Samson Before Delilah

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Sabbath Service with us, and thank you, Mrs. Raudenbush, for the special music. Very timely and beautiful, so thank you very much. So I trust you all had a wet week. Don't put away the umbrellas yet, though. I hope we've got about another week of rain to come, so even the Ohio River is reaching flood stage now. So quite a bit of rain. But like my wife said, maybe in August we'll appreciate it when it's hot and dry. So, but welcome to Sabbath Services. Good to be here with you all this week before the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

There's a famous Bible story that has intrigued children and adults for thousands of years. It's a story of trouble and sin, but it's also a story of zeal and finally triumph. Our hero in today's story led a pattern of sin lead to his demise. The lesson for us is, if we allow secret sins to remain in our lives, cracking our character, we may not be able to say precisely when we'll fall, but it will happen. We can be certain eventually it will happen. When I was a kid, my mom used to quote Numbers 32, verse 23 to me when she thought I'd done something wrong.

Be sure your sin will find you out. Well, thanks, Mom. When we violate God's standards, we can be sure we're not going to get away with it in the end. When we break God's laws, if we do not repent, we will eventually have to pay the consequences. And of course, this is the story of Unleavened Bread. This is the story of putting every sin, even what may seem the smallest of all, out of our lives completely so that cracks of unrighteousness do not take root.

So 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 take over a person's life. There's much caution for us in the story of Samson as we enter soon these days of Unleavened Bread. So in the sermon today, I have seven points that focus on how to avoid sin and we'll weave the story of Samson throughout these seven points as a lesson to us. I've titled this message, Samson Before Delilah, a Pattern of Trouble.

Samson Before Delilah, a Pattern of Trouble. And as you'll quickly see, the example of Samson is generally not a very good one, but there's triumph at the end of the story. So this true story, one of the most well-known in all the Bible, especially by children perhaps, because who doesn't like the story of the Superman, provides an important insight into deception and sin.

Samson's a striking biblical example of a man who suffered a moral slide. And his all too familiar story is told in the book of Judges. So we've got to be primarily in the book of Judges today. He's a man who had it all going for him. He was young, strong, handsome, influential, a natural-born leader. And so his story is one made for children's story books. He came from a good family and enjoyed all the advantages of a solid upbringing. He was the church kid of his day, yet in the end, his life was ruined.

Why? Of course, it didn't just happen. In fact, Samson's demise was preceded by years of little problems, a pattern of trouble, ongoing indiscretions that began so insignificant. We might be tempted to think there was hardly anything to them. But in fact, these indiscretions ran their course for a period of 20 years, cracking his character beneath the surface. So what was it that really caused Samson's failure?

Of course, many who know the story will be quick to exclaim Delilah. Samson was undone by that conniving woman, Delilah. But this is the story of Samson before Delilah.

We tend to make a big deal about Delilah. Hollywood likes to make a big deal about Delilah. Almost everything written about Samson today and his ultimate failure centers on her. And we're all quick to think that she was his greatest fault, the root of his downfall. But in reality, some 20 years before Delilah, secret problems began to run their course through the character of his life.

She just happened to be there at the end. It's easy to slip into habits and sinful habits, moral compromises, ethical lapses, spiritual accommodations, things that we might rationalize away as insignificant or unimportant if we're not careful. And so during the upcoming week, the days of Unleavened Bread, we will focus specifically for one whole week on avoiding every crumb of sin. Of course, we should be doing that all year long, but during Unleavened Bread, we focus specifically on that.

So let's look at seven key points to help us overcome the dangers that can lead to moral lapses. What can we learn from the life of Samson before Delilah? The first point I've simply titled, commit yourself to God. Commit yourself to God.

