Who Was Samson In The Bible
rules of a NaziritePhilistinesThe life of Samson his birthThe life of Samson from temptation to sinJudgesriddleThe life of Samson God will use even flawed, sinful men to accomplish His willGazaThe life of Samson sin has consequencesDelilahThe life of Samson God is mercifulDagon
For Further Study
Samson’s Flaws & Strengths
If you are like me, on first reading about Samson you are left with a bad taste in the mouth. The man is rude, irreverent, obnoxious, immoral, and, it seems, one prone to solve his problems with violence. Not the sort of person youd encourage your son or daughter to spend any serious time with.
However, although blemished by serious moral poverty and faults aplenty, Samson was a man of faith. Such that God chose to use him for His purposes, warts and all. The chief way He did this was by endowing Samson with superhuman strength.
Samson’s mighty physical feats are well known to many. For example: With his bare hands he killed a young lion that attacked him .
Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
- Man Kills Lion, Hyenas Kill ManMoses Lekalau, 35, a herdsman, was walking from a neighbouring village in Maralal with his livestock when a lion pounced upon him. He managed to fend off the animal and used his bare hands and a spear to kill him following a half-hour duel.
Samson Loved Delilah Who Betrayed Him
Sin has consequences. For Samson, it came in the form of Delilah, a Philistine woman whom Samson fell in love with. The Philistines used this to their advantage and bribed her with 1,100 shekels to divulge the secret to Samsons strength so they can overcome him .
After a great deal of trial and error, Delilah procures the source of his strength, his hair, and cuts it. Then the Philistines blind the now weakened Samson and take him captive.
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What Did The Angel Say To Samsons Mother
When the angel of the Lord appeared to her, he informed her : You are barren and have borne no children but you shall conceive and bear a son. The angel mentioned barrenness in order to effect domestic peace: he tells her that she is barren, and this is why she has not become pregnant (Num.
Lesson No : God Can Use Bad Situations To Fulfill His Purpose
Though Samson is known to be one of the strongest men recorded in the Bible, he is not short of weaknesses. His greatest weakness is women, and because of this, Samson is always caught in bad situations.
When Samson became an adult, he decided to marry a woman in Timnah . It is very obvious that Samson is acting carnally. Soon after, his decision to marry outside of his people is proven to be fatal. After a series of events, Samson was betrayed by his wife-to-be, and this had led Samson to initially kill 30 men and then set on fire the standing grain of the Philistines. With this kind of situation, the Philistines sought to exact revenge from Samson, but they failed. Instead, Samson killed 1,000 Philistines and delivered the Israelites from their hands.
We have read the phrase the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him multiple times . This is a phrase that signifies that even though Samson was going against his Nazirite vow, God is still using him to fulfill His purpose.
Judges 14:4 tells us this:
But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lordthat He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
God knows the tendency of Samson, and He used this to create a situation where the Philistines can be destroyed. He can simply change the event, but God chose to interweave His plans to the tendencies of human beings.
The Apostle Paul said:
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What Can We Learn From Samson
Although the story ends sadly with Samsons death, we can derive several applications from his life.
1. We cannot abuse any gifts God has given us.
God gifted Samson with incredible strength, but he often abused it, using the might to show off, rather than bring glory to God. He learns the hard way that the Lord can give and take away gifts in a moments notice.
2. Sin leads to consequences.
Samson didnt see the immediate payout for some of his sin until much later, but it tends to catch us at the worst moments. When we feel like acting on impulse, like he had, we need to remind ourselves of the truth of Scriptures. We will encounter many Delilahs in this world who will try to find our greatest weakness and exploit it.
3. Even at our lowest, God can still use us.
Derived of all strength and humiliated beyond measure, God returns Samson his strength for one last showdown. Although Samson dies in the process, he ends up killing more of Israels enemies than he ever had during his boastful, revengeful days.
Samsons Riddle Is Solved
Frightened and upset, she went to Samson. But instead of being honest with him, she persuaded him to tell her the answer, then she relayed it to the guests.
That evening, the smirking men were able to tell Samson the answer to his riddle. What is sweeter than honey, and stronger than a lion?
