Betrayal Like Adam and Samson
*Note- at minute 7.50, the Bible verse is supposed to be Revelation 1:18- not John 1:18 as mentioned.
Read today’s Friday Post-
I’ve been sitting in the book of Judges the past few weeks and the parallels between Adam and Samson was so poignant. Both were men had extraordinary calls on their lives. God saw great potential in them, seeing them as men that He could partner with and use for His greater purposes and plans. They were leaders and they were given much, but ultimately, they betrayed God. In this Friday Post I want to point out how betraying God leads to self-betrayal and untimely heartache and pain.
Adam
Looking at Adam, if we believe Scripture then we know that he was the first human God created. Created on the sixth day of God’s massive creation moment, Adam was formed in a particular way, “in God’s image,” (Genesis 1:27), the way we all are. By chapter 2, verse 15 God had commanded and charged Adam to “guard and keep” the garden. This was a great responsibility that God gave Adam, to protect the Garden.
Adam is another type of Christ, the Garden represents the church, and Eve represents the people of God.
It was after Adam had his fulfillment in laboring, which meant Adam took care of the Garden naming the animals and keeping order, that he felt alone. So, God brought Adam Eve. And, it was Adam- who is a type of Jesus- not Jesus though, with leadership responsibilities, tasked to overlook his household and those in his care: i.e. his job, his family, and his community.
As Jesus looked after the church, His bride, Adam was to look after his literal bride Eve and his job: his community (the Garden) and his family. And this is God’s charge to us that we are to look after what God has placed in our hands: our calling, our talent, our community, our families, our church family, our spouses, our children, our money: everything!
But Adam betrayed God by eating of the fruit that God told him to never eat (Genesis 2:17). God had given Adam the keys of life for all humanity, to guard and keep them but Adam gave those keys to the serpent. But Jesus, in the 2 days of his death went and took those keys back. That’s a whole another deep Scriptural analysis, but He did and as He told John the Revelator in Revelations 1:18, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Samson
Samson was a Nazarite meaning he was consecrated by God by a vow to do great things. This vow was stipulated, meaning he’d never drink alcohol, nor would he cut his hair, or would he be defiled by the presence of a corpse.
I don’t know if Samson was stupid or just weak for women, but He betrayed God at least twice. Not only was he cocky with the immense strength that God had given him, it made him arrogant and ultimately blinded him. The book of Judges is the book of how not to be. It’s full of people who made grave choices that cost them greatly. And Samson let women deceive him into telling them the secret to his strength, which was their motive to betraying him. He got betrayed because he betrayed God first. God gave him a gift and he blabbed its source to the women who were really loyal to the Philistines and not to him.
Betrayal
Which, brings me to my point. When we betray God, we’ve already betrayed ourselves, we’ve allowed satan to deceive us, by opening a door to this evil spirit who schemes against people 24/7 to bring us away from our callings and purposes, which inevitably leads to breakdown with the people around us.
Spiritual breakdown always precedes relational breakdown. Betraying God is spiritual breakdown and it inevitably leads to relational breakdown. By Adam betraying God he let down his wife and his family, he laid on humanity the burden of sin, and he forever changed things for his community. By Samson betraying God he let the Philistines take his strength and power, although God gave him the grace to later take them down. Samson walked down a road of self-made hardship that he didn’t have to.
Takeaways
Keep God first and stand on the words that Paul told Timothy: “guard what has been entrusted to your care” (1 Timothy 6:20). Paul is referring to the Gospel message of accepting salvation. We have to hold onto our faith. And whatever our callings, talents, and giftings that God has given and entrusted us with, and we have to use it for His glory and for our communities. So, when the devil comes prowling as he does, trying to get us off track to betray God, we’re firmly rooted like trees planted by water (Jeremiah 17:7-8), which mean they go down deep therefore we won’t allow betrayal or our own lusts and desires to betray God, ourselves, and others.