Samson Part 2: A Superhero in Love
by Sophia Prinsloo with Barbara Wilmerton Haas
Text Version | Afrikaans | Italian
The whole family, including grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and cousins were enjoying the school vacation on a game farm in the African bush. The boys, Nicky, Billy and Danny, loved to go on safari adventures with everybody walking through the lush bushes, stalking animals while seeing how many different kinds of wild animals they could spot in one day. There were elephants, giraffes, rhinos, buffaloes, hippos, many kinds of buck, warthogs, zebras, hyenas, wild dogs, cheetahs, leopards and snakes, like mambas and cobras but, most of all, there were lions — king of the jungle.
One day, the grown-ups and girls decided to stay and rest at the chalets while the boys went out for a walk. For protection, the boys had a shotgun with them and, as boys are, they all wanted to carry the gun. Nicky was the oldest and he had the honor of carrying it first. He made sure the safety pin was in place. Walking attentively on guard, they listened to the sounds in surrounding bushes for any sign of danger. Making their way through the bushes, they arrived at a dry riverbed.
“Look at these large prints in the sand!” Danny exclaimed, trying to measure it with his arms.
“It's elephant footprints,” Nicky replied.
“Check out that hole in the sand. It has water in it,” Billy noticed a few yards further down.
“Yep,” Nicky said. “The elephants dug the hole to get to water just below the sand.”
Before Billy could ask another question, Nicky hastily interrupted. “Ssh! I hear something.”
Lingering around the waterhole, the three boys listened closely until they heard an UH-UH sound. They scanned the bushes with their eyes for a clue of what it was. Nicky saw it first. Two lion cubs and their mother emerged from the bushes on the riverside.
At first, Nicky froze in his tracks, overcome with fear, because he knew that whenever a lioness with cubs feels threatened, she can become extremely dangerous. He also knew very well that, if necessary, the shotgun could only kill a storming lion at short range, so he decided to run. Realizing running away with a gun would slow him down considerably, Nicky quickly turned around and said, “Your turn, Danny!” With that, he handed the gun over to Billy and quickly ran off before Billy had a chance to think.
As Nicky disappeared into bushes, Billy glanced at the gun in his hands and then looked up. He spotted the lion family now too. With a suddenly pale face and numb lips, he turned around and, in turn, said to Danny, “Your turn with the gun, Billy!” Billy hastily pushed the gun into Danny's hands before speeding off and disappearing into the bushes as well.
Finally Danny, with gun in hand, also caught sight of the terrifying lions. He gave them one quick glance, nearly dropping the shotgun from sheer shock. He then spun around, running after the other two and with trembling voice cried out, “Wait for me! Wait for me! The lion is going to devour me!”.
Nicky arrived at home first with Billy right on his heels. They waited and waited. Eventually, after a lapse in time — and to their great relief — a huffing, puffing Danny arrived. Red-faced from exhaustion, with bruised knees and covered in dirt from stumbling along the way, he still clenched the shotgun in his hands. Furious and not at all impressed with his friends, he harshly complained, “Why did you both run away from me? I thought friends were supposed to stick together and help each other! SOME FRIENDS YOU ARE!”.
“Sorry, Danny. We were just so scared!” Nicky and Billy meekly confessed.
That night, with the stars shining brightly under the clear African sky, the boys sat beside a campfire, staring almost as if hypnotized by the flickering flames. The monotonous drone of cicadas singing continuously in the warm night filled the air. Hearing a distant jackal calling his mate, Grandpa cleared his throat and began to tell them a story.
“You know, boys, the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. He roars, trying to make people SO afraid of getting hurt, that they forget to love and help one another. Let me tell you the story of Samson and the roaring lion.” (Based on a true story from the mid-'60s.)
Manoah and his wife tried their very best to raise their special son, Samson, in the ways of the Lord. When he was old enough, they told Samson about the purpose God had for his life. In order to prepare him for his task, they made sure he ate the healthiest of foods and avoided the bad ones, all according to the Lord's orders.
Samson's body grew strong and muscular from helping his mom and dad with difficult chores, like carrying heavy buckets of water from the well to the house, plowing, planting and harvesting their crops in the fields. His parents taught him everything they could to help equip him for life.
In addition to growing and harvesting crops, Samson learned to read and write. He soon would master the skill of caring for animals. Most important of all, his parents taught him about the Lord their God, telling him many stories about the mighty wonders He had done for the children of Israel. Samson enjoyed learning because God had blessed him with a sharp mind. For fun, he loved making up and solving riddles with his friends.
Samson knew God had called him to deliver Israel from the Philistines. As soon as he was old enough, his father began teaching him how to fight. He practiced and practiced, soon becoming as nimble and skillful as a superhero. But the secret of his strength was neither in his muscles nor in his fighting skills. He was incredibly strong because he had been set apart for the Lord from his birth, as a Nazarite.
