Samson

2022-04-11

Samson, the son of Manoah, was the last judge mentioned in the book of Judges. His story is a sad and unpleasant story to read. His birth was promised by the Angel of the Lord to his father Manoah, and he was to be separated to God as a Nazarite all the days of his life. One ritual regarding this Nazarite vow was to grow his hair. Since his separation was to be his whole life, his hair would never be cut. Cutting it was his downfall because he had allowed his vow to be broken. A broken vow meant the Lord departed from him.

As Samson grew, he became known for his amazing strength, which came from God. He killed a lion with his bare hands and killed Philistines with a donkey jawbone. The Scriptures clearly say that his strength in these instances came from the Lord (Judges 14:6; 15:14). When the Lord was not with Him, his strength failed (Judges 16:20-21). Putting faith in our own strength is always misplaced.

One of Samson’s major weaknesses was women. He would rather have a Philistine wife than one who served his God. The other woman in his life, Delilah, was a lover of money, and betrayed him over it. He entrusted secrets to both, and both times they betrayed him. The story of Samson is a lesson to anyone seeking someone to marry, that they choose someone who knows the Lord and has a strong Christian character.

Nonetheless, the Lord used Samson to subdue the Philistines. He judged Israel 20 years. However, one does not see much rest from the Philistines despite his efforts, unlike other judges where the enemy was completely subdued for years or decades. The Philistines continue to be Israel’s enemies for a while to come.

There is little recorded devotion to the Lord regarding Samson’s life. Two major recordings of Samson’s reliance on the Lord were when he was weak. First was when he was in Lehi: “And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” (Judges 15:18). The other time was when he was blind and imprisoned by the Philistines: “And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes” (Judges 16:28).

Being strong, there was less natural opportunity for Samson to rely on God. We are naturally drawn to the Lord when we are weak or in trouble. However, the key is to remember that without Him, we are always weak, regardless of what our circumstances look like. We must call out to him before we get in trouble.

Samson is also mentioned in the “faith chapter” in Hebrews 11:32. We see that he lived by faith despite his many shortcomings. Take comfort that God uses imperfect people.

This is a part of the Judges of Israel series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.