The other day I was reading about Samson. It is a story that I have read many times. I have always thought of Samson as a guy who messed up. But when I read it the other day I came to know about certain things which made me look at the whole thing in a different view.
1. Nazarite does not mean just long hair
Samson was raised as a Nazarite. The Nazarite vow if you read Deuteronomy is time bound and it involves being separated for God. There are 3 important things a Nazarite needs to do: 1. Never use a razor 2. Never go near a dead body 3. Never drink wine. If you look at Samson's story he broke rules 2 and 3 long before he broke rule 1. But it is touted as the main reason for his strength and we often equate his hair being cut to him losing his Strength. We in our day to day life make a lot of small sins and disobey God's commandments. Inspite of this God continues to be with us. When God decides to leave that is when we would realize that all our Glory is through him. In the case of Samson, he never took his Nazarite vow seriously, I beleive that at some point he beleived that his power is not because of God. It is at this point God decides to teach him a lesson and leaves him.
It is now not fashionable to talk about God's wrath or about the need to Fear God. I was talking to one of my friends and he made the statement that most Christians don't fear God. We spend a lot of time talking about God's love, his blessing, etc. we do not spend equal time talking about his punishment. This causes us to compromise on our commitments (me inclusive). When I look at Samson's story it felt like the same way. He just goes with the flow always thinking that God will understand and his relationship with God will not change no matter what he does. After all God was with him when he violated the other rules. We need to watch out our inclination to take God for granted.
2. Phillistines were more sophisticated and cultured than the Israelites.
When I did some reading about the Phillistines outside the Bible it is obvious that they had more sophisticated weaponry than the Israelites. It seems that they had the ability to make iron chariots whereas the Israelites did not know how to use iron. They had a thriving economy as they controlled the seas and knew how to sail. Israelites were immigrants in the land of Phillistines. Samson's lifetime is one of the timeframes where there is no mention that Phillistines persecuted Israelites. The issue at hand does not seem one of persecution but more of losing their identity. Samson struggled with preserving his identity. He sought to be with the Phillistines all the time. As we live among non-beleivers we will often be among people who would seem culturally more sophisticated and would look down upon us for our religious beliefs. We will have to watch our way and avoid the pitfalls that caused Samson to Fall.
3. Samson the Hero
Inspite of all his failings. Samson judged Israel for 20 years. He is mentioned along with Gideon and others by Paul in the New Testament. It just shows that inspite of our weaknesses God is compassionate and continues to use us for his Glory. So lets not get bogged down by our weaknesses and we pray to God to help us bring Glory to His name. God can use us inspite of our weaknesses. As paul says the only way humans are capable of living a sinless life is for us to die and let Jesus's spirit live in us. For Samson as he was in the auditorium, his life had ended he let God's spirit live in his body and do his will. Our whole life ends up being a journey in letting go of every aspect of our life. Samson found it in his final days. That is the reason he is mentioned as one of the heroes.
1. Nazarite does not mean just long hair
Samson was raised as a Nazarite. The Nazarite vow if you read Deuteronomy is time bound and it involves being separated for God. There are 3 important things a Nazarite needs to do: 1. Never use a razor 2. Never go near a dead body 3. Never drink wine. If you look at Samson's story he broke rules 2 and 3 long before he broke rule 1. But it is touted as the main reason for his strength and we often equate his hair being cut to him losing his Strength. We in our day to day life make a lot of small sins and disobey God's commandments. Inspite of this God continues to be with us. When God decides to leave that is when we would realize that all our Glory is through him. In the case of Samson, he never took his Nazarite vow seriously, I beleive that at some point he beleived that his power is not because of God. It is at this point God decides to teach him a lesson and leaves him.
It is now not fashionable to talk about God's wrath or about the need to Fear God. I was talking to one of my friends and he made the statement that most Christians don't fear God. We spend a lot of time talking about God's love, his blessing, etc. we do not spend equal time talking about his punishment. This causes us to compromise on our commitments (me inclusive). When I look at Samson's story it felt like the same way. He just goes with the flow always thinking that God will understand and his relationship with God will not change no matter what he does. After all God was with him when he violated the other rules. We need to watch out our inclination to take God for granted.
2. Phillistines were more sophisticated and cultured than the Israelites.
When I did some reading about the Phillistines outside the Bible it is obvious that they had more sophisticated weaponry than the Israelites. It seems that they had the ability to make iron chariots whereas the Israelites did not know how to use iron. They had a thriving economy as they controlled the seas and knew how to sail. Israelites were immigrants in the land of Phillistines. Samson's lifetime is one of the timeframes where there is no mention that Phillistines persecuted Israelites. The issue at hand does not seem one of persecution but more of losing their identity. Samson struggled with preserving his identity. He sought to be with the Phillistines all the time. As we live among non-beleivers we will often be among people who would seem culturally more sophisticated and would look down upon us for our religious beliefs. We will have to watch our way and avoid the pitfalls that caused Samson to Fall.
3. Samson the Hero
Inspite of all his failings. Samson judged Israel for 20 years. He is mentioned along with Gideon and others by Paul in the New Testament. It just shows that inspite of our weaknesses God is compassionate and continues to use us for his Glory. So lets not get bogged down by our weaknesses and we pray to God to help us bring Glory to His name. God can use us inspite of our weaknesses. As paul says the only way humans are capable of living a sinless life is for us to die and let Jesus's spirit live in us. For Samson as he was in the auditorium, his life had ended he let God's spirit live in his body and do his will. Our whole life ends up being a journey in letting go of every aspect of our life. Samson found it in his final days. That is the reason he is mentioned as one of the heroes.
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