August 9, 2025 - Hebrews 11:32 - "Samson and Christ"

Hebrews 11:32

"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:"

If Samson’s name were not recorded in the list of the Old Testament saints as one of the LORD’s, (Hebrews 11:32), would we consider him so? He loved a harlot, and was so committed to her that he brought on himself the most dreadful evils, even death. What can we learn from this?

Grace reigns! 

Is this an example of sinning that grace may abound? God forbid, (Romans 6:1). Yet, the fact is that “Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our LORD,” (Romans 5:21). Although Samson lived before the LORD Jesus Christ came to this earth, and lived and died on his behalf, yet God was forbearing with his sin, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" (Romans 3:25), having purposed all his sins to Christ Who would come and bear them in His death on the tree, "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15). On that basis, God was just in declaring him righteous and granting him eternal life, by Jesus Christ, just as with any who are the LORD’s. It is only by Christ’s obedience unto death that any of us were made righteous, and God has forgiven sins, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Romans 5:19).

God did not punish Samson for his sin, but certainly chastened him with his sin. 

His example should cause any who are the LORD’s to fear even the slightest influences of sin in the heart and conscience. Perhaps the greatest chastening is recorded in Judges 16:20, “He wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” The LORD had not completely given him over, as with reprobates, but for a season, left him to his own devices to humble him and cause him to cry out to Him for mercy once again. As one writer stated, “No sweet communion with his dear LORD as heretofore. No precious assistance from the Spirit. No inward testimonies of His love, and gentle whispers of peace to his soul…He goes from ordinance to ordinance, but he finds not his LORD in them. All is dry formality, dreary and uncomfortable.”

The LORD caused Samson’s heart to return unto Him once again.

Just as with any of the LORD’s beloved, chosen, and redeemed ones, the LORD does bring them again and again to cry out to Him for mercy. “Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O LORD God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee,” (Judges 16:28). Was this not the thief’s prayer on the cross?  Was not mercy granted because of Christ’s work alone?

Samson, by God's grace, served as a type of Christ in Grace.

Samson’s life, as recorded in the book of Judges, is both a warning and a wonder. In himself, he was a man of great weakness, marred by sinful passions and repeated failures. Yet, by the sovereign grace of God, he was chosen before birth, set apart as a Nazarite, and empowered by the Spirit to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines.

In this, Samson serves as a faint and imperfect shadow of the LORD Jesus Christ — the true and sinless Deliverer. Where Samson fell short, Christ triumphed. Samson’s strength was fleeting; Christ’s power is eternal. Samson’s victories were partial and temporary; Christ’s conquest over sin, death, and hell is complete and everlasting. The grace that sustained Samson despite his sins reminds us that salvation is never earned by human merit but is given freely according to God’s sovereign covenant purpose.

Even in his death, Samson points us to Christ: “And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines… So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Judges 16:30). In a far greater way, Christ “through death… destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). Samson’s final act, accomplished in weakness yet owned by God, prefigured the Redeemer’s death in perfect strength — a death that obtains everlasting deliverance for His people.

Samson’s story is the story of every sinner saved by grace: chosen of God, often failing in ourselves, yet upheld and used by His power for His glory. On every page, the greater Samson — our LORD Jesus Christ — stands as the only true and faithful Deliverer. He was numbered with transgressors, (Mark 15:28), yet never a transgressor Himself. Thanks be to God for our Greater Samson, Who in His death obtained the salvation of His people.