Samson's role in fulfilling Israel's covenanted promises

¶ … Samson in the History of Israel.

Samson in the Book of Judges functions as an individual representative of the collective of Israel. He does so on more levels than the other judges, precisely because of his nature as a human being. Firstly, Samson is a human being filled with flaws, like the people of Israel. Like Israel, he is also dedicated to God as a Nazirite, but frequently fails to live up to his dedicated status. Ultimately however, he returns to God and becomes a catalyst for Israel's redemption from the Philistines, as well as God's revenge. Samson is therefore uniquely important in Israel's journey with their God, in that his character is flawed, but his heart nonetheless returns to God in the end.

The Book of Judges in the Bible depicts the many successes and failures of Israel as God's people. Under each Judge, the people of Israel are reported to have done wrong in the eyes of God, after which they are punished in some way. When Samson came into the Israelite world to become a Judge, the people were suffering as a result of being handed over to oppression by the Philistines, as a result of precisely such wrongdoing (Book of Judges 5, 2010). Nevertheless, Samson represents the continuing promise of God to his people, regardless of their faithlessness and wrongdoing. Samson particularly represents this paradigm, as he was himself subject to wrongdoing as a result of his human nature.

According to Bergant and Karris (p. 260), Samson's war against the Philistines takes the form of a private feud. He destroys their crops and deceives them by means of riddles. Samson also however wages a collective and divine war against them to culminate in the beginning of their salvation (Gospel Hall, 2010). This becomes clear when the territorial and theological relationship between the Philistines and the Israelites are considered. Ultimately, Samson acts as the vehicle of God's justice and revenge.

In the Book of Judges, the role of the Philistines is to strengthen the spiritual and moral character of Israel by means of a process of suffering and deliverance. This is the importance of Samson. Being as prone to sin as his people, Samson represents not only their deliverance, but also their departure from the love of God and his punishment. Samson's relationship with the Philistines can then also be seen as Parallel to the Israelites' collective relationship with them.

According to Benton (1967, p. 22), the Philistines are led to Canaan by God himself for the purpose of testing and strengthening the Israelites. As such, they also present a strong opposing force by means of which Samson can be the catalyst of God's power for the redemption of his people and the fulfillment of his covenant. This is done by a variety of means.

Specifically, the relationship of the Philistines with Israel can be seen on an individual level in Samson's relationship with them. Samson marries Delilah -- a Philistine woman, much to the dismay of his parents. This compromises his position as a servant of God and liberator of his people. And indeed, he does betray his dedication to God and his people as a result of her. She in turn betrays him.

This mutual betrayal is also evident in the relationship between the Israelites and the Philistines. The Israelites have compromised their position as the chosen of God by accepting some of the habits and religious practices of the Philistines. Hence they transgressed in the eyes of God, and continue to do so. The inherent problem in this is that it is a continual and mutual process of betrayal and punishment. By using the Philistines as punishment for the Israelites, God places temptation in their path as well. By association, the Philistines succeed to draw God's people into their way of life.

While Samson's life is then dedicated to creating disturbances for the Philistines, this dedication is compromized by his association with Delilah. This association leads him to the betrayal of his God and his people, and he is captured by the Philistines. God however uses this punishment as a catalyst for Samson's ultimate triumph, which is also his ultimate defeat. Samson overcomes the Philistines by dying with them.

According to Roskoski (n.d., p. 9), Samson's death scene has several levels of significance in terms of its representation of the relationship of Israel with their God. On an individual level Samson, bound between the pillars of the temple, signifies his personal prayer for revenge. This prayer, according to the author, concerns the individual wrongdoing of destroying his eyes. Like Samson's life and his individual relationship with the Philistines, his prayer for revenge however also serves as the collective representation of a wider perspective, where collective revenge is exacted for the people of Israel as a whole. This is then the seed of their future redemption.

In addition to the collective relationship of God with his people, Samson's death scene also serves to signify the struggle between the God of Israel against Dagon. It is, as it were, a territorial power struggle on the divine level (Roskoski, p. 9). The territory belongs to Dagon, having been worshiped there by a variety of peoples for centuries before the arrival of the Israelites. The arrival of the Israelites however is significant in terms of a centuries-old promise to give the territory to them as a new home, away from oppressive forces. Hence, Samson's victory over the Philistines is also the Israelite God's victory over Dagon. This the provides the vehicle for the people's future inheritance of the promised land.

Hence, Samson's death is a necessary sacrifice that accomplishes several purposes: it punishes Samson for his trespass against God; it punishes the Philistines for corrupting and capturing Samson; it provides theological victory for God, and finally it also provides Israel with a renewed sense of hope, that God will keep his covenant with them and ultimately allow them to live in peace in their promised land (Roskoski, p.11).

On an individual level, it is both a victory and defeat for Samson, but collectively, the victory is far greater than the loss of a single important human life. From the Israelite perspective, Samson has provided a platform from which they can repair their relationship with God once again, in order to claim their part of the covenant. In this way, Judges 13:5 can be fulfilled, where Samson is to "begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines."

When considering Samson's story and his historical importance to the people of Israel, it is also important to consider his importance in terms of prophecy. Many of the important figures in the first part of the Old Testament point towards the kingship of David, which in turn points to the coming of the Messiah in the New Testament. In terms of Samson, his victory over the Philistine paves the way not only to future judges, but also to a certain extent paves the way for David's role in God's covenant with his people.

David will finally break the power of the Philistines (Roskoski, p. 12). This is the most important link between Samson and David. While God's Spirit works within Samson, he is able to defeat the Philistines, and his death is the final triumph of this Spirit. The same Spirit works within the kingship of the first King Saul, and his successor, David. In both cases, the Spirit of God provides not only charisma to these leaders, but also victory over the enemies for the purpose of fulfilling the covenant. Indeed, Samuel and Saul's victories over the Philistines is directly linked to Samson's final act of sacrifice, which weakened the Philistines sufficiently to provide ultimate victory to the Israelites. As such, Samson was instrumental in God's path with his people, to enable him to finally fulfill his covenant.

When this historical and theological interpretation is taken further, Samson's death can also be seen as somewhat symbolic in terms of God's fulfillment of an even greater covenant -- to provide ultimate redemption to the human race. Paving the way for Jesus' ancestor David, Samson sacrifices himself for the redemption of his people. This can be seen as parallel to the selfless act of Jesus, who sacrificed himself for the spiritual survival of his followers. As such, Samson's victory not only paves the way for short-term victory over the Philistines, but also for long-term victory over sin. Samson overcomes his individual sinful nature by achieving a last favor from God and collective victory over the Philistines. In a parallel way, Christ achieves collective victory over the sins of others and in death provides collective life.