Samson saw at once he had been betrayed by his new wife. He knew who had given his secret away. Using a rather crude comparison, he said If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would not have guessed my riddle!
He was seething with anger, but he still had to pay the debt to his wedding guests. So he went down to the Philistine city of Ashkelon and there he murdered thirty men, stripped the clothes off the bodies, and gave them to the men who had answered the riddle. Then, still full of anger, he went home to his parents house.
When his anger had died down, Samson went back to visit his wife, bringing gifts for her. But her father would not even let him into the house. I gave her to one of the wedding guests, he said. But dont worry. She has a younger sister who is prettier. You can have her.
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What Does The Bible Say About Delilah
Delilah, also spelled Dalila, in the Old Testament, the central figure of Samsons last love story . She was a Philistine who, bribed to entrap Samson, coaxed him into revealing that the secret of his strength was his long hair, whereupon she took advantage of his confidence to betray him to his enemies.
Samson And The Girl From Timnath
Samsons mother eventually gave gave birth, and the boy was called Samson.
When he was grown to manhood, he became a fighter, leading his people against their enemies the Philistines. Despite this, Samson had a weakness for Philistine girls. He saw and fell in love with one in a town called Timnath.
Get her for me, he said.
But his parents objected. Cant you marry an Israelite girl instead? they asked.
Get me that one, said Samson. She is the one who pleases me.
So they set out for Timnath, to arrange the marriage.
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Warning To Christians From The Samson And Delilah Story
There are plenty of things we could learn from the story of Samson and Delilah, from lessons about relationships to lessons about being a better member of our communities. Here are three particular lessons we can all start following today:
Watch out for arrogance. Samson first got in trouble when he suggested a riddle that no one but him could solve, with a solution that highlighted his unbeatable strength. He continued to behave arrogantly and take foolish risks throughout his life, and it ultimately got him into trouble. Regardless of how skilled or blessed we are, we need to remember to be humble.
Consider carefully who you fall for. While Samson telling Delilah his secret was foolish, there was a gradual weakening where she pressured him every day. Living with a partner who is foolish, vindictive or just not following God will affect our lives in ways that we dont expect. While most of us wont fall in love with partners who conspire to have us killed, we can all benefit by being careful about the partners we choose.
Read the full Bible passage of this story below and browse related articles, video, and sermons to learn more about its meaning:
How Did Delilah Die In You
He tells himself that she will be alive, but once he makes it to his storage unit, she is already dead in the glass cage. Her throat has been slit and she is surrounded by blood. In the Season 2 finale, Joes girlfriend, Love, reveals that she murdered Delilah. She will most definitely be missed in You Season 3.
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Major Themes And Life Lessons
Samson’s from birth was to begin the deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression . When reading the account of Samson’s life and then his downfall with Delilah, you might tend to think Samson wasted his life and that he was a failure. In many ways he did waste his life, but even still, he accomplished his God-assigned mission.
In fact, the New Testament doesn’t list Samson’s failures, nor his incredible acts of strength. Hebrews 11 names him in the “Hall of Faith” among those who “through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised … whose weakness was turned to strength.” This proves that God can use people of faith, no matter how imperfectly they live their lives.
We might look at Samson and his infatuation with Delilah, and consider him gullible â stupid even. But it was his lust for Delilah that blinded him to her lies and her true nature. He wanted so badly to believe she loved him that he repeatedly fell for her deceptive ways.
The name Delilah means “worshipper” or “devotee.” Nowadays, it has come to mean “a seductive woman.” The name is Semitic, but the story suggests that she was a Philistine. Oddly enough, all three of the women Samson gave his heart to were among his gravest enemies, the Philistines.
The Source Of Samsons Riddle
On the way Samson killed a lion with his bare hands but somehow his parents did not know about this, and he did not tell them.
Later he found a swarm of bees and honey inside the dead body of the lion. He took the honey and gave some to his parents, still not telling them where it came from. Then they went on to arrange the marriage.
They returned home, and when it came time for the wedding Samson again walked to Timnath. He looked for the carcass of the lion he had killed and found it. It was full of bees. He scooped out the honey and ate it .
