Samson: Judge of Israel from 1001-981 BC
He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of
the Philistines. Judges 13:5b (NIV)
READ: Judges 13-16
Samson
was born during the period of the judges during the time when Israel’s most
formidable enemies were the Philistines, who God had used to oppress Israel
because of their evil deeds. Even before
he was born, Samson was designated as a Nazirite which required him to abstain
from wine or other fermented drink, refrain from cutting the hair and not become
impure by touching dead things (see Num. 6:1-21). This boy was to be completely consecrated to
God. His birth was announced to his
barren mother by the angel of the Lord showing the significance of what this
man would do. Unfortunately, Samson’s
life was the story of his breaking the Nazirite vow as he violated the
prohibitions, climaxing with the cutting of his hair by Delilah. The first violation came when he touched the
lion’s carcass (14:8-9). He also
violated God’s laws by spending the night with a prostitute (16:1). The cutting of his hair by Delilah broke his
Nazirite vow once again and left him deprived of strength. Samson was made captive of the Philistines,
his eyes were put out and he was put in prison.
While in prison, his hair began to grow again and his death came with
his final heroic deed. As the people
celebrated his capture with pagan worship, Samson was called out of prison to
be mocked before them. They stood him
between two pillars where Samson prayed for strength once again and he pushed
the pillars over causing the collapse of the temple killing many more people
when he died then when he lived. When we
look at Samson’s life we see a figure with very little similarity to other
judges. He resembled them only in that
he was possessed of the Spirit, but his exploits were always individual. He was not a national leader; in fact, he
often was avenging his own personal wrongs on the Philistines. We must be careful in drawing too many
religious parallels from his life as most of his actions should not be imitated
by believers but rather avoided. Samson
broke his Nazirite vow and disobeyed God.
His life was a negative example of tragedy yet he was listed with the
heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11:32 as the the Lord used him to defeat the
Philistines.
JOURNALING AND PRAYER
1. Where do you feel weak in your faith?
2. Ask God how He wants to grow your faith this summer. What does He want to do in your heart?
3. Thank God for what He has shown you, and pray that it would become a reality in your life.
