“The Judges - Samson”

​B I B L E  B I T S  & B I T E S
Devotions for Families

Season 3: Judges
Episode 5: “The Judges - Samson”
Today’s Bible Bite: Judges 13-16

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkOVBXQQo5Y (Cartoonworks.com – for older children)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcTgzQAeuZo (Saddleback Kids – Samson & Delilah)

“Then Samson prayed to the LORD, ‘Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time.’” (Judges 16:28a)

After Gideon died, things went downhill quickly. Future judges of Israel took control by force, killed fellow Israelites and even worshipped fake gods. One of the last judges of Israel was also one of the worst. The angel of the Lord had told a man named Manoah and his wife that they would have a special son who would rescue the people from the Philistines; he was to be raised as a Nazarite—which means he was to live his life fully for God. In fact, he wasn’t supposed to cut his hair, drink wine or go near a dead body. When he grew older, God gave Samson superhuman strength. But Samson didn’t really care about God; his only real concern was for himself. He had a huge ego and a terrible temper; he was impulsive and didn’t worry about whether or not his actions pleased God. However, God still used Samson to make life miserable for the Philistines.

Samson made himself such a nuisance to the Philistines that they tried to find a way to capture him. They offered his girlfriend, Delilah, money if she could discover the secret of his strength and she agreed. But Samson wouldn’t tell her the truth. He kept making up stories and when she would try to help the Philistines arrest him, nothing worked. Well, Delilah was persistent and she didn’t give up. She kept pestering Samson to tell her, until he was finally so frustrated with her nagging that he did. Big mistake! He told her that if he was given a haircut, he would lose his strength; so that night, Delilah brought out her razor. Well, long story short, Samson lost his great strength, was captured by the Philistines and they even took out his eyes—they really hated him. After some time had passed, however, Samson’s hair began to grow back. The Philistines brought him to their temple to make fun of him. Samson prayed that God would give him strength one last time and God answered. Samson pushed the temple down—God proved He was stronger than any old fake god.

Think about it...
• The Israelites had gotten so disobedient that even their judges didn’t follow God’s laws. Judges 9-12 lists some of the other judges that Israel had.
• After the Philistines had been allowed to be in control for forty years, the people again prayed to be rescued. Why did the angel of the Lord come and visit Manoah and his wife?
• Samson was to be special—set apart for God. What does that mean?
• Samson was very impulsive and a real hothead, but God still chose to use him. What does that tell us about the kinds of people God can use to get His plans accomplished?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that even though Samson wasn’t perfect, that didn’t stop you from accomplishing your rescue for the Israelites through him. Thank you that his story tells us that you can use anyone, even us. Help us to do a better job than Samson of obeying you!