Samson is a hero of Israel known for his great physical strength as well as his moral weakness. The last of the 'judges' or 'military leaders' mentioned in the Book of Judges. He led his country in his capacity for about 20 years and lived in a dark period of Israelite history. After the generation of Joshua died out, the people of Israel fell into hedonism, a lawless and faithless life. The author of the Book of Judges summarized these times by declaring, 'In those days there was no king in Israel and every man did as he pleased' - Judg. 7:6; 21:25 - The standard of God's Word, His Law as handed down by Moses was ignored and forgotten.

Samson was a product of that age but his parents gave evidence of faith in the Lord. During a time when the Philistines were oppressing the Israelite, the Lord announced to Manoah's wife that she would bear a son who would be raised as 'a Nazirite'. Samson's birth foretold. This meant that Samson should serve as an example to Israel of commitment to God. Through most of his life, however, Samson fell far short of this mark.

Again the Israelites began to do what displeases Yahweh, and Yahweh delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren, she has borne no children. The angel of Yahweh appeared to this woman and said to her, 'You are barren and had no child. But from now on take great care. Take no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean. For you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy shall be God's nazirite from his mother's womb. It is he who will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines'. Then the woman went and told her husband. 'A man of God has just come to me; his presence was like the presence of the angel of God, he was so majestic. I did not ask him where he came from and he did not reveal his name to me. But he said to me, "You will conceive and bear a son. From now on, take no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be God's nazirite from his mother's womb to his dying day".

Then Manoah pleaded with Yahweh and said, 'I beg you, Lord, let the man of God that you sent come to us once again and instruct us in what we must do with the boy when he is born'. Yahweh heard Manoah's prayer for favour and the angel of Yahweh visited the woman again as she was sitting in the field; her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly and told her husband: 'Look', she said 'the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again'. Manoah rose and followed his wife, and he came to the man and said to him, 'Are you the man who spoke to this woman?' He answered, 'I am'. Manoah went on, 'when your words are fulfilled, what is to be the boy's rule of life? How must he behave?'

And the angel of the Yahweh answered Manoah, 'The things that I forbade this woman, let him refrain from too. Let him taste nothing that comes from the vine, let him take no wine or strong drink, let him eat nothing unclean, let him obey all the orders I gave this woman'. Manoah then said to the angel of Yahweh, 'Do us the honour of staying with us while we prepare a kid for you'. For Manoah did not know this was the angel of Yahweh. The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, 'Even if I did stay with you, I would not eat your food; but if you wish to prepare a holocaust, offer it to Yahweh'. Manoah then said to the angel of Yahweh, 'What is your name, so that we may honour you when your words are fulfilled?' The angel of Yahweh replied, 'Why ask my name? It is a mystery'.......The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew and Yahweh blessed him; and the spirit of Yahweh began to move him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. - Judg. 13:1-25 -

Samson's mighty physical feats are well known. With his bare hands he killed a young lion that attacked him. The spirit of Yahweh seized on him and though he had no weapon in his hand he tore the lion in pieces as a man tears a kid; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. - Judg. 14:5-6 - In Judges 15:4-5 - Samson went off and caught three hundred foxes, then took torches and turning the foxes tail to tail put a torch between each pair of tails. He lit the torches and set the foxes free in the Philistines' cornfields. In this he burned both sheaves corn and the vines and olive trees as well. On one occasion, he broke the ropes with which the enemy had bound him and he also killed a thousand Philistines soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey. It is always with the help and the spirit of Yahweh that Samson gained victory. - Judg. 15:13-16 -

But in spite of his great physical strength Samson was a foolish man. Samson's life was marred by his weakness for pagan women. As soon as he became of age, he fell in love with one of the daughters of the Philistines. he insisted on marrying her, in spite of his parents' objection. This was against God's law which forbade intermarriage of the Israelites among the women of Canaan. On a another occasion he was almost captured by the Philistines why he was visiting a prostitute in the city of Gaza. He took vengeance on those who used devious means to discover the answer to one of his riddles. When deceived by his enemies, his only thought was for revenge. He had not learned the word of the Lord "Vengeance is mine" - Deut. 32:35 - Judges 14,15 -

Samson eventually became involved with Delilah, a woman from the Valley of Sorek who proved to be his undoing. - Judges 16 - The Philistines bribed her to find out the key to his strength. She teased him until he finally revealed that the secret was his uncut hair, allowed to grow long in accord with the Nazirite law. While he slept, she called the Philistines to cut his hair and turned him over to his enemies. Samson became weak, not only because his hair had been cut but also because God had departed from him. - Judg. 16:20 -

After his enslavement by the Philistines, Samson was blinded and forced to work at grinding grain. Eventually he came to his senses and realized that God had given him his great strength to serve the Lord and his people. Then he prayed to God for strength and God answered his prayer. He killed thousands of the enemy by pulling down the pillars of the temple of Dagon. - Judg. 16:28-31 - That one great act of faith cost Samson his life but it won for him a place among the heroes of faith. Out of weakness he was made strong by the power of the Lord. - Heb. 11:32-34 -

Samson was a person with great potential who fell short because of his sin and disobedience. Mighty in physical strength, he was weak in resisting temptation. His life is a clear warning against Pride, Abuse of Power, the danger of Self-Indulgence and the lack of Discipline.


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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -