Judges, Pt. 3: "Stupid is As Stupid Does" (Judg 14)

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES (JUDGES 14)
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger asked an assistant to prepare an analysis on a special assignment. The assistant worked day and night. An hour after he gave it to Kissinger, he got it back. There was a note attached that said redo it.

The assistant stayed up all night redoing the report. Again he submitted the report but again Kissinger asked him to redo it.

After redoing the report three times, the exasperated assistant asked to see Kissinger. He pleaded his case to Kissinger, counted his attempts at revision, and said, “Besides, I’ve done the best I can do.” Kissinger replied, “In that case, I’ll read it now.” (Adapted, Speaker’s Library of Business, 110)

Samson was the most gifted, the most powerful and the most feared judge and warrior that Israel ever had, but he failed to claim his spiritual heritage and to give God his best, squandering much of what he had, only to redeem himself at the very last minute. The last war that took place during the era of the Judges was an ongoing war with the Philistines. Time and again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years (Judg 13:1), which was the longest duration of suffering in the land, before Samson appeared on the scene.

What does God expect His servants to do with all that He has given them - all the talents, gifts and opportunities? How do we make His gift and trust count?

Live Life with Dignity and Decency.
16:1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we'll kill him.” 3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. 4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. (Judg 14:1-4)

1988 was a disaster waiting to happen for evangelical Christianity. Two of the biggest TV evangelists - Jimmy Baker and Jimmy Swaggart - had a very ugly, public fallout that reverberated for years. They were Christianity’s media darlings, biggest fundraisers and the most charismatic, powerful and visible stars at that time. First, Jim Bakker made a stunning announcement that he was stepping down as head of PTL and Heritage USA in anticipation of a newspaper’s revelation of a tryst Bakker had with a church secretary. America's first televangelist paid some $265,000 to cover up the affair in vain. Later he was convicted of misspending millions of followers' dollars. Rival preacher Jimmy Swaggart called the Bakker scandal a cancer.

Next to fall was Jimmy Swaggart, the Pentecostal preacher who preached to 7,000 weekly in his congregation. A short three months after Bakker’s fall, Swaggart was photographed entering and leaving a New Orleans motel where, it was later divulged that he had hired a prostitute to pose nude for him. The woman who later posed for Penthouse magazine said of Swaggart, “He was kind of perverted...I wouldn't want him around my children.” Two years later Swaggart was stopped by the police in California, again with a prostitute in his car.

The Chinese have a saying, “A hero has difficulty overcoming a woman’s beauty.”

Samson had no problem resisting power, fame or money; sex, lust and temptation fell him. He lived a life of decadence, excess and indulgence. In private and public, he was promiscuous, vulgar and depraved. He was the master of men but the slave of women. Samson the judge was an undefeated challenger with Philistine men but a pussy cat with their women. He had robust physical strength but fatal moral weaknesses.

Samson’s steps took him to sleazy places, dirty beds and narrow, crooked and run-down streets, where a fast buck would buy him a cheap thrill and a night’s rest. Worse, he had no sense of decency, guilt or shame. He did not even wear a hat, a wig or a cloak to conceal his identity or cover his tracks. The leader of Israel did not know, wonder or care if others knew. Discretion, propriety and secrecy did not cross his mind and were not his concern. He was a man of low morals, bad taste and poor choices. Samson had an insatiable fondness for Philistine ladies. His dead wife was a Philistine. He visited a prostitute in the Philistine city of Gaza, and he fell in love with Delilah who was probably a Philistine.

Samson tested the slippery slopes of morality, blurred the lines of virtue and cut corners in integrity. He loved to live his life on the edge with women, to throw caution to the wind with sex and to walk on the wild side of vice. Even when he was bitten once and twice was not a charm to him, he expected to have nine or more lives.

