Dear Azy, Ari, and Rumi,
We’re going to pick up where we left off. With the time of the judges where the Israelites did whatever they deemed fit. There were many judges during this time where they would rule with God’s favor and then sin God would allow them to be conquered by their enemies. One of the judges was Samson. His mother had not had kids yet. Then, an angel of the lord appeared to her and said you will give birth to a son and he is to be dedicated to God, which they called a nazarite. He will begin to rescue Israel from the philistines and his hair must never be cut. They made an offering to the angel and the angel ascended up to heaven for them to know it was truly God who had visited them so they believed.
As Samson grew older, he started to see his own strength. One time he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his hands. While Samson loved God, he did not always listen to him and was quick to lose his temper. When he found a woman he liked, she was a philistine. His mother and father said it was best for her to marry an Israelite as that was God’s command but he didn’t listen. During the wedding festival, he posed a riddle for her family to answer. If they could answer, he would give them 30 pieces of fine clothing. But if they could not, they would them the clothing. After a few days of the wedding festival, his future wife nagged Samson so much to tell her the answer so he did and she shared it with her family. Samson became angry and went and took clothes from 30 other people to give it to them and did not marry the woman. From that point on, he did not like the philistines. At one point, he defeated 1,000 philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. His physical strength was not like any other man and given to him by God.
He then fell in love with another philistine named Delilah. The philistines asked Delilah to find out what was secret to his strength so they could defeat him. At first, Samson teased and gave her a lot of false answers. But eventually, as she nagged him more, he told her the truth, his strength came from God and would disappear if he cut his hair. So one night while he slept, Delilah shaved his head. In the morning, when the philistines came, the power of God had left Samson and they were able to capture him.
While in prison, Samson’s hair grew and he was able to regain his power. As 3,000 philistines were having a party, they asked Samson to be brought to the temple to entertain them. When he was brought in, they tied to stretched out his hands and tie it to two separate pillars of the temple. Samson then asked God if he could give him strength one last time, he would tear down the pillars so he can have his revenge and destroy God’s enemies at the same time. So God gave him the strength and Samson was able to tear down the pillars and the temple to defeat 3,000 philistines. This was the most philistines Samson had defeated and more than his entire lifetime.
There are several lessons here. First, Samson kept giving up every time someone nagged him to where it led to him getting captured and losing his power. It’s important when you believe in something to not just give up because Someone annoys you or makes it difficult to keep up your faith. Stand for what you believe and don’t cave in just because someone annoys you or bothers you making it easier to give up. Don’t quit because it’s the easier route. Second, God had specifically asked Israelites to drive out the philistines because he wanted to only have those who worshipped him and not other false God. Samson here disobeyed God twice by trying to marry a Philistine and falling in love with Delilah, another philistine. So he faced troubles his whole life by trusting the wrong people and then spent time avenging the philistines for not liking them and what they did to him. At the end though, God took all those bad qualities and turned it into good by allowing Samson to have strength one last time to start the lead in taking out the philistines before what would change from the time of the judges to the first kings of Israel.
Last, Samson had the potential of being of the greatest rulers of Israel. God gifted him with exceptional strength. His life was meant to serve God. But he neglected obeying God’s orders and didn’t focus on getting better in the other areas of his life, like having humility, helping others, and asking God what else he could do to serve him instead of his selfish pursuits to have fun. So there was wasted potential because Samson focused more on his physical strength and revenge than serving God. At the end, God still found a way for Samson to serve him and take the lead on getting rid of the Philistines, but he could of done a lot more like Joshua and Joseph if he had been obedient.
After Samson, the people of Israel asked God to be given a king to rule so they could be like everyone else around them. God warned them that having a king would have its own set of problems and eventually they would have to pay taxes and would be under the control of the king. And they should focus on worshipping God to be blessed versus their false Gods. But they did not listen and thus started the reign of the first kings of Israel, Saul and David. I will tell you their amazing stories, as wall as the prophet Samuel, who God chose to choose his king, next time.
Until the next adventure. Love you all very much.
Love,
Daddy
3/29/25
