Everyone faces the consequences of their sin every day.
Maybe you disobeyed your parents and got grounded. Maybe your mom or dad got pulled over for speeding. No matter how big or small the sin, there are always consequences.
In today’s passage from Judges 16:4-22, we will see the horrible consequences Samson faced when he disobeyed God’s law and did what he wanted instead.
When we look at Chapter 16, verse 4 shows Samson’s horrible mistake right away. He committed adultery with a woman he wasn’t married to, which God commands against in Exodus 20:14, where He says, “You shall not commit adultery.”
To make matters worse, this woman, whose name is Delilah, is a Philistine, not an Israelite. God told Israel not to marry women from other nations to protect them from being drawn into those women’s false idol worship. Solomon made this same mistake years later, in 1 Kings 11:2, which says, “They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.”
Clearly, Samson is already breaking two big commands from God. However, things get worse.
The Philistines wanted to capture Samson because of all the times he had attacked them, but they first had to find out the secret to his superhuman strength, which was his long hair. He had never cut his hair as part of a vow to God.
They convinced Samson’s new lover, Delilah, to find out Samson’s secret for them. When Delilah tries to find out the secret in Verses 6-14, Samson lies to her 3 times, further adding to his sin.
Samson should have ran far away from Delilah the first time she tried to get him to spill the beans, but instead, he continued living in sin with her for many days, lying the whole time.
In the end, in Verses 15-21, he finally tells Delilah the reason for his enormous strength, and Delilah has his head shaved in his sleep. This is further disobedience against God, since Samson had vowed never to cut his hair. The consequences come quickly when the Philistines capture Samson and brutally gouge his eyes out, putting him in prison for the rest of his life.
Samson ended up losing his freedom and sight, all because of his disobedience to God.
So what can we learn from this extreme example?
The truth is that every single sin we commit has consequences, whether we know it or not. We will never, ever get away with a single sin.
Sometimes it might seem like we have gotten away with doing something wrong.
Maybe no one found out that you snuck out of the house one night, or no one saw you steal candy from the grocery store. The truth is, though, that God sees every single sin, even if no one on earth has, and He will bring those secret sins into the light, judging every single one. (Ecclesiastes 12:14, Romans 2:16)
You can escape man, but no one can ever escape God, no matter where you go.
Everyone has sin, whether it’s secret or not, so what do we do to fix this judgement that God says He’s going to bring on them?
The answer is in Jesus Christ.
If you have given your life to Christ, know that your sins are forgiven. Now live your life for God, doing your best through His power to get rid of sin in your life and asking forgiveness when you don’t. And most importantly, tell others this good news that has changed your life so much. Jesus tells us in the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations.”
That is a command for every Christian, so we all need to be working our hardest to tell everyone we know about Jesus, who has saved us from the consequences of our sin.
Finally, if you do not know Jesus, know that He came to take God’s judgement for your sin upon Himself on the cross when He died. All you have to do is confess and turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus for your salvation, choosing to live your life for Him from now on.
If you do this, you will have new life in Christ and be saved from the wrath.
If you have never given your life to God, do that today!
It is so important. You don’t have to be like Samson, stuck in your sin and facing horrible consequences. Just turn to Jesus today.
Johnathan
Let’s talk in the comments below:
- What is a time where you have disobeyed God and suffered the consequences?
- Who can you share the good news of the Gospel with today?
- Have you accepted Christ as your savior?
Recent Comments