Background
After the passing of Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, and the establishment of new leadership under Joshua, God declares that it is time to “stop circling Mount Sinai and enter into the “land of promise”. The children of Israel had entered the land of Egypt 435 years earlier as 70 members of one family, Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham. When they exited Egypt by God’s intervention and persuasion through deliverance of ten plagues upon the Egyptians administered by Moses, their numbers had grown unto more than 2,000,000 men, women, and children who left Egypt in all celebration. From the people’s viewpoint, can we conclude that Israel’s rejection of God during their 435 years in Egypt reaping deserved suffering, relentless struggles, and timeless periods of depression was simply “whatever that is sown, that shall one reap” (Gal. 6: 7). However, the omniscient God “grew them into a force to be reckoned with” as they increased in number to over 2,000,000 people upon their exiting with Moses in the lead. God is always seeking what he may glean from the lives of his followers.
Joshua would lead the designated twelve tribes of Jacob across the Jordan River and miraculously establish their presence in Canaan, God’s chosen land “flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3: 8). Although the people would respect Joshua’s leadership, as a whole the people exhibited rebellious behavior and rejection of God’s authority at different periods of time, in which God had no alternative than to allow them to fall under bondage of neighboring kingdoms and empires. During Joshua’s leadership the people had fought the inhabitants living within their designated lands, but some of the Jewish tribes failed to defeat those living there and lay claim to the land promised unto them by God. Joshua lived until the age of 110 years old and died in Canaan (Josh. 24: 29). The impact of Joshua’s leadership prompted Israel to serve the Lord faithfully throughout his lifetime and the elders who outlived Joshua (Judges 2: 7).
In Judges 2: 10, the Bible records that after Joshua died, there arose a generation that knew not the Lord. For the next 300 to 400 years, twelve different judges would rule the people characterized by a repetitive, chaotic cycle of spiritual decline, foreign oppression, and temporary rescue. The people would live basically by their own standards, frequently adopting pagan practices that became deeply embedded into their hearts as they sought to be “like unto their neighbors” (1Sam 8: 5, 19-20). This desire led to different time periods of being dominated by the Philistines, a ruthless, barbaric people until the rule of the judge Samson. According to God, thus enters Samson of Zorah.
The City of Zorah
Samson, of the tribe of Dan, was born and grew up in the city of Zorah. Strangely, the meaning of the name of the city Zorah or in Hebrew “Tsorah” meant “place of wasps or hornets”. The city was located about 14 to 15 miles west of Jerusalem on a hill overlooking the Sorek Valley. This valley, today, is part of Emek Tzurim National Park where visitors today can sift through debris from Temple Mount excavations for ancient artifacts. The city’s location was positioned on the direct border between Israel and the cities of the Philistines. Therefore, this city was in constant peril during the time of the Judges from Philistine attacks even unto the times of King David approximately 60 to 100 years until 1000 B.C. The people who lived in Zorah were constantly threatened by the Philistines basically because of their proximity in sharing a common border boundary. There would rarely be times of peace and tranquility in or around this city and families were raised under lawlessness with children “reared upward by their boot straps” so to speak in “survival of the fittest”. Samson would be one of these unbridled, undisciplined, uncontrolled, and restless renegades who had little trust in the “training up in the way they should go” to follow God.
Judges 13-16
As previously mentioned, prior to Samson’s position of being chosen as Israel’s 15th Judge by the Lord, the people’s lives were characteristically filled with uncertainty being in constant fear of neighboring kingdoms or as “sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6: 34). Although the people would claim God as their Supreme Guide and protector, they showed little respect and obedience to their God of whom they cried out to him in desperation continually. When times of uncertainty filled controlled their lives, the people would compromise their beliefs copying neighboring customs, religious practices, and behavior regressing even deeper into despair. When God’s message was to “stand still and see the glory of the Lord (Ex. 14: 13-14), people need to let go of being fearful, stop panicking, and stop trying to force a solution through one’s own strength because “ye can do nothing without me” John 15: 5).
Samson’s birth was unto a Danite named Manoah and an unknown woman. An angel would announce Samson’s birth including that he would be under the vow of a Nazirite from birth reserved for male children. The vow of a Nazirite specified three major restrictions. First, and foremost, a Nazirite never had his hair cut as long as he was pledging the vow. Samson’s vow was declared by God to be for his entire lifetime. Secondly, a Nazirite was never to taste or drink of “the fruit of the vine”. Thirdly, a Nazirite was never to come in contact with a dead body of any sorts (Judges 13: 3-21). Samson’s lifestyle was so undisciplined that he broke all three of these restrictions repeatedly. The vow of a Nazirite was for a specific period of time only. It was to set aside for self-discipline and develop a strong relationship with the Father through trust and prayer.
Hindsight
Samson would be chosen by God to be Israel’s 15th Judge. The responsibility of Samson’s role as Judge seems to have been to reflect and renew God’s position as the Great Shepherd of his continually rebellious flock. Hindsight suggests otherwise. Since the people rejected God’s purpose for their lives, God’s faithfulness to protecting, blessing, and guaranteeing Israel’s survival was a promise God had made to Abraham (Gen. 12: 1-3). It was apparent that Israel had turned their backs on God. Samson’s role of Judge would specifically administer judgment on Israel’s oppressors. If Israel had only one man to uplift their God, then God would equip that one man to do it alone.
