Sermon Tone Analysis
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! Introduction
What comes to mind when you hear the name “Samson”?
Some will immediately think of the woman that brought him down – “Delilah”.
Others will think of his “super strength” or his “Long hair”.
Still others think of someone who had amazing strength but was quite dumb when it comes to the ladies.
Sort of like a dumb jock in high school, big and strong, but not all together smart.
Samson’s demise by Delilah still amazes me.
How could he be so foolish to allow Delilah to trick him?
What was he thinking?
Couldn’t he see through it?
In fact, if the life of Samson was a mere story, it would rival that of anything Shakespeare wrote, for Samson truly is a tragic hero whose amazing deeds are overshadowed by disastrous failures in life.
Samson was one who was empowered by the Spirit, yet also one who was dominated by the flesh.
To really understand the downfall of one who had it all, we need to first take a brief look at the time in which he lived.
To understand Samson’s time, we must understand the time of Judges in Israel.
God had chosen Israel, brought them out of slavery in Egypt, given them His law to live by and placed them in the Promised Land.
They were expected to live like His people, to be Holy because He is Holy.
They went into the land under the leadership of Joshua, but after Joshua dies, things begin to head into a downward spiral fast.
So to see what the book of Judges is about, from chapters 1 – 21, Open your Bibles to the very last verse of the book, Judges 21:25.
This verse summarizes the whole period of time that the book of Judges covers.
The book is a 300 year history of what happens when a nation depends on its own sense of morality rather than on God’s.
This book is a record of Israel’s dark ages.
Joshua has died, and it is before there was a king to lead God’s people in what is right.
So they did what was right in their own eyes.
It is a depressing and graphic book is filled with murder, rape, idolatry, homosexuality, betrayal, deceit, fornication, adultery, divorce, and this is just in the leaders of that time.
God’s people, who had done what was right most of the time during Joshua’s time, now have walked away from God, doing what was right in their own eyes.
So God punishes His people for their sin.
In this, we see the cycle of sin in the book of Judges of *Sin, Servitude, Supplication, Salvation, and Security*.
Israel would sin, follow after idols and reject God.
So God would raise up people around them to oppress them and make them slaves.
They would cry out to God and he would raise up a “Judge” or deliverer to save them.
Then there would be a time of peace and after the “Judge” died, Israel would go back to sinning and the cycle would repeat.
To deliver Israel from these different oppressions, God would raise up a “Judge” which was basically a military and civil leader who would defeat the enemy and lead the people for a period of time.
This is where we come to Samson.
Israel has been through this cycle time and time again.
Turn in your Bibles to chapter 13 of Judges, Judges 13:1.
At this time, Israel again sinned and God let the Philistines rule over and oppress them for 40 years.
Yet this time, they didn’t cry out to God to deliver them.
They were content being slaves to the Philistines, but God decides to deliver them anyway and He chooses to do so with Samson.
* This epic story begins with the longest oppression Israel has faced, 40 years under the Philistines.
* It begins in a small town about 15 miles west of Jerusalem, where the angel of the Lord predicts the birth of Samson.
*Samson’s Mission in life*
Prophecy of His Birth
* Samson’s birth is unusual.
He is given the honor of having his birth announced by the angel of Yahweh.
* His birth announcement rivals that of Isaac and John the Baptist.
* Samson’s beginning is nothing short of amazing.
The one who came to Samson’s mother was the second person of the Godhead, the preincarnate Christ.
* The fact that this is God is seen in the parent’s fear of dying for having seen “God” in verse 22.
* Great things were in store for Samson.
There was excitement and great promise for this boy, for God himself come to announce his birth.
Prominence of His Calling
* Not only was Samson’s birth extraordinary, but also His calling.
* This was not some ordinary calling of living a normal life, but a special calling of Yahweh that is seen in two factors.
Nazirite Vow
* Central to the Angel’s message is seen in this Nazirite vow.
* Nazirite means dedicated or consecrated.
In Numbers 6:1-12, The Nazirite vow was taken for a voluntary period of time.
* Yet Samson was to be a Nazirite for life.
He was to be dedicated to and consecrated to God for life.
* A Nazirite was to abstain from fermented drinks (wine and beer), not to cut his hair and not to touch a dead body.
* Violations of this calling will play an important role in the life of Samson and be the downfall of his life.
* *The Nazirite vow was not just a list of rules to conform to but was an outward expression of an inward dedication to God.*
* This person was visibly seen as different and as separated to God.
Deliver of Israel
* Another aspect of His calling is seen at the end of verse 5, He will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
* Not only was he to live a special life of dedication to God, but also to live a special life of delivering God’s people.
* But notice this important observation in the narrative.
The Angel tells Mrs. Manoah what the boy’s calling will be, what his mission in life is, yet she omits certain facts when retelling it to her husband in verse 7.
* She doesn’t repeat two essential things.
Not to cut his hair and that he was to be a deliverer of the nation.
* No wonder Manoah wonders in verse 8 and pleads that the Lord will send the messenger again.
He asks in verse 12, What shall be his mode of life and vocation?
What is his mission in life?
* But the Angel has already told the wife.
Look at 13. Rather than repeat, He reminds.
* What we see is confusion about what the Samson’s mission in life is.
This will be a theme repeated all through the narrative.
* Rather than deliver the nation of Israel, he gets caught up in doing what he wants when he wants.
! Samson’s Moral Failures & Mighty Deeds
* What makes Samson’s story so compelling and interesting is all of the mighty deeds he does.
* In chapter 14 through the beginning of chapter 16, Samson accomplishes some amazing and mighty deeds due to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
*Samson – *
* *
Killed a lion with his bare hands
Killed thirty Philistines
Caught 300 foxes and torched fields
Killed 1000 Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey
Carried the gate of a city up a Mt.
Killed 3000 Philistines by destroying the temple
* Yet He also falls into gross moral failures along the way, showing that he is dominated by his flesh too.
Married a Philistine because of lust
Violated His Nazirite vow by touching a dead body
Slept with a prostitute
Involved himself with a wicked woman – Delilah
Violated His Nazirite vow by allowing his hair cut.
* Though time does not permit an in-depth look at these mighty deeds and moral failures, we do need to look briefly at some.
* Turn to Chapter 14:1-9
* In this section, we see both Moral failure and Mighty deeds.
* The saga of Samson begins and ends the same way, with Samson displaying a fatal weakness for Lust.
* Samson has gone down to a Philistine city and saw a woman that pleased him.
Literally, “Right in His eyes”.
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