There was a cyclical pattern in the history of ancient Israel during the tumultuous days of the Judges. The people of Israel would indulge in sin and rebellion for a period, often for about 40 years. And as a result, they would forget God and fall into the hands of their evil oppressors. Often it was the Philistines. God would punish them for their sin. Then, in the midst of their suffering, Israel would cry out to God and repent. Say, we're sorry, we're going to do better. So God would mercifully deliver them by raising up a champion or a good judge.

Then they would often have about 40 years of relative peace and blessings. But then by the end of 40 years, guess what? They'd start to be lulled again into a sense of complacency and the cycle would repeat itself. The story of Samson is set against this backdrop. Once again, the people find themselves under the fierce tyranny of the Philistines. God has been punishing them, and so they cry out and repent. So Samson's birth is an answer to prayer here for a childless couple. We'll start in Judges 13. Judges 13. Because an angel of the Lord announces that Samson will one day be a champion, a superman, to deliver his people from their despicable bondage under the Philistines. And it's in response to Israel admitting its sin and committing to God for a period. So this is our first point, is to commit to God to avoid sin. So Judges 13 verse 1. Again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. Here's the cycle. Now, the certain man from Zora of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoa, and his wife was barren and had no children, and the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, Indeed now you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, not to eat anything unclean, for behold you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the trial shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. So you notice the great advantages that Samson had. He was dedicated from birth, he was a true gift from God to a childless couple, he was given a special calling, and indeed he proved to be clever, smart, strong, the sort of young man destined for success in life. And as we read at this point in the narrative, the nation of Israel approached about 40 years or one generation of oppression. So God raised up a deliverer, Samson of the tribe of Dan. Of course, his people eventually became the mighty Vikings, right? He was the son of Manoa, whose wife had been barren. And throughout scripture, we see how God sometimes caused barren women to bear the one through whom he would work.

This was done as a sign of God's involvement with the child from the start, and that any glory of accomplishment was to go to God. Any glory was to go to God. So we need to keep that in mind as well here throughout the story. Any strength Samson had should have been to glorify God. In verse 3, we see Manoa's wife was visited by an angel of the Lord with a capital A, whom they later understood to be God himself. That is, the word or the pre-incarnate Christ. Here we see Manoa recognize the seriousness of the news and ask God how to raise the child. And Manoa and his wife instinctively knew if they were to raise a son who would do the works of God, they would need divine assistance in their parenting. So notice verse 8, Judges 13 verse 8. Then Manoa prayed to the Lord and said, O my Lord, please let the man of God, that was the, it was God, the angel whom you sent, come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born. And so this is certainly the case for parents today, isn't it? Because we live in a world that is largely lacking in godly values. We who have children now also need to ask God for wisdom in rearing them. As you know, when you have your first child, you don't know what you're doing. You do need divine help to keep that kid alive. Yeah, tell me about it. So God prepared to deliver Israel from their oppressors through the person here of Samson, after the nation admitted the error of its ways and turned back to a commitment with God. So point number one, a full commitment to God and seeking his teaching is the first step in avoiding a pattern of trouble and sin. And Manoah's parents, I mean Samson's parents, Manoah and his wife, were on the right path. Point two, I've titled, avoid the situation that precedes the sin. If you know you've got a problem, avoid the situation that will lead you to sin. So Samson was particularly advantaged. We are told he was a Nazarite from his mother's womb. Nazarite was someone specially set apart for the work of God, and he was distinguished in holiness by three vows he was to keep. First, he vowed to never drink wine or eat grapes or raisins, or anything from the vine. Second, he vowed to never touch a dead person because he was to live a separate holy life, unblemished by the curse of death. And third, he vowed never to cut his hair. And you can read all about these Nazarite vows in Numbers 6 if you want to. Now each of these vows outwardly represented an inward commitment to holiness and righteousness. And when men and women saw a Nazarite walking down the street, they immediately recognized him as a man of commitment, a man of resolve. But sadly, Samson trivialized his Nazarite vows even early on in his life. A pattern of moral shortcomings began. So look at chapter 14. We'll skip ahead to Judges 14 verse 1.

