Day 99, Chronological Bible Study Timeline. Map. Go to today’s Bible reading (use your browser arrow to return): Judges 14–16
Strong-Willed; the Advantages and Disadvantages
Yesterday, we looked at Samuel, a very obedient child who helped Eli, the elderly priest, with his duties in the tabernacle. In today’s Bible reading, we observe Samson, a man with great strength and will who lived about the same time as Samuel in the period of the judges. We might not be physically strong, but this lesson will show us where we can find spiritual strength.
The Philistines ruled Israel forty years because she failed to drive them out of the Promised Land. Now, in God’s mercy and grace, he delivers his people using Samson.
As Samson grows into a young man, the Spirit of God stirs him up when he visits Dan’s army camp. Unlike other judges, Samson does not lead Israel into battles against their invading foes; he is the lone conquering hero. Samson has his weaknesses, however—a rebellious spirit and women.
His mother and father desire him to marry within their tribe or marry an Israelite from one of the other Israelite tribes. This was required by God (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). Still, their son is determined to marry a Philistine woman.Samson breaks his Nazirite vow
On his way to make the arrangements for his marriage, a lion attacks Samson. He kills it with his bare hands, pulling him apart like someone might sever a young goat. Later, after he and his parents make the arrangements, he takes honey, made from bees in the carcass of the lion, and shares some with his parents. They are unaware of its source. Samson touched the dead lion to get the honey, which is a violation of his Nazirite vow.
God uses Samson’s strength against the Philistines
When the marriage ceremony nears, thirty Philistine men attend Samson. He makes a bargain with them that if they can discover the meaning of a riddle, he will give them thirty garments. However, if they cannot, they are to provide him with thirty garments. After a few days of frustration with the riddle, they threaten his bride with her life if she cannot get the secret from him. With her constant crying and nagging, he finally tells her. Then she relays the riddle’s solution to the Philistine attendants, and Samson loses the bet.
Samson gets angry, kills thirty Philistines (another breaking of his Nazirite vow), and gives their garments to the attendants. Afterward, he goes back to his father’s house, leaving his bride stranded at the altar. Her father thinks Samson hates her, so he gives her to Samson’s best man.
When Samson’s anger cools, he goes back to Gaza to claim his wife, just to find out she married another man. This makes him angry. So, he catches 300 foxes (or jackals), ties them two by two, attaches torches to their tails, and turns them loose to burn the Philistine crops. When the Philistines find out why he did it, they burn his wife and father’s home with them in it. After Samson discovers this, he attacks the Philistines viciously, slaughtering many of them.
The Philistines hunt down Samson. When they come to Judah, 3,000 men hand Samson over to them.
As [Samson] approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. 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. (Judges 15:14-15, NIV)
Samson is exhausted from the fight and appeals to the LORD for water. The LORD opens up a spring for him to drink to revive his strength.
Samson’s weakness for women is his undoing
At Gaza in the Philistine territory, Samson spends the night with a prostitute. The men of the city surround the house and wait for him at the city gate. However, in the middle of the night, Samson gets up, goes to the city gate, tears it off its posts, and carries it to the top of the hill! God gives Samson strength so that he escapes.
Some time later, Samson falls in love with Delilah, a woman in the Valley of Sorek. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” (Judges16:4-6, NIV)
Three times Samson lies to her, and she does not find the source of his strength, but the fourth time he finally tells her after her nagging.
“No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” (Judges 16:17, NIV)
Later, as he sleeps on Delilah’s lap, she has a man shave the hair off his head, and his strength leaves him. Was there anything magical about his hair? No, Samson violated his Nazirite vow for the final time. The presence of the LORD, typified in his strength, left him.
God avenges Samson; a final blow against the Philistines
The Philistines capture him, gouge out his eyes, let him grind meal like an animal, and make sport of him. But in God’s mercy and grace, Samson’s strength returns as his hair grows. The Philistines do not know this. One day they lead Samson into Dagon’s temple to make Samson “entertain them.”
Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more [true strength comes from God], and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. (Judges 16:28-30, NIV).
Why did God listen to Samson? Yes, He is merciful and gracious to forgive Samson for breaking his Nazirite vow. Then God uses Samson’s strength to prove to the Philistines that he is more powerful than their god, Dagon. Samson looked to God for his strength. Do we? (more...)
View a dramatic summary of the story of the Biblical account of Samson here
Focus Verse
Psalm 105:4 (NIV) “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”
Discussion
What are the dangers of a strong-willed person and the advantages?
What are the dangers of sexual immorality? How can they affect others, too?
Can God use strong-willed or determined people? Give examples
Write a private prayer response to today’s Bible study:
Please send your comments to me, Rod, the author
Looking Ahead: Samson wrongly concluded that the source of his strength was his hair. Other people wear symbols such as crosses which they believe will protect them. Where can The Power of God's Presence be found? Discover more in our next lesson.
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