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Judges 14:5-7 – Samson and the Lion

When I was a child, I sometimes watched a cartoon called “Samson and Goliath.” In this television show, Samson was a superhero with amazing strength, and Goliath was a lion who aided him in his battle against evil. When we read of the real Samson in the Bible, we find that he did not have such a pleasant relationship with a lion. As Samson and his parents head to Timnah to arrange his marriage with a Philistine woman, Samson finds himself alone at the vineyards of Timnah, where a young lion roars and charges him. The Spirit of the LORD comes upon Samson giving him great strength. He tears the lion as if he were a young goat prepared for cooking. He tells no one, not even his father and mother, what he has done.

This is the first of Samson’s great feats of strength. We must keep in mind, though, that it was not really Samson’s strength which accomplished this. Samson only has this amazing strength when the Spirit of the LORD rushes upon him.

Just as Samson battled the lion, you and I battle against the spiritual forces of evil, as Ephesians 6:12 tells us. Unlike Samson, we do not wage this war with our bodies or material weapons. Rather, we carry out this battle with spiritual armor and weapons. Like Samson, we do not have the strength in ourselves to win this battle. It must be God’s Spirit who empowers us or we will not succeed. Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Apart from Christ and apart from His Spirit, we cannot win the battle against spiritual forces of evil. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can resist Satan who is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8), and if we resist the devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7).

Questions

  1. From whom did Samson’s great strength come?
  2. From whom do we get our strength to battle the spiritual forces of evil?
  3. What happens when we resist the devil empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Prayer Points

  1. Pray for the Spirit’s strength to resist evil.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.