Judges 9-16: Cries to the Gods You Have Chosen

But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble! ” - Judges 10:13-14 NIV


For Israel the problem always was in whom they chose to follow.  The ones they followed were the ones that they served.  Occasionally, the Lord would raise up a Godly man for them to follow, but most of the time, from one generation to another, they chose to follow after other gods.  The results were always the same; they found themselves under the bondage of their enemies.  Sampson, who was chosen and set apart by God should have been different.After all, he followed all of the rules that were prescribed for him.  According to the Jewish Encyclopedia,  
 "Three restrictions are imposed upon the Nazarite, according to Num. vi.: he may not take wine, or anything made from grapes; he may not cut the hair of his head; he may not touch the dead, not even the body of his father or mother.". 


 A pure life on the outside does not necessarily mean a pure life on the inside.  Sampson met his downfall because, while he kept to the letter of the law, his heart longed for what others had.  The same could have been said for the rest of Israel.  They may have still continued to make sacrifices to the Lord Jehovah, but that didn't stop them from serving other gods as well.  No wonder their history was fraught with conquests and enslavement while their cries to the gods they chose went unanswered.