Judges 16:28 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.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.
Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
All Scripture testifies to Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son. This is not done in a general way so that we can flippantly say, “the whole Bible is about God,” without knowing how or why. All Scripture testifies to Jesus in His work of redemption. The glory of God through redemption, accomplished by Jesus Christ, is the central, unifying theme of all Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, Jesus is the hero of God’s story of redemption, so that God may be all in all (Luke 24:27, 44-45; 1 Corinthians 15:28; Hebrews 1:1-4).
The Bible is full of heroes. But there is only one Hero. Samson is one of the heroes. As we will see, this very fact serves to exalt Jesus, as does everything, even the most horrendous of things. Samson is a hero because God is amazing. He is not a hero because he was amazing. He may have been an absolute mountain of strength and fury that God raised up to defend his people, but he was also a womanizer with the wit of a wheel of cheese. But the same God who is able to raise up stones to be sons of Abraham has been working since before time began to redeem His people through His Son for His glory. And because His wisdom is infinite and His plan is indestructible, He has been raising up men like Samson to show the all-surpassing worth and perfection of His True Chosen Son, His True Defender-Judge, Jesus.
I would like to take a few posts to flesh out how Samson points to Jesus. Samson judged Israel in an era of wanton rebellion by the people of God against the Lord, their Deliverer. When Joshua died towards the end of the conquest of Canaan, the people turned from the Lord to serve Canaan’s idols and follow the nation in its wicked ways. Judges tells this tale in sordid detail, sometimes unbelievably sordid. In fact, by the end of the book, the wickedness of God’s people is about as low as it can go. There is no king. There is no one to lead the people in righteousness and so everyone does what is right in his own eyes. The Judges failed. And so did Samson.
And yet, he points to Christ so beautifully and so clearly, the story will lift up our hearts in thanksgiving for Jesus. It will prove the supremacy of Christ and show God’s satisfaction with Him, over against all who came before. Hear this now: there may be no greater news than the fact that God is satisfied with Jesus.
Because in the midst of mockers, when His people were in danger of eternal annihilation, there was another One who entrusted His Soul to His God, and pushed the pillars of justice and sin to crush Himself and God’s enemies. Forever.
But God did not leave the True Samson in the grave.
Psalm 16:10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption.
Matthew 28:6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
Romans 6:9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
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