SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON FEBRUARY 4, 2018. TOPIC: SAMSON, THE UNSTABLE STRONGMAN

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON. February 4, 2018

Topic: Samson, the Unstable Strongman

Memory Verse: Judges 16:20. [Samson] awake out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. (KJV)

Lesson Text: Judges 13:1-14, 16:1-31

CENTRAL TRUTH: God Judges those who follow their own ways apart from Him.

FOCUS: To learn from Samson’s example and trust in God’s power rather than our own.

OUTLINE:

1  1.     Samson’s Miraculous Birth.

A.    Israel Oppressed By the Philistines

B.     A Deliver Promised

2  2.     Samson’s Weakness

A.    A Tempting Offer

B.     The Lord Left Samson

3  3.     Samson’s Final Act

A.    Dagon Versus the Lord

B.     Samson’s Revenge

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

11.     Explain the importance of personal consecration to  God

22.     Describe the Danger of self-centredness as they relate to God’s calling

33.     Declare their trust in God’s strength rather than their own.

INTRODUCING THE LESSON

Question: Why is it important for those called by God to trust His power more than their own?

       God calls us according to His plans and purposes. Unfortunately, we jeopardize our fulfillment of His calling by pursuing our own interests at the expense of His calling. We may treat His calling as if it is insignificant or burdensome. We may try to accomplish His calling in our power rather than His power. Samson had an amazing calling upon his life. Yet, this lesson will show that Samson struggled to honor that calling.

COMMENTARY AND APPLICATION.

11 .     Samson’s Miraculous Birth

A.    Israel Oppressed By The Philistines. Judges 13:1

        The story of Samson is a miraculous one. It begins like most of the stories in Judges. The people of Israel had forgotten the God who delivered them from Egyptian slavery, who brought them to the land He had promised them, and who made them a nation. Instead, they worshiped Idols that could not see, hear, or act. God’s response: Let them reap what they have sown. If they indeed wanted to serve foreign gods, they will serve foreign people. So God handed Israel over to the Philistines for forty years ( Judges 13:1).

       Forty years was enough for an entire generation to pass. The new generation of Israelites knew nothing but servitude to the Philistines. Unlike other narratives in the Book of Judges, this one does open with the people of Israel crying to God for deliverance. It may have been that being ruled by the Philistines caused them to lose hope.

B.     A Deliverer Promised. Judges 13:2-14, 24-25.

      God is merciful and gracious. He chose to divinely intervene in Israel’s history even when Israel wasn’t asking for help. In this instance, He began by promising the birth of deliverer to a barren woman (Judges 13:2-3).

Question: How was barrenness viewed in biblical times?

         During Bible times, barren women were often looked upon as thought God had cursed them due to some sin on their part. Women will carry the shame of their barrenness . The miracle of Samson’s birth began with the way in which his birth was announced. God sent an angle to speak to Manoah’s wife. He declared that although she had been barren up to this point, she would give birth.

         This type of angelic announcement had occurred before in Israel’s history.

Question: How does Samson’s birth announcement compare with other birth announcements in Scripture?

       Samson’s birth announcement had some distinctive features. First, Manoah’s wife was commanded not to drink “wine or strong drink” ( verse 4, KJV; or fermented drink,’’NIV).

       Second, the child was to be lifelong Nazarite from birth. Numbers 6:1-21 describes Nazarite vow as a voluntary consecration to the Lord for a specified period of time by the person making the vow. This person was required to abstained from any form of wine, vinegar, or strong drink and he or she was to avoid touching anything unclean.

      Another requirement of the Nazarite vow was the person was not to cut his or her hair during the time of vow. If the vow was broken unexpected – touching a dead body, for example, then the person was to shave his or her hair and the vow begins again.

      What was unique about this vow was that it was to begin at Samson’s birth. He himself did not make the vow. Rather it was required by God ( Judges 13:5). Manoah’s son was to be consecrated to God to fulfill God’s purpose for him: “he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of Philistines” ( verse 5,KJV).

       The first thing Manoah’s wife did was to go to her husband and share everything the angle had said ( verse 6-8). Upon hearing the report, Manoah asked God to send the ‘‘man of God” to give them additional instructions on how to raise the child. When God sent the angle to Manaoh, the angle told Manoah to let the wife obey all that she had been commended (verses 9-14).

       At the birth of the child, Manoah and the wife named him “Samson”. Many believe that the name “Samson” was derived from the Hebrew word for “Sun-like” or ‘‘hero of the sun” because he was born near the city of Beth Shemesh, “House of the Sun.”  However, that seems inconsistent with how the Jews named their children, especially children born of a promise from the Lord. According to Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, the name “Samson” is derived from the Hebrew word for “the strong or daring one”. This could be his parents named him Samson in anticipation of his strength to deliver Israel. As Samson grew, he was blessed by God ( verse 24-25).

   As Samson got older, God’s Spirit began to move in him. This provides a signpost that what God promised, the sending of deliverer was about to be realized in the person of Samson.

22.     Samson’s Weakness

A.    A Tempting Offer. Judges 16:4-14

      Time went by, and Samson had all but thrown away his Nazarite vow. Rather than follow God’s calling on his life, he had pursued his own interests. He married a Canaanite woman, touched the corpse of a dead lion. H slept with a prostitute. He was even in a vicious revenge cycle with the Philistines.

