June 25, 2025 • 33 mins
The story of Samson captivates us like few others in scripture – a man granted supernatural strength but plagued by profound weakness. What can we learn from someone who could rip lions apart with his bare hands but couldn't resist the persistent questions of Delilah?
Hosts David, Javi, and Jason dive deep into Judges 13-16, exploring how Samson's birth paralleled Jesus's with an angelic announcement and special calling as a Nazirite. Yet despite these auspicious beginnings, Samson repeatedly violated his sacred vows – drinking alcohol, touching dead bodies, and eventually allowing his hair to be cut – all while maintaining his divine strength until the final betrayal.
The conversation uncovers fascinating parallels between Samson and Jesus that many readers miss: both had births announced by angels, both were betrayed for silver, both were publicly humiliated, and both sacrificed themselves with outstretched arms. But the crucial difference emerges in their legacies – "Samson killed more people in his death than when he was alive. Jesus saved more people after his death than when he was alive."
What makes this story so enduring? Perhaps it's that we see ourselves in Samson's contradictions. We witness someone chosen by God who repeatedly fails yet ultimately fulfills his purpose. The hosts thoughtfully examine whether Samson's downfall stemmed from arrogance, self-sabotage, or simply the natural consequence of relinquishing control to others rather than maintaining his covenant with God.
This episode challenges us to consider where we might be yielding control of our lives to others rather than to God, and reminds us that even our deepest flaws can be used for divine purposes. Share your thoughts about Samson or other "good people who've done bad things" with us on social media or by email!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Boundless Bible.
My name is David Shapiro, hey,I'm Javi Marquez and I'm Jason
Holloway.
Welcome to the Boundless Bible.
How's it going, guys?
Doing well.
How are you Doing?
Good man, I'm doing great.
Today we're going over thestory of Samson, Love Samson.
What a story.
Now Samson had strength to fightarmies, but did he have the
(00:23):
humility to fight himself?
Ooh, that's good, let's findout.
That was clever, let's do it,thank you.
So the story of Samson, just towe go into real quick.
Before there were kings, beforeKing David and King Saul, there
were judges, and each judge wasnot a judge like a court judge
we know of, but these wereleaders of the area that they
(00:43):
were in charge, like sub kings,exactly.
So samson was one of them andhe's actually known as one of
the worst.
Um, when you look at all thejudges, they get a little bit
worse every time you go down theline.
Okay, um, in in the story ofjudges, in the, in the book of
judges, and samson happens to beone of the worst, um, and for a
(01:05):
lot of reasons.
But we're just going to go inand kind of talk about him and
what he did and who he is.
Um, but samson was, um, verysimilar his start to jesus, okay
, oh, interesting.
And the reason I say that isbecause you had an angel come
down and tell mary you're goingto be carrying a child and
describes Jesus yeah, same waythat Samson started, except it
(01:29):
wasn't a virgin birth but it wasan angel who came down and said
this is who you're going tobirth and he's going to be a
Nazarite, and a Nazarite issomebody who is set apart from
birth.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
That's what it means.
Oh, okay, that's what I mean,it's just somebody set apart
from birth.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And there are certain things that they can and can't
do.
As a Nazirite, it's like ultrapious, right?
Yes, oh, exactly, ultra pious.
So he's not to cut his hair.
He's not to drink alcohol Right, he's not to handle dead bodies
, cadavers.
So there's a specific set oflaws, the word Nazarite in the
(02:03):
Bible, but Samson is one of them, and here he is and he's now
born and he's a judge.
And it is an incredible storyof this just really strong guy
fighting the Philistines, tryingto protect the Israelites, but
falling into issue after issue.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Samson's story to me like it's one of the things, one
of the stories that why I lovethe Old Testament.
It's just these stories of likestrength, things that we're
used to now like superheroesalmost right.
And seeing this the way hebattles, the way he kind of, you
know, does things, and it'sjust so like he saves the day
almost you know, and it's likeso like he saves the day almost
(02:44):
you know, and it's like, wow,that's cool to actually read it
and I could when I read it, Icould, I could see it.
Um, and that's why I love theold testament when it has these
stories and and just kind ofseeing the supernatural, it's
big bold imagery, like they'redefinitely setting up the story
right, like they.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Like he's this I mean spoiler alert right like he's
the strongest of the strong, buthe ends up being defeated by
something not that strong, right, right, and so like it's
beautiful the way that they'rebuilding these stories, but the
way that God built these storiesthrough these people and
through their stories, I meanit's really, really phenomenal.
So so he was the worst judge.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
He was chosen, but he was constantly rebellious.
Right Uh had a tremendous egoand was rebellious against god
and what he had said for him.
Um, one of the most famousstories about samson is him
tearing a lion into yes, withhis bare hands, did you say so
cool, it is.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, he ripped them apart.
He like, like right.
He said he ripped.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Wasn't that a hercules story too?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I think hercules did kind of the same thing so samson
ripped a lion into uh, whichevery guy's like yeah, this is
great, this is.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know, he couldn't do it in three.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
What a, what a wimp but then what happens is he eats
later on.
He eats honey, yeah, out of adead cadaver, which is against
what he's supposed to be doingagain oh, as a nazirite he is
not supposed to be touching adead body?
Right, and he was eating out ofit.
Yeah, um, he's just constantlyrebellious to god's commands and
(04:11):
what he has in store for him.
Yeah, and you just see, storyafter story after story, him
doing the exact same thing.
Yeah, um, which still isn't hisdownfall.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
No, I mean that's a great thing samson's downfall
comes much later.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Um, but yes, listen, he, um, uh.
He fights the philistines inthis really incredible fashion
multiple times um one.
There's a donkey jawbone.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, he kills a thousand men, a thousand men
with a jawbone with a jawbone.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
It's cool, man.
Uh, very cool it's it's.
You know, this is john wick.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Very cool, it's you know, this is John Wick, yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
You know the long flowing hair and you know he did
have the long flowing hair,exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
This is I mean, this is every guy's dream.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
One of the pictures I've seen of Samson, by the way,
is he has these dreadlocks, or?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
something.
He has long hair, right,whether it's dreaded out or not,
he does have long hair.
That he is not allowed to cutthis long air, that he, he is
not allowed to cut, uh, this isone of those nazirite laws.
Yeah, you're not allowed to cutyour locks, um, but he, you
know one point, he also, he sets3 000 fox on fire.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
This is insanity.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I love this he sets them on fire um and sends them
out.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
He sets their tails on fire.
He ties them together, all 300.
He ties them together, setstheir tails on fire.
He ties them together, all 300.
He ties them together, setstheir tails on fire and runs
them into the city so they canburn down the city.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yes, sick and what happens is this is actually a
curse on the philistines harvest, right what he's doing, so he's
also the first one to actuallyuse um psychological warfare
when you really think about it,because that's solid you have
the philistines and what he'sdoing is he's cursing their
harvest by setting a fox on fire.
The fox represents cunning ordesolation.
(05:49):
Oh, I never knew that.
Fire represents judgment orpurification, so he's literally
cursing their harvest.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I really think he's more.
He's wise, even beyond his.
He's not just, you know, thisstrong guy, he's also wise.
Even the things that where hewas kind of conniving with his,
with poetry at the, at thefestival and all that stuff I
think he was, he was a wisejudge.
He wasn't just this, you know,the big strong guy.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I don't know if he was big guy, I just know he was
strong absolutely, and and um,he didn't always battle with the
philistines because he fell inlove with one.
Yeah, um, her name was timnaand this was his wife that he
married, who was the daughter ofa philistine.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yes, um that he fell in love with, and he tricked
them into getting her too,didn't he like he's full of he's
full of stuff, this guy, yeahum, so, so yeah, he, he man.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
There's so much to talk about samson, but he does.
He ends up getting married,still defeats the Philistines,
so it's not even like he'smarrying her and there's truce,
or he is in command of hismarriage, his armies, he's in
control of the Philistines, heis truly chosen.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And we're talking about Samson and what the verses
of what Judges 13 to 16, right,chapter 16.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Chapters 13,.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
16 is Samson Um but when you say he was, he was
chosen by God, it's interestingcause he does all this stuff
right.
He does all this like wildstuff and and even bad stuff to
an extent, and then somethinghappens to him and it says the
power of God came upon him andhe was able to have this
strength.
So I find maybe that'ssomething to talk about, right.
There is like how can you be sostrong and you know from from
(07:30):
God, while you're still doing somany different things, like
there's so much I don't know.
I just want to unpack all that,yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
And I think that's listen, that is God's way, which
is we know he works throughflawed individuals.
Um, he had chosen you knowindividuals.
Um, he had chosen you knowsamson before he was born.
Yeah, he knew him before he wasborn which is beautiful and
gave him all this strength andsaid this is what you're going
to do, you're going to protectthe israelites.
I'm going to give you all thisstrength.
He does have all this wisdom.
(07:56):
Uh, it's just this incrediblestory of how god utilized this
gentleman even when he wasmessing up, even when he was
going.
Listen, they have talks abouthim being in parties afterwards,
and when you start looking upthe Hebrew version of those
parties, typically these mendrinking sessions which he was
not allowed.
He wasn't allowed to it doesn'tsay he specifically drank
(08:16):
alcohol, but a lot of academicskind of look at that and go.
If he was at this type of partychances are.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
He was drinking, he was partaking, so now you have
him partaking of alcohol.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
He is eating honey out of dead bodies.
Multiple times he's actuallywith dead cadavers and touching
them.
So he keeps defying what Godhas told him to do Right, and he
still has all of his power.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
God has not turned his back on him Particularly
against the Philistines Exactly,who were the known enemy of,
you know, the israeli peopleright, yep, absolutely, um, and,
and he has all of his power,it's not taken from him.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
But then samson meets somebody else, yes, who is not
his wife.
Yes, delilah, right, um, thisis something.
I think this is where the storyother than him ripping a lion
in half, um, I think the secondpart that most people know, or
maybe even the first, is samsonand delilah.
Yeah, I think I mean, there's asong about it well, it's a
(09:14):
popular.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean, it's a popular thing, it's a pop
culture thing.
Everybody knows samson anddelilah, whether or not you know
the bible or not, right, I mean?
And you know what's the leonardcohen song, hallelujah, it
talks about delilah.
Anyway, it goes into that wholething.
But like it's such a popculture thing, it really is
fascinating.
This is a cult, this is a storythat has defied boundaries yeah
, and to me this is the nowthird match with jesus.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
the first one was how he was going to be born yes.
The second one was setting himapart from everybody else.
Okay, jesus was set and withDelilah, she is offered 1100
pieces of silver Right and Jesus, somebody else was offered
silver.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, for I never thought of that.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
To betray them.
Yeah, so he's betrayed for 1100pieces of silver For silver
yeah.
Again, this is now the otherkind of parallel to Jesus.
Yes, and there's still more.
There's still more parallels,but just kind of pausing now and
saying this is the third one inthat story, and then you know,
(10:15):
I'm going to let you, jason,because I know you were bothered
by this a little bit, in thisstory, what happens between
Samson and Delilah?
I'm not bothered a little bit.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I'm bothered a lot.
Oh, it is so frustrating to mewhen I hear this story that he's
.
She asks him what can I do todestroy you?
Yeah, and he gives her a badanswer, just to see what'll
happen.
And she does it.
Yeah, she goes through with it,which should have been the end
of the story right thereshouldn't it.
I mean like like here, let me bevulnerable to you, let me give
(10:44):
you the you know, let me giveyou the skinny on what's going
on and see if you take advantageof it, and you take advantage
of it.
That's pretty much the.
I don't know about you guys,but you do that to me.
That's probably the last timeI'm telling you anything and
then she does it again, becausehe lets her and then he tells
her again and she goes throughit again.
Yeah, and I'm just thinkinglike why?
I don't know, this is the partof the story I don't understand.
(11:05):
I don't.
I don't understand this part ofthe story and it frustrates me
to no end because again ithappens, happens three times,
right, three times.
And on the third time which is,I'm sure, has some significance
in the Jewish, you know tellsher, yeah, like, why would he?
This is the part thatfrustrates me really.
Why would he actually tell her?
(11:25):
Because she's persistent, Imean.
But I mean you get everythingyou want when you keep asking,
right, yeah, man.
She's so persistent.
But she's so persistent and healready knows he's going to
betray it.
He already knows he's going tobe betrayed.
Yeah, it's happened twice.
And this time he actually givesher the real answer and then
she goes through with it again.
What I, what I?
Speaker 3 (11:45):
get out of that.
So much what I get out of thatstory as you're, as you are
explaining it so well, it'ssamsung, was I can't say his
name right samson, it's like somade in china.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He's so arrogant.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
He is so arrogant, you know, and I just feel like I
think what it is is.
I can't be harmed because I gotgod's power on yeah right, I
got this, this gift.
That can't be taken away fromme.
I'm doing what I'm doing and Icontinue to succeed.
You know, I just feel like hewasn't, he didn't think he was
going to get harmed in any kindof way.
You can't harm me.
I got god behind, got my back.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
I could do whatever I look at all this other stuff.
I can do what I want I did allthis other stuff, and god still
gave me the power to do what Iwant and that's exactly what we
see here.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
And why would you tell her that?
Why were you?
And she does it and you stillcontinue to move forward, and
three times.
Because there's nothing totrust about her.
She's not your wife, she's notthis this person that's, you
know, giving you.
you know, well, she's probablygiving you what he wanted, but
like he did, it did.
They did say that he did loveher, or or obviously he fell in
love lustily, but I just feellike that's what it is.
(12:48):
He's just so arrogant and youcan see that throughout the
story that he's just like no onecould touch me because I got
God power.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
For me.
I think it's actuallyinteresting because, yes, it
very easily could have just been.
He's arrogant and no one'sgoing to touch me.
I'm Samson, have just been.
He's arrogant and no one'sgoing to touch me.
I'm I'm samson and yeah, youknow if I can kill a thousand
philistines with a jawbone, yeah, you know this.
What is this one woman going todo?
Yeah, exactly.
Um, what I look at this story, Ialways think about when
somebody does something wrong,so he's cheating on his wife
(13:16):
with her, and and we don't wantto bypass that, because I think
when you do something wrongright, when you are, uh, in a
relationship and you arecheating, what happens?
You automatically think you'rebeing cheated on and you start
blaming the other person fordoing that.
When you are a thief, you startthinking that other people are
stealing from you.
I think what you always do isyou're always getting more and
(13:37):
more aware of other peoplethinking that they're going to
do you dirty and we go.
Well, then, why would he dothis to her?
I think what he was doing?
Because of his arrogance, hewas doing something wrong.
He knew it was wrong, he knewhe should have been with his
wife, so now he was you thinkit's self-sabotage, kind of
self-sabotaging himself, knowingthat you know I'm doing this
(13:57):
wrong.
I'm going to tell you exactlyhow.
To you know he wasn't okay withwhat he was doing.
Yeah, he was.
He knew he was cheatingSubconsciously.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He was, he was, he was pulling the rug out of the
only way because I'm this.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
I struggled the same way, Jason.
I'm like there is no way thatanybody's going to tell me three
times yeah, how do I kill you?
I'm going to tell you, you'regoing to give you the real
reason.
It's not going to happen.
I have to feel like somewherethere was some sort of guilt or
punishment subconsciously in him, where he was just like you
know what.
I'm going to tell you the truth, because I don't think it was a
(14:38):
trust thing.
He didn't believe her that shewouldn't try it because he was
proven wrong three times.
I just think that hesubconsciously was like you know
what I'm going to tell you?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And she used it going to tell you, right, um, and she
used it.
What'd she do?
She did it, she, she did it.
And then you know, the thingwas it's interesting too, it's
not that she said how do Idestroy you?
Right?
She said what is the secret toyour power?
Yeah, and then when he gave herthe secret to his power, it's
almost like he was like, okay,let's see what she's gonna do.
But then she invited thephilistines in, so ultimately he
knew it was for his destruction, right like that.
(15:11):
All times, that was what it was.
I also think it's interestingthat she was philistine, right
like.
So he's what would you call it?
Engaged with the enemy yeahright.
I mean he's engaged with theenemy, he she's asking for his
power to go.
He's getting, he's giving herthese answers.
Yeah, finally it comes down andhe does.
Let's talk about how it kind ofgoes past that, right, but this
way, by the this is twice thishappened to him.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
This happened to him before with his wife yeah, Timna
, when she was asking him likehey, please tell me the result
of, oh, give me the answer tothat riddle.
The riddle right, right, andshe kept asking, he kept asking
and he didn't want to give it toher.
That's super significant, I.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
That's super significant.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I hadn't thought about that she was a Philistine,
and then now again I delightedanother Philistine asking you
the same thing, the same threetime question.
You know she asked the questionthree times.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Except he gave the answer three times and he
wouldn't give it to his wife.
And he didn't give it to hiswife.
That's really interesting.
I hadn't.
I hadn't considered that, youknow.
But let's go further, becausethere's still there's does get
destroyed.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Where they pull his eyes out?
Yeah, well, first shave hishead.
So power, yeah, the power wentout of him and he did not know.
Right, that's the first part is, god took his power away and he
was not aware of it, right, um,which to me shows the complete
dismissal of god in his life.
Yeah, he didn't even know that.
He lost his strength because hewasn't connected with god
whatsoever.
Yeah, um, I think that if, ifhe understood that his anointing
(16:36):
was gone, um, he, you know, Idon't know how the the ending of
the story would have changed,but it would have showed at
least some relational orhumility, something with god.
Um, so, and it didn't.
And, uh, then the philistinescame and yes, and this is number
four, similarity with Jesus.
Okay, he was humiliated.
Yeah, his eyes were pulled out.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
I mean, he was beaten and humiliated publicly.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Same as Jesus.
Yeah, so you now have numberfour of this cross reference.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
So let's follow that to where I was going with it.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
There's a five in there.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
You think so?
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I'm thinking about it .
Yeah, there is.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
So, let's go to where I was going to naturally go
with that, which is that it'sinteresting, right?
He's engaging with the enemywith Timna.
She asks him questions.
He doesn't answer Nope.
Later he engages again moredeeply.
He does get asked.
He does answer yeah, they dotake advantage of him, but at
the end of the story he's stilleven.
(17:32):
You know, he's still able toovercome his enemy even though,
even though there's like these.
It's almost like this militarybattle, right like he's engaged
with a battle with one, in whichcase he gives up no ground
whatsoever.
He's engaged with the militarybattle with the second, where he
does give up ground.
He gives up ground, he gives upground again to the point where
he actually is defeated in thebattle, but he ultimately wins
the war.
War Because at the very end hepushes down the columns, which
(17:55):
brings it down on his enemies,and that's the end of his
enemies.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yeah, I just feel like God is going to have his
will.
His will is going to be doneright.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Well, that's where right.
Oh, that's where you're going,yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
His will is going to be done and I just feel like Sam
with Samson.
I keep saying Samson.
Samson is a person that God wasusing.
That was faithful, right.
That was, you know.
He was anointed, right.
I like to think he was a judgeTo parts of it.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
He was faithful to parts of it.
I think we have to be cognizantof that.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
So I think even God could use the worst of somebody
for good right, For his will,and I think we see that here
with Samson, and he did all theway through, even to do what he
did at the end, which was to to,you know, kill the enemy, the
enemies of the Israelites whichwere, which was the Philistines
Even even having now not doneany of the things that the
Nazarite was supposed to havedone, right, and he's still able
(18:48):
to defeat his enemies becauseGod is so strong that he doesn't
even really need you.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, he really.
Just, you're just a little bitof a vessel.
If you're faithful andfollowing, he'll definitely use
you.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And even once you've lost your calling, he can still
use you anyway.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Yeah, but that was to his destruction, right Well?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
to his oh good one.
Yeah, he had to destroy himselfin order to destroy that.
Yeah, to destroy himself inorder to destroy that he still
had to do that.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
I mean, he wasn't like martyred.
I like to think Maybe he wasMaybe you could look at it that
way like Jesus was for goodright, but it was a good that
happened.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Is that what your number five was my number five
was different.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
My number five was more the destroying of the
temple, of their temple, whichwas good one.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Before that there's another number how he was tied
to the columns.
His arms were stretched out asif a crucifix.
So this is now number five.
And then he actually cries out,finally to God, at the very end
, and he cries out and he islooking is it?
(19:51):
An Aramaic?
By any chance not an Aramaic byany chance it's not an aramaic
um, but now he's crying out andwhat he's doing is um, he is,
he's delivering all of yes allof the philistines and this
temple yes, yes this becomesnumber seven.
Um, but there is a hugeconnection between jesus and
(20:13):
Samson.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
What do you think the significance of that Jesus
Samson connection is?
I think it's.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
the difference is how one person is faithful to God
through his entire life versusone guy who is not Now.
They are both strong.
Quote unquote.
You can look at Jesus and gowell, jesus was.
People look at him as meek andthings like that.
Jesus was really strong, notjust as a son of God.
He was strong enough to healparalytic people.
(20:39):
Yes, he was strong in a muchdifferent way.
But I think when you look atthe faith and you have two
different people who mimickedeach other's lives one who
followed the faith, one whofollowed the strength, the one
who followed the strength that'sit.
He died, he killed Philistineswith him.
He's done Story's over.
(21:00):
He doesn't actually do anythingafter the story.
It's done.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So, recapping what you're saying, just to like tie
it up a little bit, what you'resaying is, the similarity
between the two stories is toshow that when you are fully
faithful, you get something likeJesus.
When you are not fully faithful, you get something that
self-destroys.
The kingdom of God will stillhappen and you will still be a
part of it to some extent, butyou won't go on.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, absolutely Okay .
And what he listen?
This is called a Kiddush Hashem.
This is what Samson did at thevery end.
Okay, and Kiddush Hashem is adeath sanctifying God's name.
Isn't that also called HarryCarey?
This is a mitzvah, it's acommandment.
This is a really good thingthat you do.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
It's the Japanese thing Because he was blind.
No, that's the Japanese thing.
When you kill yourself for theglory of your country, what do
they call it?
It's called Harry Carey.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So he performed a kiddush Hashem.
This is death sanctifying God'sname.
Okay, so this is something thatJesus again did.
This is a mitzvah.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
This is something that is Remind anybody who
doesn't know what a mitzvah is.
So it's a commandment.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
It's following a commandment.
This type of commandment ofsanctifying God's name in your
death is one of the ultimateones.
It's one of the ultimate ones,it's one of the biggest ones you
can do.
This is something you celebrate.
So, even after Samson hadreally corrupted God's word and
God's plan for him and what hedid and his anointing, and all
(22:24):
that still at the very end, Ithink that he was able to really
look at God and appreciate whatGod has done for him and honors
God's name in his very lastbreath.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Right, yeah, and God, like I said, god uses even the
wickedness of that, or his flaws, for good.
We see that in many stories.
A matter of fact, I've lookedinto it and it says Hebrews 11,
31 is showing differentcharacters in the Bible that did
wicked things but God used forgood, like Rahab, gideon, barak
(22:56):
and Samson is part of the listthere and David, as people that
was faithful and he used toconquer kingdoms.
That's what it says there inHebrews.
So I really want to give Samsona little bit of credit.
A little bit of credit, alittle bit of credit, little bit
of credit, a little bit ofcredit.
He was faithful.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
He didn't follow out a lot of things, even though he
lived the life that he livedyeah, and the other thing, and
this is the biggest difference,now we do all the similarities
between samson and jesus I wasgonna say I want to talk about
some differences, the biggestdifference is in samson's death.
He killed more people, yeah,than when he was alive his whole
life.
Jesus saved more people afterhis death than when he was alive
His whole life.
Jesus saved more people afterhis death than when he was alive
(23:36):
.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
That's still.
I mean, it's still a similarity.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Right, it's a similarity but you definitely
have Jesus is the one who savedSamson is the one who kills.
Yeah, so when you follow Jesus,when you follow God, you're
saving, not killing, right Sure,and that's the biggest
difference.
So let's talk about-.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
So here's the.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I know mic drop, that's good.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, that's good, big old mic drop.
So here's one of the things I'mreally interested in Of all.
