Samson - Strength from God

Before Samson was born, an angel appeared to his mother and said, "You will have a son! He will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. As a sign of this, his hair must never be cut. He will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines!"

When Samson grew up, God gave him SUPER strength! One day, a lion attacked Samson! The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon Samson, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands - as easily as tearing a young goat!

Another time, Samson was in a Philistine city. The Philistines planned to capture him! They locked the city gates and waited all night to attack him in the morning. But at midnight, Samson got up, grabbed the city gates - doors, posts, bars, and all - tore them loose, and carried them to the top of a hill! The gates were HUGE and HEAVY, but Samson carried them like they were nothing!

The Philistines were terrified of Samson! One time, he caught 300 foxes, tied them tail-to-tail in pairs, attached torches to their tails, and set them loose in the Philistine grain fields! The fire burned up their crops!

When the Philistines came to capture Samson, 3,000 Israelites tied him up and handed him over! But when Samson saw the Philistines, the Spirit of the LORD came upon him! The ropes on his arms fell off like charred flax! He grabbed a donkey's jawbone and struck down 1,000 Philistines!

But Samson had a weakness - he kept making bad choices about who to trust. He fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The Philistine rulers offered Delilah a huge amount of money if she would discover the secret of Samson's strength.

Delilah kept asking, "Tell me the secret of your great strength! How could you be tied up?"

Samson lied to her three times, giving her false secrets! Each time, the Philistines tried to capture him, but he easily escaped! Delilah said, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't tell me your secret?"

Delilah nagged him day after day until Samson was tired of it. Finally, he told her the truth: "My hair has never been cut, because I'm a Nazirite - dedicated to God from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me!"

Delilah realized he had finally told the truth. She sent for the Philistine rulers. That night, while Samson slept with his head on her lap, she had someone shave off his seven braids. His strength left him!

Delilah cried, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" Samson woke up thinking he could escape like before. But he didn't know the LORD had left him! The Philistines captured him, poked out his eyes, and put him in prison! They made him grind grain like an animal.

But in prison, Samson's hair began to grow back! And Samson began to pray!

One day, the Philistines had a big celebration to their false god Dagon. They brought Samson out to make fun of him. About 3,000 people gathered in the temple! They placed Samson between the two central pillars that supported the entire building.

Samson prayed, "Sovereign LORD, remember me! Please God, strengthen me just once more! Let me get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes!"

Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars. He braced himself against them, one hand on each pillar. He said, "Let me die with the Philistines!"

Then Samson pushed with all his might! The temple came crashing down on the rulers and all the people in it! In his death, Samson killed more Philistines than he had during his entire life!

Samson's story teaches us important lessons! First, God can use anyone to do His work - even someone with flaws! Second, we need to be careful who we trust and the choices we make. Third, even when we fail God, if we turn back to Him, He can still use us! Samson's true strength didn't come from his hair - it came from GOD! And God's strength is available to all of us when we trust Him and obey Him!

Big idea: God is always with us and loves us very much!