When he returned home, he told his mother and father, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah has caught my eye. I want to marry her.” —Judges 14:3
Tampa International Airport. Last week our flight arrived and we disembarked from the plane. After settling into our hotel, 4am in the morning I wake up with a disturbing feeling I had left something behind on the plane. My laptop.
There are things we lose that we want to keep. There are things we cannot afford to keep, that we need to lose. The desires of the flesh are an inherent weakness of our sin nature. But they are not entities that we can keep and still keep God as Lord of our life.
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Feasting by sight.
In Judges 14, we see Samson feasting desire with his eyes. He struggles with desire and desire threatens to rule him. In Genesis 4:7, another son, Cain, experiences a similar struggle to overcome desire. Not of lust like Samson, but of jealousy. Both desires of the flesh for Samson and Cain have their root in the carnality of their vision. Cain sees God pleased with his brother Abel’s offering, the best portion of the firstborn lambs from his flock. God’s happiness over Abel’s gift fills Cain with hateful intentions which infuriate and inflame him. The favor that Cain sees his brother relish from God is more than his flesh can handle. What we see can make us vulnerable to sin that leads to death.
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Fighting against sanctification.
Both Samson and Cain are recipients of godly admonishments. They are given words of advisement of the potential future that lies ahead.
God directly warns Cain of the dire consequences of not mastering his jealous desires:
“But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at your door, ready to control you. But you must subdue it and be it’s master.” —Genesis 4:7
God indirectly warns Samson through his parents of his lustful deviations: “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” —Judges 14:3
Even though both Samson and Cain encounter godly counsel, a countering battle of a fight against the work of sanctification embroils in their lives. They have both eaten the fruit of fellowship with God, yet the fruit of their temptation deceptively tastes better to them. So is the taste of the flesh truly superior to the sweetness of relationship with God? Not at all. But our enemy Satan masks the bitter truth to deceive Samson, Cain, and us. The fight against sanctification utilizes an artificial sweetener to make us believe the palette of sin looks and tastes better.
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Fulfillment of sin.
What we see can bring about a fight with sanctification that leads to the fulfillment of sin. Our vision affects the path we take
Samson sees a Philistine women. Samson settles on eating fruit in an unsanctioned relationship to satisfy his lustful desires. Ultimately, Samson sins against God.
Cain sees God’s joy over his brother’s efforts to honor Him. Cain settles on murder to securet his jealous deviations. Ultimately, Cain sins against God.
The final end of the fulfillment of sin is spiritual demise. For Samson, this fulfillment also results in his physical death. For Cain, the fulfillment of sin ends another life instead, his brother’s. Sin never begets life. Only death is cultivated and culminated.
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What we feast our eyes on can bring about a fight against sanctification that ends in spiritual death. In life, there is loss and gain. What we lose eternally by eating the fruit of our fleshly desires is not worth the temporary gain. Let’s learn from Samson and Cain’s mistakes. Feast our eyes on what is right and let the work of sanctification right its way within our lives.
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