Samson

We think of Samson as a big, strong hero of the Bible, but he was actually quite a disappointment. He was the only Judge who failed to deliver Israel from an oppressor and lived a life riddled with self-centeredness and blatant disregard for God. His life began with such promise... an appearance from the Angel of the LORD, who is commonly thought to be a preincarnate Christ, told his parents that he would be dedicated to God as a lifelong Nazirite and would begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistenes. Samson's parents clearly recognized the visitor as being God Himself, as Manoah said in verse 22, "We shall surely die for we have seen God". A similar appearance to Gideon was preceded by the words "Peace to you, do not fear, you shall not die". God had told the Israelites that no one could see his face and live, so it is clear that these people knew who they were dealing with.


So God had big plans for Samson. Though he carried out his vow as a Nazirite, Samson did not seem to take his vow seriously. First, he seeks to marry a pagan woman, based solely on carnal lust ("Get her for me! She looks good to me!"). Then on his way to meet her and make arrangements for the marriage, he is attacked by a lion, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, is able to kill it. This act of touching a dead body was very serious for any Israelite, but especially for a Nazirite. The act alone should have caused him to shave his head and be unclean for 7 days. But either because he is in a hurry to marry and wants to avoid the 7-day delay or because he cares so little for his vow, Samson tells no one of the incident. And to add insult to injury, he passes by the carcass days later and reaches into and eats honey from it! That is blatant disregard for his Nazirite vows. Other glimpses of his character flaws become apparent after his betrothed nags the answer to his riddle out of him, forcing him to make good on a bet he had no intention of having to honor. This sets in place the killing of 30 townsmen, which was not the honorable way of paying his debt but interestingly comes about after the "Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him".

This circles back to verse 14:4, when Samson was begging his father to get the attractive Philistene woman for his wife. The verse reads, "His father and mother did not realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistenes, who ruled over Israel at the time". This is another good example of God's perfect will versus His permissive will. God wants Samson to deliver the Israelites form the Philistenes. That is His perfect will. But He can see, from this episode if nothing else, that Samson's heart is not truly His. God would have to achieve His good purpose in a more roundabout way due to Samson's fickle heart. So He uses the Philistene woman to stir up enmity between the two nations, knowing that Samson's rage would result in a killing spree for which retaliation would ensue. After he deserts his wife, she is given in marriage to another and Samson kills 1000 Philistene men in an act of vengeance.

Tomorrow's reading: Judges 16-18:31