Choice 1: Judges 13-16 “The Woman Bare a Son, and Called His Name Samson”

Choice 1: Judges 13-16. “The Woman Bare a Son, and Called His Name Samson”
a. Study Judges 13-16 looking for both the possible greatness of Samson and his failings. Fill in the chart below, indicating Samson’s blessings and his sins.

Promises and Blessing
• Promise that no razor shall come on his head (never cut hair)
• Promise to never eat of the vine
• He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
• Never drink wine or strong drink
• If he kills he must cleanse and the shave his head

Sins
• He marries a Philistine
• Kills to pay his debts
• Burned Corn of the Philistines
• He drank after he killed Lehi
• Showing off his mind and strength

b. After completing the chart above, write one or two paragraphs explaining why you think some people with so much potential make such bad decisions.
Those who have a lot of potential and don’t work very hard for their talent often forget where it came from. Sometimes it takes an injury or some kind of injustice for them to remember why they were given the gifts in the first place.
Like Sampson, he lost his eyes and strength before he truly remembers to ask the Lord for help. He was drinking and living an unholy life and didn’t remember the promises that were made by him and his mother to obey the Lord and live a holy life. Sometimes we need a little jolt to help us remember that everything we have, health, strength, talents, they all come from God.
c. Read Judges 13:5; Numbers 6:1-9 and the Institute Student Manual commentary for Judges 13:5, “What Is a Nazarite?” (pg. 259). Make a list of the requirements for a Nazarite. From Judges 14-16 write a statement that describes which of his vows Samson broke.
• Nazarites take vows of separation from people and devote their lives to God
• Never Drink wine or strong drink
• Never eat of the vine
• Never cut hair
• Never be in the presence of the dead
• If they kill then he must shave his head and follow protocol for cleansing

Sampson actually broke all of these requirements, he didn’t exactly cut his own hair but it was cut, he drank, wasn’t apart form people, killed a lot of people and when he did kill he didn’t shave his head.
d. Using the account of Samson’s life, write a paragraph about how you could avoid yielding to temptation in your own life.
I think that the best way to avoid temptation would be to stay humble. It is often easy to succumb to things because you think that you are strong enough to stop or not get addicted. If we know that there isn’t any way that we won’t be sucked into a temptation then we must avoid it always. We know that with the spirit on our side we can avoid and overcome anything but if we willingly walking into places that the spirit can’t dwell then we are alone and that is when we are weak even though we might think we are strong. This is how pride got Sampson and how pride will get us all. We don’t really know how to not be natural man and without the spirit we will not able to move to the celestial plain that we all aspire to.