Now Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now remember, our second point is avoid the situation that might cause you to sin. So he saw a woman in Timnah and she was a Philistine girl. The Philistines were pagans. They were the very oppressors God had raised Samson up to defeat. And according to the verse, he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. So right then and there he was smitten. God warned the Israelites about marrying outside of their faith. Samson especially was to be different, holy, and Nazarite, representing God's way of doing things. And so here was one of his first mistakes. He should have avoided the situation that could lead him to sin. It seems too he knew little about her except what she looked like.

Was Samson avoiding a situation that could cause him to slip into sin by having a relationship with a pagan woman? Woman of a different religion? Was Samson following God's advice on marital relationships? We too must put God first in our life. We must avoid situations that may cause us to fall short of the mark, anything that comes between us and God. Samson was where he should not have been, down there at Timna, down there with the godless people, down there among the Philistines. He was not avoiding a situation that could cause him to fall short of his calling. So as we proceed, you'll see the cracks in Samson's character, which at first seem to be minor issues, but they show an ongoing pattern of trouble. What can we learn from this? So point number two is avoid situations that may lead you to sin. Thirdly, heed wise counsel. If you want to avoid sin, heed wise counsel when it's given. Judges 14 now verse 2. So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, I've seen a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me as a wife. She went back and said, mum, 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, without even properly knowing his prospective bride. And so the cracks in his character continue. Of course, Samson knew better. He was a Nazarite with a special calling from God, but he was flaunting it. Notice verse 3. Then he's, and here comes the wise counsel, right? 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, good advice, dad. No, he said, get her for me, she pleases me well. End of story. So Manoah tried to give his son wise counsel. Samson didn't listen. Today, a dad might say something like, couldn't you find someone who's in the church? Couldn't you find someone of her faith would raise your kids up in the truth? But Samson would hear none of that. He was resolute in his passion. He said, get her for me, I know what I'm doing. I can handle this.

Samson decided he knew what was best, and so he rejected the wise counsel of his parents. He did not, he's, he'd wise counsel, and his relationship with the woman from Timna did finally end in a mind-numbing catastrophe. We'll see that in a minute. Look at verse 5 now, the first half of verse 5. So Samson went down to Timna with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timna. Where did he go? The vineyard of Timna. 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, and Nazarite stayed clear of a vineyard. And Nazarite was not allowed to eat as much as a single raisin or anything produced by a grapevine. The fact is, when we let a little fault spread, we're well on our way to a pattern of trouble. One thing leads to another and we find ourselves irretrievably on the downgrade. And Samson avoided very wise counsel from his own parents. And so he married a Philistine woman who was eventually given to another man, by the way, as we'll see. He could have chosen probably any Israelite woman, but he allowed his impulsive desire rather than godly counsel to control his behavior. What is a lesson for us today? A little leaven leavens the whole lump. And now, as you see with Samson, his pattern of trouble grew, and he descended even further, actually, into sin. He became unwilling to control his desire and submit to God, and later he even went to a Philistine harlot. He was fully set to follow his lust and ongoing pattern of sin and trouble. So a key point for us too, number three, in avoiding sin, is to heed wise counsel. Number four is replace wrong actions with righteous actions.

If you've got a lot of emptiness in your life, you may just do the wrong thing. Fill your life with righteousness to push out the unrighteousness. So replace wrong actions with righteous actions. So we get to the last half of verse five here, Judges 14 verse five, the last half, where we see a lion attacked Samson while he was in the vineyards of Temna. To his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. Verse six, 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. He did not tell his father or mother what he had done. He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. So here we see Samson's newly found famous superhuman strength coming into play. But sin has consequences. We may be ingenious in our efforts to avoid those consequences, as Samson was when he faced the lion in the vineyard. God protected him. But he really should have stayed clear of the vineyard to begin with. What about you and me? What do we allow into our lives we shouldn't? How seriously do we take this holiday season to root out all of our character faults and flaws? To really concentrate on putting every crumb of sin out of our life? Because he was Samson. One compromise leads to the next. Samson very nearly met with disaster because he was where he should not have been, doing what he should not have been doing with someone he shouldn't have been with. It's all compounding now. It's almost as if he was winking at danger and sin, and there was no righteous behavior to counteract it. Notice verse 8. After some time when he returned to get her, his wife, or the woman from Timna, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. 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. 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. So Samson returned to the vineyard. When he did, he revisited his narrow escape from the lion, and he returned to the carcass of an unclean animal, which a Nazarite would avoid. Maybe this is why he admitted telling his parents where the honey came from.

