Judges 13-16 Samson

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  Well, moving into Samson.  A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites and his wife were barren. No child.  Well, what brought this about was the fact that the Israelites did evil in the sight of God.  Again, we repeat the process of evil in God's eyes, repent and cry out, God sends a deliverer, Israel turns back to God.  Soooo.........

   An angel comes to Manoah's wife and tells her of her coming birth. She believed and told her husband, the husband wished to meet this man (angel).  Upon meeting the man (angel) they were told what to do.  In Judges 13: 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.”

   Samson went to Timnah and fell in love with a young woman. Then drama entails.  Please listen to Judges 13 to 16 to get the full story.  Well, Samson asks a riddle of the 30  men attending the wedding feast. They threaten the young woman he loved (wife), she gave the answer to the riddle - and at this point Samson became enraged and killed 30 men in Ashkelon.

   The saga continues and it would be good for you to read this compete story.  Samson's wife is killed because of his actions. He slays many Philistines because of this.  After this slaughter some men came to him, had a conversation, bound him and took him to Lehi. The Philistines shouted against him. The power of the LORD came over him, he broke the ropes and killed a thousand Philistines.
   Then he travels to Gaza, meets and sleeps with a prostitute, and left in the middle of the night, as the Philistines sought to slay him.

   Next comes his downfall, Delilah. Samson is a man of great strength who led Israel for twenty years, but he was not a saint.  Delilah's name is a Hebrew name, but it is not clear if she was a Philistine or Israelite woman.  She appears in the Bible after the harlot (prostitute) and some speculate she may have been a harlot as well.  However, whatever her background, Samson enjoyed her company in many ways and they were not married.  She betrayed Samson for eleven hundred pieces of silver from each of the lords who approached her for the betrayal.

   They shaved Samson's head, the LORD was departed from him, they captured him, put out his eyes and held him in prison.  When the Philistines had become merry (drinking) they wanted to have sport with Samson.  They brought him forth, he asked to feel the pillars so he could stand and lean against them.  There were about three thousand men and women who wished to make sport of Samson.  Here in Judges 16:25-31 is the final story of Samson, praying to God for strength once more to avenge the trickery and loss of his eyes. He supports himself on the center pillars, and with a last burst of strength (God's power) he kills these three thousand and himself. He led Israel 20 years.

   Samson was a man of little character and few principles.  He possessed enormous potential, but used his opportunities unwisely. God gave Samson the responsibility to lead Israel, but Samson was not a good leader.  Hope you enjoyed this information.  There is much more in detail and you will need to read it for yourself.  Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny