To set the stage of Samson's birth, Israel was under the rule and oppression of the Philistines. Samson was born a Nazarite and was chosen by God to fulfill His work in Israel, and he was given extraordinary strength to do it. The Book of Judges contains the story of his life.
Again, the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for 40 years (Judges 13:1). At this point, the author introduces us to a man named Manoah, whose wife was unable to conceive (Judges 13:2). There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and bore no children.
The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You will give birth to a son," and that son, that miracle, would be Israel's next deliverer (Judges 13:3). The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed, now you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. " This is a unique event that happens several times in the Bible, such as the birth of Isaac in the Old Testament and John in the New Testament.
This promised boy would grow up to save Israel from the power of the Philistines. With this role came a job condition that none of the other judges had; the angel told Manoah's wife to raise the child according to the Nazarite vow. This vow is explained in Numbers 6:1-5: "The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazarite, they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink.
They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as they remain under their Nazarite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. During the entire period of their Nazarite vow, no razor may be used on their head.
They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long. '" This meant he couldn't drink wine or beer, and he couldn't trim his hair. Interestingly, the angel advised the woman not to consume wine or beer while she was pregnant, nor to eat anything unclean.
That meant her son would be consecrated to God as a Nazarite, even while he was still in the womb. Despite the fact that the heavenly visitor was speaking directly to her, the woman went to her husband and informed him of what had transpired (Judges 13:8-13). Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, "O my Lord, please let the man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.
" And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah, her husband, was not with her. Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband and said to him, "Look, the man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me. " So Manoah arose and followed his wife.
When he came to the man, he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to this woman? " And he said, "I am. " Manoah said, "Now let your words come to pass.
What will be the boy's rule of life and his work? " So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman, let her be careful. She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or a similar drink, nor eat anything unclean.
All that I commanded her, let her observe. " Manoah probably mistook him for a mere man sent from the Lord and said, "Please stay here, and we will prepare a young goat for you. " The visitor agreed to stay but said he wouldn't eat anything; it would be more appropriate for the couple to offer a burnt offering.
When Manoah put the burnt offering on a rock as requested, the visitor did something miraculous: he rose in the flame and went up into the sky. At the sight, Manoah and his wife collapsed face down on the ground. Suddenly, Manoah was terrified and said, "We're certainly going to die because we have seen God.
" He rightly equated the angel of the Lord with God (Judges 14:19-24). So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it upon the rock to the Lord, and he did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on. It happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar; the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar.
When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. When the angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord, and Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die because we have seen God. " But his wife said to him, "If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.
" So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson, and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan. Dan, between Zora and Estaol, Manoah's wife named her child Samson. God blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him, readying Samson for the work prepared for him.
Samson made some questionable life decisions for a man who had been set apart for God's service since birth, ultimately proving that God can use a person in spite of himself. Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman there. He told his parents that he wanted to marry her.
His parents tried to speak wisdom into his life by telling him he should not marry someone who was not part of God's people. But they didn't know that his interest in this particular woman was from the Lord, who wanted the Philistines to provide an opportunity for a confrontation (Judges 14:1-4). Samson went down to Timnah and saw their young Philistine woman.
When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife. " His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?
" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me; she's the right one for me. " His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines, for at that time they were ruling over Israel. Samson was attacked by a young lion on his journey to Timnah, where his bride-to-be lived.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him fiercely, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands. This was a strong indication that he had been chosen and enabled by God for a supernatural mission (Judges 14:5-7). Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother.
As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.
Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her. Samson chose to pose a riddle to the Philistines at a feast that was most likely supposed to function as his engagement party. The prize for answering the riddle within a week would be 30 changes of clothes.
In biblical days, an additional set of clothing was a sign of honor and dignity. Samson, thinking about his recent kill and the honey that accompanied it, exclaimed, "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet" (Judges 14:10-14). Now his father went down to see the woman, and there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men.
When the people saw him, they chose 30 men to be his companions. "Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 sets of clothes.
If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me 30 linen garments and 30 sets of clothes. " "Tell us your riddle," they said; "let's hear it. " He replied, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.
" For three days, they could not give the answer. The Philistines grew angry and raged when they couldn't figure out what it meant. The men threatened to kill Samson's bride, who was also one of their own, and her family unless she could get Samson to reveal the answer and share it with them.