Despite such promising beginnings, Samson showed himself susceptible to being foolishly enticed, and he's not replacing questionable actions with righteous actions.

Let me read to you from Leviticus chapter 11, verses 24 through 26. Leviticus 11 verses 24 through 26 tells us, By these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening. Whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening. The carcass of any animal which divides the foot but is not cloven hoofed or does not chew the cut is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. So a Nazarite, especially, being holy would avoid anything unclean like this. The carcass of a lion. Samson, bit by bit, was not fulfilling his life with righteousness but rather with wrong actions. So point number four. One of the keys to avoiding sin is to replace any sinful actions with righteous actions. And number five is stay close to God. Judges 15 tells the story of the demise of Samson's relationship with a woman from Tim though, which is actually a very tragic story. Judges 15 verse 6, The Philistines said, who has done this? So what had happened was, Samson had used his superhuman strength to catch 300 foxes, lit torches between all their tails, burned down vast amounts of Philistine grain, including vineyards and olive groves, while clan famforeigneth.

Why? So they answered, who has done this? Samson has done this. The son-in-law of the Tim cancelled So Samson's marriage ended in tragedy. She burned alive with her father. Samson's Philistine wife from Timna was given to a friend of her dad. So Samson burned down vast amounts of Philistine crops. In retribution, the Philistines then killed Samson's father-in-law and daughter with fire. Now remember, all these events we've read about so far, we've skipped over a lot of them, occurred some 20 years before Samson ever met Delilah. This is all Samson before Delilah. In the book of Judges here, there are many more stories of Samson using his superhuman strength to antagonize the Philistines. And we won't cover them all here today. But it appears he thought he could get away with not treating his Nazarite vows seriously. And carried along by passions of the moment, he forgot that actions always have consequences. The consequences may not be immediate. They may not be for 20 more years, right? But they are sure and certain nonetheless. Because it was two decades before Samson was finally entirely undone. But the stage was set in those vineyards of Timna. And so 20 years later, Samson met Delilah. And then came the final blow. And his life ended in ruin.

And so it can be with us. Marriage doesn't just fall apart. It slowly undermined over a span of time. Ethical violations in the workplace begin with small indiscretions. And then we get demoted, or lose our job completely. We must stay close to God to avoid sin and its consequences. And if we don't stay close to God and avoid the warning signs of sin, we will eventually fall. Most people don't wake up in the morning and think, I think I'm going to have an affair today. No, it happens gradually in stages. One lapse leading to another in a chain reaction. So it's vital that we stay close to God. Remember James 4, verses 7 and 8? Let me read to you James 4, verses 7 and 8. Therefore submit to God. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Verse 8? Draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. Clench your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. A very important passage in James about staying close to God in order to resist sin. So 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, exacerbating the cracks in his character. He claimed belief in God. He had the outward appearance of an Azerite, but he didn't act like it. He wasn't close to God and he wasn't living a holy life. His actions had already made a mockery of his confession as an Azerite, and before long then, his life was to be reduced to ruin. By the time he had his infamous encounter with the temptress Delilah, he had reinforced his bad habits for many years. And during that time, Samson's character became damaged, so weakened by secret sins that he was eventually unable to stop himself. Even in the face of obvious danger, he became a slave to his sins. And you can read about some of those sins in intervening chapters of Judges chapters 15 and 16, if you want to read the whole story and some of the other things he did. Some of these include prostitution, touching more dead animals, unclean animals, generally relying on himself instead of recognizing his superhuman strength actually came from God.

