I always like to imagine what my favorite Bible characters might have been like if they had lived today. Read the story below, and see if you can guess who it is a biblical modernization of. Did the author leave you hanging the way they concluded the story?
Sam Strong, the muscular owner of the Bringing Down the House Fitness Center, was boyfriend to a very strong-minded woman, Dee Wiles. She was the aerobics instructor at his gym.
Anyone who
met Sam for the first time noticed his 6’ 5’’ height. The other thing that
caught their attention was his seven waist-length chestnut-colored pigtails
that were tied in the back of his head any time he worked out or helped a
patron. (He did both often)
Sam will
not have his hair cut due to the bizarre rules of his church, Nazarite Chapel
of Praise. Dee thinks Sam is pleasant to the eyes, but not too bright upstairs.
To Dee, Sam is like a stupid canine while she is the cunning feline that will
eventually rule over all of him.
After Dee’s
afternoon aerobics class on Saturday, two big goons from a rival gym offer to
pay Dee a great sum of money if she will discover the source of Sam’s strength
before the next power-lifting competition (over two weeks away).
Once Dee
agreed, she finally felt she owed the powerful Strong man. All was fair in love
and war. In the next week, Dee tried nagging, crying, sex, massages, soft
music, candlelight, food, and wine in attempts to wear Sam down and unearth his
strength secret.
Nothing
seemed to work. Dee wondered if Sam’s strength had something to do with his
hair. Sooner or later, she would cut the real truth right out of him.
The real Samson was the last judge of Israel. His unique life is found in the book of Judges of the Bible chapters thirteen to sixteen. His life is one of contradiction. He was a Nazirite set apart for God from birth. Yet Samson continually broke his vow. The Spirit of God came upon him many times. It gave him great strength to fight the Philistines, the oppressors of Israel. He was also a womanizer and a vengeful man. What three lessons can we learn from Samson’s life?
Giving in to temptation can lead to sin: Samson’s story begins with a violation of
God’s law. He wants to marry a Philistine woman despite his parents’ protests in
defiance of God’s law about intermarriage with pagans. His mother and father
accompany him past the vineyards of Timnah to obtain his new bride when a lion
attacks and is killed by him. As a Nazarite,
Samson
had to refrain from wine (and other fermented drink), grapes, or raisins. By
passing the vineyards of Timnah, he invited temptation to violate this portion
of his vow. When Samson came back by the carcass of the lion, it was filled
with a honeycomb, which he ate. This was a clear violation of the second part
of the Nazarite’s law not go near a dead body
God will use even a sinful person to do His will: Samson willingly went into situations that led to sin, but each time, God used him for His glory. God created Samson to start the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.. Even sinful men cannot prevent God’s will.
God will use even a sinful person to do His will: Samson willingly went into situations that led to sin, but each time, God used him for His glory. God created Samson to start the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.. Even sinful men cannot prevent God’s will.
When
Samson killed the lion, it was his first recorded test of strength. It gave him
confidence to face the Philistines. He murdered thirty Philistines out of
vengeance in order to pay a debt. God used him as a springboard to launch
Israel out of their oppression. Despite Samson’s sin, God could not be stopped.
God will not let us escape the consequences of our sin: Even though God’s will is unstoppable, Samson still experienced the consequences for his sin. When he met Delilah and she begged to know the secret of his strength, he broke the third part of the Nazirite law by having his long hair cut. He had gained confidence from previous violations which appeared to have gone unpunished, but his continual willful disobedience had reached an end. When Samson had finally broken all of the Nazirite laws, he had to face the consequences of his actions.
God will not let us escape the consequences of our sin: Even though God’s will is unstoppable, Samson still experienced the consequences for his sin. When he met Delilah and she begged to know the secret of his strength, he broke the third part of the Nazirite law by having his long hair cut. He had gained confidence from previous violations which appeared to have gone unpunished, but his continual willful disobedience had reached an end. When Samson had finally broken all of the Nazirite laws, he had to face the consequences of his actions.
The
lessons we can learn from Samson’s life are that if we willingly and repeatedly
walk into temptations which lead to sin, we will suffer the consequences of our
disobedience even though God still uses us to accomplish His will.
In the end, Samson understood the true source
of his strength, but he never understood his true purpose. In the end, Samson
was more concerned about revenge than anything else. It cost him his life (even
though he killed many Philistines). God’s will was done, but the many blessings
Samson might have seen were never realized.
“It's like Samson and Delilah: watch your back, because trouble could be the person you're sleeping with.” (Elizabeth Wurtzel)
It seems to me that we spend most of our spiritual energies trying to explain why the God of Elijah, Samson, David, and Paul seems to have lost His muscle in our modern age. Did He grow tired of performing heroics? Did He wax feeble after all these years of running this whole universal show? Could it be true that God has really lost His muscle? Maybe it would be more accurate to say God lost His men.” (Eric Ludy) [ii]
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| Samson (Nonso Anozie) from the 2013 miniseries, The Bible |
[i] “Samson and
his parents went down to the vineyards of Timnah. While they were traveling, a
young lion roared at him. The Spirit of the Eternal moved upon
Samson in that instant, and
with his bare hands, he tore the lion apart as one might rend a small goat; but
since he was by himself when this
happened, he did not tell his parents what he had done. Afterward
he continued on to Timnah and
talked with the woman. Samson was quite taken with her for she was very attractive.
So Samson returned later to marry her, and on the journey, he turned aside to see again the carcass of the lion he had killed. A swarm of bees was in the carcass, where they had made their hive with some honey. Although he had been set aside as a Nazirite, and was not supposed to touch a corpse, he scraped some honey out and went on, eating it from his hands. When he came to his parents, he gave some of it to them to eat, but he did not tell them where he had gotten it.” (Judges 14:5-9, VOICE)
So Samson returned later to marry her, and on the journey, he turned aside to see again the carcass of the lion he had killed. A swarm of bees was in the carcass, where they had made their hive with some honey. Although he had been set aside as a Nazirite, and was not supposed to touch a corpse, he scraped some honey out and went on, eating it from his hands. When he came to his parents, he gave some of it to them to eat, but he did not tell them where he had gotten it.” (Judges 14:5-9, VOICE)
[ii] Sources used:
·
“What Can We
Learn from the Life of Samson? (https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Samson.html)
·
All
for One (Book One), Chapter Three “Sam’s Got a Secret” by Robert Kinker
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