Samson: Strength in Weakness, Victory in Death

Total Time: ~3 hours
Focus: Examining the paradoxical life of Samson, a man of divine strength and deep personal weakness, to see how God’s sovereign plan prevails through human failure and how a life of compromise can end in a final, sacrificial victory that points to the Gospel.

🧱 Session 1 — The Consecrated Birth, The Compromised Vow (60 mins)

Theme: A child is miraculously promised and set apart for God’s purposes from birth, but his own desires lead him down a path of compromise and broken vows.

📖 Reading

• Judges Chapters 13 & 14 — An angel announces the birth of Samson to a barren woman, setting him apart as a Nazirite. As a young man, Samson desires a Philistine wife, leading to conflict and the first breaking of his sacred vows.

📖 Key Passages

• Judges 13:5: “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

• Judges 14:3: “Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”

• Judges 14:6, 9: “And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid… And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.”

🔍 Word Study Suggestions

📚 Historical & Cultural Context

• The Philistines: A powerful and technologically advanced seafaring people who occupied the coastal plain of Canaan and were the primary oppressors of Israel during this period. They were a constant military and spiritual threat.

• The Spirit of the LORD: In the Old Testament, the Spirit’s coming upon someone was often for a specific, temporary task, granting supernatural ability or empowerment. For Samson, it was the source of his physical strength.

🗣️ Discussion Questions

1. Samson was given a divine calling and supernatural gifts from birth. How did his personal desires (“she pleaseth me well”) immediately create a conflict with that calling?

2. Samson broke his Nazirite vow by touching the dead lion, yet the story frames his subsequent riddle and victory as being prompted by God. How does this show the tension between human failure and divine purpose?

3. Samson kept his broken vow a secret from his parents. How does secrecy often accompany compromise in our own lives?

🧱 Session 2 — Personal Vengeance, Divine Instrument (60 mins)

Theme: Samson uses his God-given strength to wage a personal war of revenge, yet God uses these selfishly motivated acts to begin fulfilling His promise to deliver Israel.

📖 Reading

• Judges Chapter 15 — Betrayed by his new wife and father-in-law, Samson embarks on a series of destructive acts against the Philistines, culminating in a great slaughter with the jawbone of a donkey.

📖 Key Passages

• Judges 15:3: “And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.”

• Judges 15:11: “Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us?”

• Judges 15:18–19: “And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout…”

📚 Theological Framework

• God’s Sovereignty over Human Sin: Samson’s motives are clearly personal revenge, not holy war. Yet, God uses his anger and violence to strike blows against Israel’s oppressors. This demonstrates God’s profound ability to work His sovereign will even through the flawed and sinful actions of His people.

• Dependence in Desperation: It is only when Samson is at the point of death from thirst, after his great victory, that he finally cries out to God, acknowledging God as the source of his deliverance. This shows a pattern of self-reliance punctuated by moments of desperate dependence.

🗣️ Discussion Questions

1. Samson’s own people are willing to hand him over to the Philistines to keep the peace. What does this show about the spiritual state of Israel at the time?

2. Most of Samson’s actions in this chapter are driven by revenge. Can God use our wrong motives to achieve His right purposes? What are the dangers of this?

3. Why do you think Samson only called out to God when he was desperate? How does this reflect our own patterns of prayer and dependence?

🧱 Session 3 — The Final Fall, The Ultimate Victory (60 mins)

Theme: Samson’s lifelong compromises culminate in a final, tragic fall and loss of power, but his moment of ultimate weakness becomes the catalyst for his greatest victory through a final act of self-sacrifice.

📖 Reading

• Judges Chapter 16 — Samson’s relationship with Delilah, his repeated toying with the secret of his strength, his capture and blinding, and his final prayer and destructive triumph.

📖 Key Passages

• Judges 16:20: “And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”

• Judges 16:21: “But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.”

• Judges 16:28: “And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.”

• Judges 16:30: “And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords… So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.”

🧠 Reflection & Application

• The scariest verse in the story may be, “he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” What does this teach us about the danger of presuming upon God’s grace and power?

• In his moment of ultimate weakness—blinded and enslaved—Samson prays his most sincere prayer. How can our lowest moments become the place of our most authentic faith?

• Samson’s final act was one of self-sacrifice that brought deliverance to his people by destroying their enemies. How is this a powerful, if flawed, picture of what Jesus would later do on the cross?

✝️ Final Encouragement: Grace for the Broken

The story of Samson is messy, tragic, and violent. He is not a role model of faithfulness. But he is a powerful testament to the God who refuses to abandon His chosen instruments, no matter how flawed they are. Samson’s life shows that God’s plan is not ultimately dependent on our strength, our wisdom, or our obedience, but on His sovereign power and purpose. In his final moments, Samson becomes a startling picture of the Gospel: a savior who, through his own death, achieves the greatest victory and saves his people. It is a profound reminder that God’s grace is sufficient for our deepest failures, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.