Okay, he was born to be aNazirite.
He was supposed to be thecleanest of the clean, to be the
purest of the pure, to be the p.
It wasn't until he's cut hishair that there was a
(24:15):
consequence, what I wonder whatthat's about.
Like, I feel like there has tobe, I feel like there has to be
a meaning behind that, but I'mnot sure I have my finger on it
yet Right.
Like when, when you do thingswrong, you you can still have a
chance to repent, maybe that.
But like there's somethingabout this physicality, you know
the physicality of the hairbeing cut and now it's gone.
(24:38):
That was it.
Like that was the final straw.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Right, or is this a?
This is the last strike.
So we look at Pharaoh.
I mean, it could be.
Pharaoh hardened his own heart,hardened his own heart,
hardened his own heart.
God was like all right, now I'mhardening your heart.
Could this be?
Hey, I, hey, I touched acadaver.
I eat honey out of it.
Hey, I drank alcohol.
Yeah, I'm, I'm not following mymy nazirite ways well, he went
(25:00):
to a prostitute.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Let's not forget that part.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Yes, not a small thing um, and then, finally,
this is where god goes.
Now you've had your hair shaved, you know, cut off.
It's too much, um, and it'sit's completely his fault.
I mean he told delilah about it, then he fell asleep on her lap
, yeah, and then she had it cutoff, right.
So I mean, I see, different.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
I gotta get the verse , but there's another verse in
there that it says.
That was kind of interesting tome.
That kind of goes a little bit.
What you're saying, jason, ishe didn't have the power and the
power came to him, yeah, todestroy the israelites at one
point.
So at that same point he couldhave been captured, he could
have been taken, he could havebeen, his eyes could have been
gouged out Right, and maybe atthat, at that point that he was
(25:43):
with Delilah, he did have thepower with him and that was
taken away then.
So I wonder this back and forththat he didn't, he had the
power of strength given by Godand then God took it away.
I'm just, I'm just trying to,I'm throwing it out there.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Maybe there was something there that I found,
maybe you guys collaborate on,or yeah, I mean, look, I think
there's look, every story has somuch hidden symbolism in it,
and there's a few things thatare clues to the symbolism, like
even when the first thing hetold her was that it had to be
seven bow strings, you know, totie him together.
Seven, we know, is alwayssomething right.
(26:18):
So he tells her that, but it'snot true.
He rips him apart like it'snothing, and then he, you know,
takes on the Philistinedestroyers.
And then the next one is whatis?
Weave his hair into the, into aweb pattern in seven gold
braids or something like this.
It's again, it's something,something like that.
But there's just just, it seemsto me that the that the
significance of what happensright at the end of the story,
(26:39):
that there's got to be somethingwhere he's giving it.
Maybe it's the fact that he'sgiving it up willingly, maybe
it's not even the hair, maybeit's the fact that he willingly
gave up the answer to someoneelse, as opposed to taking
responsibility for himself.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I don't know or I mean this is just again, again.
It's one word in the entirechapter, but you know his wife.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I hope it's a Hebrew one, because your Hebrew words
always add color.
His wife loves him.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Delilah, for what we know, loves him and he loves
Delilah and he loves his wife.
Yeah, and he's in control ofthe relationships and as soon as
his hair is cut.
But it specifically saysDelilah tormented him.
It's the first time somebodytook control of him.
Yeah, she began to torment himand then his strength left him.
That's specifically when hisstrength left, but he Is when
(27:26):
she started tormenting him.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
This is super fascinating.
This is super fascinatingbecause it's not the hair, it
was the giving up of the realanswer.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
But I also feel like he just to combat that a little
bit I just also feel like heknew what it was to that his
power would go away.
That's what I mean, though.
So if he knew, that beforehand.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
It could have been two weeks before that.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Imagine this, but he said it, but he doesn't.
Again, he's a Nazirite, so hejust said about his hair, but he
actually has multiple things heneeds to be following as
Nazarite.
Why did he choose specificallyhis hair?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I believe I mean it says he gave her the real answer
.
Yeah, so he knew the realanswer.
He couldn't have given it toher had he not known what it was
Right, so it says he gave herthe real answer.
So, but I I think we at least inmy mind we tapped into
something.
It was he disobeyed everythingright, we already know that and
the strength didn't go away.
He could have probably cut hisown hair on his own will and
(28:25):
probably gotten away with itjust like he got the rest of it.
The problem is that he cededcontrol of his own power, of
God's power, because it wasGod's power.
All of that was God's power.
He ceded control to her bybecause he was tormented to
death.
It says because he was.
It literally says he wastormented to death, which I find
he was nagged to death by his,by his woman, and I mean, but
(28:51):
this is the thing.
Maybe this is what it was,maybe it really wasn't the hair,
maybe it was just the fact thathe ceded control to a human
over God knowing, and that was,that was the last straw.
God was like you know what I'meither I'm here or I'm not, and
if you're going to give it tosomebody else, then I don't know
.
That's a it is.
It states me for now to know tothink that might be the answer.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
I don't know, saying something to be knocked to death
.
But there is something aboutyou know, the torment happens
and his strength left him.
It actually reminds me justhearing of it.
It reminds me of Peter, where,as soon as Jesus starts being
beaten, peter starts to deny himthat torment of his master, of
his rabbi being beaten, and hewas like I don't know him.
(29:31):
He denied him.
Yeah, it's just, there's a lotof parallels of this.
Denied him, yeah, um, it's just, there's, there's a lot of
parallels of this.
Something about that torment atthat moment caused samson's
power to go out from from within, and whether it was the hair
and the timing or it was thetorment of delilah, right, there
definitely is something therethat caused this power to go out
because he did everything elsewrong as a nazir.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Maybe that was a setup.
That was a setup for him to getto the temple to kill so many
Philistines.
That's never been killed before.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
That's a really good point too.
I mean, look the Bible's fullof these things that happen.
We talked about Judah andJoseph.
Right, it wasn't really hisstory.
The Samson story maybe thestory's not about.
Maybe the story's not aboutSamson.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
The story's not about Samson.
It's really about what God wasgoing to do to the Philistines.
It's just another Israelimessenger being sent to the
infidel and taking them downbecause that was God's plan the
whole time.
I like to think God still usespeople's flaws for good.
Well, he did in this.
I think that's what we see here, because God could do it in so
many different ways.
He could have took down thePhilistines.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Are there any redeeming qualities in Samson?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Delilah gets 1,100 silver pieces and goes away.
We never hear from her again.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Okay, I mean that's a redeeming quality Wow.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
I mean listen, I think, what ends up happening
though is-.
Unless she was in the templewhich we don't know he probably
had beautiful, maybe it'sMaybelline.
This is something and I can'tbelieve.
I'm going to compare the Biblea little bit to the Avengers
movies.
Let's do it.
But when you look at theAvengers movies at least the
newer ones you don't have afully good guy or a fully bad
(31:08):
guy.
You have the good guys thathave bad qualities and bad guys
who have good qualities.
Yes, and I think with samson,when you look at people who have
been questioning samson, he isstrong but he is just
spiritually weak.
He is uh egotistical.
He's all about himself and youstart to see that he even has
some he does he has someredeeming qualities and I'm
(31:29):
going he is maybe a good guywith bad qualities.
I definitely don't think he's abad guy with good qualities a
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
that's a really great way to put it.
That's a really great way toput it.
That's a really great way toput it.
Yeah, you know, and I think,sadly, we, we can all see
ourselves in that, right, likewe, good things came out of bad
things, not bad things came outof good things.
Yeah, so that's, that's, that'sacceptable.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
He ruled or was a judge for 20 years.
It says he reigned for 20 years.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
He was one of many who reigned.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Right, but it says he reigned for 20 years as one of
the judges.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
No, I think.
Listen, this is a great story.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
It is definitely something that Since he had led.
Israel 20 years.
Yeah, judges 1631.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
There were multiple judges, though, weren't there?
Yeah, there were multiplejudges though, weren't they?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
yeah, but like simultaneously, but that was his
time.
Yes, well, it's all.
Different regions had their ownjudge.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, so cool guys.
This was.
This was a lot of fun.
