Ask any Sunday School child who is the strongest man in the Bible. There will be no hesitation. It is Samson. The winner of any modern-day strongman competition would not be able to stand against Samson. He was the GOAT, the greatest of all time. He tore a lion apart with his bare hands.
There are only a small number of college football players who can bench press more than 400 pounds. Samson could beat them all. Outer strength is very impressive. The best powerlifter at the weightlifting gym is the one who turns the heads of the other weightlifters. But here is an important question, how is their inner strength?
Yes, Samson was the strongest man in the world. He would have turned heads at any weightlifting gym in the world. But there was a glaring character flaw. He had inner weaknesses. No one could defeat Samson matching strength to strength. They did not have to match his strength because all they needed to do was to exploit his inner weakness.
Samson was more than just your powerlifter at the gym. He was one of the judges of Israel. He was a spiritual leader. He led Israel for twenty years. His character and self-control and judgment mattered. Physical strength or intellectual superiority are not enough for the spiritual leader. These strengths don’t even matter that much.
The theme of judges is that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. There was a reoccurring pattern in the Judges:
1. Sin of the nation
2. Punishment
3. Repentance
4. Deliverance.
Each judge represented a whole new generation that had turned from the Lord and needed a leader who would lead them to defeat their oppressors and bring deliverance and peace for years to come.
This pattern had been going on for generations. Of the 16 judges Samson was the 14th judge. In a sense Samson was the last judge before King Saul. The two judges who followed Samson were priests Eli and Samuel, not so much nation deliverers and Judges in the likes of Gideon, Deborah and Samson.
We can see that Samson was a man who God had chosen to be a spiritual leader. Even the circumstances surrounding his birth make that very clear. Samson was chosen to deliver his people from the heavy oppression of the Philistine’s.
Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. (Judges 13:1)
The father of Samson was named Manoah. He and his wife were childless. The angel of the Lord appeared to her (Manoah’s wife) and told her she would have a child. Not only would she have a child, but he would be a leader and deliverer of Israel.
The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (Judges 13:2-5)
Guess who came to tell Manoah and his wife they would have a son? It was the Angel of the Lord. This is something that Theologians call a Theophany. This is one of about 50 Theophanies of the Bible. That is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Manoah thought they would die when they realized they had seen God.
19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. (Judges 19-21)
They had asked the Angel of the Lord his name. The answer: He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding” (Judges 13:18). What a name for the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is beyond understanding.
“We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” (Judges 13:22) Manoah and his wife new they had met the Lord. Samson was a man of destiny if pre-incarnate Jesus came to tell his parents of his coming birth.
The Angel of the Lord spoke to Manoah and his wife about how Samson was set apart for the purposes of God. Samson would be set apart by a Nazarite vow.
But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’” (Judges 13:7)
The Nazarite was set apart. The LORD said to Moses, 2 “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 Nazirite, 3 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. 4 As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. (Numbers 6:2-4)
The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, (Judges 13:24) The symbol of Samsons set apart vow is the hair on his head.
Samson has grown to be the strongest man in the world but there is a problem. Samson wants to marry a Philistine. The Philistines worshiped the god Dagon. The nation Israel is to be set apart and not marry a Philistine. Samson is particularly set apart because of his Nazarite vow.
Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 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.” 3 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.” 4 (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.) (Judges 14:1-4)
The Lord is going to use this. It is not the will of the Lord for Samson to marry a Philistine. When we disobey or crash and burn God will still accomplish his overall purposes. In these instances, we miss God’s best. Samson is the example.
Samson picked his wife by the wrong standards. He did not look for inward spiritual beauty like we are told to do, but he looked to the outward beauty. We read about the importance of inward beauty in Proverbs. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3:3-4)
Putting the focus on the outside led Samson down a disastrous path. His impulsive behavior was going to destroy him. Soon we find he was not with his wife but with a prostitute. Samson had so much going for him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and blessed him with supernatural strength.
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. 6 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. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her. (Judges 14:5-7)
When the lion attacked the Holy Spirit gave Samson strength and he killed it. The Holy Spirit came on him and he ripped the lion in two. Samson later scooped out honey from the carcass of the lion.
He was breaking his Nazarite vow in doing this because he was not to touch any dead thing as his vow of separation. There is also the breaking of his set apart vow in the marriage of the Philistine woman. This was something that he is not supposed to do.
He makes a riddle for the Philistines. Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.” 14 He replied, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For three days they could not give the answer. (Judges 14:14)
They are already becoming close to discovering Samson’s weaknesses that will lead to his downfall. On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?” (Judges 14:15)
His wife is threatened with death. At this Samson kills 30 Philistines. His father-in-law gave his wife to another man, a Philistine man. Samson catches foxes, ties their tails together with torches and burns the Philistine crops for revenge. Later Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with a donkey jawbone. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. (Judges 15:15)
When Samson was at the city gate with a prostitute, they lay in wait for him. They were already well on the way to finding Samson’s weakness. This man of strength thought he could get away with sin. The hot coals were being scooped on his lap. Samson will ultimately get burned.
For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? (Proverbs 6:26-28)
We will especially see this in Judges chapter 16 with Delilah. Samson toyed with sin. His fault was not his desires. His desires could have been wonderfully fulfilled in God’s will. Samson’s strength was no match for sexual temptation.
There is a saying attributed to Martin Luther, you cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair.
Samson needed to know, and we need to learn that it is Godly discipline that prophets greatly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)
We need to put our emphasis on developing our strength where it matters most. In an inward Godly character. Samson had it all. Physical strength, a call to lead the nation for twenty years. He destroyed himself through his spiritual weakness. We must put our value on inward character. We must focus on the things that matter in the life to come.
