Question from Colin: Samson seemed to break every law in the book and then some. Marrying with the Philistines in the first place and then going with a prostitute. Taking honey from a dead corpse would also have violated the law and especially his strict Nazarite code. The Spirit still moved on him and through him. How is that possible? Doesn’t it matter?
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A response from Dr. Mark Mangano:
This is a great question that has important lessons for us today. When you read the book of Judges, you notice that there are major judges and minor judges. A major judge has a narrative story line. A minor judge is virtually unknown. The major judges are Othniel, Ehud, Deborah (and Barak), Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, and Samson. You know their stories. The minor judges are Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. Hardly household names!
Additionally, when you read the book of Judges, you grieve over the four-fold pronouncement: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). This verdict on Israel’s moral chaos is abundantly clear in the lives of Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, Samson, and the two stories that conclude the book (chapters 17-18 and 19-21).
The first major judge is Othniel. He captured the stronghold Kiriath Sepher (1:12). As a result, Caleb (of Joshuia and Caleb fame) gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage. What an honor to be married to a daughter of the faithful Caleb. Othniel became Israel’s judge or leader and the land had peace for forty years (3:11).
With regard to marriage into a godly line, Samson is the exact opposite. He fell in love with a young Philistine woman (Judges 14:1-2). Despite parental protest, Samson married the woman, though the marriage was short-lived, lasting all of a week. Later, Samson had a sexual dalliance with a Philistine prostitute (16:1). Then he fell in love with Delilah (16:4) who was in league with the Philistine leaders. They wanted her to use her charms to uncover the source of his remarkable strength. You probably know the story. Eventually the truth came out. Samson’s strength was God’s gift through the Nazarite vow (see Num. 6:1-21).
An angel had visited Samson’s mother before she was even pregnant. The angel gave her the good news: “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 Nazarite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5). Though Samson was used mightily by God in defeating the Philistine threat, Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines, especially Philistine women.
It is ironic that Samson, whose name is related to the Hebrew word for “sun,” fell in love with Delilah, whose name is associated with the Hebrew word for “night.” The “sun” was eclipsed by the “night.” Indeed, Samson lost his eyesight as a result of his association with her (16:21).
What is most remarkable about the Samson saga is the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human free choice. At no point in the story does God interfere with Samson’s choices nor does Samson thwart God’s plan for the Philistines. In fact, the Samson story seems more about Samson’s personal interests and pleasures. But God still used Samson’s carnal reactions to accomplish His purpose.
Even the details of the Nazarite vow reveal Samson’s failure. According to Numbers 6, such a vow prohibited wine and other fermented drink (6:3), a razor being used on the head (6:5), and being near a dead body (6:6). One assumes Samson partook of wine during the marriage week (chapter 14). He removed the honey from the lion’s carcass (14:8-9). His hair was cut at Delilah’s order (16:19). When his hair was cut, his strength was sapped. “And his strength left him” (16:19).
The angel told Samson’s mother that the child would “take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Despite Samson’s parents’ protest, he married the Philistine woman. At this point in the story, the author inserts: “His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines” (14:4). As the story unfolds, every choice Samson made leads to God’s victory over the Philistines, present and future.
When Samson’s wife betrayed him by revealing the answer to the wedding-week riddle, he was so angry that he killed 30 Philistines in Ashkelon (Judges 14:19). Later, Samson killed one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey (15:15). When Samson had been captured by the Philistines and blinded, he was paraded before the people and made sport of. He prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines!” (16:30). So, Samson “pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived” (16:30). The root and flower of Philistine rule was taken out by this heroic act.
Since it was the LORD’s will to use Samson in defeating the Philistines, one is not surprised to read of the LORD’s Spirit empowering Samson for the task (13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14). Just as the LORD had allowed His Spirit to empower Othniel (3:10), God does so now with Samson.
Hebrews 11:32 includes Samson in the roll call of Old Testament faith. Though Samson was consumed by self, he was used by God throughout his life, and, perhaps, most significantly, in his death. Hebrews 11:34 succinctly encompasses Samson’s story: “… whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”
Like Samson, we are all flawed by sin (Romans 3:23). Though sin still lurks in our wills, the LORD has not removed his Holy Spirit from us. We can grieve the Spirit, but the Spirit remains. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that the Spirit is at home in our hearts (Galatians 5:22-23). Let us use the example of Samson to encourage each other to be true to the vow we made to the Lord. It was a vow for life. It was not the Nazarite vow. It was a vow to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