It is crazy to think of how,how culturally significant the
samson story is because, likeyou said, it's like a movie,
kind of right it's, it's aneasily recognizable story that
has all these iconic moments,iconic features and iconic
characters.
You know, it really is, reallyis quite phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
So, like to me, one of the manly men, like just the
man, yeah he probably has atheme song.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Oh, can we have a theme song for samson?
We're gonna figure this out allright guys, so thanks for
joining us today.
This has been, uh, a really funendeavor into three, maybe four
, chapters of judges.
If you have any thoughts aboutSamson, please let us know on
the socials.
Send us a message on email, getin the discussion group, let us
(33:07):
know what you're thinking andwe look forward to chatting more
about good people who've donebad things have a wonderful week
we appreciate your time.
See you guys, see you.
Welcome to the Boundless Bible.
My name is David Shapiro, hey,I'm Javi Marquez and I'm Jason
Holloway.
Welcome to the Boundless Bible.
How's it going, guys?
Doing well.
How are you Doing?
Good man, I'm doing great.
Today we're going over thestory of Samson, Love Samson.
What a story.
Now Samson had strength to fightarmies, but did he have the
(00:23):
humility to fight himself?
Ooh, that's good, let's findout.
That was clever, let's do it,thank you.
So the story of Samson, just towe go into real quick.
Before there were kings, beforeKing David and King Saul, there
were judges, and each judge wasnot a judge like a court judge
we know of, but these wereleaders of the area that they
(00:43):
were in charge, like sub kings,exactly.
So samson was one of them andhe's actually known as one of
the worst.
Um, when you look at all thejudges, they get a little bit
worse every time you go down theline.
Okay, um, in in the story ofjudges, in the, in the book of
judges, and samson happens to beone of the worst, um, and for a
(01:05):
lot of reasons.
But we're just going to go inand kind of talk about him and
what he did and who he is.
Um, but samson was, um, verysimilar his start to jesus, okay
, oh, interesting.
And the reason I say that isbecause you had an angel come
down and tell mary you're goingto be carrying a child and
describes Jesus yeah, same waythat Samson started, except it
(01:29):
wasn't a virgin birth but it wasan angel who came down and said
this is who you're going tobirth and he's going to be a
Nazarite, and a Nazarite issomebody who is set apart from
birth.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
That's what it means.
Oh, okay, that's what I mean,it's just somebody set apart
from birth.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And there are certain things that they can and can't
do.
As a Nazirite, it's like ultrapious, right?
Yes, oh, exactly, ultra pious.
So he's not to cut his hair.
He's not to drink alcohol Right, he's not to handle dead bodies
, cadavers.
So there's a specific set oflaws, the word Nazarite in the
(02:03):
Bible, but Samson is one of them, and here he is and he's now
born and he's a judge.
And it is an incredible storyof this just really strong guy
fighting the Philistines, tryingto protect the Israelites, but
falling into issue after issue.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Samson's story to me like it's one of the things, one
of the stories that why I lovethe Old Testament.
It's just these stories of likestrength, things that we're
used to now like superheroesalmost right.
And seeing this the way hebattles, the way he kind of, you
know, does things, and it'sjust so like he saves the day
almost you know, and it's likeso like he saves the day almost
(02:44):
you know, and it's like, wow,that's cool to actually read it
and I could when I read it, Icould, I could see it.
Um, and that's why I love theold testament when it has these
stories and and just kind ofseeing the supernatural, it's
big bold imagery, like they'redefinitely setting up the story
right, like they.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Like he's this I mean spoiler alert right like he's
the strongest of the strong, buthe ends up being defeated by
something not that strong, right, right, and so like it's
beautiful the way that they'rebuilding these stories, but the
way that God built these storiesthrough these people and
through their stories, I meanit's really, really phenomenal.
So so he was the worst judge.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
He was chosen, but he was constantly rebellious.
Right Uh had a tremendous egoand was rebellious against god
and what he had said for him.
Um, one of the most famousstories about samson is him
tearing a lion into yes, withhis bare hands, did you say so
cool, it is.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, he ripped them apart.
He like, like right.
He said he ripped.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Wasn't that a hercules story too?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I think hercules did kind of the same thing so samson
ripped a lion into uh, whichevery guy's like yeah, this is
great, this is.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know, he couldn't do it in three.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
What a, what a wimp but then what happens is he eats
later on.
He eats honey, yeah, out of adead cadaver, which is against
what he's supposed to be doingagain oh, as a nazirite he is
not supposed to be touching adead body?
Right, and he was eating out ofit.
Yeah, um, he's just constantlyrebellious to god's commands and
(04:11):
what he has in store for him.
Yeah, and you just see, storyafter story after story, him
doing the exact same thing.
Yeah, um, which still isn't hisdownfall.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
No, I mean that's a great thing samson's downfall
comes much later.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Um, but yes, listen, he, um, uh.
He fights the philistines inthis really incredible fashion
multiple times um one.
There's a donkey jawbone.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, he kills a thousand men, a thousand men
with a jawbone with a jawbone.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
It's cool, man.
Uh, very cool it's it's.
You know, this is john wick.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Very cool, it's you know, this is John Wick, yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
You know the long flowing hair and you know he did
have the long flowing hair,exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
This is I mean, this is every guy's dream.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
One of the pictures I've seen of Samson, by the way,
is he has these dreadlocks, or?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
something.
He has long hair, right,whether it's dreaded out or not,
he does have long hair.
That he is not allowed to cutthis long air, that he, he is
not allowed to cut, uh, this isone of those nazirite laws.
Yeah, you're not allowed to cutyour locks, um, but he, you
know one point, he also, he sets3 000 fox on fire.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
This is insanity.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I love this he sets them on fire um and sends them
out.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
He sets their tails on fire.
He ties them together, all 300.
He ties them together, setstheir tails on fire.
He ties them together, all 300.
He ties them together, setstheir tails on fire and runs
them into the city so they canburn down the city.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yes, sick and what happens is this is actually a
curse on the philistines harvest, right what he's doing, so he's
also the first one to actuallyuse um psychological warfare
when you really think about it,because that's solid you have
the philistines and what he'sdoing is he's cursing their
harvest by setting a fox on fire.
The fox represents cunning ordesolation.
(05:49):
Oh, I never knew that.
Fire represents judgment orpurification, so he's literally
cursing their harvest.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I really think he's more.
He's wise, even beyond his.
He's not just, you know, thisstrong guy, he's also wise.
Even the things that where hewas kind of conniving with his,
with poetry at the, at thefestival and all that stuff I
think he was, he was a wisejudge.
He wasn't just this, you know,the big strong guy.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I don't know if he was big guy, I just know he was
strong absolutely, and and um,he didn't always battle with the
philistines because he fell inlove with one.
Yeah, um, her name was timnaand this was his wife that he
married, who was the daughter ofa philistine.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yes, um that he fell in love with, and he tricked
them into getting her too,didn't he like he's full of he's
full of stuff, this guy, yeahum, so, so yeah, he, he man.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
There's so much to talk about samson, but he does.
He ends up getting married,still defeats the Philistines,
so it's not even like he'smarrying her and there's truce,
or he is in command of hismarriage, his armies, he's in
control of the Philistines, heis truly chosen.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And we're talking about Samson and what the verses
of what Judges 13 to 16, right,chapter 16.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Chapters 13,.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
16 is Samson Um but when you say he was, he was
chosen by God, it's interestingcause he does all this stuff
right.
He does all this like wildstuff and and even bad stuff to
an extent, and then somethinghappens to him and it says the
power of God came upon him andhe was able to have this
strength.
So I find maybe that'ssomething to talk about, right.
There is like how can you be sostrong and you know from from
(07:30):
God, while you're still doing somany different things, like
there's so much I don't know.
I just want to unpack all that,yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
And I think that's listen, that is God's way, which
is we know he works throughflawed individuals.
Um, he had chosen you knowindividuals.
Um, he had chosen you knowsamson before he was born.
Yeah, he knew him before he wasborn which is beautiful and
gave him all this strength andsaid this is what you're going
to do, you're going to protectthe israelites.
I'm going to give you all thisstrength.
He does have all this wisdom.
(07:56):
Uh, it's just this incrediblestory of how god utilized this
gentleman even when he wasmessing up, even when he was
going.
Listen, they have talks abouthim being in parties afterwards,
and when you start looking upthe Hebrew version of those
parties, typically these mendrinking sessions which he was
not allowed.
He wasn't allowed to it doesn'tsay he specifically drank
(08:16):
alcohol, but a lot of academicskind of look at that and go.
If he was at this type of partychances are.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
He was drinking, he was partaking, so now you have
him partaking of alcohol.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
He is eating honey out of dead bodies.
Multiple times he's actuallywith dead cadavers and touching
them.
So he keeps defying what Godhas told him to do Right, and he
still has all of his power.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
God has not turned his back on him Particularly
against the Philistines Exactly,who were the known enemy of,
you know, the israeli peopleright, yep, absolutely, um, and,
and he has all of his power,it's not taken from him.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
But then samson meets somebody else, yes, who is not
his wife.
Yes, delilah, right, um, thisis something.
I think this is where the storyother than him ripping a lion
in half, um, I think the secondpart that most people know, or
maybe even the first, is samsonand delilah.
Yeah, I think I mean, there's asong about it well, it's a
(09:14):
popular.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean, it's a popular thing, it's a pop
culture thing.
Everybody knows samson anddelilah, whether or not you know
the bible or not, right, I mean?
And you know what's the leonardcohen song, hallelujah, it
talks about delilah.
Anyway, it goes into that wholething.
But like it's such a popculture thing, it really is
fascinating.
This is a cult, this is a storythat has defied boundaries yeah
, and to me this is the nowthird match with jesus.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
the first one was how he was going to be born yes.
The second one was setting himapart from everybody else.
Okay, jesus was set and withDelilah, she is offered 1100
pieces of silver Right and Jesus, somebody else was offered
silver.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, for I never thought of that.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
To betray them.
Yeah, so he's betrayed for 1100pieces of silver For silver
yeah.
Again, this is now the otherkind of parallel to Jesus.
Yes, and there's still more.
There's still more parallels,but just kind of pausing now and
saying this is the third one inthat story, and then you know,
(10:15):
I'm going to let you, jason,because I know you were bothered
by this a little bit, in thisstory, what happens between
Samson and Delilah?
I'm not bothered a little bit.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I'm bothered a lot.
Oh, it is so frustrating to mewhen I hear this story that he's
.
She asks him what can I do todestroy you?
Yeah, and he gives her a badanswer, just to see what'll
happen.
And she does it.
Yeah, she goes through with it,which should have been the end
of the story right thereshouldn't it.
I mean like like here, let me bevulnerable to you, let me give
(10:44):
you the you know, let me giveyou the skinny on what's going
on and see if you take advantageof it, and you take advantage
of it.
That's pretty much the.
I don't know about you guys,but you do that to me.
That's probably the last timeI'm telling you anything and
then she does it again, becausehe lets her and then he tells
her again and she goes throughit again.
Yeah, and I'm just thinkinglike why?
I don't know, this is the partof the story I don't understand.
(11:05):
I don't.
I don't understand this part ofthe story and it frustrates me
to no end because again ithappens, happens three times,
right, three times.
And on the third time which is,I'm sure, has some significance
in the Jewish, you know tellsher, yeah, like, why would he?
This is the part thatfrustrates me really.
Why would he actually tell her?
(11:25):
Because she's persistent, Imean.
But I mean you get everythingyou want when you keep asking,
right, yeah, man.
She's so persistent.
But she's so persistent and healready knows he's going to
betray it.
He already knows he's going tobe betrayed.
Yeah, it's happened twice.
And this time he actually givesher the real answer and then
she goes through with it again.
What I, what I?
Speaker 3 (11:45):
get out of that.
So much what I get out of thatstory as you're, as you are
explaining it so well, it'ssamsung, was I can't say his
name right samson, it's like somade in china.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He's so arrogant.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
He is so arrogant, you know, and I just feel like I
think what it is is.
I can't be harmed because I gotgod's power on yeah right, I
got this, this gift.
That can't be taken away fromme.
I'm doing what I'm doing and Icontinue to succeed.
You know, I just feel like hewasn't, he didn't think he was
going to get harmed in any kindof way.
You can't harm me.
I got god behind, got my back.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
I could do whatever I look at all this other stuff.
I can do what I want I did allthis other stuff, and god still
gave me the power to do what Iwant and that's exactly what we
see here.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
And why would you tell her that?
Why were you?
And she does it and you stillcontinue to move forward, and
three times.
Because there's nothing totrust about her.
She's not your wife, she's notthis this person that's, you
know, giving you.
you know, well, she's probablygiving you what he wanted, but
like he did, it did.
They did say that he did loveher, or or obviously he fell in
love lustily, but I just feellike that's what it is.
(12:48):
He's just so arrogant and youcan see that throughout the
story that he's just like no onecould touch me because I got
God power.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
For me.
I think it's actuallyinteresting because, yes, it
very easily could have just been.
He's arrogant and no one'sgoing to touch me.
I'm Samson, have just been.
He's arrogant and no one'sgoing to touch me.
I'm I'm samson and yeah, youknow if I can kill a thousand
philistines with a jawbone, yeah, you know this.
What is this one woman going todo?
Yeah, exactly.
Um, what I look at this story, Ialways think about when
somebody does something wrong,so he's cheating on his wife
(13:16):
with her, and and we don't wantto bypass that, because I think
when you do something wrongright, when you are, uh, in a
relationship and you arecheating, what happens?
You automatically think you'rebeing cheated on and you start
blaming the other person fordoing that.
When you are a thief, you startthinking that other people are
stealing from you.
I think what you always do isyou're always getting more and
(13:37):
more aware of other peoplethinking that they're going to
do you dirty and we go.
Well, then, why would he dothis to her?
I think what he was doing?
Because of his arrogance, hewas doing something wrong.
He knew it was wrong, he knewhe should have been with his
wife, so now he was you thinkit's self-sabotage, kind of
self-sabotaging himself, knowingthat you know I'm doing this
(13:57):
wrong.
I'm going to tell you exactlyhow.
To you know he wasn't okay withwhat he was doing.
Yeah, he was.
He knew he was cheatingSubconsciously.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He was, he was, he was pulling the rug out of the
only way because I'm this.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
I struggled the same way, Jason.
I'm like there is no way thatanybody's going to tell me three
times yeah, how do I kill you?
I'm going to tell you, you'regoing to give you the real
reason.
It's not going to happen.
I have to feel like somewherethere was some sort of guilt or
punishment subconsciously in him, where he was just like you
know what.
I'm going to tell you the truth, because I don't think it was a
(14:38):
trust thing.
He didn't believe her that shewouldn't try it because he was
proven wrong three times.
I just think that hesubconsciously was like you know
what I'm going to tell you?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And she used it going to tell you, right, um, and she
used it.
What'd she do?
She did it, she, she did it.
And then you know, the thingwas it's interesting too, it's
not that she said how do Idestroy you?
Right?
She said what is the secret toyour power?
Yeah, and then when he gave herthe secret to his power, it's
almost like he was like, okay,let's see what she's gonna do.
But then she invited thephilistines in, so ultimately he
knew it was for his destruction, right like that.
(15:11):
All times, that was what it was.
I also think it's interestingthat she was philistine, right
like.
So he's what would you call it?
Engaged with the enemy yeahright.
I mean he's engaged with theenemy, he she's asking for his
power to go.
He's getting, he's giving herthese answers.
Yeah, finally it comes down andhe does.
Let's talk about how it kind ofgoes past that, right, but this
way, by the this is twice thishappened to him.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
This happened to him before with his wife yeah, Timna
, when she was asking him likehey, please tell me the result
of, oh, give me the answer tothat riddle.
The riddle right, right, andshe kept asking, he kept asking
and he didn't want to give it toher.
That's super significant, I.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
That's super significant.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I hadn't thought about that she was a Philistine,
and then now again I delightedanother Philistine asking you
the same thing, the same threetime question.
You know she asked the questionthree times.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Except he gave the answer three times and he
wouldn't give it to his wife.
And he didn't give it to hiswife.
That's really interesting.
I hadn't.
I hadn't considered that, youknow.
But let's go further, becausethere's still there's does get
destroyed.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Where they pull his eyes out?
Yeah, well, first shave hishead.
So power, yeah, the power wentout of him and he did not know.
Right, that's the first part is, god took his power away and he
was not aware of it, right, um,which to me shows the complete
dismissal of god in his life.
Yeah, he didn't even know that.
He lost his strength because hewasn't connected with god
whatsoever.
Yeah, um, I think that if, ifhe understood that his anointing
(16:36):
was gone, um, he, you know, Idon't know how the the ending of
the story would have changed,but it would have showed at
least some relational orhumility, something with god.
Um, so, and it didn't.
And, uh, then the philistinescame and yes, and this is number
four, similarity with Jesus.
Okay, he was humiliated.
Yeah, his eyes were pulled out.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
I mean, he was beaten and humiliated publicly.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Same as Jesus.
Yeah, so you now have numberfour of this cross reference.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
So let's follow that to where I was going with it.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
There's a five in there.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
You think so?
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I'm thinking about it .
Yeah, there is.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
So, let's go to where I was going to naturally go
with that, which is that it'sinteresting, right?
He's engaging with the enemywith Timna.
She asks him questions.
He doesn't answer Nope.
Later he engages again moredeeply.
He does get asked.
He does answer yeah, they dotake advantage of him, but at
the end of the story he's stilleven.
(17:32):
You know, he's still able toovercome his enemy even though,
even though there's like these.
It's almost like this militarybattle, right like he's engaged
with a battle with one, in whichcase he gives up no ground
whatsoever.
He's engaged with the militarybattle with the second, where he
does give up ground.
He gives up ground, he gives upground again to the point where
he actually is defeated in thebattle, but he ultimately wins
the war.
War Because at the very end hepushes down the columns, which
(17:55):
brings it down on his enemies,and that's the end of his
enemies.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yeah, I just feel like God is going to have his
will.
His will is going to be doneright.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Well, that's where right.
Oh, that's where you're going,yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
His will is going to be done and I just feel like Sam
with Samson.
I keep saying Samson.
Samson is a person that God wasusing.
That was faithful, right.
That was, you know.
He was anointed, right.
I like to think he was a judgeTo parts of it.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
He was faithful to parts of it.
I think we have to be cognizantof that.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
So I think even God could use the worst of somebody
for good right, For his will,and I think we see that here
with Samson, and he did all theway through, even to do what he
did at the end, which was to to,you know, kill the enemy, the
enemies of the Israelites whichwere, which was the Philistines
Even even having now not doneany of the things that the
Nazarite was supposed to havedone, right, and he's still able
(18:48):
to defeat his enemies becauseGod is so strong that he doesn't
even really need you.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, he really.
Just, you're just a little bitof a vessel.
If you're faithful andfollowing, he'll definitely use
you.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And even once you've lost your calling, he can still
use you anyway.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Yeah, but that was to his destruction, right Well?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
to his oh good one.
Yeah, he had to destroy himselfin order to destroy that.
Yeah, to destroy himself inorder to destroy that he still
had to do that.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
I mean, he wasn't like martyred.
I like to think Maybe he wasMaybe you could look at it that
way like Jesus was for goodright, but it was a good that
happened.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Is that what your number five was my number five
was different.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
My number five was more the destroying of the
temple, of their temple, whichwas good one.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Before that there's another number how he was tied
to the columns.
His arms were stretched out asif a crucifix.
So this is now number five.
And then he actually cries out,finally to God, at the very end
, and he cries out and he islooking is it?
(19:51):
An Aramaic?
By any chance not an Aramaic byany chance it's not an aramaic
um, but now he's crying out andwhat he's doing is um, he is,
he's delivering all of yes allof the philistines and this
temple yes, yes this becomesnumber seven.
Um, but there is a hugeconnection between jesus and
(20:13):
Samson.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
What do you think the significance of that Jesus
Samson connection is?
I think it's.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
the difference is how one person is faithful to God
through his entire life versusone guy who is not Now.
They are both strong.
Quote unquote.
You can look at Jesus and gowell, jesus was.
People look at him as meek andthings like that.
Jesus was really strong, notjust as a son of God.
He was strong enough to healparalytic people.
(20:39):
Yes, he was strong in a muchdifferent way.
But I think when you look atthe faith and you have two
different people who mimickedeach other's lives one who
followed the faith, one whofollowed the strength, the one
who followed the strength that'sit.
He died, he killed Philistineswith him.
He's done Story's over.
(21:00):
He doesn't actually do anythingafter the story.
It's done.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So, recapping what you're saying, just to like tie
it up a little bit, what you'resaying is, the similarity
between the two stories is toshow that when you are fully
faithful, you get something likeJesus.
When you are not fully faithful, you get something that
self-destroys.
The kingdom of God will stillhappen and you will still be a
part of it to some extent, butyou won't go on.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, absolutely Okay .
And what he listen?
This is called a Kiddush Hashem.
This is what Samson did at thevery end.
Okay, and Kiddush Hashem is adeath sanctifying God's name.
Isn't that also called HarryCarey?
This is a mitzvah, it's acommandment.
This is a really good thingthat you do.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
It's the Japanese thing Because he was blind.
No, that's the Japanese thing.
When you kill yourself for theglory of your country, what do
they call it?
It's called Harry Carey.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So he performed a kiddush Hashem.
This is death sanctifying God'sname.
Okay, so this is something thatJesus again did.
This is a mitzvah.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
This is something that is Remind anybody who
doesn't know what a mitzvah is.
So it's a commandment.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
It's following a commandment.
This type of commandment ofsanctifying God's name in your
death is one of the ultimateones.
It's one of the ultimate ones,it's one of the biggest ones you
can do.
This is something you celebrate.
So, even after Samson hadreally corrupted God's word and
God's plan for him and what hedid and his anointing, and all
(22:24):
that still at the very end, Ithink that he was able to really
look at God and appreciate whatGod has done for him and honors
God's name in his very lastbreath.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Right, yeah, and God, like I said, god uses even the
wickedness of that, or his flaws, for good.
We see that in many stories.
A matter of fact, I've lookedinto it and it says Hebrews 11,
31 is showing differentcharacters in the Bible that did
wicked things but God used forgood, like Rahab, gideon, barak
(22:56):
and Samson is part of the listthere and David, as people that
was faithful and he used toconquer kingdoms.
That's what it says there inHebrews.
So I really want to give Samsona little bit of credit.
A little bit of credit, alittle bit of credit, little bit
of credit, a little bit ofcredit.
He was faithful.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
He didn't follow out a lot of things, even though he
lived the life that he livedyeah, and the other thing, and
this is the biggest difference,now we do all the similarities
between samson and jesus I wasgonna say I want to talk about
some differences, the biggestdifference is in samson's death.
He killed more people, yeah,than when he was alive his whole
life.
Jesus saved more people afterhis death than when he was alive
His whole life.
Jesus saved more people afterhis death than when he was alive
(23:36):
.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
That's still.
I mean, it's still a similarity.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Right, it's a similarity but you definitely
have Jesus is the one who savedSamson is the one who kills.
Yeah, so when you follow Jesus,when you follow God, you're
saving, not killing, right Sure,and that's the biggest
difference.
So let's talk about-.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
So here's the.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I know mic drop, that's good.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, that's good, big old mic drop.
So here's one of the things I'mreally interested in Of all.
Okay, he was born to be aNazirite.
He was supposed to be thecleanest of the clean, to be the
purest of the pure, to be the p.
It wasn't until he's cut hishair that there was a
(24:15):
consequence, what I wonder whatthat's about.
Like, I feel like there has tobe, I feel like there has to be
a meaning behind that, but I'mnot sure I have my finger on it
yet Right.
Like when, when you do thingswrong, you you can still have a
chance to repent, maybe that.
But like there's somethingabout this physicality, you know
the physicality of the hairbeing cut and now it's gone.
(24:38):
That was it.
Like that was the final straw.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Right, or is this a?
This is the last strike.
So we look at Pharaoh.
I mean, it could be.
Pharaoh hardened his own heart,hardened his own heart,
hardened his own heart.
God was like all right, now I'mhardening your heart.
Could this be?
Hey, I, hey, I touched acadaver.
I eat honey out of it.
Hey, I drank alcohol.
Yeah, I'm, I'm not following mymy nazirite ways well, he went
(25:00):
to a prostitute.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Let's not forget that part.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Yes, not a small thing um, and then, finally,
this is where god goes.
Now you've had your hair shaved, you know, cut off.
It's too much, um, and it'sit's completely his fault.
I mean he told delilah about it, then he fell asleep on her lap
, yeah, and then she had it cutoff, right.
So I mean, I see, different.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
I gotta get the verse , but there's another verse in
there that it says.
That was kind of interesting tome.
That kind of goes a little bit.
What you're saying, jason, ishe didn't have the power and the
power came to him, yeah, todestroy the israelites at one
point.
So at that same point he couldhave been captured, he could
have been taken, he could havebeen, his eyes could have been
gouged out Right, and maybe atthat, at that point that he was
(25:43):
with Delilah, he did have thepower with him and that was
taken away then.
So I wonder this back and forththat he didn't, he had the
power of strength given by Godand then God took it away.
I'm just, I'm just trying to,I'm throwing it out there.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Maybe there was something there that I found,
maybe you guys collaborate on,or yeah, I mean, look, I think
there's look, every story has somuch hidden symbolism in it,
and there's a few things thatare clues to the symbolism, like
even when the first thing hetold her was that it had to be
seven bow strings, you know, totie him together.
Seven, we know, is alwayssomething right.
(26:18):
So he tells her that, but it'snot true.
He rips him apart like it'snothing, and then he, you know,
takes on the Philistinedestroyers.
And then the next one is whatis?
Weave his hair into the, into aweb pattern in seven gold
braids or something like this.
It's again, it's something,something like that.
But there's just just, it seemsto me that the that the
significance of what happensright at the end of the story,
(26:39):
that there's got to be somethingwhere he's giving it.
Maybe it's the fact that he'sgiving it up willingly, maybe
it's not even the hair, maybeit's the fact that he willingly
gave up the answer to someoneelse, as opposed to taking
responsibility for himself.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I don't know or I mean this is just again, again.
It's one word in the entirechapter, but you know his wife.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I hope it's a Hebrew one, because your Hebrew words
always add color.
His wife loves him.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Delilah, for what we know, loves him and he loves
Delilah and he loves his wife.
Yeah, and he's in control ofthe relationships and as soon as
his hair is cut.
But it specifically saysDelilah tormented him.
It's the first time somebodytook control of him.
Yeah, she began to torment himand then his strength left him.
That's specifically when hisstrength left, but he Is when
(27:26):
she started tormenting him.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
This is super fascinating.
This is super fascinatingbecause it's not the hair, it
was the giving up of the realanswer.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
But I also feel like he just to combat that a little
bit I just also feel like heknew what it was to that his
power would go away.
That's what I mean, though.
So if he knew, that beforehand.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
It could have been two weeks before that.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Imagine this, but he said it, but he doesn't.
Again, he's a Nazirite, so hejust said about his hair, but he
actually has multiple things heneeds to be following as
Nazarite.
Why did he choose specificallyhis hair?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I believe I mean it says he gave her the real answer
.
Yeah, so he knew the realanswer.
He couldn't have given it toher had he not known what it was
Right, so it says he gave herthe real answer.
So, but I I think we at least inmy mind we tapped into
something.
It was he disobeyed everythingright, we already know that and
the strength didn't go away.
He could have probably cut hisown hair on his own will and
(28:25):
probably gotten away with itjust like he got the rest of it.
The problem is that he cededcontrol of his own power, of
God's power, because it wasGod's power.
All of that was God's power.
He ceded control to her bybecause he was tormented to
death.
It says because he was.
It literally says he wastormented to death, which I find
he was nagged to death by his,by his woman, and I mean, but
(28:51):
this is the thing.
Maybe this is what it was,maybe it really wasn't the hair,
maybe it was just the fact thathe ceded control to a human
over God knowing, and that was,that was the last straw.
God was like you know what I'meither I'm here or I'm not, and
if you're going to give it tosomebody else, then I don't know
.
That's a it is.
It states me for now to know tothink that might be the answer.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
I don't know, saying something to be knocked to death
.
But there is something aboutyou know, the torment happens
and his strength left him.
It actually reminds me justhearing of it.
It reminds me of Peter, where,as soon as Jesus starts being
beaten, peter starts to deny himthat torment of his master, of
his rabbi being beaten, and hewas like I don't know him.
(29:31):
He denied him.
Yeah, it's just, there's a lotof parallels of this.
Denied him, yeah, um, it's just, there's, there's a lot of
parallels of this.
Something about that torment atthat moment caused samson's
power to go out from from within, and whether it was the hair
and the timing or it was thetorment of delilah, right, there
definitely is something therethat caused this power to go out
because he did everything elsewrong as a nazir.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Maybe that was a setup.
That was a setup for him to getto the temple to kill so many
Philistines.
That's never been killed before.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
That's a really good point too.
I mean, look the Bible's fullof these things that happen.
We talked about Judah andJoseph.
Right, it wasn't really hisstory.
The Samson story maybe thestory's not about.
Maybe the story's not aboutSamson.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
The story's not about Samson.
It's really about what God wasgoing to do to the Philistines.
It's just another Israelimessenger being sent to the
infidel and taking them downbecause that was God's plan the
whole time.
I like to think God still usespeople's flaws for good.
Well, he did in this.
I think that's what we see here, because God could do it in so
many different ways.
He could have took down thePhilistines.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Are there any redeeming qualities in Samson?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Delilah gets 1,100 silver pieces and goes away.
We never hear from her again.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Okay, I mean that's a redeeming quality Wow.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
I mean listen, I think, what ends up happening
though is-.
Unless she was in the templewhich we don't know he probably
had beautiful, maybe it'sMaybelline.
This is something and I can'tbelieve.
I'm going to compare the Biblea little bit to the Avengers
movies.
Let's do it.
But when you look at theAvengers movies at least the
newer ones you don't have afully good guy or a fully bad
(31:08):
guy.
You have the good guys thathave bad qualities and bad guys
who have good qualities.
Yes, and I think with samson,when you look at people who have
been questioning samson, he isstrong but he is just
spiritually weak.
He is uh egotistical.
He's all about himself and youstart to see that he even has
some he does he has someredeeming qualities and I'm
(31:29):
going he is maybe a good guywith bad qualities.
I definitely don't think he's abad guy with good qualities a
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
that's a really great way to put it.
That's a really great way toput it.
That's a really great way toput it.
Yeah, you know, and I think,sadly, we, we can all see
ourselves in that, right, likewe, good things came out of bad
things, not bad things came outof good things.
Yeah, so that's, that's, that'sacceptable.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
He ruled or was a judge for 20 years.
It says he reigned for 20 years.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
He was one of many who reigned.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Right, but it says he reigned for 20 years as one of
the judges.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
No, I think.
Listen, this is a great story.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
It is definitely something that Since he had led.
Israel 20 years.
Yeah, judges 1631.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
There were multiple judges, though, weren't there?
Yeah, there were multiplejudges though, weren't they?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
yeah, but like simultaneously, but that was his
time.
Yes, well, it's all.
Different regions had their ownjudge.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, so cool guys.
This was.
This was a lot of fun.
It is crazy to think of how,how culturally significant the
samson story is because, likeyou said, it's like a movie,
kind of right it's, it's aneasily recognizable story that
has all these iconic moments,iconic features and iconic
characters.
You know, it really is, reallyis quite phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
So, like to me, one of the manly men, like just the
man, yeah he probably has atheme song.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Oh, can we have a theme song for samson?
We're gonna figure this out allright guys, so thanks for
joining us today.
This has been, uh, a really funendeavor into three, maybe four
, chapters of judges.
If you have any thoughts aboutSamson, please let us know on
the socials.
Send us a message on email, getin the discussion group, let us
(33:07):
know what you're thinking andwe look forward to chatting more
about good people who've donebad things have a wonderful week
we appreciate your time.
See you guys, see you.
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