Samson being shorn of his power Painting by Peter Paul Rubens National Gallery, London
Samson The Spirit-filled Warrior
Samson had been anointed by the Spirit of God as a boy. The only problem was he did not listen to his father and mother, when he fell in love with a young Philistine woman and wanted to marry her. The Philistines were long-time enemies of Israel. But in spite of his parents' disapproval, Samson went ahead and married the Philistine.
The wedding itself ended in Samson killing thirty of the Philistine men he blamed for persuading his wife to tell them the answer to a riddle he had set them. The result was he returned to his family, while she was given to another man. It was an ominous sign of what was to come.
Samson's Revenge on the Philistines
Samson was furious his wife had been given to another man and vowed revenge on the Philistines. The Philistines in turn gathered an army together and demanded that Samson was handed over to them to be punished for what he had done to them. Three thousand men of Judah persuaded Samson to hand himself over to the Philistines. But as he approached them the Spirit of the LORD came upon him and, picking up the jawbone of a donkey, he attacked and killed a thousand Philistines. For the next twenty years Samson led the people of Israel.
Samson & Delilah
Samson's problem was he was addicted to sex, which led to his downfall after he met and fell in love with a woman called Delilah. The Philistines saw their chance to trap Samson into revealing the source of his supernatural strength by persuading Delilah to seduce him into him telling her the secret of his strength.
Three times Delilah tried to get Samson to tell her his secret and three times he told a lie. Eventually, after weeks of nagging, he revealed the true secret.
“No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” (Judges 16:17)
When Delilah contacted the Philistines with the news, the leaders came with the money they had promised her and, after putting Samson to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave his head and his strength slowly left him.
This time when she shouted: "Samson, the Philistines are upon you," he woke up believing he had the strength to save himself, but did not realise the Spirit of the LORD had left him. The Philistines gouged out his eyes and took him in chains to Gaza, where they set him to grinding grain in prison.
Samson's Final Act
Modern excavation of Philistine temples similar to the temple of Dagon showing the two front pillars Source: adefenceofthebible.com
The Philistines forgot Samson's hair would grow back! The leaders decided to celebrate their victory by holding a festival with sacrifices to their fish god Dagon, saying:
“Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
They brought Samson out of prison to perform for them in the temple of Dagon. Samson told them to place him between two pillars so he could lean against them. With some three thousand men and women on the roof of the temple, Samson prayed:
“Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
Then reaching out for the two central pillars, he braced himself against them and, as he pushed with all his might, he said: “Let me die with the Philistines!”
The pillars gave way and the temple collapsed killing many more Philistines in his death than he had during his life.