The Church is often closest to victory in God when it appears closest to defeat. The Gospel advanced like wildfire in the Roman Empire, even as persecutions swept the land. Rebellious leaders who have sought to crush the Church within their bounds have joined the dustheap of history, while the Church marches on and undergoes revivals in their lands. Moments of weakness lead to moments of vindication.
This link between weakness and vindication does two things. First, it reminds us that it is God’s strength which brings victory, not ours. Second, it reminds those that oppress God’s people that victory belongs to God, not them. These themes are true of Samson’s vindication and final defeat of the Philistines.
Samson was certainly in a position of extreme weakness. Having finally and foolishly given in to the treachery of Delilah, Samson’s hair was cut and with it his strength was gone. He went from confounding the Philistines to a captive of the Philistines, blinded and serving them by grinding grain in the prison grounds. From the Philistine perspective, the downfall of Samson was complete.
Samson’s downfall was cause for their celebration. The Philistine leadership gathered together to offer sacrifices to their false god Dagon (v.23). The Philistine people rejoiced that “the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us” was now blinded and in chains (v.24).
Sacrifices and praise which should have been given to the only true God, Samson’s God, was instead given to a false deity. Whenever we read these passages in Scripture, we can just about guarantee that eventually This Will Not End Well.
The recipe for things to go drastically wrong for the Philistines occurs in verse 25, where we read that after a couple of refreshing beverages they decided to further humiliate Samson by dragging him along to their temple as entertainment. They parked Samson, who was blind, next to a couple of pillars which were structurally important (v.25).
This further humiliation of Samson provided the opportunity for Samson’s vindication. The Philistines were focused on their victory, but had not been looking closely at Samson’s head. His hair, we have already learned, had begun to grow again (v.22).
There was nothing magic about Samson’s hair, it did not bestow supreme strength by itself. That came from God. But Samson’s hair was the most visible sign associated with his strength (as one of the elements of his lifelong Nazirite vow), and so its renewed growth was a visible indication his strength was returning.
Ultimately though, Samson would have to trust and rely on God to empower him as God had once before, if he was to do anything other than serve as entertainment for the drunk Philistine leadership.
The stage, then, was set. Samson requested of the boy who helped him fumble his way through life to feel the pillars, supposedly to rest against them (v.26). In the temple with him were 3,000 Philistines, men and women, including the leadership of the Philistine people (v.27).
In this situation, Samson prayed to God asking him to “remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes” (v.28).
God heard his prayer, and answered it. When Samson pushed against the two structural pillars of the temple, the whole edifice came tumbling down, killing Samson and everyone inside (vv.29-30).
Samson’s vindication saw more Philistines die in one event than everything he had done before (v.30). Samson wiped out the entire leadership of the Philistines in one hit.
After that, his family retrieved his body and buried it among the people he had judged, however imperfectly, for twenty years (v.31).
Samson’s vindication reminds us that God still uses flawed believers to achieve his aims, and to bring glory to him. Samson was a picture of the sinfulness and waywardness of Israel, yet God still used him to defeat the Philistines.
In the same way, God can use us despite our sinfulness and our waywardness from following God’s commands, just as God has done so with Christians throughout history.
Samson’s vindication also reminds us that apparent visible weakness does not mean God’s people are defeated or destroyed. In this one event, Samson did more damage to Israel’s oppressors than he had before.
Apparent weakness in the Church today does not signal defeat. God is still building his Church and will vindicate Christ’s Bride, even as he lays low every earthly power that rebels against him.
After all, the greatest moment of apparent victory for the world, when Christ hung lifeless on a Cross, was also the moment of victory over sin and death. That victory was vindicated when Christ rose from the grave, showing the world that their defeat was soon at hand.
While Christians might undergo outward trials and troubles that seem like worldly loss, we are hidden in Christ with God. Our souls are safe with God. One day, we will rise vindicated, as those who celebrated our apparent humiliation are crushed underneath Christ’s feet.