Live Life With Discipline and Diligence.
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. 17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. 20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I'll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. 21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. (Judg 14:15-21)

I am among the minority who had little interest in the original Star Wars movie but I have a liking for the prequel story of Anakin Skywalker in Episode I and II. Anakin, who later evolved into the sinister Darth Vader, was a cute, helpful and sacrificing nine-year-old boy in Episode I. In Episode II, the twenty year-old Anakin morphed into a skillful, precocious and daredevil Jedi apprentice who considered his mentor too conservative and his instructions overbearing, even sidestepping the rule that forbade romance for Jedi Knights and erring on the side of reckless abandon.

In one defining moment and a death-defying scene, when Anakin and his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, were chasing an assassin in a space mobile at night, Anakin sped dangerously with no regard for the crowd or his own safety, chasing the suspect through the crowded streets and airspace. No angle, acceleration or altitude was disliked by the driver Anakin. Just as they had lost the assassin’s ship, Anakin threw himself overboard and glided his body through the air and traffic, landing his body perfectly on the suspect’s space mobile.

Obi-Wan Kenobi could only mutter, “I hate it when he does that!”

Later, Anakin massacred a whole village, including women and children, to avenge his mother’s death. Director Lucas explained to Time magazine why Anakin turned into the evil Darth Vader: “He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can't let go of his mother; he can't let go of his girlfriend. He can't let go of things. It makes you greedy. And when you're greedy, you are on the path to the dark side, because you fear you're going to lose things, that you're not going to have the power you need.” (Time 4/29/02 “Dark Victory” http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020429/story.html)

Samson’s blinding passion, uncontrolled aggression and reckless abandon were getting him into deep trouble and more complications. He was the Philistines’ number one public enemy, but he frequently forayed into enemy territory in utter disregard of the many ambushes set up there. Last-minute escapes, no-holds barred fights and dog-eat-dog backlashes were routine. He did not abide by the rules, follow a regimen or heed any restrictions. Samson toyed with a dead lion’s carcass (Judg 14:8-10) – an unclean act, gave hair tips to Delilah and forsook his religious heritage, responsibilities and nurture.

Samson was a high roller in life who not only failed to control his hormones but also failed to discipline his muscles. Nothing was sacred to him. He did not live a life of godliness or piety. His life was an unsanctified mess. He ultimately abandoned, violated and betrayed God’s trust to him.

Samson’s life was also a big, fat lie. This passage (vv 10, 13) has the most references to lies than any passage in the Old Testament. He made bets (14:12-13), misled people and misrepresented facts. Samson and Delilah played a cat and mouse, fact or fiction, truth or dare, all or nothing game back and forth. He was so smitten, infatuated and lovesick that he could not see, think or act straight. It did not occur to him that their love was one-way (v 4), that Delilah was double-crossing him for eleven hundred pieces of silver (v 5). He was so undisciplined that that the Philistines could stake out the house, occupy the next room (v 19) and even chop off his hair without him knowing it. Sadly, Samson did not even feel a breeze. a coolness or lightness on his head when his locks were chopped off. He loved and hated Delilah’s coy whispers (v 10, 13) - “Tell me now” (v 10) and “Tell me,” her direct accusations (vv 10, 15) - “You lied to me!” (v 10) and “You have made a fool of me,” and her nagging questions - “How can you say, ‘I love you?” (v 15) or “How can you tell me you love me?”

Samson told Delilah everything that was in his heart (v 17). The phrase “all his heart” occurs three times in verses 17 and 18, a divine indictment against Samson for failing to give God all that was in his heart but entrusted it all to someone who was not his wife. It was a naked moment. He was exposed. The Lord’s strength had left him. Samson trod the path of danger, followed the way of fools and reaped a whilriwnd of destruction and thus became a slave, an entertainer, a puppet and a clown (vv 25, 27).

