Matt Brown
Mike Bartch
Nick Bellon
Matt Haywood
The Story of Samson
Judges 13,1-16,31
The Israelites had offended the LORD, who delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. There was a man named Manoah whose wife was barren. An angel appeared to the woman and told her she would conceive and bear a son. She was to have no hard drink or eat anything unclean, and the baby boy was to never have his hair touched by a razor, because he was concecrated to God. It would be this boy who would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. The woman went to her husband and repeated all that the angel had told her and he beseeched the LORD to tell them what to do with the child. God heard Manoah and sent the angel to the woman as she sat in the field. She ran and got her husband who came and asked the angel what was expected of them. It told him that his wife was to do as it had said before. Manoah asked the angel to stay and eat with them, but it refused and said instead to offer a holocaust in place. Manoah pressed the angel for its name, which it refused to give. Manoah offered a kid to the LORD and the angel arose to heaven in the flame. They prostrated themselves at this sight and wondered why they had survived this viewing of the LORD. The woman had a son and named him Samson. He grew up and the LORD blessed him in the city of Mahaneh-dan.
Samson asked his parents to arrange a marriage with him to a Philistine girl he had seen in the city. His parents questioned the choice of marrying outside his religion. The three of them went down to Timnah to see the girl's family. A young lion came and attacked them and even though he wasn't armed, he tore the lion to pieces. He didn't mention this to his parents when he rejoined them. When he returned to marry the girl, he found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass. He took some honey and ate it as he proceeded. He gave some to his parents, without telling them its origin. Samson gave a marriage banquet and asked thirty of the bride's male friends a riddle. They had the seven days of the feast to solve it or give him thirty sets of garments, and if they guessed it, he would give the same in return. The guests had no idea at the answer, so after four days they decided to get Samson's wife to coax the answer out of him. She wept for the rest of the feast and Samson finally told her, and she proceeded to tell her countrymen. When they told him the answer, he knew he had been cheated and went to one of their cities and killed thirty men for their clothes. These he gave to his bride's countrymen, and he left his wife who was soon married to the best man at his wedding. Later, Samson returned to his wife, only to learn she was married to his best man. Samson told the girl's father this time they couldn't blame him for harm. He tied the tails of three hundred foxes together and sent them through the Philistine fields, burning everything. When the Philistines found out Samson's reason, they went and burned his ex-wife's family. Samson took offense at this and slaughtered many of them.
Samson went up to a cavern and stayed there. The Philistines readied for battle against Judah if Samson wasn't brought to them. Three thousand men of Judah went and got Samson to agree to be bound and taken up to the Philistines. When he got near the Philistines, the spirit of the LORD came and freed him from the ropes. He grabbed the jaw of an ass lying near and proceeded to kill a thousand Philistines. He threw the jaw away and cried out to the LORD that he was thirsty. The LORD opened a cavity in the land and Samson drank of the water that issued forth.
Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah to whom the Philistine lords came to and offered to give her great riches if she would find the secret of his strength. Delilah asked what the secret was and Samson told her if he was bound with seven fresh bowstrings, if he was held with fresh ropes, and if his hair was woven in a web and held with a pin he would be weak. She did this each time and told him the Philistines were there, to which each time he easily broke free. She questioned how he could love her and keep lying, so he finally told her that if he was shaved his strength would be gone. She realized he had told the truth and told the lords to come with their money and she would give him to them. While he was sleeping she had his hair shaved and woke him by telling him the Philistines were there. They came in the room, gouged out his eyes and took him away. His hair began to return as soon as it was shaved off.
The Philistines had a great feast for one of their gods and called for Samson to come so he might amuse them. He played stupid and then was led between two columns. He put his hands on the two columns and cried out to the LORD to give him back his strength. He said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" and pushed against the columns. The temple fell in on all the people so that he killed more at his death than during his life. His family returned and brought his body to be buried in his father's tomb. He had judged Israel for twenty years.