Judges 14-16

C. Desires not Restrained

The third lesson shows the emptiness and pain of a lust filled life.

Three scenes of lust are thrust before our eyes. They are ever so convincing in showing that lust and the lack of self control absolutely ruin a man.

1. Woman of Timnah "She looks good to me." (14:3) 2. Harlot of Gaza "Saw a harlot there." (16:1) 3. Delilah of Sorek "He loved a woman." (16:4)

Lust is basically the desire for things that is not ours. Lust is a special form of covetousness. The presence of lust reveals a superficial bonding of marriage partners. Lust might bring people together but it will not keep them together. We see this in Samson's marriage. His superficial love for her made her susceptible to 'outside' interference. She lacked loyalty. We see this lack of loyalty again and again in Samson's relationships.

Samson seemed to tolerate this disloyalty. After all, he himself was unfaithful. The problem with lust is that even if one is attracted to one person, he cannot stay faithful. They are controlled by eyes and form rather than promises and principle. The one controlled by the eye pampers his eye. What the eye sees is insufficient. So he fills his mind with all sorts of sordid thoughts. He 'sees' things that he can't physically see. He pretends people love him. But if he only knew how phony the relationship was. Their hearts will go astray.

Lust might bring people together but it will not keep them together.

Samson's girls toyed him. His wife gave him up for peace of mind. Delilah sold him for some money. As for the harlot, well she was paid for her services. The eye is not satisfied; neither was his lust. God made us to be fulfilled by relationships, love and loyalty, not services, greed and unfaithfulness. Samson wandered from girl to girl, trying to satisfy those fleshly desires. In the end, his eyes were taken from him. He seemed to finally get his spiritual sight after his physical eyes were taken from him.

Delusion
Along with lusts comes delusion. We see this deceit started with his first wife. But no doubt, the source of this deceit came from Samson's hiding things from God and his parents. For example, he gave unclean honey to his parents. He deceived them. He pretended to give them good honey when it was evil. He pretended to give victory to Israel but really did it for personal revenge. Lust is just another form of sin that creates a layer of deceit. Deceit is when one covers up the real truth from others. Delusion is when the truth is kept from oneself. Samson was deluded.

The story of Delilah and her four attempts to get the truth about Samson's secret from him is very upsetting.

"How can he be so stupid!" one hears oneself saying.

If he tells her the 'secret' one time and the Philistines come charging, can he not discern what happened? Sure he can. She even tells him that he deceived her.

Then Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me, how you may be bound."

He evidently was caught up in a game of great self-confidence. Nothing would happen to him. He was impregnable. But his balloon popped. His hair was shaved and his strength departed. The one he loved did not love him. Those that are dependent upon shallow relationships will often experience betrayal. The deceit that goes on between the two keeps any real bond from growing.

Application

Lust is a growing problem today with the web, video rentals, piped in cable, etc. Lust is so accepted that many Christians think it is part of living. Can you imagine teachers teaching how to handle lusts rather than to overcome them?! That means they are okay to have. People have given up on solutions because they are ensnared. They love their lusts. We need instructors like Samson to show the scars of living by ones desires rather than the principles of God.

One can easily imagine the "Great Whore" mentioned in the Book of Revelation is enticing men to come to her. If we could only see her invisible claws reach out and hook into the flesh of those who desire what is not theirs. The more they look, the more the hooks enter their flesh so that the whore can pull those hooks anytime she desires. And the men will act as mere puppets. They no longer rule but are ruled.

Samson should be embedded deep enough in our mind that with every lustful notion, we see a blind man led away. We need his story to preserve us and to give us much needed wisdom. Without it, our eyes will lead our lives rather than the mighty Creator God.

See our series on overcoming lusts..