God used twelve men (and one woman) called Judges to lead and protect the people of Israel during the time before they had a king. Samson was the last of the judges mentioned in the Book of Judges before the transition of Eli and Samuel to the monarchy beginning with King Saul.
The people of Israel once again began to worship idols; and as a punishment God allowed them once more to come under the power of their enemies. The seventh oppression during the period of the Judges, which now fell upon Israel, was by far the hardest, the longest and the most widely spread of any, for it was over all the tribes of Israel. It came from the Philistines whom God used to oppress Israel because of their evil deeds The Philistines worshipped an idol called Dagon, which was made in the form of a fish’s head on a man’s body. Into this situation Samson was born in order to begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
Samson did much to set his people free; but he might have done much more, if he had led his people, instead of trusting alone in his own strength; and if he had lived more seriously, and not done his activities as though he was playing pranks. There were deep faults in Samson, but at the end he sought God’s help, and found it, and God used Samson to set his people free and his name is included with the heroes of the faith (Hebrews 11:32). Bible readings are taken/adapted from the New Living Translation.
Samson 1a — Judges 13
Samson 2a — Judges 14
Samson 3a –– Judges 15
Samson 4a — Judges 16
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