November 15, 2025
After Jair lead Israel for 22 years, they once again did evil in the sight of Yahweh. This time, the Ammonites and the Philistines came against Israel at the same time.
The Ammonites came from the East and afflicted Israel (Gilead, and parts of Ephraim, Benjamin and Judah) for 18 years.
Meanwhile, over on the West Coast, the Philistines were flexing their muscles. They would oppress Israel for 40 years.
That brings us to Samon “sun” (13:1-16:31)
Tribe: Dan
Enemy: The Philistines
Samson’s story started out well enough. His parents, Manoah and “his wife,” from the tribe of Dan, had no children.
One day, an “angel” appeared to Manoah’s wife and told her that she would have a son.
“Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean,” because the child is to be a Nazirite from birth. He will begin the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines.
A Nazirite:
• Was set apart for the service of God or who voluntarily took a vow described in Numbers 6:1–21.
• Abstained from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, raisins, intoxicating liquors, vinegar made from such substances, and eating or drinking any substance that contained any trace of grapes.
• Never cut the hair on his head.
• Was not to come in contact with a dead body or anything associated with death (graves, etc.) thus remaining ritually pure.
She went and told her husband, that a man who looked like “an angel of God” had told her she would have a son.
Manoah prayed that the man would come again to teach them how to bring up such a child. Yahweh heard Manoah’s prayer and the “angel” came again to the woman as she was in the field. She hurried home and returned with her husband. Manoah consulted with the “angel” about how to rear the child and then asked him to remain while they prepared a young goat for him.
The angel replied, "I will not eat your food, but you can prepare and offer a burnt offering for Yahweh."
They asked the “angel” what his name was and he said that it was too wonderful and beyond their understanding.
Manoah took the young goat with a grain offering and placed it on a rock before the “angel” and then they watched as a flame blazed up from the altar. The “angel” ascended in the flames and Manoah and his wife fell face down to the ground. He did not appear to them again.
Judges 13:22-23 - "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!" But his wife answered, "If Yahweh had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."
The woman gave birth and named the baby Samson. As he grew, Yahweh blessed him, and the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him….
Some time went by. Samson was now an adult. He went to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman whom he took a fancy to. He went home to his father and said, “I saw a Young Philistine woman in Timnah, get her for me as my wife.”
His parent tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted that she was the right one for him. Samson was not willing to do what was right, instead insisting on doing what was right in his own eyes. In that sense, his life was to become an object lesson to the condition of Israel as a whole.
Verse 4 brings up an interesting question. Did Yahweh guide Samson to marry a Philistine woman or did he simply work through Samson’s own choices to accomplish his goals? Here are some things to consider:
• God had specifically said that Israel was not to marry into the nations that surrounded them (Deut 7:3-4; Joshua 23:12-13).
• Samson was a Nazirite – marrying a Philistine woman would make him unclean.
• In Hebrew thinking, if God allows something, it is credited to him as if he had done it – which would be reflected in the way they wrote.
• James 1:13-15 - When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The SDA Bible Commentary makes this interesting observation: “Even in this unfortunate marriage God was overruling the course of events for the furtherance of His own designs.” – namely, the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines. God ordained that Samson would begin the deliverance of Israel – that was His overarching will. He did not, however, ordain the sins Samson committed, the way he went about doing things, or his willful, selfish, and prideful acts – those, God allowed because free choice is so important to Him. God used Samson’s faulty character and deliberate bad choices to accomplish HIS goals.
As Samson and his parents made their way to Timnah, he encountered a young lion in a vineyard. He tore the lion apart with his bare hands. Task completed, he continued on with his parents to meet the girl he wanted to marry.
Sometime later, on the way to the marriage feast, Samson came across the carcass of the lion and discovered that bees had set up house and were producing honey. He scooped some honey out of the carcass and continued on his way – enjoying the honey as he went.
At the wedding feast Samson made a bet: He would tell the 30 male guests a riddle that they would be unable to figure out. He’d give them a week to solve it. If they figured out the riddle in that time, he would give them 30 everyday garments and 30 fancy garments. If they couldn’t figure it out, they would give him the same.
Game on, what’s the riddle? “From the eater came out food, from the strong came out sweet.”
For 3 days the young men pondered the riddle. On the 4th day they went to Samson’s new wife and threatened her, “Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire…..”
For the next 3 days Samson’s new wife wept. She accused him of not loving her because he refused to give her the answer to the riddle. Nearly nagged to death, Samson finally explained the riddle --- and she told the 30 young men.
As the sun went down on the 7th day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?”
Samson accused them of cheating. To vent his anger, he went to Ashkelon, killed 30 men and took their belongings to pay off the bet, then he went home. His new wife was given to his best man.
Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, Samson returned to Timnah because he wanted to sleep with his wife. Her father met him at the door, “I thought you hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Her younger sister is more beautiful than she is, why not take her instead.”
Less than happy, Samson responded, “Listen, whatever evil I do to the Philistines from now on, I am not to blame.”
Samson captured 300 foxes, tied them tail to tail, put a torch between them, lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain – destroying everything – clear up to the vineyards and olive groves.
Upon finding out who was responsible, the Philistines burned Samson’s wife and her father to death.
Samson: If that is how you are going to be, I will not rest until I have taken revenge on you.
