Character Study: Samson

A couple months ago I decided to use these Sunday evening studies to explore some characters in scripture.

I began with Elijah. A mighty man of God, who despite some short falls of courage, was an amazing prophet and one of very view people to never die.

Then last month we explored Isaiah and a musical artist who showed Isaiah’s character through singing the words of Isaiah.

This last month I was racking my brain and heart with who to do next. I thought of going to the New Testament. But I decided against that because I’ve done a whole series on the 12 disciples and that’s a huge chunk of the characters in the NT. Not that I won’t go New Testament, but I wasn’t feeling led in that direction for today.

I thought of a villain, like Ahab, or Saul. Maybe a little later, we can learn from the bad guys too.

So I prayed and I thought and I began scrolling through scriptures when I fell on the Book of Judges. And I immediately went to Samson. And let me tell you why.

SAM VT

I can’t stand Samson. I think he’s the worst of all judges and more than likely this least most intelligent. If I were to compare my relationship to Samson to another relationship in scripture, I would be Jonah and Samson would be Nineveh. I read through Judges 13-16 and I judge him. Every mistake he makes I shake my head. Every consequence, I’m the first to be, well deserved consequence Samson.

He is not even close to a hero in my mind.

He is a show off, a braggart, a man who thinks more with his lust than with his brain. I don’t like the guy.

And if it wasn’t for the hero worship that a lot of people give him, I’d probably not feel that strongly, but here we are.

Sam movies

In a plain reading of Judges 13-16 I would get to the end and seriously question his eternal destination. He took every gift God gave him and tossed it aside. Gave up everything for the desires of the world.

And I’ll be honest, typing this character study I was hitting the keyboard like I was using a rusty typewriter.

But through this all, I know, even how I feel about the guy, that God was at work. So, before we dive into the Character of Samson, I have this to say from the book of Hebrews

Hebrews 11:32–34 ESV

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Sometimes the point of a character study is show us how to act and sometimes they show us how not to act and sometimes, they show us how God can take the worst example of a human being and place them in the Hall of Faith.

Hall

So, one of the things I’d like to do with these character studies is try new things. I try new things often and some times they go well, other times they don’t and I don’t do them again. Last month I did the song thing and I think that went well, and I’m okay with trying that again sometime in the future. Tonight, I’m going to try going backwards, because I think we can learn something very important from learning about Samson backwards.

We already know that he is in the Hall of Faith. We already know I think he has bad character traits that should not be one to follow, but how to reconcile the two? Let’s go there.

Turn over to Judges 16. Samson’s life is from 13-16 and we are going to start with his death. Because I would argue, this is the best moment of his entire life.

To preface, Samson is in jail, his head is shaved, his eyes gouged out and he is on display for all his enemies to see.

Judges 16:28–31 ESV

28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Sam Pil

This is the end of his 20 year appointment as judge of Israel. And some of his final words hit me very hard. Please remember me. Anyone else say that in scripture?

When Jesus is on the cross in Luke 23 he has a very brief conversation with a criminal on the adjacent cross.

Luke 23:42–43 ESV

42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This man on the cross admitted he deserved to be there. He knew he had made all the wrong choices to get where he was. But his last plea wasn’t to Rome or family, it was to God himself. Remember me.

Same as Samson. He cried out to God, not to save his life, but to do in death what he was supposed to do with his life, protect his people. To save them. But how did his get here. His lust is the only answer. He thought he was unbreakable and nothing he had done had ever failed, so why should it start now? So lust and pride were his down fall.

Samson was lusting after a Philistine prostitute named Delilah and it could have been going worse. She was not a stand up character.

Check this out

Judges 16:5 ESV

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

A prostitute, who doesn’t love Samson is offered 1100 pieces of silver each from 5 lords. That’s 5500 pieces of Silver. Which in our modern payout might be close to 15 million dollars. Now, I would not sell my mother out for 15 million dollars, but I might write down the pros and cons before I said NO.

Delilah is not Samson’s mom, she is his prostitute. She would have done the deed for less. Just for contrast though, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of Silver or just over $500 and they were friends. Many have a price for betrayal, but some is lower than others.

Delilah agreed. Find the source of his strength so she asked.

Judges 16:7 ESV

7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Didn’t work, she asked again.

Judges 16:11 ESV

11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Third times the charm, right?

Judges 16:13 ESV

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Each time Samson would lie, she would follow the instructions and he would cut loose with his strength.

Now, we read this story and think to ourselves, how dense can a guy get? Does he not understand this woman does not have his best interests in mind. He must not because the 4th time he tells the truth.