Samson physically wasn't any different than any other person. His superhuman strength came from God. So this is what happens when we don't stay close to God, our fifth point. And then number six, don't become enticed by sin. Don't become enticed. That leads us to Judges chapter 16 here. We skipped over a few stories. Judges 16 verse 4.

Here we go. Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, entice him and 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. So up to this time, Samson had been a thorn to the dreaded Philistines. He disrupted their reign of terror among the people of Israel and became a champion of freedom. But now they saw an opportunity to exploit his obvious weakness for beautiful women. Go to 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.

So apparently Samson still had some of his wits about him, so he lied to her. Delilah, intent on her betrayal, proceeded to do what he said and bound him while he slept. But when his attackers came out from behind the curtains in the bedchamber to pounce on him, Samson surprised them all, tearing off the bowstrings and then furiously beat them. Strangely, Samson failed to learn from this betrayal and narrow escape. He was so smitten by his attraction to Delilah that he remained captive to her affections. And in a very real sense here, as we read the rest of the story, Samson went from dumb to dumber, without a doubt. Just as we can do when we become captive to temptation. So undeterred, Delilah pressed her ploy further. And even though Samson knew he was toying with disaster, he kept his wits about him and deceived his lover. And once again, Delilah called the Philistines out of hiding, and once again, Samson defeated them decisively. Then next, notice verse 13. Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Obviously, these special strings weren't going to do it, right? 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 here is weakened. On this third attempt, he came so close to telling her the truth about his hair.

He'd become so overconfident that he thought he could just about get away with anything. This is what ongoing sin does to us. We think there won't be consequences. We become myopic in our thinking, and we can become enticed. So verse 15, Then she said to him, How can you say I love you? When your heart is not with me, you have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies. And of course, that's one of the oldest cliches in the book, right? How can you say I love you and then do this to me?

And so like many men before and so many since Samson fell for it, Delilah pestered until finally his resistance was worn down and he relented. And it's remarkable that in spite of knowing what Delilah was up to, Samson actually told her the truth. Verses 16 and 17, He came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death. She must have really been pestering him. Verse 17, 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 here now, even in the midst of his collapse, Samson could still articulate the truth. He still understood the essence and significance of his calling, even though he had squandered it actually throughout his life. He could still speak the truth, but that night he was made to look like a fool. And I suppose many of us can speak the truth, but we also have to live it, right? So that night Delilah cut away his long Nazarite braids, and the final remnant of his righteous commitment as a Nazarite was shorn from his life. Samson was not close to God. He disrespected his Nazarite vows, and now he finally, twenty years later, paid the penalty for it. The Philistines took him, they put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. Overpowered and blinded by the Philistines, he was forced to grind wheat. Some Bible scholars say he was harnessed to a grinding stone like an animal, as a beast of burden. For years he had flaunted his power over his enemies, and now his enemies flaunted their power over him. While he was forced to live out his final days like an ox, like an animal, his humiliation was complete. And for their parties, the Philistines would bring him out and mock his God. Where is your God now, Samson? Samson lost his strength, he lost his sight, he lost his freedom, he lost his usefulness, he lost his reputation as a Nazarite. He lost everything. But it didn't just suddenly happen. It was preceded by years of moral failings, a pattern of sin and trouble.

What lesson is there in all of this for us? Think about it during this upcoming Unleavened Bread season and Passover. How many little indiscretions are we allowing to form in our life? And so what are we doing about it? Are we eliminating it? Are we repenting? Are we changing? Are we turning to God every day? So our sixth point is don't become enticed by the world, as Samson was. And watch out for even the smallest indiscretion and sin. That leads us to our seventh point. Join the list of the faithful. Join the list of the faithful. So in our story, we now turn to the point where we see Samson himself turning to God. Here's a lesson for us. Point 7, join the list of the faithful. So Judges 16 verse 25. The Philistines here had a great feast, one of their many great feasts. So it happened when their hearts were merry that they said, Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.

