Samson & Delilah: Star Struggles, A Flawless Finish
Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, 'O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!' And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
And his brothers and all his father's household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.
Judges 16:28-31 (NKJV)
Samson finished strong, and it was flawless. He killed 3000 Philistine leaders in the midst of a dark celebration honoring Dagon, Philistia’s god.
'Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!... 'So it happened, when their hearts were merry that they said, 'Call for Samson, that he may perform for us' ' (Judges 16:23, 25).
After his unprecedented defeat through Delilah’s guile, the blinded, humbled, and hobbled hero became their trophy and chief amusement.
Like Jesus, Samson was betrayed and scorned: an object of torture and ridicule.
Like Jesus, he gave his life willingly, so that his countrymen might become free.
‘ ‘Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him.’ This awful catastrophe seems to have so completely paralyzed the Philistines, that they neither attempted to prevent the removal of Samson's corpse, nor to molest the Israelites for a long time after.' (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
Samson made a notable Bible list: the 'Faith Hall of Fame.' **
Because God never stopped loving Samson, especially not in his hardest hours. The Lord’s storyline for His flawed hero was stunningly heroic to the end.
Did it have to happen this gruesome way? Only God knows, but we know…
Like Jesus, Samson was perfected through suffering, and like Jesus, his finish was flawless.
Samson & Delilah: Star Struggles, A Flawless Finish (Part 5)
* 'And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again' (Hebrews 11:32-35).
** Hebrews 11: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2011&version=NKJV
NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.