Samson – Jesus

I was reading the other day and this thought stuck, so let us develop this concept together.  We will start with the Samson story, as Samson was supposed to be a representative or model of Jesus Christ, the saviour of his people from the tyranny and oppression of the day; but it did not quite go to plan, as Samson fell short of the finish line.

Judges 16:23-31 “Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.  And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.  And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines [were] there; and [there were] upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.  And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with [all his] might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that [were] therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than [they] which he slew in his life.  Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought [him] up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.”

So now we have poor Samson, captured by his enemies, they are jubilant and celebrating their perceived conquest and victory, Samson in chains and led by a small boy into the most central, most sacred inner sanctum they had, I guess it is sort of the Debating Chamber of Parliament today, and shown off as a weak nobody and they and their gods are so powerful and victorious, the threat is over.

Well that is until Samson is led over to the two central pillars, these monsters are what hold their whole temple and system up, now humble, Samson bows in total commitment and surrender to the God of Heaven, Earth; and everything there is.  Bowing for a moment, he takes a deep breath of commitment, and then tears those two great massive pillars right up off their foundation, and the whole building collapses into a pile of rubble, the leaders are gone, the system is gone, and the massive edifice that symbolises all they are and aspire to is gone, Samson has died, given as a sacrifice for many in Israel.

Let us jump about 1,100 years ahead, we are at another scene, masses are jubilant and celebrating the capture and apparent powerlessness of a prisoner.  Trumped up charges will stick, well anything will do as the mob cry out, “Away with him.”  Mark 15:10 “For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.  But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.  And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do [unto him] whom ye call the King of the Jews?  And they cried out again, Crucify him.”

The mob wanted their champion released unto them, and their enemy “Jesus Christ” mocked and destroyed.  Well they did get their wish, Jesus Christ was mocked and scourged, and that made them very happy as they were sure they had the upper hand and victory.  A tomb held him, their ultimate symbol of victory, they drove great iron spikes through the rock door and into the cliff to make it very secure, an Official Government Seal was placed on it; and then an army battalion was stationed right outside; so there was to be no escape now.

But Sunday morning, Samson broke the bonds, tore away the stone from the door, totally wreaked the system that appeared to be victorious, by mighty power, it was all torn down and destroyed. 1 Corinthians 5:55 “O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?”  There was no doubting now, who was the victor, the system was no more, the man was victor, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; Satan and his system was totally conquered.

Yes I know that it still sort of exists, but the day is coming so soon when the destruction is a reality and not just a “Spiritual Lesson” Malachi 4:1 “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”  Satan is the root and his followers the branch, all gone and destroyed.

Tradition tells us that the stone disc that covered the tomb doorway was located quite some many meters out from the door, its steel pins just sheared off as if it had just exploded out from the tomb, sailed through the air and landed flat on its back.  This sort of sounds like Samson is back moving large chunks of rock like it was polystyrene.

Dear Reader, are you supporting the System, or are you supporting the Man and the Creator God, the Bible clearly tells us who is the victor, and it certainly is not Dagon and his supporters.