Why had God declared Samson’s Nizirite vow be for his entire lifetime? Samson received little to no encouragement from the people to return to God. Samson’s rebellious lifestyle reflected Israel’s rebellious lifestyle toward their God. The people constantly reprimanded Samson for defending himself and “making waves” against their oppressors. The people were acknowledging behaviorally that they were truly “a flock of sheep wanting to go out and come in before them as being without a shepherd” (Num. 27: 17).
Samson grew up under a guideless leadership with reckless behavior. As a young adult, Samson went down to Timnath, a Philistine city, and saw a woman there who pleased him (Judges 14: 1-2). Samson did not listen unto his parents as they counseled him marrying outside the Jewish family and especially to a daughter of the rebellious, ruthless, and godless lineage of the Philistines. “Go and get her for me” was Samson’s demand (Judges 14: 2-4).
On the surface Samson’s life was filled with violence within himself and from outside pressures from neighboring influences, especially the Philistines themselves. The Philistines knew not where the origin of Samson’s source of great strength originated, but fear of him and encounters with him would discourage, undermine, and caused great fear throughout all the land of the Philistines all the days of Samson’s life. God would use this one man to issue judgment onto the Philistines all the days of Samson’s life.
Samson would realize his great strength when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him when he slew a lion with his bare hands (Judges 14: 4-6). After taking the Philistine woman for his own for an extended period of time, Samson, on a return journey to meet her, noted that bees had built a hive in the slain lion’s carcass. Seeing the honey within, Samson took of it and ate breaking his Nazirite vow representing breaking their vows of allegiance to their Creator and God. This would be the first of many such infractions of breaking his vow (Judges 14: 7-9).
As Samson was prone to do in tormenting his “friends” among the Philistines, he purposed a riddle unto them regarding the lion and the bee hive; what is “out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness”? The prize for solving the riddle was 30 changes of clothing (Judges 14: 11-14). Being unable to solve the riddle, the Philistine men threatened Samson’s wife coercing into revealing the answer. Enraged, Samson went down under the Spirit of the Lord and slew 30 men of the nearby Philistine city of Ashkelon and gave their clothing as payment for the riddle (Judges 14: 19). The purpose of Samson’s riddle to the Philistines appears by deception to seek personal gains of 30 changes of clothing. The people in Israel under Samson’s leadership only sought rewards for themselves (Rom. 1: 24-25) thus suggesting “it was not time to do God’s work” (Haggai 1: 1-9).
Life for Samson was never calm and peaceful. However, life for the people in Israel reflected the same. Samson’s rebellious nature was apparent in most ever event in his life prompting chaos and disorder to whomever was near Samson’s presence. Samson dealt with personally problems the same; with outrage, arrogance, and uncontrolled anger. After leaving his wife for an extended period of time which led her father to give her unto another, Samson became enraged and caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together, lit their tails and loosed them into the fields of the Philistines. To avenge the burning of the fields, the Philistines burned the house with his wife and father-in-law inside. Samson, fearless and defiant, then came upon a large number of Philistines and slew them with a great slaughter (Judges 15: 8). When more Philistine men threatened men of the tribe of Judah to bound Samson and hand him over the them, Samson took the jawbone of a donkey and slaughtered 3000 of the Philistines (Judges 15: 10-20).
Afterward Samson went unto Gaza to see a harlot. When the men of the city became aware of Samson’s presence, they secured the gates of the city with the intentions at the coming morning, they would kill Samson penned inside. However, during the night at midnight, Samson arose from his sleep, went unto the entrance gate to the city, removed it and carried it unto the top of the hill before Hebron, a distance between 35 and 40 miles (Judges 16: 1-4).
Samson’s weakness for passionate women would eventually lead to his downfall and death. Delilah, a woman who lived in the valley of Sorek, a border city between the Philistines and the tribe of Dan, betrayed Samson. The Philistines had never known the source of Samson’s great strength and paid her 5000 pieces of silver to discover this source of his strength. After revealing information regarding his Nazarite vow and his long hair, Delilah caused Samson to fall asleep and other men cut his hair. By this act of disobedience, the presence of God and Samson’s great strength were gone. He was bound and ridiculed, and had his vision taken from him (Judges 16: 4-23).
Samson’s life was likened unto a roller coaster. Seemingly filled with an inner restless spirit, his behavior was unpredictable, but spontaneous and impulsive. All through the period of time the children of Israel were under the leadership of Judges directed by God, the people as a whole continually rebelled to choosing their own way of direction. The intimidation of Philistine superiority of control in warfare, the aggressive and brutality delivered over other conquered people by the Philistine armies, and the ever present vulnerability of the Jewish people to be fearful, defeated, and hopeless without the awesome presence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They would as a great number of individuals no unified with a purpose, a leader, or hope. God who had promised that he would leave them never did. He was always there, but they desired him to deliver them through their self-directive choices, making their decisions of following their Prophets of old their ways with God’s interference, and only when the people had filled their lives with unrighteous choices to be like their neighbors God would be forced to let them endure sufferings under powerful conquering Empires. The people tried everything but unto their God to rectify their problems. The “god of this world” had blinded their minds simply existing as “the blind leading the blind” for they both shall fall into the ditch (Matt. 15: 14). This they would do repeatedly and for lengthy durations of years. They would be compared to a master mechanic repairing an automobile. Not sure of what to do, the mechanic would try everything he knew, except to read the vehicle’s manual. They would cherish God’s Word, to carry with them, not necessarily to read and follow. God would declare that the people were like sheep without a shepherd. There were times that God would simply intervene on their behalf due to maybe having “pity” upon them.
Sower's Field by L. Michael Schoonover 