Samson
Samson was one of the most colorful figures among the heroes of the Old Testament. Paul lists him in the company of such stalwarts as Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who “through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Hebrews 11:32-34).
As is the custom of scripture, both his failings and his triumphs, his stumblings and his glorious victories, are equally described. They present a frank look at one of the most dynamic and inspiring lives Israel ever produced.
He was a chosen vessel of the Lord. His birth and service were predicted even before he was conceived. Like Isaac, he was a child of promise given to a barren mother. Strict instructions were given to his mother to abstain from wine or things unclean, “for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb” In these respects he joins the select company of Samuel and John the Baptist, who likewise were children of promise given to barren mothers, were appointed chosen ministries by God before their birth, and received the Nazarite vow for life.
HIS MISSION
The narrative of Samson begins in Judges 13. The opening verse explains that for Israel’s sins the Lord “delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years” The Book of Judges had earlier recorded that “the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon” (Judges 10:7), the former oppressing Israel in the south and pushing east from the Philistine cities near the Mediterranean coast, the latter oppressing Gilead east of Jordan and from time to time pushing west over the Jordan to afflict Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim.
The affliction of Ammon was finally broken by “Jephthah the Gileadite,’ and the narrative of this deliverance fills chapters 11 and 12. The Philistine oppression was more intractable and was not finally broken until the victories of Samuel following Samson’s death. But to stir Israel to faith again and rouse them to a sense of the overcoming power of God was the mission of Samson. “He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5).
“And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson [“sunlight” Strong’s Concordance] and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol” (Judges 13:24, 25). Soon the affairs of Samson became entangled with the Philistines, overruled of the Lord, for “he sought an occasion against the Philistines” (Judges 14:14).
SAMSON PICTURES THE CHURCH
At first some may recoil at the suggestion that Samson was a picture of the Church, noting his various weaknesses. But the history of the Church is not without its weaknesses and stumblings also, though as Samson was so the Church will be victorious finally. In R4088 Bro. Russell draws several comparisons between Samson’s experiences and those of the church through history.
“If we were to draw an analogy as between Samson’s temptation and the temptation of the body of Christ it would imply that we should be specially on guard against the blandishments of the world and the adversary through the nominal church, which figuratively is called a woman – more, she is described in the Scriptures as a harlot.
“It was when Samson rested his head upon the lap of Delilah that he was shorn of his hair and of his strength … Similarly those who are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might through their faithfulness to the vows of consecration … are in danger of going to sleep in the lap of the modern Delilah, Churchianity. A spirit of drowsiness is their spirit, of rest from the activities and self-sacrifices of their vow, a spirit of slumber; and with that spirit goes their strength. Is there not in some respects an analogy between the experiences of Samson and the experiences of the church of Christ? Consider the activities of the early church and the victories they gained in the name and strength of the Lord. Consider how the adversary entangled and seduced the church, and how for a considerable time the stupor and drowsiness and ease and worldliness were upon those who vowed to be faithful to the Lord and his service. Consider how the strength of the Gospel message was lost while in that drowsy condition in the “dark ages” Consider how the eyes of our understanding were put out even as Samson lost his natural sight. Consider that even since the Reformation time the church has been to a large extent under the blinding influence of the adversary, a slave to churchianity and the world, even as Samson was the slave of the Philistines. As their slave Samson was used instead of a horse to turn a great wheel for grinding their food; and thus indeed the church has been grinding food of a certain kind for many while still a slave to the world and under its blinding influences.”
Consistent with this application is that Samson was a Nazarite, and the particulars of their vow (Numbers 6) are emblematic of the vow of consecration undertaken by the saints. Even the name Samson (sunlight, or little sun) reminds us that the saints are now lights in the world, and later will shine as the sun in the kingdom (Matthew 13:43).
SEVEN EPISODES IN SAMSON’S LIFE
There are seven distinct episodes in the narrative of Samson.
(1) His early betrothal to a Philistine woman, and the riddle about the slain lion.
(2) Letting loose 300 foxes in the fields of the Philistines.
(3) Samson’s flight to the rock Etam.
(4) Slaying 1000 Philistines with the jaw of an ass.
(5) His affair with a harlot and the conspiracy to kill him.
(6) His affair with Delilah and his betrayal.
(7) Toppling the pillars, destroying the house of Dagon.
These seven episodes match the experiences of the church depicted in Revelation in the seven stages of the Church. The three women in the narrative represent religious movements in which the true Church has been entangled during the age.
(1) The early struggle of the church was against Judaism, represented by Samson’s Philistine fiance. The setting was at the time of wheat harvest, representing the harvest of the Jewish age. As there was a riddle in this story, there was also a riddle at the time of the early Church. “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness” (Judges 14:14). Literally this referred to the lion carcass Samson observed by the roadside, in which bees had swarmed and produced a reservoir of honey. In picture it points to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus, from whose death came nourishment and the sweetness of the heavenly call. Those who could identify Jesus as the source of these blessings could receive a change of garments (justification). Samson was betrayed by his fiance because she was in fear of her life, but in the end she and her father’s house were burned. It reminds us of the Jews who turned on their own Messiah, fearful for “our place and nation” (John 11:48). But in the end they lost it all in the baptism of fire in 70 AD, and in the end Samson’s fiance and her father’s house were consumed as well.
