Judges 13-16
I’m guessing we are all familiar with Samson as a man with long hair and incredible strength. We hear of his great strength as children, and we wonder what his hair has to do with it. I remember as a young boy browsing through The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes and seeing a picture of Samson with the gates of Gaza, and being amazed, thinking how cool it would be to have such might. We think of him as a great hero, and indeed his name is right there in Hebrews 11:32 alongside Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, David, and Samuel.
But then we read Samson’s story as adults, and we think, “This guy is a hero of the faith?” And we are right to wonder. Samson demonstrates any number of character flaws, yet the LORD uses him anyway.
Samson’s story begins before he is even conceived, with the announcement by the angel of the LORD of his coming birth. We see in this announcement hints of future characters: Samuel, John the Baptist, even Jesus — but the path Samson takes is somewhat different from theirs. Samson is called to be a Nazirite, set apart to the LORD. (See numbers 6:1-21.) In fact, he is the only person in the entire Bible that is explicitly called a Nazirite. But aside from the angel’s declarations and Samson’s long hair, we’d likely never guess it. Except at the very end, his life certainly does not reflect the devotion to the LORD that we might expect from a Nazirite.
Instead, we see an arrogant, spoiled brat. We see a man who indulges his own passions and whims, contrary to his father’s expressed wishes — and contrary to the LORD’s commands. (Jg. 14:2-3) We see a man who is confident that he is someone special — after all, his parents surely tell him so with stories of the angel’s visit — so he does whatever he wants. We see a man who acts foolishly, placing trust in untrustworthy women, all in his own pursuits.
And yet…
The LORD uses even this man to accomplish His purposes. Samson judges Israel for twenty years, with multiple exploits and victories against the mighty Philistines, all in the strength of the LORD, despite Samson’s flaws. It is clear to us that all of Samson’s awesome might comes from the LORD, but it is not so clear whether Samson himself fully understands that — until, deprived of his strength, blinded, imprisoned, and made to grind at the mill like an ox, Samson finally fully lives into his Nazirite vow, not just by letting his hair grow, but by giving himself up to the LORD. He calls upon the LORD to strengthen him (Jg. 16:28) and pulls down the temple of the Philistines, gaining a greater victory in his death than he had ever seen during his life. (Jg. 16:30)
It is in his death that Samson is most like Christ, stretching out his arms between the pillars as Christ spreads out His arms on the Cross (as noted by Caesarius of Arles). There in death is where the real victory lies.
And so it is with us. The Lord may give us any number of gifts, talents, and abilities, and He can use us regardless of whatever flaws we bring to the table. But He uses us best when we empty ourselves, when we deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him.
Tying up a few loose ends… Today’s second verse begins, “A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites…” (Jg. 13:2) So Manoah, then Samson was from the tribe of Dan. We discussed this tribe last Sunday in our RTB gathering, how the Danites had not been able to take their allotted land and moved to the northernmost part of the Promised Land. See Joshua 19:47. We discussed their lack of faith in the Lord defeating the locals, so for whatever reason they could not take their inheritance and moved north. The locals that they were dealing with were the Philistines, the peoples that Samson confronts in his battles in today’s reading. Back on March 9 John posted a map of the division of the Promised Land among the 12 tribes. Here is that map again:
At the bottom of the map, to the west of Judah bordering the Mediterranean Sea you can see the land of the Philistines. Just north of that land is Dan’s allotted inheritance. Finally, to the far north you can see the city of Dan, their new tribal location. So, Samson’s doing battles with the Philistines is an example of the difficulties the Danites faced in occupying their allotted inheritance.
We will visit Dan again tomorrow in Judges 18, and we’ll visit the Philistines again a few more times as we read about Saul and David.
Thanks, Fred. I would emphasize again that the failure of the Danites (or any of the tribes) to conquer their land is not just because the Philistines are strong. (The Philistines are nothing compared to the LORD.) The failure is due to sin on the part of the Israelites, as Judges 1-2 makes abundantly clear.