By Faith, Samson: Finish Strong

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By Faith, Samson, Really? Finish Strong (Heb 11:32; Judges 13-16)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, November 1, 2026

One apologist (a person who defends Christianity) was asked: “God is perfect; briefly explain.” How, really, does one briefly explain that attribute of God? He wrote:

“He is the only entity whose reason for existence is in Himself. Every other entity exists for God.”[1]

Wow, that statement still gets me. God exists for Himself; every other entity exists for Him.

We exist for God, and so God is God. We have no choice in who He is, for He is self-existent and we exist for Him. Thankfully, we learn about Him in His Word. God has revealed Himself to us (Deut. 29:29; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). 

As I look at Samson, I see that he trusted God and had faith, but he also seems selfish. Yet God worked in his life. 

Let’s talk about Samson. First, let’s read:

Hebrews 11:32 (ESV)

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets…

Samson’s prayer:

Judges 16:28 (ESV)

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

My theme is:

By faith, Samson trusted the Lord, and the Lord worked through him (Hebrews 11:32; Judges 13-16, especially 14:4). God carries out His plan. God was in control, even over Samson’s free will.

  1. We cannot talk about Samson until I summarize his life:
    1. In Judges 13:1-25 we have the birth of Samson.
    2. In verse 1, Judges 13:1 (ESV) And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
    3. Verse 2 (Judges 13:2): Samson’s father: “Manoah’s” wife was barren.
    4. Moody Bible Commentary: Manoah’s wife was barren, but Ps 113:9 cites the classic image of God blessing “barren women” who became “joyful mothers.” This miraculous conception and birth echos Isaac and prefigures the Messiah, with the point that life always comes from the Lord.[2]
    5. I notice other accounts in which God intervenes on behalf of a barren couple (1 Samuel 1-2; Luke 1).
    6. The rest of Judges 13 describes an angel of the Lord visiting Samson’s mother and father and declaring the baby to come.
    7. The baby is to be a Nazirite for all his days.
    8. Any man or woman could take a vow to become a Nazirite, to separate himself or herself to God (see Numbers 6). It was to be voluntary (Num. 6:2), for a limited time (Num. 6:5, 8, 13, 20), and involved three provisions: (1) abstinence from wine, strong drink, or anything associated with the vine (Num. 6:3–4); (2) no cutting of the hair (Num. 6:5); and (3) no contact with the dead (Num. 6:6–8). If a person became unclean, there were elaborate cleansing rituals (Num. 6:9–21). Three things are unusual concerning Samson and this vow. First, he did not take it voluntarily; it was his lot from the womb (Judg. 13:5, 7). Second, it was not limited in time; it was to last to the day of his death (vv. 5, 7; cf. 1 Sam. 1:11; Luke 1:15 for similar situations). Third, he broke every one of its stipulations: his head was sheared (Judg. 16:17, 19); he associated with the dead (14:6–9; 15:15); and he undoubtedly drank at his wedding feast (14:10–20).[3]
  2. Judges 14:1-15:20 is Samson and the Philistines, part 1.
    1. Samson marries a Philistine woman. Apparently, he ignored the prohibition against marrying a foreigner. Exodus 34:16 warns against marrying foreign women (also Deut 7:3). In the New Testament, 2 Cor. 6:14 warns not to be unequally yoked. My social psychology professor said, “Opposites attract, and birds of a feather flock together.” 
    2. Notice that God is in control.
    3. Is it awesome that you cannot mess up God’s plan?
    4. Is it awesome that our God can never fail?
    5. Is it awesome that God is powerful?
    6. God is a strong God.
    7. Our God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. There’s nothing that our God can’t do. The mountains are big, the valleys are big, and the stars are His handiwork, too. Our God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. There’s nothing that our God can’t do. 
    8. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that?
    9. Sometimes we have that in our head, but do we have it in our heart? It must move from our head to our heart.
    10. How did Samson have faith? I believe that when he fought the Philistines in battle, at his core he had no doubt, none at all, that God would give him strength.
    11. Listen to how God works in his mess.
    12. The marriage is a mess, but Samson retaliates against the Philistines. At his wedding feast, he tells the Philistines a riddle, and they cannot solve it. He arranged that if they solved the riddle, he would give them 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes; if they could not solve it, they must give him 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. So the Philistines enlist his wife to trick him. He eventually answers the riddle, and they win. Samson retaliates by killing 30 Philistines to get the 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. 
