Judges 13

Psalm 116:9 makes this personal affirmation of our resurrection future: “I will walk with the Lord in the land of the living.” How good do you have to be in order to sing that song as your own? Our trust is in the Lord Jesus alone, who gave His life of perfect righteousness for us. Yet we come to a figure like Samson, and we wonder.

It helps us to read what the Scriptures say beyond Judges about this strong savior of Israel. Hebrews 11:32 includes him as one of the heroes of the faith. Samson was a Christ figure as a savior/judge of Israel. He was also a man who called upon the Name of the Lord, and was saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet his “soul was vexed to death” through a bad relationship with a dangerous woman before the end of his life.

How much of a Christ figure was Samson? More than any other judge in this book. His birth account prepares us for the miraculous coming of our Savior. For forty years Israel had been in the hands of the Philistines. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to a barren woman and made this announcement: “You shall conceive and bear a son.” This child would be a ceremonial picture of perfect holiness, a Nazirite from birth. See Numbers 6. From before he was conceived, the message was given by the Lord that this child would “begin to save Israel.” The “One who works wonders” would give this child for the deliverance of His people during a time of great darkness and distress.

God's purpose in bringing Samson was not to bring death to Israel, but to save them, even at the cost of the life of the appointed servant of the Lord. Samson was not the Messiah. We can find fault with him if we choose. But we need to remember that the sin of this man was not the end of the story for him.

It was the Spirit of the Lord that began to stir in him as he started to walk on the road that would lead to the end of his life under the sun. At just the right time he would win his greatest victory through his death. How can we miss Jesus in this account? And yet we wonder, could not God have picked a better man to prepare us for His holy Son?

Yet Samson walks before the Lord in the land of the living. As Psalm 116:5 says, “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.” Psalm 85:10 tells us how God will be merciful. “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” That kiss has come for us in the cross of Christ. Perfected sinners walk before the Lord in the land of the living now because of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who has atoned for our sins.