The story of Samson used to be one of my favorites as a child, probably because he was really strong and was pretty close to being a super hero. As I got older though, I saw this story as a tragic example of someone who had enormous potential, but didn’t use it.
Israel had been in captivity under Philistine rule for forty years by this time because they had done “evil again in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 13:1). As the Lord often does, He sent a baby to deliver Israel. A barren couple was visited by an angel and told they would have a son who “shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5).
Samson’s mother was told her son was to be a Nazarite (Hebrew meaning ‘set aside’ or ‘consecrated’) from the womb. As such, he was to abstain from wine and strong drink (couldn’t even eat moist grapes), couldn’t cut his hair, and couldn’t come in contact with dead bodies (see Numbers 6:1-8 for more details).
You’d think someone with such potential and great blessings would be faithful and obedient. Angelic announcements seemed to be effective in the other cases (John the Baptist, Christ). You don’t hear about angels coming to tell mothers their child will grow up to be on welfare, or work on the fry line if he really applies himself. This sort of thing seems to be reserved for exceptional circumstances. Sadly, Samson never really seemed to grasp the nature of his calling.
The first record we have of Samson is when he asked his father to set him up with a certain Philistine woman for his wife (Judges 14:1-2). The scripture states “it was of the Lord” (Judges 14:3), but I think that was Samson’s way of trying to rationalize it to himself. He probably had a plan worked out in his mind, much like when King Saul rationalized keeping the flocks of the Amalekites because he intended to use them for a sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:20-22). After the Lord made it very clear how important it was not to marry outside the faith, I find it hard to believe this marriage to a Philistine would be sanctioned, especially when Samson’s specific call was to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
A lesson we can draw here is one many missionaries learn in the field: you can’t do the Lord’s work using Satan’s methods. You can’t convert someone through a “Bible bash”, and you can’t defeat the Philistines by marrying one. That would make for some very awkward moments at family reunions.
At the beginning of the week-long wedding feast, Samson challenged the men to solve his riddle before the seven days were up. After three days, they came to his wife and threatened her so she nagged him until he gave her the answer. Big surprise, she tells the men and Samson loses the bet and has to cough up thirty sheets and thirty outfits (if only someone could’ve seen that coming). He went out, killed thirty Philistines to pay off the wager.
For someone whose call it was to free Israel, Samson only seemed to go against the Philistines when it served his own selfish purposes:
• Killed thirty men to pay off his bet (Judges 14:19)
• Burned the Philistine fields because they gave his wife to his “best man” (Judges 15:4-5). Granted, that had to sting a little...
• Killed 1,000 men who came up against him (Judges 15:15)
• Carried away the gates of the city on his back so he could escape after sleeping with a harlot (Judges 16:3)
• Pulled down the Philistine temple, killing everyone inside so he could be “avenged of the Philistines for [his] two eyes” (Judges 16:28)
Losing his eyes was his own fault, really. He hooked up with Delilah (no mention whether or not they were actually married), who was offered 1100 pieces of silver to find out the source of his strength. She asked Samson, “Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee” (Judges 16:6). Who could resist an offer like that? ‘Tell me how to take your strength away so you can be taken captive.’
He gives her three false answers, and each time the Philistines are waiting to take him. The fact he really didn’t realize the source of his strength is evident when he tells her to cut off his hair. He really expected to be able to shake off his attackers as he had previously, but “he [knew] not that the Lord was departed from him” (Judges 16:20). He really expected to completely disobey the Lord and still receive His promises. Without his God-given strength, he was easily taken captive. The Philistines put out his eyes and forced him to work in the prison house.
The Philistines later offered sacrifices to their god, Dagon, and decided to bring out their trophy for some entertainment. Samson called upon God for one last act of strength, which he used to pull down the support pillars of their temple. “So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Judges 16:30).
Just imagine how different the story could’ve been if he had stayed faithful, if he could’ve tempered his arrogance with humility, if he let “virtue garnish [his] thoughts unceasingly” (Doct. and Cov 121:45) rather than being led by his appetites. People in all the years since would’ve used him as an example of what could be done in the Lord’s strength, but instead he stands as an example of “don’t try this at home”.
Israel had been in captivity under Philistine rule for forty years by this time because they had done “evil again in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 13:1). As the Lord often does, He sent a baby to deliver Israel. A barren couple was visited by an angel and told they would have a son who “shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5).
Samson’s mother was told her son was to be a Nazarite (Hebrew meaning ‘set aside’ or ‘consecrated’) from the womb. As such, he was to abstain from wine and strong drink (couldn’t even eat moist grapes), couldn’t cut his hair, and couldn’t come in contact with dead bodies (see Numbers 6:1-8 for more details).
You’d think someone with such potential and great blessings would be faithful and obedient. Angelic announcements seemed to be effective in the other cases (John the Baptist, Christ). You don’t hear about angels coming to tell mothers their child will grow up to be on welfare, or work on the fry line if he really applies himself. This sort of thing seems to be reserved for exceptional circumstances. Sadly, Samson never really seemed to grasp the nature of his calling.
The first record we have of Samson is when he asked his father to set him up with a certain Philistine woman for his wife (Judges 14:1-2). The scripture states “it was of the Lord” (Judges 14:3), but I think that was Samson’s way of trying to rationalize it to himself. He probably had a plan worked out in his mind, much like when King Saul rationalized keeping the flocks of the Amalekites because he intended to use them for a sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:20-22). After the Lord made it very clear how important it was not to marry outside the faith, I find it hard to believe this marriage to a Philistine would be sanctioned, especially when Samson’s specific call was to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
A lesson we can draw here is one many missionaries learn in the field: you can’t do the Lord’s work using Satan’s methods. You can’t convert someone through a “Bible bash”, and you can’t defeat the Philistines by marrying one. That would make for some very awkward moments at family reunions.
At the beginning of the week-long wedding feast, Samson challenged the men to solve his riddle before the seven days were up. After three days, they came to his wife and threatened her so she nagged him until he gave her the answer. Big surprise, she tells the men and Samson loses the bet and has to cough up thirty sheets and thirty outfits (if only someone could’ve seen that coming). He went out, killed thirty Philistines to pay off the wager.
For someone whose call it was to free Israel, Samson only seemed to go against the Philistines when it served his own selfish purposes:
• Killed thirty men to pay off his bet (Judges 14:19)
• Burned the Philistine fields because they gave his wife to his “best man” (Judges 15:4-5). Granted, that had to sting a little...
• Killed 1,000 men who came up against him (Judges 15:15)
• Carried away the gates of the city on his back so he could escape after sleeping with a harlot (Judges 16:3)
• Pulled down the Philistine temple, killing everyone inside so he could be “avenged of the Philistines for [his] two eyes” (Judges 16:28)
Losing his eyes was his own fault, really. He hooked up with Delilah (no mention whether or not they were actually married), who was offered 1100 pieces of silver to find out the source of his strength. She asked Samson, “Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee” (Judges 16:6). Who could resist an offer like that? ‘Tell me how to take your strength away so you can be taken captive.’
He gives her three false answers, and each time the Philistines are waiting to take him. The fact he really didn’t realize the source of his strength is evident when he tells her to cut off his hair. He really expected to be able to shake off his attackers as he had previously, but “he [knew] not that the Lord was departed from him” (Judges 16:20). He really expected to completely disobey the Lord and still receive His promises. Without his God-given strength, he was easily taken captive. The Philistines put out his eyes and forced him to work in the prison house.
The Philistines later offered sacrifices to their god, Dagon, and decided to bring out their trophy for some entertainment. Samson called upon God for one last act of strength, which he used to pull down the support pillars of their temple. “So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Judges 16:30).
Just imagine how different the story could’ve been if he had stayed faithful, if he could’ve tempered his arrogance with humility, if he let “virtue garnish [his] thoughts unceasingly” (Doct. and Cov 121:45) rather than being led by his appetites. People in all the years since would’ve used him as an example of what could be done in the Lord’s strength, but instead he stands as an example of “don’t try this at home”.
1 comment:
Your post triggered a few thoughts of my own. Here are a few more lessons, I am reminded of:
1) True strength, is not a physical attribute.
In this story, we attribute Samson's greatness to his physical strength and popularity. And we tend to believe it is that strength is why he has such great potential. However, this is not where his true strength lies. True strength is fueled by strength of character. He did not develop this until the end, just in time to do one more thing for Israel. (and reach his potential?)
2) True potential & the role of agency
How often do we look at someone who has done good in this life and think, "well he had a special calling," or "he is a prophet" or "an angel came to him, of course he knew what to do." Visions and visitations do not guarantee a persons conversion and diligence in the gospel, and Samson is not the only example we can look at for that understand.
We each have great potential. We were sent here to this earth with a purpose. We have a choice whether to embrace it or not.
3)Deliverance
While it is sad to think of all Samson might have done, if he had been faithful, it is glorious to know that when we call upon God, at whatever stage of life we are, He will give us the strength we need. He will deliver us. He will forgive us, and help us to accomplish His works. In the end, the Lord delivered Samson, just as he delivers us when we call out to him.
4) Nothing can upset the Lord's plans.
Samson was called to "deliver Israel." And in the end, when he turned to the Lord, he was able to do that by bringing the building down on the wicked.
The Lord knows how it will all work out. We don't understand why it couldn't have been sooner, and we wish it had, but the Lord understands the timing of all things. Samson had some lessons to learn, too.
5) We have a life time to reach our potential.
The Lord knows that we need this lifetime to learn and grow. He gave Samson that same opportunity that he gives us. He never gives up on us.
5) True Vision.
Samson gained vision, when he lost his eyes. Before then, he had totally lost sight of what was most important. He could not fulfill his calling to deliver Israel and overcome the Philistines (the world) until that happened.
Yes the "super hero" let us down, but his story is a TYPE for our lives.
(thanks! I enjoyed that!)
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