Samson
Judges Chapters 13 – 15 Read it here
In many ways Samson is the opposite of Jephthah, one of the judges we read about yesterday. Where Jephthah was rejected by his family and lived his early life outside the law, Samson was the beloved child of a previously barren couple who was called to lead from before his birth.
Samson is a Nazirite at the command of an angel in 13:7. If you recall the Nazirite vow from Numbers, though, there are some critical differences. In Numbers, the Nazirite vow is a special devotion taken on by an individual voluntarily. It requires that, for a set period of time, the person abstain from wine and all other grape products, not cut his hair, and avoid any contact with a corpse.
Neither wine nor hair-cutting are considered bad things in scripture; the abstinence from them is rather a way that the Nazirite must set himself apart from the normal activities of life in order to remind himself of his commitment to God.
Two weeks into the new year, many people have already abandoned their new year’s resolutions. On the surface, such resolutions look similar to the Nazirite vow, but mostly they are made for a different reason: self-improvement for its own sake (such as exercise or losing weight). This would be like the difference between fasting for health reasons and fasting as a spiritual discipline: the reason matters more than the action.
Samson differs from the traditional Nazirite vow in that the commitment is made not by him but by his parents (and his mother is bound by some of the same rules), and that the commitment is for life. Also, as an effective warrior, Samson cannot avoid contact with corpses.
As a judge, Samson leads the Israelites in battle against the Philistines who have ruled them for 40 years.
His hostility toward the Philistines stems from betrayal by his Philistine wife, which leads him into the famous battle in which he kills a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey.