Samson’s Story
For context, this biblical narrative is found in Judges 13-16.
INTRO
Samson. One of the most famous judges of the Bible. I’m not gonna lie, it’s very easy to dismiss him and to make him a caricature (like a cartoon), with his Herculean strength and his well-known ‘situation’ with Delilah…
Samson is commonly preached with a focus on romantic relationships, but I’d like to dive into his life and share how I think the message of his story can be applied more universally.
STORY
So. Samson was the son of a woman who was barren (unable to have kids). But one day the Angel of the Lord came and prophesied that this kid was going to be special, separated, and to be dedicated to the Lord, and that no razor should ever touch his head, because he was to be a Nazirite. His calling was to lead Israel as a judge and to deliver them from the Philistines, the enemy who ruled over them.
Samson’s parents received this message and I imagine they were overjoyed and happy, not just because they were going to be blessed with a son, but also because he would have this special calling over his life.
…does anybody else find it interesting, though, having known the story of Samson, that this prophecy sounds good— a little good, actually. Like it doesn’t sound like his life would be riddled with trials and errors and disaster… like the prophecy sounds good, but it doesn’t mention the struggle, the hardship, the pain, or the betrayal involved in his special calling.
and sometimes we’ll see that God operates that way, and say, “it’s gonna be amazing!” but when you’re actually going through it, you wonder because you say to yourself, “wait, but this hurts…” or “uh, are you sure this is it, God…?”
Because we might believe in the prophecy itself but it’s worth it to ask: how much is it actually gonna cost?
what’s gonna be the damage? and sometimes He leaves that stuff out because He knows us, and He knows that some of us don’t start projects that we know are going to take a long time…
Some of us run at the first mention of pain; some of us perfectionists think that from here to there will be a straight line—because that’s how we want life to go— but we all know that that’s usually not the case!
***
So the prophecy was said, and the parents were happy about it. Samson grows up and one day he finds a Philistine woman and tells his dad, “hey dad, I see a Philistine woman and I want to take her as a wife.”
His dad, confused, says, “a Philistine woman?? you must be out of your mind—”
Samson: “I said I want that Philistine woman! Now go fetch her to me!”
and I imagine that father took one look at Samson’s muscles and responded “as you wish, son.”
And Samson went on to marry her.
It was something of a Romeo and Juliet story; the families were rivals, love between them was forbidden, and the story ended with a tragic ending…!
because she was a Philistine! She belonged to the group of people that oppressed Israel, the oppressors! …but Samson couldn’t see that…
because when you’re in love you sometimes don’t notice certain obvious things…
(well, apparently obvious to everyone else…)
but he married her regardless.
Now the Bible doesn’t say much about her, except that she was a little naggy. What do I mean?
Well one day, when Samson challenged his friends to see if they could find out the answer to his riddle, she kept asking him to give her the answer over and over and over… she even cried so that Samson would tell her—
and he did. he told her the answer to his riddle.
and do you know what she did??
…she went ahead and gave away the riddle’s answer to the people!
correction: to HER people. the verse says to HER people, the Philistines!
***
See she was married to an Israelite, but her loyalty was to the Philistines. Interesting.
Well, this episode doesn’t end well:
Samson kills 30 people out of anger, in response to this
Samson’s father give away Samson’s wife to this friend (some friend…)
and the Philistines burned her alive!!
[you didn’t know there was this much drama in the Bible]
So she died. She was burned alive by the Philistines, who she was trying to help out, and This is how they repaid her!
This is what she got in return for partnering up with the enemy: death by fire. (did you get that?)
This is what she got in return for partnering up with the enemy: death by fire!
***
and now Samson, the Nazarite man of God, is a grown man, and a widower. devastating.
Along comes a prostitute. and you already know what was likely to happen here…
Samson sleeps with her, and they spend the night.
And that’s one way to deal with the loss of your spouse… not a good way At All. but this is his life: his wife is gone. the Philistines want him dead. and, wait— Who is that ???
[enter Delilah]
OMG.
he fell in love.
he fell in love.
it’s interesting that it says that he only “liked” his first wife, but here it says he fell in love.
the Bible doesn’t really say much about her either, except that she really wanted to know the answer to another riddle:
…what do I have to do in order to get you to do what I want?
…by the way that’s the same question the Devil asks everyday!
-what do I have to do get to you say ‘yes’ to me??
-how can I get you to do what I what you to do??
-who do I have to bring?
-how much $$$ money are we talking….?
and it’s tempting.
