About Judges & Samson
When you read the Old Testament, you will find that Israel (as a whole) often fell into cycles of rebellion. Most of the accounts about Israel describe them chasing the desires of their own hearts rather than submitting to God’s Law. The book of Judges depicts perhaps the most rebellious account of Israel’s History. The unknown author of Judges writes:
Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
In spite of Israel’s themes of disobedience, God still brought them Judges in order to determine right from wrong. The pattern of the book of Judges is that Israel would fall into sin and idolatry, become enslaved by their sin, cry out to God, God would raise up a judge, Israel would be delivered, then fall back into their sin once again.
Judges 2:16-19
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
Judges is a historical account of Israel’s disobedience and an example of how disobeying God only causes us hopelessness and destitution. In the book of Judges, God uses each judge to display this truth.
Perhaps the most familiar judge is Samson (seen in chapters 13 to 16). His story begins with his miraculous birth. An angel of the Lord announced that Samson would be born, instructing that he would take on a Nazirite vow, which was a pure dedication to God. This vow included abstaining from wine, avoiding contact with dead bodies, and not cutting his hair, which we discover later was the source of his incredible strength.
Samson's life was marked by his struggles against the Philistines, Israel's enemies. He performed extraordinary feats of strength, such as killing a lion with his bare hands, slaying a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, and tearing down the gates of Gaza.
However, Samson's downfall came through his relationship with Delilah, a Philistine woman. She was bribed by the Philistine leaders to discover the secret of his strength. This revealed several weaknesses in Samson: such as the source of his physical strength, his naivety to his own heart, and his vice for lust.
Throughout Samson’s flaws, God still uses him to do what he was created to do. In his final act, he destroyed the vast majority of the Philistine army with one single action. The story of Samson is one of mystery and God’s Sovereignty. It also displays God’s tendency to use broken people to complete His purposes.
