Heroes Of The Bible: Samson Series

Heroes of the Bible: Samson

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 8/8/2021

NOTE: This sermon was adapted from my book, Holy Heroes of the Bible. If it's a blessing to you, please consider buying the book which includes chapters/sermons on 17 additional Bible heroes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SBNJTSZ

As most of you are well aware, we are about half way through an action-packed series on the Heroes of the Bible—heroes who stood up for what was right, sacrificed everything, and even wrestled with God himself. Each of these heroes accomplished extraordinary things because they joined forces with God.

So far, we’ve been inspired by the heroic endeavors of Noah—the hero who built an ark, Abraham—the hero whose faith founded a nation, Jacob—the hero who wrestled with God, and Moses—the hero who was rescued as a baby, rejected by his people, but redeemed and recruited by God. Before we dive into the story of our next hero, though, we need to make an important distinction.

The comicbook world is full of heroes of every variety. Many, like Superman and Captain America, are altruistic crime fighters with strong morals and clear-cut distinctions between right and wrong. But not all characters see things so black and white. For some, heroic deeds fall on a tortuous greyscale that blurs the boundaries between hero and villain. These vigilantes—including characters like Wolverine, the Punisher, and Deadpool—are known as anti-heroes. Anti-heroes battle bad guys, but they’re not exactly good guys. They’re not role models, they frequently compromise their moral integrity and will stop at nothing to accomplish their goals, even if that means violently killing anyone who gets in their way.

Surprisingly, these comicbook anti-heroes bear a striking resemblance to the next hero in our lineup. As we leaf through the pages of the book of Judges, we meet someone who is one of the most flawed, imperfect people in all of Scripture. His name is Samson.

Next Slide: Samson

When I was a kid attending Sunday School, Samson was my favorite hero of the Bible. God chose Samson from birth to become a hero to his people; a champion who would push back against the oppressive onslaught of their enemies, the Philistines—the quintessential bad guys of the Bible. God imbued Samson with real superpowers, including super-strength, stamina, and invulnerability. He performed several feats of super-strength, including ripping a giant iron gate off its hinges, tearing apart a lion with his bare hands, and defeating an entire battalion of Philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey. Samson had all the makings of a real-life superhero. Sadly, Samson may have been super, but he was no hero. In Sunday School lessons, we often gloss over the fact that Samson was an immoral, irresponsible, inebriated jerk who often endangered the Israelites he was supposed to protect. He was about as imperfect as they come. The truth is—Samson was an anti-hero who had more vices than virtues. But there is still much we can learn from Samson’s action-packed adventures.

Since the book of Judges devotes more paragraphs and pages to Samson’s story than any other, I won’t be able to cover the whole thing from start to finish; rather I’ll just hit some of the highlights that help round out Samson’s personality. One of the first things we notice about Samson is his rage.

• SAMSON’S RAGE

To say Samson suffered from anger issues would be an understatement. Scripture first highlights Samson’s rage at his bachelor party. As was the custom back then, Samson threw a week-long party to celebrate his upcoming nuptials and among the guests were thirty Philistine men. Since the Philistines were Israel’s enemies, Samson loved antagonizing them, so he proposed a wager: “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing. But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing” (Judges 14:12-13 NLT). Well, Samson tells them the riddle and several days go by. As the Philistines grow more and more puzzled by his challenge, they decide to threaten his blushing bride and convince her to tell them the answer. She coaxes it out of her trusting fiancée and reports back to the Philistines. So, before sunset on the last day of the feast, they find Samson and give him the answer to his little brainteaser. Immediately Samson knew that his bride had betrayed him, so he storms out of the celebration fuming with rage. And, the Bible says, “He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother.” (Judges 14:19 NLT). Samson flew into a rage, murdered thirty men, and called off his wedding over a stupid bet.