(2) In retribution Samson turned loose 300 foxes tied to firebrands to burn the fields of the Philistines. The second trumpet of Revelation also describes a retribution by fire: a burning mountain (pagan Rome) cast into the sea. It is noteworthy that when Jesus mentioned Herod, an authority appointed by Rome, he termed him a fox in Luke 13:32.
(3) In the third church Papacy began to rise, forcing the Elijah class to flee to the wilderness. Just so, Samson fled to the wilderness for safety. Elijah was fed by ravens during his exile, and Samson lived on the rock Etam which means “place of ravenous birds” (McClintock & Strong, “Etam”).
(4) The fourth church was during the dark ages, the time of great Jezebel’s reign. “I will kill her children with death” promised Jesus. Spiritual life was scarce, and spiritual death and plague everywhere rampant. Even on the literal level, this period of the church saw the black plague sweep through Christendom and decimate its population. In the fourth episode of the Samson story we see a great carnage, 1000 Philistines slain. The instrument was the jawbone of an ass. This animal represents the same as its close cousin the horse, that is doctrines – as for example when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a new foal, representing the new doctrines he presented to Israel. That it was a bone from the mouth of the ass suggests it was spiritually the voice of truth as a rebuke to the sins of Papacy during the dark ages. Samson almost perished in this episode, finally rescued by the Lord by providing a source of water, just as the church almost perished in the dark ages, but was preserved by a fountain of truth from teachers such as Waldo and Wycliffe.
(5) To the fifth church it was said “Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die … and hold fast, and repent” (Revelation 3:2, 3). This describes the condition of the church during the midnight of the age, when the church was nearly asleep in the arms of the harlot Papacy. If they would not repent – reform – they would surely perish. So Samson, had he continued with the harlot in the city till daybreak, would have perished. But at midnight he rose, triumphantly left the city and carried the gates away as a sign of strength and triumph. So the church was reformed, and the faithful left the Papal harlot.
(6) Samson later grew careless through his attraction to Delilah, just as the post reformation church became careless and at ease among the nominal churches which had developed out of the reformation. Because of his carelessness his hair, the emblem of his vow, was cut, his strength gone, and his eyes put out. So the saints before the Lord’s return were in relative darkness, having become “lukewarm” and in need of “eyesalve.”
(7) The last phase of the church sees her triumphant again. Samson’s hair began to grow, his strength increased, and his last act was to topple the pillars of the Philistine temple and begin a great release from the old oppression, though dying in the process. So the church at the end of the age proclaims the pillars of society will be toppled by the force of the incoming kingdom, and all the world will enjoy the freedom of the next age. The church is taken in the midst of the collapse of this world.
AN INTERESTING SEQUENCE OF NUMBERS
Samson’s story includes a remarkable number of “threes” The riddle he proposed was not solved in 3 days, the reward offered was 30 changes of garments, the foxes numbered 300, and the men of Judah who implored Samson to surrender were 3000. As this is a picture of the opening of the Gospel Age, it is of interest to note that our age opened with these same numbers. Jesus was in the grave for 3 days, he was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, he was anointed with 300 pence of oil, and the church added 3000 persons on the day of Pentecost. Probably there is some meaning in the number three that represents the atonement provided by Jesus which opened up the gospel of grace.
LESSONS FROM SAMSON’S LIFE
In many respects Samson lived after the flesh. Though moved by the Spirit of God he was not begotten of the Spirit. Thus in many respects he was not an example of Christian conduct. But in this he was a sterling and noble example: loyalty to the cause of God and to Israel, the covenant people of God. “His faith was continually manifest in all that he did, and his whole life was used in serving his people” (R5613).
He generally stood alone against Israel’s oppressors -sometimes even turned over to them by his own fearful countrymen – yet by faith he boldly stood with neither sympathy nor support from his fellows. In his last hours he was unhesitating in his willingness to perish for his cause, and his last brief prayer shows a heart of full devotion to the service of God. “Let me die with the Philistines” (Judges 16:30). Are we thus willing to lay down our lives in service?
We close with this extract from R5613: “One lesson we may learn from Samson’s experiences is the importance of having an object in life. No one can get the best out of his life unless he have some definite purpose before him. Parents should encourage their children … to aspire for the best of what they are capable in life.
‘Dare to have a purpose true, And dare to make it known’
“In boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 16, there is a surging of the life forces which, rightly directed, tends to make of them noble men and noble women … There is in youth a striving for nobility. The faithful parent or guardian may be very successful in setting before the opening mind the reasonable obligation which he has toward the Creator, and the blessed privilege of laying down life itself on the side of right against wrong, on the side of truth against error. With matters thoroughly appreciated, the number of moral heroes in the world would be greatly multiplied”
– David Rice