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Why Did Samson Fall For Delilah’s Schemes
Read the story of Samson and Delilah in one sitting, and Samson looks pretty stupid. Who tells someone their biggest secret after enemies have conveniently shown after the last three times that the person asked for that secret? There is good evidence throughout the story to indicate that Samson was arrogant and foolhardy. However, there are several things we often miss about Samson and Delilahs situation.
First, the text doesnt say that the Philistines showed up immediately after Samson talked to Delilah. It says Delilah sent word to the Philistines after talking to Samson. So, it wasnt like the Philistines were in the next room listening and then jumping out of the closet when they got a signal. There was some time delay, possibly a day or more, between Samson talking to Delilah and the Philistines showing up each time.
Second, if scholars are correct in saying that Delilah lived on the Israel-Philistia border, then the Philistines probably came to attack Samson many times. They may have come to attack him so many times that it felt routine, so Samson didnt put the hints together and realize what Delilah was doing.
What Did Jezebel Say To Elijah
So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them. while he himself went a days journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.
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Samson Bible Story Summary And Study
Samson lived in the land that God had given to the Israelites. But there were still other people who either inhabited the land or attacked the Israelites. God used men called Judges to lead and protect the people of Israel during this time before they had a king.
One of these judges was Samson. Though we probably think of Samson as being a wicked man, God still used Samson to accomplish His purposes.
The Unexpected Lessons Of Samson
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For kids who grew up in the church, Samson was like a Marvel superhero.
With superhuman strength he slew a lion with his bare hands, lifted a city gate off its hinges, and repeatedly took on dozens of Philistines in hand-to-hand combat. He was a hero countless little boys would want to emulate.
But the story was also filled with Samsons pride, disobedience, and sinful relationships with women. I had a difficult time making sense of it. As I wrestled with Samsons story over the years, I discovered some profound lessons buried beneath the surfaceparticularly related to the development of four themes.
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Was Samsons True Weakness His Hair Or Delilah
Samsons true love and downfall, Delilah, was sent by the Philistines to destroy him. With his heart on the line, Samson lost his hair and strength.
Samson was born in the village of Zorah. As he grew up, he became a man of almost superhuman strength. Once, while visiting a Philistine girl from the village of Timnah, he killed a lion with his bare hands. Samson wanted to marry the girl, despite his parents misgivings about their son marrying outside his tribe. Samson persisted and staged a great wedding feast, but it ended with a violent fight. The bride was married to someone else .
Samsons weakness for beautiful Philistine women soon drove him into the arms of Delilah. The Philistines offered her a large sum of money if she could discover the source of Samsons strength. Samson, suspecting what was afoot, fed her several false leads, frustrating the Philistine plots.
Then she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when you wont confide in me? ByJudges 16:15
At long last, Delilah demanded that he reveal the secret. Samson confessed that he would lose his strength if my head were shaved . While he slept, the faithless Delilah brought in a Philistine who cut Samsons hair, draining his strength. The Philistines took him prisoner, gouged out his eyes, and forced him to work as a draft animal, turning a mill in a Gaza prison.
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Lesson No : You Are Free To Choose But You Are Not Free From The Consequence Of Your Choice
Here is something that we must all realize. God has given us free moral agency. This means that we have the freedom to do whatever we like, whether we obey Him or not. However, we will never be able to choose the outcome of our choices.
God has set in motion the immutable spiritual law in the universe. If you choose to break the law of God, bad consequences will follow. Though God can forgive you, the consequences of your actions will continue to haunt you.
This is certainly what happened to Samson. Indeed, God has used the weakness of Samson to create an occasion to defeat the Philistines, but we have seen the almost tragic end of Samson. As a Nazirite, he was forbidden to drink wine, eat unclean meat, and trim his hair. But all these, Samson violated.
Every action you make will either bring you farther or closer to God.
Thankfully, Samson has seen the flaw in his character and repented of it. As part of his remorse and regret, he asked God to strengthen him once more. God heard his request and surely, Samson died with the Philistines .
God is merciful and loving, but at the same time, He is the God of justice. As merciful as He is, God wants us to learn from our mistakes. Like a father who chastises his child, God also disciplines us through the negative consequences of our actions.
Hebrews 12:5-6 states:
So think again. Remember that you have the freedom to choose, but you do not have the freedom to choose the consequences.
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