World's Strongest Man

Do you remember a certain love story in the Bible--Samson and Delilah? Ok, not so much a story of love, but of betrayal and death. In my small community Baptist church growing up, I was taught that the main point of this story was that Samson was a fool--and we should never act like he did. I probably would have continued to think that for the rest of my life, had my husband not put a different spin on it. One night as we were laying in bed talking before turning the light off, John made a comment that he believed there was more to Samson's story than what today's church would ever address. You can read his story in the Book of Judges chapters 13-17.

Let me begin by paraphrasing Samson's story for you:
I find the beginning of his story very similar to that of Sarah (Abraham's wife), as well as Mary (Jesus' mother). His mother and father were Israelites that were being held captive in the land of the Philistines, and his mother was barren. An angel of the Lord came to her and told her she would bear a son. Sound familiar? Anway, Samson grew up to be an amazingly strong man. The angel had instructed his mother to never let a razor or any cutting object touch his hair--for that was the source of Samson's strength. Samson went on to kill an amazing amount of Philistine men basically with his bare hands. He was almost superhuman in his strength. Samson's downfall was that he was deceived into thinking the Philistine women were who he needed to marry and be with. His first wife tricked him into telling a secret to her that she soon spread to her people. That situation ended in a tragic way. Not only did she leave Samson and marry his best man from their wedding, she and her father were burned in retaliation to how many Philistine men Samson had killed. He then went on to meet Delilah--another Philistine woman. She nagged him constantly, wanting to know what made him so strong. One night, Samson finally gave in and told her, but only after he had lied to her 3 other times. He was just worn out from her nagging apparently, and didn't really think that she would cut his hair. She did though. The next morning when he awoke, the Philistine men were there to capture him--he couldn't do a thing since the Spirit of the Lord had left him (when his hair was cut). The Philistine men gauged out his eyes and took him captive. He was made into a slave as well. One night at a big get together at the temple (over 3,000 men and women), the men decided to have Samson perform for them. They had him standing between the pillars that were the main base of the temple. Samson asked the young man who was in charge of helping him get around if he would allow Samson to rest against the pillars. Secretly Samson prayed to God to give him his strength back one more time so he could punish them for gauging out his eyes. Samson then reached out, pushed the two central pillars, and said, "Let me die with the Philistines." The building crashed down and killed all who were in it. He killed more people in his death than he had killed in his life.

So now let me get to what I think Samson's story is really about. I don't think that so much should be focused on the relationship between Samson and Delilah. Yes, he was stupid. He should not have told her the truth as to why he was so strong. God had given him that wonderful "talent" in order to someday use it for the good of the Israelites, from what I have read. Samson was, for a short time, a fool. But, I think we should focus more on the end of his life. After hitting rock bottom--losing his strength, having his eyes gauged out, and losing his freedom--he still had a heart for God. He still wanted to do the work of his Father. He laid down his life for his fellow Israelites in that he killed all of the high ranking Philistine men (as well as several thousand more).
What my husband was trying to point out was that what Samson did at the end of his life was later pointed to in the New Testament.
John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." NIV
Samson knew he had screwed up. He knew that he had stepped outside the will of the Father and had lost the ability to walk in that revelation. The Spirit of the Lord had left him as well. If I'm guessing he probably felt very empty and alone. How often do we feel like that? When have you given a secret of sorts away to the wrong person and felt like His presence was now missing? I just love that Samson wanted to badly to please God and come back into a true fellowship with him again that he laid down his life for his people.
Now that you've seen this perspective on a great Bible hero, hopefully you will do some research and digging on your own. What else can we learn, not only from this story, but from other Bible heroes' stories?