So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them, and they stationed him between the pillars. So they had the man of God, right? They wanted him to perform for them. Blind, actually bound as well, and humbled, Samson was nothing more than a humorous side light. Kind of like a grotesque circus freak show. But he had become humbled in his captivity. He had repented and turned to God. Notice verse 26, Judges 16 verse 26. And Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars which support the temples, 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 3,000 men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. 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.

So even his Samson hair had grown back. It didn't mean he got his strength back, right? That strength was something that was a power from God. So now he's asking for it back. No doubt in prison his hair was even growing. Verse 29, Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple. He braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. And Samson said, verse 30, Let me die with the Philistines. And he pushed with all his might. The temple fell on the lords that all the people were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his entire life. And of course, this final scene is well known. Samson brings down the temple by toppling these two pillars which killed him and all the Philistine lords with him. Until recently, critics had thought this very unlikely. A dramatic myth. How could a whole temple be destroyed by one guy toppling two pillars? Well, just 20 years ago, a Philistine temple was excavated, revealing how the structure of the temple rested entirely upon two central pillars barely six feet apart. And given the weight distribution on those pillars, it would have been entirely possible for the biblical story to play out exactly as recorded.

It seems like whenever archaeologists dig up something new, it only confirms the Bible story more, doesn't it? The end of Samson's life is a solemn reminder that there are consequences for sin. For 20 years, Samson assumed he could ignore all the secret sins that lay beneath the surface of his life. But he was wrong. He thought he could get away with a few minor indiscretions from time to time, but he couldn't. Eventually, your sin will find you out. Yes, my mother used to tell me more than once. Thankfully, at long last, he realized the strength he once possessed was not his, but God's. With all of his great advantages thoroughly squandered, Samson finally began to understand, and he surrendered his life completely to the will and purpose of Almighty God. And now, Hebrews 11, we find Samson listed in the faith chapter. Hebrews 11 verse 32. Which, for everyone who has slipped and fallen and sinned, is most encouraging. If you repent, if you turn to God at any time, even when all seems lost, God will listen. And Samson's name here, in the end, is recorded in the Hall of Faith. Hebrews 11 verse 32. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of all these other heroes, right? Tel of Gideon and Barak and Samson, and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets. So Samson's eventually listed with King David and the prophets in Samuel. Verse 33. You know, these heroes who through faith 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. Once again, could be a reference to Samson. Became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. So the lesson in it for us? Don't actually wait for 20 years to repent. Don't wait for sins to eventually destroy you. As our seventh point states, join the list of the faithful now. Change now. Live a repentant life and become listed in the Faith Hall of Fame.

So Samson is a striking example of a man in the Bible who suffered a moral slight. Of course, it didn't just happen, like we said. Samson's demise was preceded by years of little indiscretions. Some sins that began so insignificantly that we might be tempted to believe there was hardly anything to them. It was about wandering through a vineyard.

He did not take his Nazarite vow seriously, though. His sins ran their course over a period of two decades, cracking his character beneath the surface.

But thankfully, at the end of his life, he realized how the strength he once possessed was not his, but came from God. With all of his great advantages thoroughly lost, Samson finally began to understand and repent. And so we too can learn from his mistakes. There are so many stories in the Bible we can refer to. This is just one of them that we can learn from. The Bible tells us they're there for us to take note of. And so we've taken note of it today. I trust the seven points we've covered will be helpful as we draw closer to God, as we admit our own sins, as we avoid the pitfalls of human nature, and put sin out of our lives and make the very most of this upcoming season of Passover and Unleavened Bread.