Chapter 100. Judges 16:21-3121But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 22Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 23Then 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. 24And 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. 25And 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. 26And 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. 27Now 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. 28And 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. 29And 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. 30And 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. 31Then 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. (Judges 16:21‑31). Samson’s Death.
SAMSON was now in Gaza, in prison, alone, blind, away from his own. He had much time to think about his past ways. He had sown disobedience and had reaped sorrow. It is always so, for we are told positively, that “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal. 6:77Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7).) But Samson also had time to think of God, and to turn to Him in his sorrow. That is why God allows His children to be afflicted, that they may turn to Him, to learn of His ways and to trust Him in all things. During this time, Samson’s hair had begun to grow again, and with it, his strength was returning. The Philistines worshiped an idol called Dagon. They thought it had delivered Samson, their great enemy, into their hands. So when they had taken him, and he was in their power, they made a great sacrifice unto Dagon, and praised it and made merry, playing and singing. Then they said: “Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.” So they brought him from the prison house, and they laughed at him, and made sport of him, and made him stand between two pillars in the house of Dagon, their god.
The house was very large and full of people—men, women and children; about three thousand of them were upon the roof, looking at Samson and laughing. All the princes were there too. Samson asked the boy who led him, to let him lean against the pillars upon which the house stood, and he took hold of one with his right hand, and of the other with his left hand. Then he called upon God, and said: “O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then he cried, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were inside the house and upon the roof. All died, and Samson with them. During his life time, he had killed many Philistines, but at his death he destroyed more than he had in all his life.
Then his brethren and relatives came down and took him and brought him to their home place where they buried him. Thus ended the sad life of Samson, and it was written for our learning that we might profit by the warning and lesson it teaches us. We have the Lord Jesus for a model. Let us seek, by His grace, to imitate Him. Then His strength will be ours, and God will say of us, “They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” (Ps. 84:7.)
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
ML 11/10/1912