March 3 - Judges 12-16
I am sure that most of you have heard the story of Samson before. What is your immediate reaction when you hear the name Samson? Do you admire his strength? Do you think of long hair? Do you think of one last act of valor? I must admit that my view of Samson has always been pretty positive, because of the spin put on it in the Sunday School lessons I have been taught. However, today the Lord impressed me in a much different way. I was surprised that I could not find one single positive spiritual element in this account. Let me explain.
God chose Samson before his birth to be a judge for Israel because they had been oppressed by the Phillistines for 40 years. The Angel of the Lord (Jesus) appeared to his parents to explain God's desire for Samson to be a Nazarite from birth. Most people took the Nazarite vow of commitment to the Lord for a short period of time, not for a lifetime. However, in this case it does not appear that his parents were chosen because of their close relationship with God. The most that I can say is that they were faithful not to cut his hair after birth and to keep him away from grape products for a while anyway. After Samson grew up he was attracted to pagan women, and God used his immorality to punish the Phillistines for 20 years. However, I see nothing spiritual in Samson except the Spirit of the Lord gave him strength to kill people. That does not indicate spirituality. God used pagans to carry out His punishment at times. If you read closely here, even his death was done in selfishness. He killed 3,000 Phillistines by bringing down the building, because they put out his eyes.
Samson never led an army for the Lord. He did not lead the people to the Lord. The Bible does not mention his faith in the Lord. It seems that in God's desire to punish the Phillistines, He chose a lustful, immoral man who He knew would interact with the pagans because of his weakness for women to punish the pagans. It does not appear to me to have anything to do with Samson's commitment to the Lord. This again shows the depths of depravity of the people of God.
If you see something I don't see, please let me know. I would love to see a ray of light in this story that I have always held in high esteem from my childhood. However, when I think of the end of Judges, which I will read tomorrow, I realize the grave spiritual condition in Israel at this point in their history.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 17-21. I know that is a long passage, but it all goes together.
God chose Samson before his birth to be a judge for Israel because they had been oppressed by the Phillistines for 40 years. The Angel of the Lord (Jesus) appeared to his parents to explain God's desire for Samson to be a Nazarite from birth. Most people took the Nazarite vow of commitment to the Lord for a short period of time, not for a lifetime. However, in this case it does not appear that his parents were chosen because of their close relationship with God. The most that I can say is that they were faithful not to cut his hair after birth and to keep him away from grape products for a while anyway. After Samson grew up he was attracted to pagan women, and God used his immorality to punish the Phillistines for 20 years. However, I see nothing spiritual in Samson except the Spirit of the Lord gave him strength to kill people. That does not indicate spirituality. God used pagans to carry out His punishment at times. If you read closely here, even his death was done in selfishness. He killed 3,000 Phillistines by bringing down the building, because they put out his eyes.
Samson never led an army for the Lord. He did not lead the people to the Lord. The Bible does not mention his faith in the Lord. It seems that in God's desire to punish the Phillistines, He chose a lustful, immoral man who He knew would interact with the pagans because of his weakness for women to punish the pagans. It does not appear to me to have anything to do with Samson's commitment to the Lord. This again shows the depths of depravity of the people of God.
If you see something I don't see, please let me know. I would love to see a ray of light in this story that I have always held in high esteem from my childhood. However, when I think of the end of Judges, which I will read tomorrow, I realize the grave spiritual condition in Israel at this point in their history.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 17-21. I know that is a long passage, but it all goes together.