“Of Samson”

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell…of Samson." Hebrews 11:32

Samson’s many mighty deeds are recorded by divine inspiration in the book of Judges, beginning at chapter thirteen. He was, in many ways, typical of Christ.

Like our Savior, his birth was foretold by the angel of the Lord (Jud. 13:7). As our Lord Jesus chose his bride from a cursed race, Samson went down to Timnath and found a wife there among a cursed people, among the Philistines who were his most implacable enemies (Jud. 14:1-4). His wife was taken from among those who most deserved his just wrath. She was taken from Timnath, which means, “portion – allotted, given, assigned portion.” So God’s elect are Christ’s assigned portion. As that Philistine woman “pleased him well,” so the Lord Jesus is well-pleased with his bride, the church of God’s elect. As we are the bride of Christ by the will of God, she was taken to be his wife by the will of God, because he sought an occasion against the Philistines.

As our Savior conquered Satan, the lion that roars against us, Samson rent a lion to pieces, as though it had been a kid (Jud. 14:5-6). One day he killed a thousand Philistines, single-handedly, with the jawbone of an ass. So the Son of God slew all our enemies, using the most despised of all instruments, the death of the cross (Gal. 3:13). As Samson carried off the gates of Gaza with their posts on his shoulders up a steep hill, our almighty Savior carried the gates of death away as he broke the iron bars and ascended up into heaven. As he tore asunder the strongest cords when bound by his enemies, our great Redeemer foiled every temptation of the devil, conquered death in his death, and broke the cords of death in his resurrection. As Samson overturned the pillars on which the great temple of Dagon stood, our great Samson, the Lord Jesus Christ, has overturned the kingdom of darkness. As Samson was divinely anointed for his work, the Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One of God.

How did Samson perform these great and mighty deeds?-By faith. In the book of Judges we read, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon him." But that does not mean he was forced involuntarily by divine power, like a tornado carries things through the air blindly and unwittingly. God the Holy Spirit does not use men passively like we use wood, rocks, steel, and mortar. God uses people by making them his willing servants, enlightening their minds, controlling their hearts, inclining their wills, and supplying grace and strength to do what he has for them to do.

"Faith cometh by hearing." – In Samson’s case he heard through his parents the promise which God had made concerning him (Jud. 13:5). He was raised in a home where God was believed and honored. His parents taught him the Word and worship of God in an age when few knew him, believed him, and worshipped him. But their faith was not his faith. Samson believed God himself. He believed the Word he "heard" from God through his parents. Samson grew up in the confidence of that faith and conducted himself accordingly. His last act was his greatest and best (Jud. 16:28-30). As he had lived in faith, he died in faith.