trust that the seven points we've covered here today will be helpful to all of us, as we strive to draw closer to God to admit our sins, repent of them, avoid the pitfalls of human nature, where we just want to do our own thing, put sin out of our lives, put the righteousness of Jesus Christ in to our lives, represented by the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And let's make the very most of this unleavened bread week ahead of us.