In today’s episode, the guys discuss Samson, who was a famous warrior and judge in the Bible. He was known for his strength which came from his uncut hair. There are so many \u201cheroes\u201d shown in the Bible, but they all have faults, sin, and issues. These people in the Bible demonstrate to us the Lord\u2019s patience and how genuine the scriptures are. There are a couple ways to look at the story of Samson. The first is through the view of morality, or what you should or should not do according to Samson\u2019s example. We also need to realize that Samson\u2019s story also points us to the gospel through the parallels in his story to Jesus. First, Samson is considered a judge of Israel, but he points us to the great judge, Jesus. Samson\u2019s mother was barren for a period of time and Jesus was born to a virgin mother. An angel announces both Samson\u2019s and Jesus\u2019 birth, but the angel told Samson\u2019s parents that he would begin to save the Israelites, while the angel told Jesus\u2019 parents that He will save the Israelites. Samson filled the world with dead bodies, but Jesus filled the world with His body. Jesus did not come to defeat His enemies, but to save us all. Samson points the way to Christ.<\/p>\n
Judges 13:5 states, \u201cYou will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.\u201d Samson had the purpose of being set apart for God, but that\u2019s not what happened in his life. Samson was repetitive in that he was used by the Lord but continued to go back to sin again and again despite the fact that he knew better. It is easy to sin, but hard to live for righteousness. We have never been tempted to be righteous when things don\u2019t go our way\u2014we are always tempted by sin because we live in a fallen world. We need to ask God to use us for His will and His purposes instead of our own. We don\u2019t see the bigger picture, so we need to trust that God will answer our prayers with what we need. Any trials we have in our lives are just stepping points to get us to where we need to be.<\/p>\n
Next, the guys talk about the theme of sight in Samson\u2019s story. Judges 17:6 states, \u201cIn those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.\u201d Everyone used their sight to determine what was right or wrong. Judges 14:1-3 states, \u201cSamson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother, \u2018I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.\u2019 But his father and mother said to him, \u2018Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?\u2019 But Samson said to his father, \u2018Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.\u2019\u201d Samson used his own judgment and ignored his parents in saying that this woman was right in his eyes. This theme of sight illustrates how the people would rely on their own understanding, but not the Lord\u2019s. Matthew 18:9 states, \u201cAnd if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.\u201d Samson\u2019s eyes are gouged out and after his eyes are taken, his spiritual eyes are restored. This brought him to redemption and reconciliation with his Father. God will sometimes bring us to the end of ourselves to save us.<\/p>\n
Lastly, the guys talk about how Samson\u2019s story shows us the importance of listening to counsel. Samson\u2019s parents encouraged him to marry someone who wasn\u2019t a pagan\u2014someone who was a Jew and lived for the Lord. This verse is never to be used against inter-marriage in terms of race. This verse was used to show they were under a covenant at this time to keep a pure family heritage in following the Lord. God places godly family members and friends in our lives to help us see God’s truth and listen to their counsel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today the guys discuss Samson and his story, diving into lessons we can learn from his life, failings, and victories, and how they all ultimately point to Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":281384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","tags":[],"post_series":[],"podcast_series":[11425],"speaker":[11188,11189,11190,11187],"podcast_topics":[11304,11575,11574],"class_list":["post-357332","episode","type-episode","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","podcast_series-season-2","speaker-emeal-zwayne","speaker-mark-spence","speaker-oscar-navarro","speaker-ray-comfort","podcast_topics-christ","podcast_topics-counsel","podcast_topics-samson","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n