Written by Fiona Monaghan What an interesting man. Anger, strength and arrogance reign in him…but he still is God’s chosen one as a Judge for Israel.
Samson is one of those heroes in the Bible that for every strength he had, there was an equal and opposite weakness. He is seen doing a good thing and then making a terrible decision in the next action. Moving from one catastrophe to the next- leaving chaos and heartbreak in their wake. Why would he do this? He should have known better. He was raised with good morals and a dedicated family. Why this immaturity housed in a physically daunting body. Samson’s life truly reads like a bad movie…
He chooses to be with a Philistine woman. This choice leads to a dramatic storyline in which he ends up slaughtering 30 men for their clothes to pay back a debt! A debt he incurred because the Philistine woman was forced to tell a bunch of Philistine men the answer to a riddle Samson arrogantly posed to them. He then finds out that his “to be” father-in-law married the woman off to Samson’s best man. Samson is so angry he lashes out in revenge. He catches 300 foxes, ties their tails together, sets them on fire and lets them go into the Philistine fields. In retaliation, those men burn the house of Samson’s not quite father-in-law and ex- bride to be. Again, responding with wrath, Samson finds the men responsible and massacres them.
Now it’s the Philistines turn. They come into Judah and want to wreak havoc on those people because of what Samson has done. They demand the Israelites turn Samson over… Samson acquiesces; he is tied up and handed over to the Philistines. However, as they approach, the ropes fall away and he takes the jawbone of a donkey and kills all the Philistines. A similar cycle continues throughout Samson’s life.
What comes through loud and clear after reading all of the ups and downs of this man’s life is that even in all that he did wrong and his questionable motives, God still chose him to be his champion against the Philistines. His anger and arrogance is funneled into that of Protector and Judge for the Israelites at this time in history, and he fulfilled the role of Judge for 20 years. God had set Samson apart to be used and God knew what strengths and weaknesses Samson would have and he chose to use him regardless.
So remember when you lose your temper, make bad judgment calls, fall back to old ways when you should know better, that nothing is irredeemable when God is in the mix. He can use us no matter our disposition and character. He will take those traits we have, both good and bad, and engineer circumstances so that when we seek Him we will reach those higher goals. We all have failings and strengths and the story of Samson shows us that even in these God can use us.
Take time today to pray about your weaknesses, the chinks in your armor. Ask God to take them and use them for his will. It is hard to know the wonders God will work through us when we seek his will. So don’t be discouraged by your failings but look to him in all aspects of your life- He has a mighty plan for you.
Photo Credit
We find Nehemiah in exile from his homeland, Judah (possibly being of the tribe of Judah,) and working for the Persian king, Artaxerxes. His served the king as a cupbearer which would have been quite a high position allowing him access to communicate directly with the king.
Challenge:
Judges begins Gideon’s story with him threshing wheat in a winepress – why would Gideon be separating the edible grain from the inedible chaff in a place used to make wine? Threshing wheat in a winepress conveys the idea of someone hiding and doing something in a place unexpected because usually threshing wheat would be done out in the open. Well, during this time the Israelites were being hounded by the Midianites (because once again they had turned from the Lord) who would rampage through the area, steal their food, their livestock and terrorizing everyone. So Gideon was hiding his crop from the Midianites hoping that it would be spared from pillaging.
He is directed to destroy the altar to Baal in his own father’s house and take down the Asherah fertility pole next to the altar. Then, make an offering of his dad’s prize bull on an altar with the wood from the fertility pole. He decides to do this at night with 10 servants to help. The next morning everyone in town is aghast! “Who did this thing?” They want his head on a stick. Funnily enough, his dad Joash steps up and states, “What is all the fuss about? What kind of god is Baal if he needs defending, let him fight his own battles!” Score 1 for Gideon!
What questions do you have for God?
Scripture Reflection:
One of the stories that I have recently been studying is the story of Deborah in Judges. At the beginning of her story the Israelite people were following the familiar cycle in the Old Testament, falling into disobedience once again and had begun to worship local gods forsaking their allegiance to the one true God of Moses. As a result, they had been allowed by God to be oppressed under Caananite rule for the past 20 years.
We loaded up the church bus, packing in kids as tight as we could. There was laughing, yelling, and singing the whole way to Pump It Up in Lynwood for their glow in the dark party. The kids played hard, sweat pouring from their little brows, smiles beaming across their faces.At 8pm, as we loaded the bus to head back to the church, one of the first grade girls, giddy with the new experience of a big kid party, asked with hope and enthusiasm, "is it midnight yet?” She was thrilled to be a part of something so fun and so new.
In less than 24 hours the kids got to hear the good news about Jesus in five different 10 minute lessons. So Sunday morning at the 11am service, as the kids began their new worship program, a different excitement, a different newness, and different glowing took place. The kids sang to God from their hearts, drenched in gratitude for the love of God. Their excitement over their first sleepover became coupled with an excitement for God that would bless their friends and community.