ABOUT SAMSON

One really familiar story right from the childhood days of many of us is that of one great judge that ruled Israel—Samson. When we remember that name, a number of things come to mind, including raw strength, the killing of a lion, and the laps of Delilah.

From a surface observation of his story, he married a Philistine woman against the wish of his parents. What really led to his fall? His disobedience? Marriage to Delilah? Or both?

While explaining this story in a meeting in Ifè a couple of months ago, I said something: “Sometimes, when we get too ‘excited’ about a story, the truth will be staring at us in the face; we will be looking at the truth but we won't see it.” This was originally a quote from one of my teachings a couple of years ago about what really happened to Jesus on the cross, in response to the “separation theory”.

Now, let's pay attention to two important facts from Samson's story.

Judges 14:1-3(KJV)

[1]And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

[2]And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

[3]Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Unfortunately, for many of us, our reading perhaps ends here and that's why we conclude that Samson's choice of a Philistine woman against the wish of his parents was what cost him in the end. But is this really so?

I think not.

See the next verse.

Judges 14:4(KJV)

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

In clearer terms, God was involved in that decision Samson made. The Philistines were oppressing Israel at that time and that was the way God wanted to give him access to them in order to defeat them.

Also, it is very important to note that that Philistine woman that Samson married was NOT Delilah.

Her name was never mentioned. In Judges 14, during the wedding feast, Samson got angry with the Philistines for cheating to get an answer to a riddle he posed to them. So, after killing some men in Ashkelon to make up for his own part of the bargain, he left his wife and her family in anger.

This followed

Judges 14:20(KJV)

But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend (best man).

The person that acted as his best man married her.

Judges 15:1-2(KJV)

[1]But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

[2]And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

Samson got angry again because of this and burnt up much of the harvest of the Philistines.

Judges 15:3-5(KJV)

[3]And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

[4]And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

[5]And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Then this followed

Judges 15:6(KJV)

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. and the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

So Samson's wife, together with her dad, was killed. This was quite a long time before Delilah came into the story.

Judges 15:20(KJV)

And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Judges 16:1-4(KJV)

[1]Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

[2]And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

[3]And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

[4]And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

This chapter reveals not just how he ended his life after being set up by Delilah (who wasn't referred to as a harlot anyways) but also his undoing—lasciviousness and folly.

Sleeping around was totally against Jewish customs and sadly, he was even a Nazirite—an Israelite specially consecrated unto God. In addition, despite breaking the rules that guide Nazirites (Numbers 6), he also foolishly let out the information of his life in the process.

The Philistines noticed wantonness as his weakness and took advantage of that till they saw his end.

One thing we can learn from this story is that no matter how great we are, we should always remember that the devil is always lurking around. We must never get overconfident.

A decision to calmly read through his story (Judges 13–16) and not just depend on hearsay will save many from wrong assertions. (This applies to every Bible story.) In the end, Samson's problem was neither a result of choosing against the will of his parents nor his marriage.

Well, his story will never be complete without adding that his folly only led to his early demise NOT to eternal damnation. You read that right!

The book of Hebrews ranks him together with other heroes of faith including Abraham who are rejoicing in heaven today (Hebrews 11:1-40).

Pay attention to a few keywords:

Hebrews 10:38(KJV)

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Hebrews 11:1-2,32-33,39-40(KJV)

[1]Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

[2]For by it the elders obtained a good report.

[32]And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

[33]Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

[39]And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

[40]God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

These elders—our heroes of faith—waited for Jesus' perfect sacrifice and afterwards, they received that perfection.

Hebrews 12:22-23(KJV)

[22]But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

[23]To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Samson is one of these men.

Blessings.

Victor Ibosiola © 2021

Recommended audio teaching: Journey Through the Book of Hebrews (BELIEVERS’ BIBLE CONFERENCE 2020)