Samson took his calling very seriously, but there was one problem — he had no army to lead in battle against their enemies because, to his utter dismay, the other Israelites were so scared of the Philistines that they did nothing to even try to help Samson.
“Samson, you're crazy!” They would shake their heads in disbelief when he suggested they go on a raid against their oppressors. “We can't fight against those mighty Philistines! They're our masters in every aspect of warfare. They will crush us if we try to oppose them!” they whimpered with hearts full of fear.
“Cringing cowards you are!” Samson reprimanded, shaking his head in disbelief, as he watched them slink away.
The cowardice of his fellow Israelites frustrated Samson so much that he bravely decided to go on a one-man spying trip to Philistine country. Nearing the outskirts of the town of Timnath, Samson got the surprise of his life when his keen, spying eyes landed on something most unexpected.
WOW! He couldn't believe it! There, just a few yards from where he was hiding behind a grapevine, was the most beautiful maiden girl with the kindest smile he had ever seen. His heart skipped a beat and his muscular legs felt like jelly as he beheld her lovely face. All at once, his heart was smitten beyond repair. It was love at first sight. Samson forgot all about his spy trip and hurried home immediately.
“Mom! Dad!” he yelled with excitement as he burst through the door. “I have seen a maiden girl, as pretty as can be, and I definitely want her to be my wife. You MUST get her for me!”
At first, his parents were glad that Samson wanted a wife, but when they heard she was from Timnath, they were not at all happy.
His dad earnestly warned him, “Samson, you're looking for trouble by wanting to marry a Philistine girl. You know very well that the culture of these uncircumcised heathen is totally different from ours. On top of that, they don't serve our God, the Mighty One of Israel, the great I AM. Besides, you know it's against God's laws.”
“Why, Samson? Isn't there even one girl in the whole of Israel who pleases you?” his mother asked with a hint of disappointment in the tone of her voice. She wondered secretly how on earth she would get along with a heathen daughter in-law. Even worse, what if she teaches Samson's children all kinds of heathen practices?
Sadly, Samson was so head over heels in love with the Philistine girl that he wouldn't listen to either of their concerns. “I'm CRAZY about her. Just get her for me, PLEASE!” he insisted.
After realizing Samson's mind was made up, his parents decided to do what he asked. They went ahead and made arrangements to go to Timnath so they could meet the girl and her parents in order to negotiate a wedding. They didn't know at that time that Samson's falling in love was all the Lord's doing. In fact, God was using this to set Samson's calling in motion and was planning to punish the Philistines for oppressing the children of Israel.
Walking through lush vineyards just outside the town, the three of them neared Timnath. Pondering so hard on what they would say to their possible in-laws, his parents failed to hear the sounds in the vineyard — leaves rustling in the breeze and zooming bees searching for sweet grape juice for honey making.
Samson, always alert with a keen sense of hearing, heard something unusual. First he heard twigs breaking and then ... yes, there it was again ... the faint growl of a hungry lion hiding in the vines. While his unsuspecting parents traveled on, he excused himself for a moment and stealthily sneaked toward the growling sound.
Suddenly, from behind the leafy vines, the young lion attacked Samson. He had no weapons on him other than his trust in God, and God did not disappoint him. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily over Samson, making him braver and stronger than the lion. He grabbed the leaping lion by the jaw and, feeling its foul breath on his face, ripped its jaw apart, killing it almost effortlessly. Afterwards, he caught up with his parents again, not telling them anything about what had happened or that he actually had saved their lives.
When they reached the home of the beautiful young girl Samson wanted to marry, her parents allowed him to have a chat with her, and guess what? They discovered she liked him very much and was willing to become his wife. Of course, Samson was overjoyed at her response. The couple's parents discussed plans, setting a wedding date before Samson and his parents left for home.
After a while, Samson went down to Timnath again, this time to marry the girl. On the way, he wondered what had happened to the carcass of the lion that he had killed so went to investigate. To his surprise, a colony of bees had made a nest inside the carcass of the lion. He found it was full of sweet, golden honey. Yummy!
Killing the lion turned out to be a sweet victory indeed! He removed the honey from the lion carcass with his bare hands while angry bees swarmed around him. Licking and eating the honey from the comb as he walked, he hurried to catch up with his parents, giving some of the honey them. However, secretive Samson never told them where he found the honey.
Full of energy for the wedding, Samson and his father went to Timnath to have a party with 30 men from town, as was the custom of the day. Then Samson asked the men, “How would you like to hear a riddle?”
They thought that they were so much more clever than Samson so answered, “Absolutely!”
Then Samson threw in a prize, saying, “If you solve the riddle within the seven days of wedding feasting, I'll give you 30 linen undergarments and 30 fancy robes. But if you can't solve it, then you must agree to give me 30 sets of clothing.”
Confident they'd be able to solve it, they responded, “Let's hear your riddle, Samson.”
Samson skillfully laid the riddle before them: “Food came out of the eater, and sweetness from the strong!”
For three days during the wedding feast, the 30 Philistine men from Timnath tried to figure out the answer to Samson's riddle, but they found themselves clueless. Realizing they would not have the answer in time, they selfishly devised a wicked plan.
On the fourth day, the men began to harass Samson's new wife. Threatening her, they questioned, “Was this wedding invitation a setup to make us poor? Get the answer for us from your husband or we'll burn your father's house to the ground with you inside!”
If only his new wife had known how strong Samson was with God's help — stronger than all those men and their threats — she never would have listened to them and would have told Samson everything. Instead, she was so afraid of the nasty threats of the heathen, Philistine men that she told Samson, “You don't love me at all, but you hate me. If you really love me, you would have told me the answer to the riddle you gave to my townsmen.”
Samson replied, “I haven't even told my father or my mother. Why should I tell you?”
Out of fear for her life, Samson's new wife was very persistent. Every time Samson came near her, she started to cry. She kept on doing it on the fourth day,
…and on the fifth day
…and on the sixth day
…and on the seventh day
Samson probably suspected that there was something behind her crying, but he could no longer stand it. He really wanted her to know that he loved her, so he told her the answer. She stopped crying and went to tell the 30 young men what Samson said.
Before sunset, at the end of the seventh day, the men of Timnath, confident they now knew the answer to Samson's riddle, told him, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?”
Samson furiously reprimanded them, saying, “If you hadn't threatened my wife, you wouldn't have learned the answer to my riddle!” The truth is, Samson had neither 30 undergarments nor 30 fancy robes to give.
Suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord came over him. He went down to the city of Ashkelon, where he killed 30 Philistine men, took their clothing and and returned to Timnath to give the garments to the 30 men who gave him the answer to his riddle.
Samson kept his end of the deal, but he wasn't at all happy. He felt betrayed by his wife and was so furious that he abandoned her and went back home to live with this mom and dad. Thinking Samson had left his daughter forever, his father in-law married her to the man who had served as Samson's best man at his wedding.
REMEMBER:
Ask God to so fill your heart with his love that courage and loyalty will overtake fear when others need your help, no matter what happens in life. Strive to love others just as Jesus loves you.
THINK!
1. On the way to which town was Samson attacked by a lion?
2. What came over Samson to help him kill the lion?
3. How many men were at Samson's party?
4. Why was Samson's wife scared?
5. Did she love Samson more or was she more afraid of the threats of her townsmen?
6. Do you think Samson was scared of anything?
7. When Jesus went to the cross to die, which won out? His fear or his love?
A VERSE TO LEARN
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
ALTERNATIVE VERSES TO LEARN
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
Or
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Jesus said that in the last days, people would be so full of love for themselves that they would easily betray a friend or loved one. What does it mean to betray someone? Has someone ever betrayed you? Have you ever betrayed a friend or loved one out of fear or because someone threatened you?
What do you think Samson's wife should have done when the townsmen threatened her? What can you do when someone threatens you to the point where you're ready to betray a loved one?
[After discussion:] To betray someone is to be disloyal toward them and let their enemies hurt them. Like a roaring lion, Satan can come and use things like fear to get you to betray your loved ones. Samson's wife fell for the threats of her townsmen. She made the mistake of hiding the threats from Samson. If she had told him, Samson could have taken them out of harm's way and protected them all with the strength God gave him.
If someone threatens you to betray a loved one or friend, be wise and first tell God about it. Ask Him to let his Holy Spirit rise up within you to give you the wisdom and boldness you need to stand up for your friends and family and be faithful to them. If you need help, tell a kind and helpful adult about it.
If you ever betrayed a loved one or friend, ask them to forgive you. If someone betrayed you, forgive them and ask God to help them find forgiveness from Him as well. Also ask God to give you friends who will be loyal to you, even a loyal, God-loving girlfriend of boyfriend.
LET'S PRAY
****************************************************
Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me so much
that you were willing to give your Only Son, Jesus,
to die on the cross for me. Let your Holy Spirit
fill me with love, driving out fear so I never want
to betray my loved ones. Give me the courage to
stand up for them, according to your Word. Help me
never betray You. Fill me with your love so I remain
faithful to You and love You more than anything else.
May your love grow deeper in my heart every day,
casting out fear so I can become all You want me to be.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen!
****************************************************
CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
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