Frightened, she wept in front of Samson for seven days, and finally he couldn't take it anymore because she had nagged him so much. As a result, he revealed the solution to her. Later, when the Philistine men parroted the answer, Samson knew how they had obtained it.
The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on him, and he killed 30 Philistine men in another town, giving their clothes to these men to keep the deal he'd struck. He returned home after that, but not with his wife. After some time, Samson brought about further destruction on the Philistines.
He wanted to visit his wife, but her father would not let him enter her room. He had given her to another man because he assumed Samson was not happy with her. He destroyed their crops by catching 300 foxes, tying their tails together with rope and torches, setting them on fire, and releasing them into their fields (Judges 15:1-5).
Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I’m going to my wife’s room," but her father would not let him go in. "I was so sure you hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your companion.
Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead. " Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.
" So he went out and caught 300 foxes, tied them tail to tail in pairs, and then fastened a torch to every pair of tails. He lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.
The Philistines retaliated by slaying Samson's wife and father, and Samson, in turn, avenged the murders with his bare hands (Judges 15:6-8). When the Philistines asked who did this, they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion. " So the Philistines went.
. . Up and burned her and her father to death.
Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I swear that I won't stop until I get my revenge on you. " He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.
The Philistines besieged a village in Judah to pay Samson back while he was hiding in a cave. To pacify the Philistines, three thousand men of Judah went to arrest Samson, saying that he had brought trouble on them by riling up the Philistine oppressors. Don't miss the irony here; they chose to deliver over to the Philistines the man God had sent to save them from the Philistines.
Samson agreed to go along with them only after they promised not to kill him themselves (Judges 15:12-13). They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines. " Samson said, "Swear to me that you won't kill me yourselves.
" "Agreed," they answered, "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you. " So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.
When the Philistines saw Samson tied and approaching, they screamed out. But at that precise moment, the Lord's spirit descended upon Samson in a strong way. This was bad news for the Philistines; you don't want the spirit of the Lord to fall down heavily on someone you're fighting.
Samson's foes were outnumbered because he was empowered by God's spirit. Given his strength, the ropes used to bind him were insignificant. He found a fresh donkey jawbone and used it to slaughter a thousand men.
He was able to accomplish what would have been impossible without the Lord's help (Judges 15:14-15). As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him; the ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.
Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. After finishing his judgment on the Philistines, Samson got extremely thirsty and cried out to the Lord. The Lord graciously replied by restoring his vigor and by creating a spring.
There it was dubbed "Spring of the One Who Cried Out" by Samson, and he judged Israel 20 years (Judges 15:18-20). Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, "You have given your servant this great victory; must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? " Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it.
When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakore, and it is still there in Lehi. Samson led Israel for 20 years in the days of the Philistines.
When the Lord's spirit descended upon Samson, he was accompanied by miraculous activity. In the Old Testament, the Lord's spirit descended on people in response to specific circumstances. Since the time of the New Testament, however, the Lord's spirit has come to dwell in every believer (Ephesians 1:13-14): "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.
" (Romans 8:9) "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. " That means on the side of the cross, the supernatural presence of God is not related to the spirit coming on believers but to the fullness of the spirit at work within us.
The spirit came powerfully on Samson for supernatural purposes. This same spirit is still with us today (Galatians 5:16): "So I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. " That is, we are so preoccupied with living life according to the rules of the world that we forget to recognize his presence in our lives.
We should, on the other hand, be filled with the spirit, which essentially implies living under his authority (Ephesians 5:18): "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery; instead be filled with the spirit. " Samson's personal choices become even more concerning at this point in the narrative. Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her.
Now, for years, the people of Israel had prostituted themselves with other gods (Judges 2:17), and yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a-whoring after other gods and bowed themselves unto them. They turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord, but they did not. They had blatantly compromised with the surrounding culture and betrayed the Lord.
By this season of his life, Samson the leader was openly living in a way that reflected what Israel had been doing. This trend would be his downfall. The Philistines in Gaza discovered Samson was with the prostitute and thought they had trapped him.
They guarded the town's exit, but when Samson was ready to leave, he simply took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gate posts and pulled them out—bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron. You or I couldn't carry these massive doors a block's distance on level ground.
This scene serves as proof that, though Samson was outside of the. . .
