Old Testament Foundatiosn with Philip Yancey/Old Testament Foundatiosn with Philip Yancey - Disc 1.iso/pc/data/m11h03.dir/00083_ht1.text.txt

Text File | 1996-09-06 | 1.2 KB | 3 lines

Samson:

"God's man to counter the Philistines was Samson.  His father's name was Manoah, a Danite who apparently had not migrated north with others of his tribe.  Importance was lent to Samson's birth by a prior announcement through the Angel of Yahweh (Judg. 13:3-23).  The son to be born would be a Nazarite, which means, among other things, that his hair was not to be cut (Num. 6:1-13).  Samson's place of birth was Zorah, located at the boundary line between Israelite and Philistine land.  Samson's contact with the enemy was different from that of other judges.  He did not lead an army to battle, but went alone among the Philistines, working havoc by feats of enormous strength.  This strength was not the result of an unusually large stature (at least no hint is given in the biblical account to this effect) but of special enablement by the Spirit of God, symbolized particularly in Samson's uncut hair.  Through this strength he was able to kill many of the enemy; but his greatest contribution in Israel's behalf was to make the Philistines see the greatness of Israel's God, who was able so to empower a human individual." (Leon Wood, A Survey of Israel's History, © 1970 Zondervan, pp. 225-26)