2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The story of Samson is one of contrasts. God had an assignment for him, which was to begin Israel’s deliverance from Philistine control [JG 14: 4]. It was an assignment that Samson carried out, although he certainly was far from understanding God’s perspective on it. His example was rather curious, because he experienced God’s power and had to have known it didn’t come from himself. However, his behavior certainly was not that of a deeply faithful person always obedient to God. That is revealed in JG 16: 1-3, the story of his time in the Philistine city of Gaza. “On day Samson went to the Philistine city of Gaza, where he met a prostitute and went to bed with her. The people of Gaza found out that Samson was there, so they surrounded the place and waited for him all night long at the city gate. They were quiet all night, thinking to themselves, ‘We will wait until daybreak and then we will kill him.’ but Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then, he got up and took hold of the city gate and pulled it up-doors, posts, lock, and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them far off to the top of the hill overlooking Hebron.” If there was any respect for Samson, it came from fear of his physical prowess and not the Godliness of his actions. His behavior was surely not that of the average Nazirite.
The portion of Samson’s life which involves his Philistine love, Deliilah, is JG 16: 4-22. This is the most famous part of the story and allows us to see the consequences of giving in to temptation to disobey the Lord. It is a study of what happens when we stop trusting and obeying. Samson fell in love with Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. When the five Philistine kings realized this had happened, they put pressure on Delilah to find out the source of Samson’s strength. She convinced him to allow her to tie him up with seven new bowstrings that weren’t dried out. She had men waiting in another room unseen by Samson. When she cried out, “the Philistines are coming,” he snapped the bowstrings. This didn’t reveal the source of this strength, but Delilah didn’t give up. She persisted with him, and he resisted all her efforts for awhile by dissembling in his explanations to her for his continuing success in overcoming the tests to which she put him. If we look at the temptations in our lives to depart from trusting and obeying God, we can see the same pattern to which Samson was subjected. That is the nature of Satan’s work.
The question that we must examine is how do we respond to that temptation? The Lord gives us the story of Samson’s response, so that we can look at the consequences of giving into it. JG 16: 16-17, “She kept on asking him, day after day. He got so sick and tired of her bothering him about it, that he finally told her the truth, ‘My hair has never been cut,’ he said. ‘I have been dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the time I was born. If my hair were cut, I would lose my strength and be as weak as anybody else.’ “ After that the Philistine kings came back with money for Delilah to betray Samson. JG 16: 19-21, “Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap, and then called a man, who cut off Samson’s seven locks of hair. Then she began to torment him, for he had lost his strength. Then she shouted, ‘the Philistines are coming!’ He woke up and thought, ‘I’ll get loose and go free, as always.’ He did not know that the Lord had left him. The Philistines captured him and put his eyes out. They took him to Gaza, chained him with bronze chains, and put him to work grinding at the mill of the prison.” The prison he was in is like the prison any sinner is in until Christ paid the price to buy the repentant person who comes to faith out of it. It is a place of torment and hopelessness. 1 COR 6: 20, “He bought you for a price. So use your bodies to God’s glory.” Using his body for God’s glory was not what Samson did.
After that time, Samson’s hair began to grow back (22). The Philistine kings and their guests met together to celebrate their victory over Samson and acknowledge their belief that this victory was given to them by their god, Dagon. The building which was supported by a series of columns was very crowded at the celebration. Samson’s misery led him to take action that was long overdue in JG 16: 28. “Then, Samson prayed, ‘Sovereign Lord, please remember me; please, God, give me strength one more time , so that with this one blow I can get even with the Philistines for putting out my two eyes.’ “ The Philistines at this celebration decided to have Samson entertain him, so he was brought up from his prison for this purpose. Samson asked to be allowed to touch the middle two columns, and they allowed it. JG 16: 29-30, “So Samson took hold of the two middle columns holding up the building. Putting one hand on each column, he pushed against them and shouted, ‘Let me die with the Philistines!’ He pushed with all his might, and the building fell down on the five kings and everyone else. Samson killed more people at his death than he had killed during his life.” From God’s point of view, it was a fitting end for one who was so reluctant in his trust of Him. Samson’s brothers took him back to the territory of Dan and buried him in his father [Manoah’s] tomb between Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson had been Israel’s leader for twenty years (31).
The comment made in verse (30), “he killed more people with his death than he had killed during his life,” represents a great contrast to one we could say about Christ. RO 5: 12-21, which I hope you will read focuses on the contrast between Adam and Christ. With Samson in mind, consider these words from RO 5: 17, “It is true that through the sin of one man [Adam] death began to rule because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one Man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with Him will rule in life through Christ.” On could say of Christ, “He brought eternal life to more people with His death than He had saved during His life.” It is pretty hard to ignore how the people and events of the OT foreshadow those of the NT isn’t it?
PRAYER: O Lord, Samson was surely not a man whose service fit Your ideals. Yet, You give us his story to cause us to examine our own lives and to understand the consequences to us of not obeying and trusting You. The Philistines are typical unbelievers in that they worship idols and put mankind at the center of their lives. You ask us to put You at the center of our lives; and that is what separates us from unsaved people. You give us our free agency to make choices and Your Son on the cross, so that salvation through faith in Him is attainable. It must break Your heart every time someone doesn’t repent of his sins and accept Your Son as the Savior and Lord of their lives. That is because You are a loving and compassionate God. We dedicate ourselves to taking the time to study the lessons You give us in the Scriptures and having that real and personal relationship You want us to have with You. To that end, we offer You our trust, obedience, adoration, worship, loyalty, praise, and honor. We magnify Your name and share the Gospel to Your glory. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at two figures from the book of Judges, Deborah and Barak, to see how their lives reveal lessons our loving Abba wants us to learn. Our Lord has known us since before we were born. He wants us to have a relationship with Him that will allow Him to do His work through us. We have each been equipped with talents to do that. We must know that God would never have assignments for us, if He didn’t love us. Look today to see if you know what your assignment is. Discover the many ways God has shown you how much He loves you; it will bless your lives to know this. Peter and I pray for you and love you as you do this.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn