I will be honest, the story of Samson frustrated me. I had such a hard time figuring out what to teach in this lesson. It seems pretty straight forward, but it really didn't make spiritual sense to me. Here's why: The Lord blessed Samson with great physical strength and was foretold to deliver Israel from their oppressors. His mother dedicated him to the Lord as a Nazarite, with specific covenants and laws to keep to show his dedication (cannot cut hair, cannot drink strong drinks, and cannot be around dead bodies). Samson grew with great strength, spiritually and physically. But then Samson made a choice to break a covenant with the Lord. He married outside of his tribe/faith.
But even though he did this, the scriptures tell us that the Lord was still with Samson and he was able to perform great feats of strength. In fact, every time Samson showed physical strength, it says "and the Lord was with him." In between each strength, Samson did something else that violated covenants or law, yet the Lord was still with him. This does not make any sense to me. The only way this makes sense is that Samson had a purpose to fulfill and the Lord allowed him to maintain his strength until His will was fulfilled. After pondering this and feeling pressure to figure out how to present a lesson that just didn't make sense, here's what makes sense to me:
Samson is an antithetical type of Christ:
Both births were announced by angel
Both given a purpose of deliverance – both spiritual and physical
Both grew up dedicated to God
Samson killed, Christ helped live
Samson focused on self, Chirst focues outward
Samson gave in the temptation, Christ did not
Samson set aside covenants, Christ live the covenant even though he was to fulfill it
Samson’s motives were revenge, branching from pride (shouldn’t be treated this way)
Christ’s motive were love, even for those who did wrong to him.
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