Will of God and what He was doing, God had not left him yet. Samson was in a downward spiral when Delilah entered his life, and he fell in love with her in Judges 16, verses 1 through 4. One day, Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute.
He went in to spend the night with her. The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here,” so they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night saying, “At dawn, we'll kill him.
” But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night; then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorec, whose name was Delilah.
It is not clear whether Delilah was a Philistine woman, but her loyalties lay with them and their silver. The Philistine leaders asked her to persuade Samson to confide in her about where his great strength came from so that they could overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. They promised her a great deal of money for her aid (Judges 16:5).
The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “If you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how he can be overpowered, so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. ” Three times, Delilah tried to learn the secret while the Philistines lay waiting to ambush him.
Each time, Samson gave her a false story about the source of his strength, but she steadily wore him down. In the end, Delilah used the very trick Samson's bride had once employed when she betrayed him to the Philistines. She pleaded, “How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me?
” (Judges 16:6–14). So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued. ” Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man.
” Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you! ” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame.
So the secret of his strength was not discovered. Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.
” He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man. ” So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!
” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads. Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you've been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.
” He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man. ” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric, and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!
” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin in the loom with the fabric. She also accused him of making fun of her. Of course, she wouldn't set him up like this if she truly loved him.
He finally gave her the whole truth because she nagged him day after day until he was worn out. “If my hair were cut, I would lose my strength and become like any other man” (Judges 16:15–17). Then she said to him, “How can you say you love me 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. ” With such nagging, she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it, so he told her everything: “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I've 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.
” Delilah was not one to waste time. While he slept on her lap, she shaved Samson's head, and because the Philistine leaders were hiding in the shadows and had brought the silver, she was free to counter filthy money while the deed was done. Once Samson had been made helpless, we read these sad, pitiful words: “When he awoke from his sleep, he said, ‘I will escape as I did before and shake myself free,’ but he did not know that the Lord had left him.
” Samson made the mistake of prioritizing his relationship with Delilah over his devotion to God, and it cost him dearly. This is proof that no human relationship, no matter how intimate, can ever be more important than your relationship with God. Samson paid a high price for his transgression; Samson's eyes were gouged out, he was shackled, and he was forced to labor in prison by the Philistines.
Other words, God's adversaries had taken command of His every move. This serves as a reminder that when God is removed from the equation, Satan takes control of the issue. Judges 16:18-22: When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything.
" So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair. And so began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you! " He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free," but he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza.
Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grind grain in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. We get a sense here that God wasn't finished with Samson just yet.
Why did we need to be told that his hair, which was the source of his power, had started to regrow? His hair's return was an outward symbol that he was inwardly repentant in turning back to God. His repentance would become apparent in his upcoming prayer to the Lord.
To capture your full attention, God sometimes has to take you as low as you can possibly go. Samson was at the bottom of the heap; however, his hair began to regrow. The Philistine leaders assembled to give a huge sacrifice to their god Dagon while Samson crushed grain in the prison.
They were all set to rejoice that their deity had delivered their foe to them. At their gathering, the Philistines were cheerful. They summoned Samson to entertain them, placing him between the temple's pillars.
They were putting themselves in a position to fail by doing so. The temple was packed, and there were probably three thousand people on the roof. Recognizing this, Samson begged God one last time to empower him so that he could bring the Philistines' roof down on them.
He pushed with all of his power, and the temple collapsed on the leaders and the entire populace. Judges 16:23-28: Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands. " When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.
" But while they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to entertain us! " So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.
" Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, "Sovereign Lord, remember me, please. God, strengthen me just once more, and let me, with one blow, get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.
" Thus, Samson killed more of Israel's oppressors that day than he had killed all the rest of his days. Samson, unfortunately, had succumbed to the adulterous culture around him and made bad decisions. Nonetheless, in Hebrews 11:32-33, Samson is mentioned in the Hall of Faith, along with other upright Old Testament heroes such as Daniel.
Every heart should be filled with hope as a result of this inclusion. While Samson was far from flawless, he did get one thing right: he believed God could use him to carry out His will. Therefore, let us trust God, submit to His agenda for our lives, and give Him everything we have.
There are also other great stories of the people of God, such as Esther. To watch your story, click here, and to watch the story of Angel Gabriel, who also gave messages from heaven, click here.
