Samson Pt. 3

The conclusion of Samson's story revolves around the famous vixen who renders him powerless.  Delilah is the third Philistine woman who enthralls Samson's heart and hands him over to her Philistine brethren.  Clearly, Samson fatal flaw is his passion for forbidden women.

More than that, though, Delilah reveals that Samson so misunderstood God that, except for in his death, Samson never truly knew where his strength actually came from.  Samson's strength did not come from the length of his hair or that they never touched a razor.  To miss this point would be to  miss the major point of his story.  Samson's strength came always and only from the Lord.

In regards to Delilah, she is a Philistine woman who exposes Samson's heart as unbelieving and unfaithful to the Lord.  When Delilah tricks Samson into, finally, telling her that his hair is the source of his strength, Samson unveils his heart that is far from the Lord.  God, then, removes Samson's strength when the Philistines cut his hair.  Know this: his hair never was the source of Samson's strength, but God removed his strength at the cutting of his hair because of his lack of faith.

In the end, Delilah betrays Samson over to the Philistines who gouge his eyes out, bind him in shackles, and bring him out to entertain them at their leisure.  The Philistines stand Samson between the two main pillars of the compound and laugh at him and his sorry state.  Samson cries out to God for one last bit of miraculous strength.  God grants Samson his dying request and Samson pulls down the pillars, crushing himself and everyone else under the rubble: "So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life." (Judges 16:30).

Samson exemplifies how utterly declined the best of Israel had become and, in the end, was worth more dead than he was alive.  He did his greatest good in dying.  This should tell us all we need to know about Samson.  He is far from a tragic hero but represents the apostasy and unfaithfulness of a whole nation.  But praise be to God who is faithful to save in spite of our least efforts!

Samson Pt. 2

The second major part of the Samson story deals with Samson's marriage to a Philistine, a repulsive thing for an Israelite to do.  However, God used the incident as an opportunity for Samson to wage war on the Philistines.  This part of Samson's narrative has Samson disobeying God in marrying a Philistine and disobeying his Nazirite oath in eating honey from the carcass of the slain lion.

Additionally, this section reveals Samson's fatal flaw: his lusting for untrustworthy women.  In this case, he marries a Philistine woman who betrays him to her Philistine brethren.  Basically, Samson tries to trick the Philistines into giving him some clothing and other resources by asking them a riddle that they cannot solve.  His new wife, having been threatened by the other Philistines, betrays Samson.

Samson responds to his wife's betrayal by killing everyone and then leaves the area, apparently leaving his wife behind.  When he goes back to retrieve his wife he finds out that she has been given to other men.  Samson responds by tying 300 foxes into 150 pairs, ties a lit torch to their bound tails, and releases them into the Philistine camp.  Needless to say, the whole camp is utterly consumed in fire.

Finally, the Philistines encircle the Judeans, in which the Judeans respond by finding Samson hidden in the cleft of a rock, they ask him to deliver them from the Philistines and he refuses.  In a turn of events, the Judeans bind Samson and deliver him over to the Philistines themselves.  This shows just how little the Israelites thought of Samson.  However, upon Samson's arriving at the Philistine camp, the Spirit of the Lord descends upon him and he kills 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey.

This brings us to the famous story of Delilah and Samson's fatal end, to be discussed tomorrow.  However, up to this point Samson is clearly to be seen as a despicable man who, in spite of his putrid character and complete disregard for the things of the Lord, was used by God to deliver the Israelites.  But to be sure, he is not to be emulated for his flaws.  Rather, God is to be exalted and praised for His unyielding faithfulness to His people and His covenant promises.

Samson Pt.1

The story of Samson, certainly the most well-known of the judges, is a testimony of the utter depravity of Israel that has come as a result of generations failing to teach and train their children in the way of the Lord.  Samson exemplifies this disconnect between what the Lord had commanded Israel and what they actually did.  Samson's story is longer than any of the other judge narratives, indicating his importance in history.  Because of this, Samson's life will be examined in two brief articles.

Samson's story begins in the same context as the other judges: an entire generation did evil in the sight of the Lord, who gives them over to the hand of their oppressive enemies, in this case ht Philistines.  The people then cry out to the Lord for deliverance and God provides for them Samson.  However, Samson's story is unique in that, before he was born, he was prophesied to be born to a barren woman and dedicated to the Lord as a strick Nazirite.

The vow of the Nazirite, as told in Numbers 6, involved three basic things: it was a voluntary vow of intense faithful pursuit of God, it was to last a set amount of time, and the person was to have absolutely no contact whatsoever with the dead.  Additionally, the Nazirite vow of Samson prohibited any consumption of alcohol and any razor touching his hair.

Interestingly, Samson did not volunteer as he was dedicated before he was born, and there was no set time as he was to be a Nazirite the whole length of his life.  Additionally, in regards to the prohibitive requirements of the vow, to never come into contact with death of any sort, to not imbibe, and to never have his locks cut, he disobeyed each of those.

Although Samson was to be the picturesque example of obedience and faithfulness to God, and his Nazirite vow was to form the very core of who he was as a person, but yet he failed in every single area that he was required to be faithful.  In this way, Samson represents a nation that was so disinterested in the things of God that they treated their vows as petty peripheries.  Samson is an example of everything wrong with Israel during the time of the judges.  But praise be to God that the story does not end with Samson!