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A young man felt called of God to the Gospel ministry. So he traveled two thousand miles from home to go to seminary. But when he became lonely and restless studying theology all the time, he began visiting local bars. Shortly thereafter, he broke down in tears in his pastor’s study. He had violated the consecrations of his heart. He had met a woman and succumbed to temptation.
The modern media explosion means that people are assaulted constantly by the temptations of the flesh. But these kinds of experiences are not new to humanity. Look at Samson, and learn to beware of violating your covenantal consecration.
Note first that Samson was consecrated to God from his mother’s womb (Judg. 13:4–5). Even before he was born, both God and his mother had committed him to the Lord’s service.
THEOLOGY IN JUDGES
Note secondly that Samson was constantly tempted to desecrate his covenantal consecration. Samson was a man of the flesh who had many early failures. He chose his first wife purely on the basis of physical attraction. He “saw” this Philistine woman and said to his parents, “ ‘I have seen a woman … of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me.’ ” (Judg. 14:1–2). He apparently hadn’t even spoken to her. He had just seen her, and to him that was enough. When his parents tried to reason with him, he could only say, “ ‘she pleases me well’ ” (Judg. 14:3). In the days of the judges, everyone did that which was “right in his own eyes” (Judg. 17:6; 21:25), and Samson fell right into the prevailing error of the day. But the person who is consecrated to the Lord must not do what is right in his own eyes.
Later, Samson went down among the unbelievers again and yielded to the temptations of a prostitute (Judg. 16:1). You can count on it: “ ‘Bad company corrupts good character’ ” (1 Cor. 15:33, NIV).
Samson played with fire one time too many. “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” (Prov. 6:27). If you flirt with an immoral life, you can be sure that it eventually will catch up with you. Thus, Samson “fell in love” with Delilah. He didn’t yield to her implorings to tell the secret of his strength right away. First he said she must tie him up with seven fresh thongs, which roughly resemble the shape of human hair (Judg. 16:7). Then he said she must use new ropes to subdue his strength, the strands of which resemble the hairs of the human head (Judg. 16:11). Next he told her to weave the seven braids of his hair into a single strand, coming closer to revealing the secret of his strength (Judg. 16:13). The temptress then put on even more pressure. “ ‘How can you say, “I love you”?’ ”
Samson finally yielded. He violated his covenantal consecration. He cast his pearls before swine, and they turned and trampled them in the mire.
What should Samson have done? He should have fled like Joseph! The fool in Proverbs is the one who roams the streets at night. Of course he will meet a prostitute. The old saying holds true in many areas of life: “Don’t shop unless you plan to buy.”
Are you a believer in Christ today? Then you have been consecrated to God from your mother’s womb. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Look at Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. After tempting Him severely three times, the devil left Him, but only for a while. But Jesus maintained His consecration to God. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and do what is right in His eyes. Don’t let your eyes roam into the realm of the world.
Finally, Samson suffered the consequences of his sin. He didn’t know the Lord had left him (Judg. 16:20). How sad it would be to venture out in the service of God and to fail! But such is the consequence of sin in the believer’s life. Samson suffered a serious limitation of his ability to serve God. The Philistines gouged out his eyes, those very eyes where lust had first entered.
Violating your consecration to God is a serious thing. Did not Jesus say that if you eye causes you to sin, you should gouge it out yourself? (Matt. 5:29). Do whatever you must to avoid the temptation that will lead to your fall.
In the end, Samson died a tragic death. “ ‘Let me die with the Philistines!’ ” was the highest aspiration he could have in the end (Judg. 16:30). Stumbling in his blindness, humiliated before men, his life was crushed out of him along with that of his enemies. God did not forsake him altogether. His hair grew back and his strength returned, so that he slew more in his death than in his life (Judg. 16:30). In this sense, he anticipated Jesus Christ in His redemptive death. But how much more glorious was the Christ, doing His Father’s will to the uttermost. He had to struggle against the temptation to forsake the cross. Three times He prayed, “ ‘If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.’ ” But He maintained an unbroken consecration: “ ‘Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will’ ” (Matt. 26:39).
In the end, Samson returned to his origins. He was buried between Zorah and Eshtaol, the place where the Spirit of God first began to stir him (Judg. 16:31; cf. 13:25). A poetic gentleness may be seen in his final disposition. God showed mercy to him even in his weakness.
But beware of violating your covenantal consecration. As you seek God’s grace in Christ, you can, with His help, maintain your consecration.