Samson is so often remembered and referred to as a pillar of strength, a brute with the blessing, but seldom do we talk about (or recall) the way he died, a blind slave who had endured months, if not years, of degrading bondage and hard work. But God kept His promise from Chapter 13 that Samson would be the one who would rescue the Israelites from the Philistines. This chapter shows us that not all heroes get a picture-perfect ending and that not all heroes have to be likable people. I mean, do you really think you would have been buds with Samson? The chapter starts with him going to Gaza to sleep with a prostitute. He is cunning enough, yes, to know that Delilah was after him, but he was so sure in his own powers that he revealed his one weakness. At least that’s my theory. Samson toyed with Delilah several times because he knew he could. And I feel like he finally told her the truth because 1. She was nagging him night and day, and 2. Because he probably figured in all his cockiness and self-assuredness that even if he told her his secret, he still had God on his side, and maybe that she’d never be able to cut his hair anyway. Wrong. And I don’t think God left Samson with his hair. I think He left Samson when he got too arrogant and decided God was going to follow him instead of the other way around. Sometimes people just need to be knocked down a thou’, you know? Samson was not only knocked down, but he was given a life that probably made him wish they’d have just killed him. Still, God keeps his promise. I’m curious to know, though, if Samson even realized that’s what was happening. His motive in the end was not to fulfill the promise God had made to his parents but to exact revenge on the Philistines for gouging his eyes out. He also got death, a much-welcomed end to the torture he was bound to go back to. This story just rings out with the old saying, “God sure does work in mysterious ways!”
Writing prompt: Samson
Tell us your thoughts about Samson’s character. Do you think you could have hung with him? He probably threw some good parties! Write about what you think Samson’s life was like and if you would have wanted to be part of the “in crowd.”
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