He offers food to those who fast, and of course he offers sin everywhere you look.
Remember, he even offered Jesus the world! He once told Jesus, “I’ll give you all of this if you bow down and worship me!”
So the the devil and Delilah were intent on learning the answer to that riddle. But here’s another one:
Q: how can the enemy defeat a strong man of God?
answer: an ungodly relationship
answer: seduction. sex. options.
answer: whatever pic she sent last time seemed to work pretty well…
answer: make him too busy to pray. give it time. watch his strength leave him, and then go in for the kill.
***
Now Delilah had a role to play in Samson’s life. Her motivation was $$$ money, and when they offered it to her she was sold! So she went undercover, working for the other team— when the Philistines paid her to find out the secret of his strength, she got to work…
“Babe… can you tell me what’s the secret of your strength…?”
“Wha— what do you mean?”
”I mean, let’s say someone wanted to kidnap you, hypothetically. How could you be tied up…?”
and I don’t know why he even answers this, but he says:
“Oh it’s with string!” so she ties him up with string, but he breaks out!
“Oh it’s with rope!” so she ties him up with rope, but he breaks out!
“Oh tie my braids up!” so she tied up his braids, but he broke free again!
“Babe!! you lied to me! Seriously… tell me…”
and so Samson, special child of God, could not see the obvious: that this woman was actively trying to capture him! and he couldn’t see it.
But she nagged him and nagged him until it says he was sick to the death of it. and he finally says, “alright I’ll tell you— I’ll tell you the secret to my strength. I’m a a Nazirite. When I was young, I took a vow. If you cut my hair, my strength will go away.”
and she says, “Ohhhhh… ok. ok. I’ll be right back!”
She goes on to tell the Philistines and she sends them to go shave his head, get this—after he fell asleep on her lap!
-and his strength left him!
***
Now you can see that this situation is pretty bad, huh?
Samson was completely unaware that his whole life was about to change for the worse.
The trance on him was heavy.
Because first he fell in love with the enemy. and if that wasn’t bad enough,
then, he fell asleep in the lap of the enemy.
It actually says she lulled him to sleep, and while it doesn’t mention which lullaby she sang, whatever she did, it worked. She had him right where she wanted him.
When he woke up, he tried to shake himself free, with his strength, but he couldn’t get out.
His strength had left him. And even worse: the Lord had left him.
He couldn’t escape.
***
THE SOURCE OF HIS STRENGTH?
But there’s something worth exploring further: I want to go back to Samson’s idea of the secret of his strength. We take it for a fact that his strength was predicated on his hair, simply because he says so.
The angel, however, does not define what would happen if a razor touched his head, the angel just says that no razor is to touch his head…
You see, if cutting his hair could take his strength away, then his strength would be predicated on his hair, or perhaps continent on his obedience to never shaving.
but that was simply not the case. I’ll explain:
Note that it says the Spirit of the Lord came over him when he tore apart the lion with his bare hands, when he tore the doors of the city gate, and even when he killed the 30 in Ashkelon, it was the Spirit of the Lord that was the SOURCE of his strength. and for him to credit his hair is to miss the point completely.
So that’s exactly why God allows his capture and takes away God’s strength, because he did not recognize the true source of his supernatural power…!
***
SAMSON’S LAST SCENE
They went ahead and gouged his eyes out and sent him to prison. So he was detained, wounded, devastated once again.
The Philistines were so happy to celebrate his capture, and they actually called on Samson to perform for their delight, as if we were some kind of clown or something.
And this— this was his lowest point. He didn’t have eyes but he could hear the laughs, the sneers, the mockery of the crowd, of the enemy.
And he might have been thinking, “…how did I even get here…?”
I mean, this was a guy who had it all: status, position, power, good looks, supernatural strength. And above all, the Spirit of the Lord was over him!
But he aligned himself with romantic partners who did not serve him. They didn’t have his best interest in mind; they served the Philistines.
And for allllll the people who give 100% of the blame to Delilah, I’ll remind you that it was Samson who chose her in the first place!
Yes, Delilah seduced him, and nagged him, and betrayed him… but that was His Type !!
this was his type.
well actually, let me be fair, it was either that or a prostitute.
So we must be careful who we align ourselves with! This goes for friends, business partners, and even family members, not just relationship partners.
But this was the kind of woman he chose time and time again. This was him not learning his lesson from his first relationship, from his first marriage, from his first mistake, from his last fall…
And the issue was that his ladies chose the side of the oppressor instead of their lover.