Judges 16:17 ESV

17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Sam HC

I don’t know whether or not he thought cutting his hair would actually take away his strength or not, but that he didn’t know that Delilah would cut his hair is beyond me.

But she did and

Judges 16:21 ESV

21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.

He gave away the gift God had given him and paid for it with his eyes and as we already saw, his life. But what brought him to this point? What made him so easily believe that cutting his hair, violating his vow would somehow work out well for him?

Let’s keep going backward.

In Judges 14 Samson gets married to a Philistine woman. The sworn enemy of Israel and he’s marrying an enemy, which is what Delilah was as well, this guy is not very smart. At the wedding feast a riddle is posed. The riddle has conditions; you see Samson had recently come upon a lion, killed it with his bare hands, came back later and found honey in the lion carcass, which he scooped out and ate.

The wedding deal was

Judges 14:12–13 ESV

12 And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, 13 but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.”

Here is his boastful pride at work. But something that will become clear soo, he killed a lion with his bare hands and then scooped honey from it’s carcass. Gross, but also something else, we’ll get there.

Judges 14:14 ESV

14 And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

Now, we know the answer but no one else did. So the guests threatened his wife with death if she didn’t find out the answer. Long story short, he told her and

Judges 14:18 ESV

18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.”

Sam Lion

So Samson leaves and his wife is given to someone else. Not only is he a lustful guy, he’s not wise or loyal. He related his wife to a cow and walked off. But that wasn’t even the end. Later he decided to visit his wife and hang out or something. She was already remarried. He left remember, not a stand up guy. So, to stick with his character here, his wife and her father are killed and to have his revenge

Judges 15:15 ESV

15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

In so many verses Samson has touched a lot of dead things, this is important, but one other thing. Despite his lack of wisdom and questionable actions. THe LORD is with him

Judges 15:18–19 ESV

18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day.

God is taking care of a man who has broken promises and aced like a true fool.

This is encouraging though. I know I haven’t always made the best choices, but to know that when, even at my worst, God is with me, that is helpful when I finally decide to humble myself and repent.

But working backwards through Samson’s life and character so far has shown us that he is a lustful, unwise, unloyal, promise breaker, who God provides for, but only when Samson breaks down and asks.

A great character lesson here is to not only talk to God when you are at your worst, but at all times and in all circumstances.

Samson’s life is not one to emulate, but what happened to him that we can truly learn from.

Chapter 13 has the answers and Samson is hardly in it, but the Angel of the Lord and Samson’s parents are. They are a barren couple and the Angel of the Lord promises them a child, but with conditions

Judges 13:3–5 ESV

3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

The Nazarite Vow is mentioned here. This was a vow some would take for a time and it was introduced in Numbers 6. The 2 main parts of the vow are mentioned in Judges, but they missed one aspect.

Numbers 6:6–8 ESV

6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

The three rules are: Don’t cut your hair, don’t drink wine, and don’t touch dead things or even go near them.

We know for certain that Samson cut his hair, we know he touched dead things, and we can surmise that he drank wine, because wedding feasts have wine and the text made no point that he did not, and since he broke the other two, we can guess he broke the third.

But one this I want to point out here.

Samson’s parents made the vow for him. Samson never made the vow. He honored it when it suited him, but he was not a follower of the vow, nor a follower of the LORD based on his actions. His parents were it seems, but they even had their downfalls, they helped him marry a woman they knew was not good for him.

Just because you have parents who love God, doesn't mean the kids will follow. It is not a guarantee. Parent’s must model for their kids and be consistent. Samson had a vow placed upon him and never took it too seriously.

He threw away God’s promise for lust and pride. But in the end, when he had hit rock bottom and saw through his blind eyes that nothing had worked out for him on his own, he turned away from himself and asked the LORD for help.

My prayer for all my kids is that they will follow the LORD, not for my sake, too many kids out there go along to get along and leave the house and walk away from the faith. Samson only owned his faith in the last moments of his life. The criminal on the cross too.

According to my uncle, my grandfather came to know JEsus hours before his death. That is all good and we can have faith that they are in heaven now, but oh how God could have used each of them for his glory had they followed sooner.

I will give this encouragement to any who have kids that don’t know Jesus. It’s never too late. Share the gospel, be a friend, point them to the savior.

Matthew 7:20 ESV

20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

People notice what you do and if you live a life pointing to Jesus, people will notice, and when they do, they might turn and point too.

Samson is not a character to emulate, but he is one to study. We learn a lot from him about what it means to live your life with all the blessings, but none of the promises and I hope we can look at him and say, I’m glad he’s with Jesus now, but I hope I don’t have to learn the way he did that following what God says is the best way.

Let’s pray