Samson and the Philistines

He learned the hard way that God is not mocked...

There are three people whose birth was foretold by God in scripture; Jesus, John the Baptist, and Samson. Jesus described John the Baptist this way “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11).

Samson, on the other hand, was an oath breaking philander who was as foolish as he was arrogant. If you read the entirety of his story, detailed in Judges 13-16 you would be hard pressed to find much of anything he didn’t do out of vanity, selfishness, or pride. But somehow Samson’s name is included in the book of Hebrews as a man who lived by faith (Hebrews 11:32).

While reading through Judges recently the end of the story stood out to me.

“Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.” (Judges 16:13–14)

If your goal is kill your enemy, why tie him up in his sleep? Why wouldn’t you just slit his throat and be done with it? Maybe for the same reason the pharisees didn’t kill Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. The Philistines didn’t just want to kill Samson, they wanted to humiliate him.

After Samson foolishly mocks his Nazarite vow by telling Delilah he is not allowed to shave his hair, the Lord abandoned him. The Philistines gouged out Samson’s eyes and imprisoned him. But that wasn’t enough for them. They wanted to prove to all of Israel that YAHWEH couldn’t protect them.

“Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them.”(Judges 16:23–25)”

Samson learned the hard way that God is not mocked. He refused to kill the sin in his life, he refused to choose the right friends, he refused to think truth. He took God’s power for granted using it for his own pleasure instead of to serve the people of Israel. Samson’s life of sin cost him everything. But in the end he still learned his lesson. As he was standing in the middle of that stadium he called out “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” (Judges 16:28)

The last thing Samson did in life was Join God. His words almost echo the sinner on the cross who offered a similarly simple plea “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)

Living by faith is nothing more than fully humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging that He truly is Lord of our lives. We can’t do this in our strength, but thankfully God doesn’t ask us to.

Shawn

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