Samson - Weakness in Power

One of the favorite characters of the Old Testament that any Sunday School teacher worth their salt will cover is Samson. We always think about Samson as a man of great strength. He was able to kill a lion with his bare hands ("as he might have torn a young goat" - as if tearing a young goat sounds easy). He killed 30 and took their clothes. He killed 1,000 with the jawbone of a donkey. He caught 300 foxes and tied them together (that sounds pretty difficult). He tore city gates and posts off of the wall and carried them outside of the city. He was a pretty tough fellow.

Despite all this strength, the most powerful part of Samson's body was not his biceps. It was not his legs or his back. In Judges 14:1 - "Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman..." Notice only later did he actually speak to her and found out that she was actually likeable for more than her looks (14:7). 14:3 is not captured very well in most translations. Samson says he wants here because "she is right in my eyes."

Samson meets Delilah, whose name is linked with being subdued, just as she will do to Samson. Samson saw her (16:1) and fell into the trap that would mark the beginning of the end. You probably know the story, Delilah eventually tricks him into telling her the secret of his strength. Harris notes that Samson's name is linked with "sun" but he turns out not to be so bright! Samson is subdued and made entertainment by the Philistines. Instead of killing him they gouge out his eyes and force him to do slave labor.

What was the most powerful part of Samson's body? His eyes. His eyes got him into more trouble than his physical strength was able to compensate for. His eyes ultimately led to weakness, downfall and eventually cost him his life. Controlling his eyes would have saved his life and made him a more effective leader. In a culture that surrounds us with visual images that compete for our attention and even our heart, I think we have a lot we can learn from Samson.

More on teaching soon...

This and That

Milk & Honey (Thanks to Wiley Lowe for pointing this one out):
In the book of Judges you have the story of Deborah and Jair. Sisera was leading the forces of Jaban the Canaanite king against the Israelites. Deborah, whose name can also mean "bee" calls Barak to defeat Sisera and his men. Barak hesitates and Deborah prophesies that Sisera will be killed by a woman (Judges 4:9). Barak fights Sisera and kills his men but Sisera escapes to the tent of Heber and his wife Jair, whose name can also mean mountain goat. Sisera, thinking he is safe, falls asleep and Jair takes a tent peg and drive it through his head. The Israelites are delivered by two women - bee & mountain goat (each of which produce milk & honey).

The Law and Angels:
Gal 3:19-20 "What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one."

Acts 7:37-38 "This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us."

Acts 7:53 "you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."

Normally the angel of the Lord was sent ahead of the people to guard them and even drive out the nations in the promised land. Does anyone know what the deal is with the connection between angels and the law (also in Hebrews 2:2)? Only thing I can come up with are the extra-biblical sources Dunn cites (Jubilees 1.29-2.2, Philo Som 1.143, Apoc of Moses preface, or Josephus Antiquities 15.136)

Josephus - "And for ourselves, we have learned from God the most excellent of our doctrines, and the most holy part of our law, by angels or ambassadors..."

Jubilees - "And the angel of the presence who went before the camp of Israel took the tables of the divisions of the years -from the time of the creation- of the law and of the testimony of the weeks of the jubilees, according to the individual years, according to all the number of the jubilees [according, to the individual years], from the day of the [new] creation when the heavens and the earth shall be renewed and all their creation according to the powers of the heaven, and according to all the creation of the earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and all the luminaries be renewed for healing and for peace and for blessing for all the elect of Israel, and that thus it may be from that day and unto all the days of the earth. Chapter 2 1 And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of the creation..."
The angel goes on to tell Moses about creation and all that happened for him to write down.