A Rude Awakening
A Rude Awakening
Judges 16:3
But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves when we engage in some hidden sin and don’t initially get caught is that God lets us get away with it.
Think of Abraham. Whatever doubts he wrestled through before sleeping with Hagar must’ve been settled as soon as discovered that Hagar was pregnant. “Finally, I’ll be a father!”, he must’ve thought. “I know this isn’t exactly what God promised, but hey—He could’ve closed off Hagar’s womb if this wasn’t His will; I’ll take this child as proof that God’s behind this.” Think of Jacob. Whatever words stung his conscience as he fled from Esau’s fury, tearing off the fake arm-hair and course costume his mother had sewn for him, must’ve been resolved the moment he found refuge in Uncle Laban’s home, saw Rachel’s beautiful face, and became convinced that God had brought him here for such a purpose. “Esau’s gone,” he probably encouraged himself. “This is my new family, my new future—I did the right thing by coming!” Think of Gideon. Whatever rumblings stirred in his gut the moment he followed up that emphatic response of faith, “The LORD is your king,” with the addendum, “but bring me your gold and make me an ephod,” must’ve been assuaged when he saw how shimmering the ephod looked in the center of town. “This is a much holier monument than that awful shrine to Baal I tore down all those years ago”, he must’ve concluded. “God is pleased with this artistry!” Ah, the pleasure of sin is immediate, but the consequences are slow going.
Friend, this should be a wake-up call for Samson. As he rips up iron gates from the ground like golf tees, he should run to the LORD for mercy, repenting of his sin and thanking God for sparing his life yet again. Right now, confession is his only escape from the coming ambush. But if he instead interprets this event as a sign that God looks kindly on his debauchery, well, I don’t have to tell you the rude awakening he’s in for.