Live Life With Design and Direction
22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” 25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. 31 Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years. (Judg 14:22-31)

NBA superstar Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers was the team’s franchise player, the number one pick of the draft, a mercurial scorer who won many individual awards, including NBA’s highest scorer. In the 2000-20001 season, he won the MVP award, his coach Larry Brown won the coach of the year and the team stormed to the NBA Finals, only to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers. The following season, he could not take the team past first round when they lost to Boston. The coach and management talked publicly about trading him. Why trade your best player and willingly risk or tolerate mediocrity? Iverson wouldn’t practice. Coach Brown said: “My problems with Allen have been the same for six years,” Brown said. “I love him, his competitiveness. The issues are things he has control over, and he'll have a problem with me if he doesn't take care of it. He has to be at practice. He has to set an example. He knows that if he's willing to do that, he'll be a Sixer for life.”

Iverson did not get it. He defended himself, “I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. Not a game; we're talking about practice. How silly is that? I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example. I know that. I know it's important, but we're talking about practice. ... How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing? They are supposed to be used to playing with me anyway. So my game is going to deteriorate if I don't practice with those guys?” (To practice or not? USA Today 5/9/02)

Larry Brown moved to Detroit Pistons a year later and won his first NBA championship without Iverson when they swept Lakers in the 2004 finals. Two years later, Iverson was traded.

Samson was a talented but troubled man who had no game plan on how to use the talents, gifts and opportunities God had given him. Though he did accomplish a lot, much of his success was a reaction to others’ provocation and a testimony to the Lord’s grace (Judg 14:4). He misconstrued his destiny as a silver spoon in the mouth. His talents and gifts were used unpredictably, inconsistently and distastefully. He failed to live up to his potential, to uphold the Nazirite vow and to fulfill the hope of his parents. In fact, he was a parent and a parent in-law’s worst nightmare. His parents grieved and his wife died. He did not need an army to fight with him or want his parents to tell him what to do.

Samson’s kamikaze death with the Philistines was not a glorious one. Any kind of death in association with the enemies was unacceptable to the Israelites and burial with them was absolutely unthinkable. Like the brave men of Jabesh-gilead who braved capture to bring home the dead body of Saul who died at the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam 31:12), Samson’s brothers and father’s family did the same for him (v 31).

Contrary to his uninformed prayer before dying, God did not forget Samson (v 28). Samson was the one who had forgotten God, who was with him in his imprisonment, affliction and humiliation. His hair slowly grew again after it had been shaved (v 22). God’s grace also provided for the possibility of the Philistines to forget, underestimate or neglect Samson’s secret second time around.

Talent, ability and confidence did not invite trouble, but pride, arrogance and complacency did. The text painstakingly pointed out that Samson was an ordinary man in God’s eyes and that his strength (9, 19, 30) was exceptional but hardly “great,” not the “great” strength that his enemies (v 5) or Delilah (v 6, 15) had made him out to have. Even Samson seemed to know it in his prayer (17), but Delilah’s dangerous and subtle seduction appealed to his ears, eyes, heart and mind. She attributed to Samson the phrase “great strength” that was exclusive to God (Ex 32:11, Deut 4:37, Deut 9:29, 2 Ki 17:36, Neh 1:10, Job 23:6, Job 36:5, Ps 147:5, Jer 27:5, Jer 32:17)

Samson’s reign, unlike Deborah’s (Judg 5:31) and Gideon’s (Judg 8:28), did not bring peace to the land. A rivalry with the Philistines that lasted until the period of the kings had started instead. Samson thought he had made a fool of Delilah three times (v 15) but he really made a fool of himself many times. As Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Conclusion: Luke 12:48 says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” The Chinese say, “There is always a higher mountain.” The Bible warns those who think they are standing firm to be careful that they don't fall (1 Cor 10:12). For God’s children, repentance is never too early or too late and better late than never. Is your life a public lie and an open deceit? Is it double-sided, double-faced and double trouble? Are you in better spiritual shape than what you were at conversion? Do not think you are stable, mature and protected.