Advanced Level, Block 5—Frustrations in the Land
Week 49
Samson—His Failure
Point to Emphasize: Don’t be impulsive in your decisions; instead learn to develop self-control.
Reference Reading: Judges 13:2-5, footnote 32, 24; 14:1-17, footnote 11; 15:1-6, 20
Memory Verse: A wise man fears and departs from evil, / But the fool is arrogant and is confident. (Proverbs 14:16)
Story Sample
We have talked about Samson in the Bible when you were younger. Who can tell me something you remember about Samson? [Children may answer—he followed his parent’s instructions, he was a Nazarite, he was given strength and power by God.] Yes, Samson had a very good beginning. And God raised him up as a judge so that Israel could defeat the Philistines, their fierce enemy.
But today I want to talk more about what happened to him later. Like Gideon, he had a good beginning, but as time went on, something changed, and he got worse and worse. The sad thing is that when he grew up, he did not care for God but for his own great strength. He acted very impulsively and without any self-control. Do you know what impulsive means? It means to do something without really thinking about what the results might be. For example, the thought might suddenly come to stick out your leg and trip the boy walking in front of you. If you do it, this is to be impulsive, showing that you have no self-control. What if tripping the boy meant he got hurt when he fell? Well, you were impulsive and did not think of that. Or, you are in a store parking lot and suddenly the thought comes to run and push a grocery cart as hard as you can. What if it accidentally crashes into a parked car? Something you did on an impulse has now dented a car. This kind of impulsiveness often results in making poor decisions with poor outcomes. In Samson’s case, it meant the breaking of God’s law.
Whatever Samson wanted he would take. He had no regard for being upright or moral in his living. And he did not exercise any self-control. For example, in his 20 years as a judge, he broke God’s law concerning marriage numerous times. He had no regard for God or for God’s law.
Another example of Samson’s impulsiveness and disregard for God’s law was when he touched a dead animal to greedily get some honey. One day, Samson came upon the carcass of a lion with a swarm of bees in the lion’s body, filled with the bees’ honey. He scraped the honey from the body of the lion. All that mattered to him was that he saw the honey and he wanted it, so he took it. It did not matter to him that in so doing he broke his Nazarite vow (a Nazarite was not allowed to touch a carcass). He just saw it and impulsively wanted it. The outcome did not matter to him.
Another time, Samson became upset with a Philistine, and in revenge, he impulsively reacted. He caught 300 foxes and put them tail to tail, tying a torch to each pair. He set the torches on fire and sent the foxes into the Philistines’ standing grains, the vineyards, and the groves. He gave no thought to the outcome. His impulsive act eventually caused the lives of his father-in-law and his wife. How sad that Samson, who had begun in such a good way, now lived only by his impulses and not by God’s word!
Are you ever impulsive? Do you do something sometimes just because it is fun, or because you are angry, or because you think others would like you more if you were to do it? One time I did something very impulsive. I was arguing with a neighbor across the fence about who was more athletic. To prove my point, I climbed the block wall and began to run on it, because I knew I could. Well, my foot got hooked on a rose bush growing over the fence, and I went flying to the ground. The outcome? I got a concussion and had to miss two weeks of school because of my foolish action. During that time, my face was torn up and hurt all the time, I couldn’t play with my friends, and I had to spend most of the time in bed. I did something impulsive and didn’t think about what might come from my lack of self-control. [Storyteller, use your own example.] I was just like Samson, making a poor choice because I didn’t think first.
As you are growing up, you will begin to see that it is important to think before you do something. Consider what the consequences might be for you and for others. If we can learn to control ourselves now, it will help us very much when we grow older and have bigger decisions to make.