Top 7 Bible Verses About Samson

Here are seven Bible verses relating to Samson.

Judges 13:5 “For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Before Samson was born, his mother was barren but “the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son” (Judges 13:3) and this son, Samson, will “begin to save Israel from the hand of the Lord” since “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” and “the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years” (Judges 13:1).

Judges 13:25 “And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

After “the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him” (Judges 13:24) most likely because of Samson’s early faithfulness to God but that was about to change as “Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife” (Judge 14:1-2), however “his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes” (Judges 14:3). What Samson’s parents didn’t know was “that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel” (Judges 14:4).

Judges 15:18 “And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

And what was God’s answer to Samson? It says “And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day” (Judges 15:19). The time of Judges was when everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes but the ways of man are certainly not the ways of God (Prov 21:2) so God raised up certain judges to return the nation back to obedience to God, however Samson’s mission would be somewhat different than most judges at that time.

Judges 16:20 “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.”

In one of the most tragic of all verses, it was said that Samson “did not know that the LORD had left him” because of his willful disobedience. How often do some begin a ministry or become a pastor, only to become full of themselves and not know that the Lord had left them too? All too often, I’m afraid.

Judges 16:30 “And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.”

After Delilah had deceived Samson, he was captured by the Philistines and “the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved” (Judges 16:21-22). What a fall from grace; from being the judge in Israel to being a slave to the Philistines but God wasn’t finished with Samson yet. He prayed one last time for strength from God and was able to bring down more of the Philistines that he had in his entire lifetime.

Judges 16:30 “Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years. “

After Samson’s death, his family came to take his body and brought him back to his own land to bury him there. Samson ruled Israel for twenty years and in that time had so weakened the Philistines that they were no longer a threat to Israel…at least for a time.

Conclusion

God is still using men and women for His purposes, but the danger is when they begin to look to themselves and their own strength to do His work, as Samson did and then they forget Who the sovereign and omnipotent God is. They begin to depend upon themselves and not upon God Who gave us life and Who gave Samson his strength. If we focus on the strength of God and what He can do, we are less likely to look to ourselves and trust in our own strength.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.