Samson’s story is Israel’s story. But it is also our story, and his tragedy may be ours too if we resist God’s call as he did. We too are holy people, or “saints” in the proper Biblical sense of that term (1 Corinthians 1:2; 6:1, 2; 14:33; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2). In the words of the Apostle Peter we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Incredible though it may sound, it’s God’s intention to take the fight to the enemy through us, reveal his glory to the world through us, and expose its gods for the hollow shams they are. 

You all know the story of Samson. He was the reluctant deliverer that God used, despite his many glaring faults. As such, it provides yet another reason why the Bible is more than a bunch of made-up stories. If it were a mere human book, folks would not have included such stories of defeat and sin and rebellion. But the Bible gives us reality, warts and all.

So we have this story of Samson, for good or ill, in the book of Judges (chapters 13-16). Four whole chapters – out of twenty-one – devoted to him and his family, highlighting this very flawed character. Gideon and his family also have four chapters devoted to him, but he is a very different figure. Here I want to look at Samson’s life, but mainly in the light of just one verse.

Judges 16:20 tragically says this about Samson: “But he did not know that the LORD had left him.” It is certainly one of the saddest verses in the Old Testament. Without wanting to see more theological warfare erupt here, I just want to offer some general reflections on this. Those who are chomping at the bits to debate whether a true believer can lose his salvation are advised to hold off. That particular discussion is not my main concern here.

We know that in the end the Lord still used Samson to achieve his purposes. Talk about amazing grace. Many Christians would ask how God could use such a selfish, carnal, rebellious, and immoral guy like this. Well, as I want to show here, the real question to ask is this: ‘How can God use any one of us?’ We are all like Samson in so many ways.

We all disappoint God repeatedly. It is a wonder that he does not just write us off, once and for all. Yet he seems to keep extending grace and mercy. Do we deserve it? No. That is why it is grace – it is fully undeserved. I don’t know about you, but when I read stories of such severely flawed and sinful characters like Samson, or so many others found in Scripture, it gives me hope. If God can use these guys, he can even use me!

Let me mention a few things about the Samson story, and then bring in some commentators. Throughout these four chapters we see that God uses even a selfish and fleshly Samson to achieve his greater purposes. For example, in Judges 14 we read about Samson’s marriage to a Philistine – something his parents rightly pointed out was wrong. Yet verse 4 says this: “His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.”

Throughout this narrative we see Yahweh using the bad choices of Samson to achieve his various purposes. And bad choices seemed to fully characterise Samson. Says Mary Evans, “Samson treats the Philistines as an enemy only when his own personal aims are thwarted; otherwise, he seems happy to live with them in reasonably comfortable coexistence.” And as Kenneth Way comments:

All of Samson’s vices seem to come together in this account. He is lustful (16:1, 4), apathetic (16:17), and foolish (16:20), and right up to the very end he is selfish (16:28) and vengeful (16:28). Amazingly, God uses all these flaws to accomplish his own purposes. However, God’s employment of Samson does not count as an endorsement of his lifestyle, nor does it absolve Samson from the terrible consequences of his poor choices (see 16:20–21, 30).

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