He gave them a thorough beating then went and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
The Philistines invaded Judah. The leaders of Judah wanted to know why the Philistines were there and were told that they had come for Samson, “to do to him as he has done to us.” 3000 men from Judah went to see Samson.
They told him, that while they were not there to kill him, they were going to hand him over to the Philistines. Samson consented and the men of Judah bound him with new ropes and went to meet the Philistines at Lehi.
The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God came over Samson. The ropes that bound him dropped from his hands, then he killed 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.
Sometime later Samson boldly went to Gaza and had sex with a prostitute. The Philistines were told he was in town and they surrounded the house – intent on ambushing him in the morning. Samson got up in the middle of the night, took hold of the city gates, tore them loose, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to Hebron – nearly 45 miles away – all uphill.
After this…… Samson fell in “love” with a woman named Delilah who lived in the Sorek Valley. The 5 rulers of the Philistines approached Delilah and offered her 1100 pieces of silver if she discovered the secret to Samson’s strength and passed that information on to them - She had no problem with the arrangement.
Night 1:
Delilah: You’re so big and strong!! What makes your strength so great? Is there anything that can subdue you?
Samson: Tie me up with 7 fresh bowstrings and I will become like everyone else.
Delilah tied Samson up with 7 fresh bowstrings, then shouted, “The Philistines are upon you Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings with ease - and the secret of his strength remained unknown.
Night 2:
Delilah: Why have you mocked me and told me lies? Please tell me the truth.
Samson: Tie me tightly with new ropes and I will become like everyone else.
Delilah took new ropes and tied Samson up, then shouted, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the new ropes like thread - and the secret of his strength remained unknown.
Night 3:
Delilah: Why are you still mocking me? Tell me the truth!
Samson: Weave my 7 braids into the web of the loom and tighten it with a pin and I will become like everyone else.
Delilah wove Samson’s braids into the web of the loom, then shouted, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Samson woke up and pulled out the pin and the loom with its fabric - and the secret of his strength remained unknown.
Delilah: How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me 3 times, and you have not told me how your strength is so great.
Judges 16:16–17 - And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, his soul grew impatient to the point of death. So, he confided everything to her, and said her, “A razor has never touched my head, for I am a Nazirite of God from birth. If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.”
Delilah informed the Philistine rulers and that night, as Samson slept, they quietly shaved off his 7 braids. In the morning, Delilah shook Samson awake, “The Philistines are upon you!” she shouted.
He said to himself, “no problem, I’ll just go out like every other time and shake myself free,” but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.
…. Little by little he had violated the conditions of his sacred calling. God had borne long with him, but when he had so yielded himself to the power of sin as to betray his secret, that moment God departed from him. There was no virtue in the length of his hair … it was a token of his loyalty to God, and when the symbol was sacrificed in the indulgence of lustful passion, the blessings … were also forfeited. Had Samson's head been shaven without fault on his part, his strength would have remained. But his course had shown contempt for the favor and authority of God as much as if he had in disdain himself severed his locks from his head. Therefore, God left him to endure the results of his own folly (ST Oct. 13, 1881 par. 12).
You know the rest of the story…. Samson lost his hair, his strength, his eyesight and his freedom. He was shackled and placed in the position of an ox to grind grain. He was broken and shattered.
The Philistines rejoiced at his capture, but their victory was short-lived because, “the hair of his head began to grow back.”
Some time went by and the rulers of the Philistines gathered the people at the temple of Dagon to celebrate the humiliation of Samson. They said, “Bring him out so he can entertain us,” so Samson was brought from prison and he performed for the crowd.
Later, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them." The temple was crowded and, on the rooftop, stood 3,000 men and women who were there to watch Samson perform….
Samson was unique, distinctive, special. The extraordinary gifts given to him were to be used in the plans and purposes of God for the deliverance of Israel, Unfortunately, the only thing Samson seemed interested in were his own plans and purposes. He was controlled by self-indulgence and lust and he took what he wanted. He was proud and self-reliant, yet easily manipulated. When denied, he took revenge – not for the glory of God, but because he decided he had been wronged.
In comparing the characters of Joseph and Samson, Ellen White says this, “… Instead of taking hold of the strength of God, he permitted the wild passions of his nature to have full sway. The reasoning powers were perverted, the morals corrupted. God had called Samson to a position of great responsibility, honor, and usefulness; but he must first learn to govern by first learning to obey the laws of God…. Joseph was a free moral agent. Good and evil were before him. He could choose the path of purity, holiness, and honor, or the path of immorality and degradation. He chose the right way, and God approved. Samson, under similar temptations, which he had brought upon himself, gave loose rein to passion. The path which he entered upon he found to end in shame, disaster, and death…” (ST Oct. 13, 1881 par. 18)
And yet…. When Samson turned to God his strength was restored.
Samson prayed, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." then he grasped the 2 central pillars.
Bracing himself against them, he said, "Let me die with the Philistines!"
He pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it.
Samson killed more at his death than while he lived. His family brought him back and buried him in the tomb of his father. He had led Israel for 20 years.
Samson inflicted heavy blows upon the Philistines, but he was unable to destroy their power and rule over Israel. This was left for Samuel to accomplish, after the people “put away their Baals and Ashtoreths and serve Yahweh only.” (1 Samuel 7).
Until Next Time…………..