      When Samson went to visit a prostitute in Gaza, he amazed and humiliated the Philistines by escaping their trap, then tearing down and carry away the doors of their city gate (Judges 16:1-3). This served as motivation for the Philistines to discover why Samson possessed such amazing strength.( It should be noted that contrary to how Samson is often portrayed, it was more likely  that he was a man of average size. If an average looking man  is able to accomplish the feats that Samson did, many people would likely be amazed and want to know the secret).

       Some time later, Samson meet a woman named Dielilah. It is noteworthy that his interest in her was more than emotional. Scripture records that  he fell in love with Deliliah. The rulers of Philistines saw this an opportunity and sought her out in hopes of using her to find out the secret of Samson’s strength(verse 4).

     Each of the five Philistine lords offered Deliliah 1100 shekels of silver. This price was accepted by Deliliah. Three times she asked Samson for the secret behind his strength, and each time Samson lied to Deliliah. Each of the three times, Samson broke the cord and defeated the Philistines verses 6-14). She was willing to betray him but he would not betray the secret of his strength.

Question: What amount of money would it take to permanently change your life? What would you be willing to do in exchange for that amount if someone were to offer it to you? What would you refuse to do?

    Ask the first question to your students and allow some responses. Then ask the second and the third. Talk about how a person establishes boundaries in determining their answer to this question.

B.     The Lord Left Samson. Judges 16:15-22

      Regardless of the reasons why Deliliah sole the secret of Samson’s strength to the rulers of Philistine, the fact remains that Samson became worn down by Deliliah’s incessant pestering, and he revealed the secret of his strength to her ( Judges 16:15-17). Scripture  records that Samson “told her all his heart”(verse 17,KJV). He was not to cut his hair, a symbol of his Nazarite vow to God.

     Unfortunately, Samson seemed to believe that his superman strength is about him. He acted as if it was about his hair. Yet, it was not about Samson; it wasn’t about his hair. Rather, the  secret to his strength was ultimately about the presence of God resting on him and empowering him. The shaving of his head marked the interruption of his lifelong Nazarite vow. It  was not his hair but the vow associated with his calling that gave Samson strength. He had not performed the feats in his own strength, but in God’s.

      Because Samson has broken his vow, God’s spirit no longer empowered him ( verses 18-21). Note that verse 19 says his strength left him, then, in verse 21, we receive the full explanation. The Lord had left him.

     His strength now gone, Samson was captured. First, his Philistine captors blinded him; loss of eyesight was considered a curse in that day. Thy also enslaved him in Gaza, the very place where he had humiliated the Philistines (verses 18-21), see also verses 1-3. Samson was defeated.

Question: How can trusting in our own strength and abilities contribute to our defeat?

      Samson’s story is in many ways a story of compromise. He forsook God’s instructions. When God calls us, He also equipped us. When He calls us, He empowers us. God’s calling is a cooperative work. He chooses to use us that we might rely on Him. When we attempt to fulfill God’s calling in our own power, rather than follow His lead, we will fail miserably.

3 
33.     Samson’s Final Act

A.    Dagon Versus the Lord. Judges 16.23-27

Question: What is the significance of Samson’s hair at this point in this account?

       When Samson had his head shaved, he broke the Nazarite vow. But according to Numbers 6, when a person broke the Nazarite vow in some way, he would shave his head and start over until his vow is fulfilled. Samson’s vow however, was lifelong vow.

       Now that the Philistines had finally captured Samson, they threw a massive celebration in honour of their god Dragon. Over three thousand people gathered at Dagon’s temple ( Judges 16:23-27). The Philistines worshipped this false god, honouring him for the victory over Samson. Note that in doing so they alson claimed that Dagon had defeated Samson’s God. Yet the God of the universe cannot be defeated by any man or false god.

       As they celebrated, they had Samson brought to them as an object of entertainment. Samson asked the young boy who guided him to help him lean against the pillars that held up the temple. Many pictures depicting this scene show that the temple had stone pillars. However, it was common for these pillars to be made of wood.

B.     Samson Revenge. Judges 16:28-31

Question: What does Sampson’s prayers reveal about his spiritual condition ( Judges 16:28)?

     We know that the Lord had left Samson as a result of him telling Deliliah “all his heart” ( see verse 17), revealing the true secret of his strength: his dedication to the Lord. But Samson’s prayer does give us clues about his spiritual condition. First, he prayed. And although that may seem insignificant, it shows that in his weakness he remembered God. And second, Samson asked the Lord to remember him one last time, which could be understood to be an act of submission and repentance.

   At the end of Samson’s life, it is clear that just one more time God was seeking “an occasion against the Philistines”( see Judges 14:4,KJV). And although Samson prayed to avenge the Philistines for the loss of his eyes, it was still an occasion of judgment against this ungodly nation and enemy of God’s people.

   God answered Samson’s prayer and gave him the strength to pull down the pillars of Dagon’s temple. In this final act, Samson slew more enemy Philistines than he had previously throughout his entire life ( Judges 16:29-31).

DISCIPLESHIP IN ACTION

It’s essential that we realize we can only fulfill God’s calling as He enables and empowers us. This week, ask the students to set aside time to reflect on God’s calling upon their lives. Ask them to evaluate how much they depend on God versus how much they are trying to live for the Lord in their strength. Ask them to consider practical ways in which they might tip the scales more toward God-reliance than self-reliance.

MINISTRY IN ACTION

Be sure to pray for those called to vocational ministry. Pray for pastors, missionaries, and para-church organisations. Pray that God will lead them and empower them to accomplish His plans and purposes.