Read Judges 14, Ezekiel 3, and Acts 22.
This devotional is about Judges 14.
In Judges 13, which we read yesterday, God spoke about Samson before he was even born. He was given to and raised by God-fearing parents. So, I would expect Samson to grow and mature into a godly man.
But, he was anything but a godly man.
In fact, here in Judges 14, we see Samson begin a pattern of ungodly living. That may not have been obvious to you as we read Judges 14, so let me show it to you in the passage:
First, in verses 1-3 Samson wanted a wife, but the woman he wanted to be his wife was a Philistine. The Philistines were God’s enemies and, therefore, Israel’s enemies. When Samson saw this girl he said, “She’s the right one for me” in verse 3f. God’s word, however, said she was the wrong one for any Jewish man. In Deuteronomy 7:1-4, Moses wrote, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations… show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods….” So, in his first recorded act as a man, Samson was disobedient to God’s word.
Second, when Samson went to Timnah in verses 5-7, he killed a lion by the power of the Holy Spirit, according to verse 6. But, verse 5 says that this happened as he and his parents “…approached the vineyards of Timnah” (v. 5b), yet verse 8 indicates that his parent’s didn’t know about the lion’s attack. The text here doesn’t spell out completely what happened, but it seems to indicate that Samson and his parents were traveling together. Then Samson turned toward the vineyard, while his parents kept going toward Timnah. Scripture doesn’t say exactly but these verses suggest that Samson was sneaking off to eat some grapes, which would also be a violation of his Nazarite vow according to Numbers 9:3-4.
Third, as a Nazarite, Samson was forbidden from touching a dead body according to Numbers 9:6. But, he touched the dead body of the lion he had killed. Verse 9 explicitly tells us he used his hands when it says, “He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along.” So this, too, was a clear departure from God’s command for Samson.
So, Samson clearly sinned by marrying a Philistine and by touching a dead body and he may have intended to sin by eating grapes. Those are three deliberate acts of disobedience to God’s word.
Yet, God used him! He was a sinful man, but God empowered him and used him. What do we make of that?
One lesson is that giftedness and effectiveness in God’s work are no guarantees of godliness. For whatever reason, God sometimes chooses to use men who are living in sin to do things that are righteous in God’s sight and according to God’s plan.
But, we tend to think that someone must be a godly man if he exerts a godly influence in our lives. We tend to reason that leading many to Christ, or building a big church, or writing some good books, or whatever else is automatic proof of a man’s Christlikeness. “He must be a godly man,” many Christians will think and even say, “…because look how much God has used him!”
Samson’s life calls us to re-evaluate this conclusion. We don’t defend sinful men just because God used them. In recent days, there have been many stories of well-known preachers who have been exposed for living in sin. We also have heard recently about Christian music artists who were singing God-honoring lyrics while living really sinful lives. But the sins of these men were covered up by those who knew them because good things were happening.
This is not acceptable! God commands us to test our leaders in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and James 3:1. We look for godliness first, then giftedness. And, if the gifted turn out to be ungodly, they must be removed from leadership. The New Testament is clear on this.
So, be careful not to defend the ungodly even if God seems to have used them. This is one message we can take for Samson’s life and it is a lesson we need today as much or more than ever.