It seemed to come out of nowhere. He had been travelling with his parents, but just now he is alone. That’s often when it happens. It wasn’t a groundhog that leaped out of the bushes or a fox. It was nothing less than a young, aggressive lion. As crucial as preserving endangered species is, when walking alone and one of those cats decides you look like dinner, it’s time to act somewhat decisively.
Samson was en route to see his girlfriend. He was a young man whose love for women was his downfall. But that’s another story! His potential downfall right at the moment wasn’t walking on two legs. This one had four, and beneath those padded paws were sharp claws that could sink 3.8 centimetres into flesh and then tear and rip as required. Photogenic for sure, but not friendly. Thirty rugged, deeply rooted carnivorous teeth and powerful jaws were lubricated with anticipatory saliva. Lions don’t chew; they swallow chunks of raw meat. It was just such an encounter young Samson had.
There’s no mention of Samson’s gym membership or how many pounds he could bench press. In fact, he probably just looked like a physically fit guy – not like one of those bulky, muscle-bound beefcakes on steroids. His strength was supernatural, provided as required by the Lord Himself. And this was precisely one of those moments. Samson grabbed the lower jaw and then tore the lion to shreds with a powerful yank.
For some reason, he didn’t bother to tell his parents. Maybe he felt that was tantamount to boasting. After all, it wasn’t his own strength that enabled him to do it. It was the Lord’s strength. To go around sharing the incredible encounter might have been construed as tooting his own horn.
Some days later, he was passing near where it had happened. Exactly why he turned aside to revisit the dead lion, we don’t know. Was he feeling down and needing to gloat over his past victory for a few minutes? “But Samson, it wasn’t your victory. The Lord enabled you to do it. Don’t live off past victories – don’t turn aside. Keep moving on for the Lord.”
And he [Samson] turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.” Judges 14:8-9
There, he stands over the dried-up, shrivelled carcass from the past.
“Excuse me, Samson. Remember, you are a Nazarite. One requirement in your vow to the Lord is to avoid carcasses. You’re not to be near dead things. You must know, dear Samson, that past victories don’t guarantee future success.”
But there he stands over the carcass. Bees had set up shop in the carcass and were manufacturing honey. The honey was so tempting — even if he had to reach in past the swarming bees and come in contact with the decaying bones of the dead lion to lift out some sweet honey. And yes, it tasted delicious — just as sweet as one would expect!
He ended up sharing the honey with his parents, but he had a big secret. He didn’t tell them he had violated his Nazarite’s vow. Had he left his victory over the lion with the Lord and exclusively focused on doing future exploits for the Lord rather than turning aside and revisiting the past, he would have been preserved from this temptation and sin.
The Apostle Paul said:
… one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
Too often, we revel in past victories and secretly delight in our medals of honour. But a Christian is to be forward-focused. Rather than being overly confident and satisfied about past performance, we are to humbly focus on future exploits for the Lord. Past victories do not guarantee future success.
Only visit the past long enough to learn from your mistakes or long enough to say: “Ebenezer: Hitherto has the Lord helped me.” 1 Samuel 7:12, and then get going!
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