Samson, a Judge of Israel

Samson, a Judge of Israel

 

We read the story of Samson’s life in Judges 13 – 16, and I personally have had a hard time appreciating this man of God.  Samson is given honorable mention in the famous “faith” chapter (Hebrews 11) of the Bible. He is mentioned along with many other Godly men and women down through the ages who have all had great faith in God.  (Hebrews 11:32) Samson was a one of Israel’s judges between the years of 1085 BC and 1065 BC.

 

 During the time period after Israel entered the Promised Land. (1406 BC) and before Israel got her first king (1050 BC.) was a time when God raised up “judges” to help Israel take over the land, He had promised them and help protect Israel from the Canaanites in the land. These judges served as spiritual, military, and governmental leaders for the people.

 

 God would pour out His Spirit upon a judge who then would fight an enemy who was killing the Jewish people.  Or sometimes the judges would lead a battle and drive out or kill the inhabitants of an area that the Jewish people would take over. Othniel was the first judge (1353-1313 BC.) and Samson was the last judge during this period.  (1085-1065) Deborah and Gideon were among several of the other judges.

 

God raised Samson up as a Judge to help the Jewish people defeat the Philistines.  Scripture describes the Philistines as a nation who “devoured Israel with an open mouth.”  (Isaiah 9:11,12) The Philistines are said to have “taken captive whole Jewish communities and sold them to Edom” (Amos 1:6-8)  In another Scripture we are told that the “Philistines took vengeance and revenge with malice and with ancient hostility and tried to destroy Judah.”  (Ezekiel 25:15-17.  The Jewish people were outnumbered by these cruel warring people. Eventually God judged the Philistines and they no longer exist as a people. (Zechariah 9:5-7)

 

Some liberal Christians today do not believe the Bible where it records the history of Israel being led by God to drive out and kill the Philistines, Canaanites and other godless tribes. Our loving, just and fair God, who knows all things, judged these ancient tribes and only He, their Creator, was and is in the position to be their Judge. These ancient tribes were in such a desperately fallen condition that evidently there was only one remedy: destroy them.  Cut out the cancer so it wouldn’t spread. Many of them sacrificed their children to Baal, burning them on the altar.  

 

The Bible begins telling the story of Samson In Judges 13 where an angel appears to Manoah’s wife and tells her that she will conceive and have a son who will be a Nazirite, or one who is set apart to God from birth.  That his mission would be to begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the evil Philistines. (Judges 13:5) A Nazarite was to show that he was set apart to God by never cutting his hair or drinking wine or other fermented drinks or eating anything that was un-clean.  Samson would be given special Holy Spirit power to begin to deliver Israel from their neighbors, the Philistines. Samson was born as the angel had promised, and the Lord blessed him as he grew, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him (Judges 13:24-25a)

 

When Samson was a young man, he saw a Philistine woman that he thought was attractive, and he asked his parents to get her for him as a wife.  It was the custom then for the parents of the groom to talk to the bride’s father and arrange the marriage.  Samson’s parents were upset and argued with Samson that he had been set apart for God and he should marry a woman from Israel and not a heathen Philistine woman.  But Samson insisted and the marriage took place.

 

During the marriage ceremony Samson told a riddle to the Philistine guests and promised the guests that if they could guess his riddle then he would give them thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. When the Philistine guests couldn’t figure out Samson’s riddle, they harassed Samson’s new wife insisting that she get the answer to the riddle out of her husband.  Day after day, Samson’s wife cried and begged Samson to tell her the answer to the riddle.  Finally, in desperation, Samson told the answer to the riddle to his wife.  But then she quickly ran out and told the answer to the Philistine men who came back to Samson and demanded the thirty sets of clothes he had promised if they could guess his riddle! 

 

Samson was furious at the Philistines and at his wife for going behind his back and telling the Philistines the riddle’s answer.  He rushed out and: “struck down thirty of the Philistine men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle to him demanding the clothing.  Burning with anger he left his wife and stormed off to his father’s house.”  (Judges 14: 19)

 

Since Samson was angry and didn’t go home that night, the wife thought that he was divorcing her.  Her father immediately gave her to another man to be his wife.  A few days later when Samson cooled off and came back to the house where he and his wife were living, he found the wife was living with another man as his new wife.

 

Samson was so angry that he caught three hundred foxes and tied them together in pairs tail to tail.  Then he put a lighted torch on each pair of foxes’ tails and let them loose in the standing grain of the Philistine’s many wheat fields.  All of the Philistine’s wheat that was soon to be harvested for the year was burned up along with their vineyards and olive groves. 

 

The Philistines were so angry with Samson that their men set out to catch him.  But Samson was too strong for that to happen.  One time the Philistines thought they had Samson captured inside the city gates.  But Samson, with Holy Spirit strength, took hold of the doors of the city gate, and tore it loose and carried it to the top of a hill. 

 

Some time later Samson, always the lady’s man, fell in love with another beautiful Philistine woman named Delilah.  The rulers of the Philistines went to Delilah and asked her to lure Samson into showing her the secret of his great strength.  They wanted to know how to overpower him and bring him down.  They promised Delilah a fortune in silver shekels if she would help them.  Delilah agreed to betray Samson, her new lover.  She would soon be a wealthy woman! 

 

Day after day Delilah begged and coaxed and teased Samson trying to make him tell her the secret of his great strength.  Finally, tired of all the fussing, Samson gave in and told her his secret.  His strength came from his God and his long hair was a symbol that he belonged to God.  Cutting his hair would break his vow of loyalty to God.  Samson fell asleep and Delilah quickly cut his long hair and called in the Philistines to capture him.

 

  Samson woke up and started fighting off the Philistines, counting on his usual strength from God.  But God’s strength was gone from Samson.  The Philistines tied him up and put Samson’s eyes out and took him to their city, Gaza, where they bound him with bronze shackles and set him to grinding in the prison.  Round and round poor Samson staggered, blind and pushing the heavy grindstone.  Round and round, grinding corn for his enemies.  But the hair on Samson’s head was beginning to grow.

 

One day the rulers of the Philistines assembled in a huge pillared building in Gaza to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to celebrate capturing Samson.  Thousands of Philistines came for the festivities.  While they were all in high spirits, they called for the guards to bring Samson out of prison so he could entertain them all.  As Samson stood there among the pillars of the building in front of the jeering crowds, he asked the servant leading him around to lead him over to the pillars so he could lean against them.

 

Scripture says that all the rulers and 3,000 Philistines were watching and laughing at Samson that day. Bracing himself against the pillar, his right hand on the one pillar and his left hand on the other, Samson prayed to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me, Oh God, please strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”  Samson pushed with all his might and down came the temple on top of the rulers and on all the people there, killing everyone and killing Samson too.  He killed more Philistines that day when he died than while he lived.  (Judges 16:28-30)

 

Samson had been given great gifts from God.  But he failed to use God’s gifts to His greatest glory.  Samson’s judgeship consisted of single-handed victories over the Philistines, which disrupted their domination over Israel.  But Samson did not liberate Israel from the Philistine oppression.  Samson’s physical strength enabled him to do exploits, but his moral weakness led to his eventual destruction.