    13. He is the only man who crashed his own wedding party.
    14. In Chapter 15 (Judges 15), Samson learns that his wife has been given to his best man. In anger, he catches 30 foxes (or they might have been jackals), ties their tails together, places a torch between each pair of tails, and lets them loose in the standing grain. He also sets fire to the stacked and standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. 
    15. The Philistines are now angry, so they attack the people of Judah. Samson allows 3000 men of Judah to tie him and take him to the Philistines. In Judges 15:14-17, when the Philistines come out, he kills 1000 of them with the jawbone of a donkey. 
  3. Samson and the Philistines, part 2 (Judges 16).
    1. The Lord is no longer with him.
    2. In Judges 16:1-3, he goes to a prostitute. The Gazites were told that Samson was here. So he arose at midnight, took hold of the city’s doors, picked them up on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill in front of Hebron. This is about 40 miles. He might have carried them the full distance or at least that far.    
    3. Notice that Samson is a mess; he has broken all but one of the Nazirite vows. He does not appear to be following God. Is he going to mess up God’s plan?
    4. Delilah enters the picture in Judges 16:5, and she is paid to seduce him to learn his secret.
    5. In Judges 16:7-9, she uses seven fresh bowstrings to tie him up, but they don’t hold.
    6. In Judges 16:11, they used new ropes to try to capture him. This was how the people of Judah captured him in chapter 15 (Judges 15), but he broke free and killed 1000 Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone. Again, it didn’t work.
    7. In Judges 16:13-14, they pinned seven locks of his hair tightly to capture him. None of them worked.
    8. In Judges 16:16-22, he tells her that a razor had never touched his head. At the end of verse 20, the Bible says he didn’t know the Lord had left him.
    9. Isn’t that a telling statement?
    10. Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to worry about that?
    11. You see, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon a person for a task or tasks. In the New Testament, we have the Holy Spirit for life (John 14-17; Acts 1:8).
    12. The Holy Spirit left Samson, and now he will be captured. So, who allowed Samson to do everything? God did.
    13. Samson seems to be the main character in this passage, but the true main character is God.
    14. In Judges 16:21-22, the Philistines capture him, gouge out his eyes, and force him to grind at the mill in prison. 
    15. In Judges 16:23-31, his hair grows back, the Philistines make a mockery of him, and he prays:
    16. Judges 16:28 (ESV)
    17. Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
    18. Whose strength enables him to finish what he started? God’s strength. Samson trusted the Lord so he could finish well.
    19. Samson tells the young man who was leading him around that he wants to feel the pillars. He gets in between them and pushes them apart. He kills 3000 that day.
    20. We have archaeological evidence of a temple that was destroyed, with pillars fairly close together.
    21. He judged Israel for 20 years (Judges 16:31).
  4. How did Samson have faith?
    1. By faith, Samson trusted the Lord, and the Lord worked through him.
    2. Overall, he still trusted the Lord.
    3. In the end, he still trusted the Lord.
    4. In the end, he still depended on the Lord.
  5. Was Samson a puppet in God’s hands? Are we puppets?
    1. We all have free will, so in that sense, Samson was not a puppet. He could do what he wanted.
    2. We are not puppets either, but God will not sacrifice His plan for our free will. Isn’t that cool? God is so great that He can manage both my free will and His plan.
    3. God is not dependent on our free will.
    4. As I look at this, I see that most of what Samson did was biblically wrong, but God meant to use his failures for God’s perfect plan. God permitted Samson to go his own way.

So, where are you at?

Are you surrendered to God?

By Faith, Samson trusted the Lord, and the Lord worked through him (Hebrews 11:32; Judges 13-16 especially 14:4).

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

  1. This came from Ravi Zacharias. I heard it on a podcast in May 2015. ↑

  2. John T. McMath, “Judges,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 380. ↑

  3. Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 461. ↑

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