Reading… and Thinking

This announcement of the birth of Samson was the beginning of breaking the cycle. Here, for the first time, was a deliverer designated before his birth – born for the very purpose. And yet, he would not be the one to accomplish the deliverance. As the angel said, “he shall begin to deliver Israel.” The deliverance was not complete until King David finished the work.

Samson was set aside as a Nazirite from birth. The only other child ever to be so designated by an angel of God was one born over a thousand years later – John the Baptist, another miraculous birth to a childless couple. John also was one who made a beginning, one who went before the final deliverer and prepared the way. John introduced something new, breaking out of the old cycle of the Law – baptism of repentance. And of course, the deliverance was completed by the work of Jesus, the King.

We are accustomed to viewing Samson very negatively. He certainly had failings of the flesh. But even there, we sometimes go too far in charging him with wrong. The events surrounding his marriage to the woman of Timnah, for example, are explicitly said to be “from the Lord”. The final word on Samson comes in Hebrews chapter 11, where he is listed among the faithful who are asleep in hope of resurrection to eternal life.

The deliverers in the old cycle led armies, and the Lord gave them victory. Samson was different. The victories he brought were completely on his own, very obviously with the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the first time the Spirit powers had been openly displayed since Joshua’s time – almost 400 years earlier. Similarly, John the Baptist was the first prophet in about 400 years. Both Samson and John let the people of Israel see that the Lord was at work among them, and that salvation was coming.

Casting David as a type (foreshadowing) of Christ is common, and can easily be demonstrated from Scripture. Samson as a type of John isn’t as clear, but it strikes me that the parallels are too strong for it to be just coincidence. David’s failings do not stop us from understanding that he represented the Christ. In the same way, Samson’s failings need not deter us from thinking of him as the forerunner, the one who prepared the way.

We should be careful in the way we judge the people we meet in the Bible. Besides Samson, there are some who do not think very highly of Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, Jacob, Lot, and Job. The first four of these are commended for their faith in Hebrews 11, Lot is commended by Peter, and Job by James.