They chose the enemy over their teammate.
This was a classic case of “unequal yoke,” a partnership model that does not work due to imbalance.
***
OPEN YOUR EYES
But how could Samson not see this?? How could he not perceive it was a bad idea, to get with a Philistine woman when the Philistines oppressed Israel? How could he not see that every time Delilah asked about rope, he was tied up with rope? and that every time she asked about string, he was tied up with string?
How could he not see?
Whether he was blinded by love or blinded by sin, he didn’t seek the help of the guide that the blind often use.
Blind people use guide dogs and white canes— it’s what the blind rely on instead of their own sight (because how would that work?)
The deeper problem is that Samson may not have even been aware of his inability to see. And it’s ironic and redundant that they gouge his eyes out because he was already blind on some level…
***
This story is a lesson in situational awareness.
like, “open your eyes and see.” just see.
look around. what does it look like for you, in your life? can you not see that what we did is not right? that we are not on the right path? that life shouldn’t be this way…? or are we too blind to see it…?
***
I remember looking for my phone one night while laying on my bed. I kept feeling around for it but I couldn’t find it. After a few minutes I finally got up and turned on the light, and there it was. Voila.
and the thought came to me: it’s amazing what you can see when the lights are on.
it’s amazing what you can see when the lights are on.
and so, spiritually, that light is always gonna be Christ. but we gotta open our eyes to the reality of our situation.
Looking in the dark left me confused and it took me much longer, I was so inefficient… yet with Light there is clarity and I didn’t waste any more time. And that’s what happens when we bring that Light everywhere we go: we won’t be going in circles like we would be in the dark.
So that’s one big idea: open your eyes and see. turn on the light and let that be your Guide.
THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH
The other idea is that in this walk, it’s not just the blind that need to rely on the Guide Dog or that white cane that informs them of danger, potholes and dead ends… it’s actually everyone who needs to rely on a Source higher than ourselves, in every way…
but in the story, Samson makes it clear that he relied on his own strength and obedience. He doesn’t consult God for his decisions; he doesn’t praise God for the supernatural help… you get this sense that he looks down at his muscles with pride, thinking his power lies in his arms, or in his hair, or in his decision not to get a haircut.
Well God turns that all upside down when realizes his strength left him. Even more tragic, the Spirit of the Lord left him there, to his own devices. So that he could see that the supernatural strength was not his own, but that it came from God.
God used the Philistines to humble him, and humiliation is a very effective medicine for those who struggle from pride syndrome. It was unfortunate, but it worked: Samson, in a moment of realization, had an awakening.
because he slept in the lap of the enemy, but this was his eye-opening breakthrough: that I can’t do this alone. I admit it. my strength comes from God and only God… I could never do it on my own, it was always His help that got me there, even when I didn’t understand or realize it…
[this is him starting to open up his eyes]
and so he looks up in prayer and says, “God I recognize that YOU are all powerful. not me. You have bigger muscles than I do. now, please remember me. strengthen me, so that I may conquer the enemy once more. I know I messed up; I know my pride and ego got in the way. I wanted your gift for all the wrong reasons, to impress all the wrong people… please—”
and that was the 3rd lesson here: humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
CLOSING
So the Lord heard his prayer and his strength returned, and Samson took out the enemy! And it was not just a few hundred like before— it says he killed more enemies that day than he did all his life! Mind you, he was wiping out the enemy; there’s a spiritual lesson here. but God glorified Himself once more through Samson to complete His mission.
do you remember? the prophecy that was spoken over his life in the beginning?
God was able to use him as a vessel, and was able to complete the good work that was started in him.
Now, did he play with fire? yes he did, and he got burned!
It’s true that he couldn’t see the obvious at times and it did get messy— but when there is a Word from the Lord over our lives, we ought to know and believe that God will make good on that Word that was spoken from the beginning.
Samson learned to give up pride, to rely on God, and stepped up to complete God’s work. It’s a really beautiful story. But for this story to be relevant in our own lives, let us consider three things as we close:
who are you aligning yourself with? are they people with your best interest? are they Godly people who are on your side?
how can we rely more on God, instead of relying on our own strength? how can we allow Him to be a Light to our path, and our Strength when we are weak?
have you doubted His prophetic promise? because let this be a reminder that His Word Will ALWAYS Come To Pass. No matter what it looks like.
Let’s pray so that He might show us how to respond to these questions. Thank you for reading.
God bless.