Samson is yet another tragic figure in the Old Testament. His destiny was known before he was born. According to Scripture, "...he shall begin to deliver Israelout of the hand of the Philistines"(Judges 13:5).
Angels announced this man's birth, giving his parents detailed instructions on how to raise him. Samson was to be a Nazarite -- meaning, he was to be given completely to God's service for his entire lifetime. He was never to drink wine or cut his hair. And he was never to touch anything dead. He couldn't even go to the funeral of a near relative.
Samson was raised under strict training. And at a young age he experienced the moving of God's Spirit upon him: "...the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times..."(verse 25).
I know what that is like. The Holy Spirit first moved on me at an old-fashioned camp meeting when I was eight years old. And He continued to move on me throughout my teenage years. I would go into my room and pray, and I would feel God's Spirit come upon me.
I ask you -- what is the first thing the Holy Spirit does when He moves on us? He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. Then He guides, comforts and teaches us. And He prays through us with cries, groanings, supplications.
You can be sure God's Spirit convicted Samson. And the boy was also taught, guided and comforted by the Spirit. If you had met Samson when he was just nine or ten years old, he might have told you, "God said I am someone special. They say an angel announced my birth. I've had God's Spirit on me, and He has called me to be a Nazarite. One day I'm going to help Israel become a free country!"
Samson knew he had a destiny. He was born for a purpose -- to begin Israel's deliverance from bondage to the Philistines! And for twenty years, Samson walked in the authority of his destiny. He judged Israel. And he harassed the Philistines, bringing a ray of hope to the nation.
You have to understand here -- Samson's strength was not in his hair, but in the moving of God's Spirit upon him. Scripture says the Holy Spirit would come upon Samson, and he would do exploits. Without the Spirit, Samson would have been as weak as you or I.
God had fully intended to bless the rest of Samson's years with greater victories. His Spirit would remain upon him to his dying hour. History would say of Samson, "He was faithful to the end. He did all that God appointed for him -- living and dying in honor to the Lord. He fulfilled his destiny!"
But not so! Samson aborted his destiny -- because his heart was black with sin! He kept up an outward holiness, but he chased after harlots. When he went down to see Delilah, he knowingly flirted with danger. Although the Spirit moved upon him, this man never allowed the Spirit to touch his inner man. Samson had no truth dwelling within him.
Here is yet another tragic picture of a man who missed his destiny. After twenty years of walking in God's calling, Samson began to degenerate. He became a sensuous man -- and he lost the respect of his own people.
Samson should have lived out his days in dignity, as a vessel of honor. There should have been one victory after another for this man and for Israel. We should be able to read of how Samson built strength upon strength, and grew in the power and anointing of God's Spirit.
Instead, we read of a man who ended up one of the most pitiful weaklings in biblical history. In the end, we see Samson strapped into a harness like a dumb ox, grinding away at a Philistine mill. His eyes are gouged out, and he has lost all his strength. He is the laughingstock of the heathen. And his own people have turned against him.
Even in his dying day, when Samson brought down the Philistine temple, it was not a great victory. Why? His desire was all about personal revenge. His prayer that day wasn't about avenging the name of God. Rather, he prayed, "God, give me strength one more time -- that I may avenge my eyes!"
Samson died in utter deception, having missed his destiny. His tombstone also might have read, "The man who missed his destiny."
