Judges 13-16 – Samson's story
Judges 13:3-5 - The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You
are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and
give birth to a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other
fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will
become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a
razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the
womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the
Philistines."
God sets apart Samson (Judge of Israel) as a Nazirite from birth. As a
Nazirite (remember, from the book of Numbers), he must abstain from
wine and other fermented drinks. He must allow his hair to grow long
and not bring a razor to his head. He is to be dedicated to the Lord.
As Christians, we understand that we're all dedicated to the Lord;
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).
We also understand that even though we may do good works, we are still
sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Samson's story is a
perfect portrayal of this model. He was set apart for God, but had a
huge weakness for physically beautiful Pagan women. His greatest flaw
was the lust of his eyes.
Samson chose and married two Philistine women (separate marriages)
based on their physical attributes alone. Not one of them loved him.
Both betrayed him. During his second marriage, Samson underwent his
greatest betrayal of all when his wife Delilah manipulated him into
telling her the secret of his great God-given physical strength.
Delilah said, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide
in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't
told me the secret of your great strength" (Judges 16:15). This was
also the third time that Delilah tried to have Samson subdued so that
she could hand him over to the Philistines for money. Nevertheless,
Samson was blinded by Delilah's deception and revealed the secret to
his strength when he said, "No razor has ever been used on my head,
because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb.
If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become
as weak as any other man" (Judges 16:17).
With his secret revealed, Delilah had Samson's hair cut off while he
was sleeping and gave him over to the Philistines. When the
Philistines captured Samson, they gouged out his eyes and set him to
hard labor in prison. As a blind humiliated prisoner, God gave Samson
the strength to overcome the oppression of the Philistines (they had
oppressed Israel for forty years) in one final act. In this act,
Samson gave his life to destroy many Philistines while they were
worshipping their false god.
I admit, when I first read all this I thought Samson's life was a
complete failure. Then I remembered that Samson was commemorated in
the Hebrews "Faith Hall of Fame" in the New Testament. After that, I
realized that Samson's eyes, which had deceived him with lust, were
gouged out for his own good. With the loss of his physical eyes,
Samson could spiritually see and focus on the will of God. I must
confess, I'm just like Samson; I was blinded by sin, but saw God in my
brokenness.
Like Samson, as I mentioned earlier, we have all been set apart by God
to do good works. Like Samson, we will fall short of the glory of God,
but despite this fact, God still sees us for the greatness He knows we
can achieve. Remember, "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect
forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14). In the end,
God remembered Samson for his accomplishments in faithfulness and saw
his failures no more. In the end, you will be remembered in the same
fashion. Let's praise the one who sees only the best in us through
faith in Him.
God Bless,
Anthony
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