God knew exactly what he was doing in using someone like Samson as his judge and his redeemer of Israel. He knew exactly how he purposed the life of this man of faith, no matter how stained and tarnished by sin he remained this side of heaven.

Judges is one of those books of the Bible that we tend to read at a distance. We don’t want to identify too closely with the people of God of old who “did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6). Nor do we feel very comfortable seeing the church underage looking more like Sodom and Gomorrah than God’s representatives on earth (Judges 19). So perhaps, like some I know, you like to give the book a bit of a wide berth, even as you revere it as God’s inspired word. Few, I find, are like me and consider it to be one of their most favored books of the Bible. (I recognize my unique tastes, with Ecclesiastes ranking at the very top!)

And yet it provides some exquisite comfort to sinners like you and me (not to mention, some equally exquisite conviction to boot). Perhaps one of the clearest encouragements is the conflicted character of Samson. We meet this troubled judge and deliverer in Judges 13 through 16 and are immediately struck by what we are to make of him.

Prophetically, he’s obviously a type of Christ in his miraculous birth (Judges 13) and in his sacrificial, delivering death (16:30). And yet, while he is supposed to be delivering the people of God from the world, he’s simultaneously intermarrying with them! (Judges 14)  Not to mention what appears to be his continual squandering divine gifting while fraternizing with deeply questionable women (Judges 16). It is no wonder some have come to question Samson’s eternal standing before the Lord.

We need not speculate, however, because the Scriptures provide precise clarity on what we are to conclude about the Bible’s strongest man. Hebrews 11:32-34, nestled in that great section referred to as the Hall of Faith, describes Samson as one who:

…through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

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