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?
Jonathan I wanted to let you know that you were doing wonderfully Job on this blog. I enjoyed reading from man’s point of view and learned a lot as well. Your aunt is wonderful blogger. I Hope that you will continue doing that when time is right. I understand you have commitments with school and sports. So no reason to have second plate on your hand.
Further more I am truly sad with your aunt’s situation. I pray that she will have strength and courage as she in the midst of the storm. I know she will learn and open her eyes as she goes in this season. God has wonderful plans for her. As well as for your uncle too. I do believe he will be back as god is working in his life. God is selfish and wants their attention individually whether we like or not. ☺
Good luck with your schooling and sports. Take Care….. Colleen
Hi Colleen,
Our comment section has been having issues so I just now got your comment, I’m not sure when you posted it but I’m sorry if it’s been a while! Thank you so much for your encouragement, it truly means so much to me. I have been taking a break with my blogging since it parallels my aunt’s and she has been taking a break, but we will be starting up again in the New Year! Thank you for the encouragement about our difficult situation in our family right now. It has been quite a trial but we trust that God has His purpose in everything, and He has grown us through this. God bless you and have a wonderful Christmas!
hi my name is Cole and I follow your blog and I was asking when you would post again, and what book we are studying next.
Hi cole, thank you for your question! I’m sorry if it’s been a while since you asked, our comment software has been broken and everything was going to spam. But to answer your question, we will be starting up again in January in the book of 1 Samuel. I hope you’ll join us, and have a wonderful Christmas!
wow ,wonderful experience today.
have changed my mind today for christ.may GOD BLESS YOU JONATHAN.
thank u.