Samson’s Flaws and Fall

Introduction: How many of you have seen the recent solar eclipse (April 8, 2024)? • Samson means sun or sun child (sunny) 

• Samson’s feats (e.g. Tore a lion, carried the doors and posts of the city gate, etc.) are  mind-blowing, but it’s his compromises and sins that prove fatal.  

• Samson’s three greatest weaknesses were rebellion, romance and revenge.  • He was strong on the outside but had no control on the inside.  

What led to Samson’s downfall? Samson’s downfall did not happen overnight. It was a  process. It started by ignoring the little character flaws which he thought were no big deal  and no threat to anyone. But as the narrative unfolded, we discovered, that is not just the  case. Samson’s fatal flaws that brought him low began with little sins left unattended. Sam 

son ignored the warning signs. He kept on playing dangerous games. Sin is being tolerated so  much that it no longer bothers him. When you ignore the warning signs and step across  clearly stated boundaries for your life, you will absolutely compromise God’s purpose for  your life and put yourself in a vulnerable state. 

1. Samson desires the things that God forbids. 

• Judges 14:3b “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” 

2. Samson disdains the wisdom and counsel of godly people. 

• Judges 14:3a – “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among  all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”  

3. Samson dares to go to wrong places. 

• Judges 14:1 – “Samson went down to Timnah.” 

• Judges 16:1 – “Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw prostitute, and he went in to her.” 

• Judges 16:4 – “After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Deli lah.”

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4. Samson deceives others through lies. 

• Judges 16:6 – Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great  strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” 

• First lie – (Judges 16:7 - “Bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have  not been dried.”) 

• Second lie – (Judges 16:11 – “Bind me with new ropes that have not been used.”) 

• Third lie – (Judges 16:13 – “Weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it  tight with the pin. 

5. Samson depends on his own strength. 

• Judges 16:20 – “And she said, ‘the Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from  his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’” 

• Samson’s sinful pride led to his own defeat, degradation and death. 

Conclusion and Application: 

1. Sin “rocks you like a hurricane!” (Mark Jones, Knowing Sin) 

2. Beware of spiritual overconfidence. 

3. The hardest thing that you will ever say in your life is, “I have a problem.” Repent!  4. Giftedness and godliness should go hand in hand. 

5. We are all in need of Someone who can defeat the enemy of our souls.  

6. The presence of Christ in our life makes all the difference. “The more bitterness we taste  in sin, the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ.” – Thomas Watson