Judges 13-16 Star Chart:
Clockwise from when "Manoah (Auriga) took a kid ... and offered it upon a rock ... when the (solar) flame went up ... the angel (Orion) ascended in the (solar) flame" (13:19-20) till "the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson (Son of Sun)" (13:24 is 300° days of pregnancy (one lap). Then later Samson (lunar eyeball) "saw a woman" (14:1) and "told his (Gemini) father and mother" (14:2) and "a young (Argo) lion roared against him" (14:5). Then still later "he turned aside to see the carcass of the (Leo) lion and behold there was a swarm of bees (Praesepe) and (lunar) honey" (14:8). Then "Samson made there (in Timnah) a (solar) feast" (14:10). "When they (Gemini) saw him ... they brought thirty companions" (14:11) or 30°. Then he "slew thirty men" (14:19) or 30° more bringing us to Leo the lionThen "Samson (Auriga) visited his wife with a kid" 300° days later. Then he "caught three hundred (Ursa Minor, Canis Minor & Canis Major) foxes and took (lunar crescent) firebrands" -- 60°, "and let them go into the standing grain" (15:5) -- 300°. Therefore "the Philistines ... (lunar crescent) burned her and her father (Samson's wife & father-in-law -- Gemini) with fire" (15:6) "And he smote them hip (Auriga) and thigh (Orion; Ursa Major)" (15:8). Then 3000 "men of Judah" (300° x 10 laps) "bound him" with "two new cords" (15:11-13) (30° + 30°). But the "bands loosed" (15:14) and he (Orion) slew a thousand men with a (lunar crescent or Orion club) "jawbone of an ass" (15:15). Then "Samson ... took the (yellow radius) doors of the gate of" Gaza "and the two (yellow radius) posts" away (16:3). Then Delilah betrayed him and the "seven (golden) locks of his (blonde) head" (16:19) were cut and "the Philistines "put out his (lunar) eyes" (16:21) and the (lunar) "fetters of brass" were put on him (16:21); "and he (Orion) did grind in the prison house" (16:21) round and round the Zodiac pushing the (yellow radius) axle of the (solar) grinding wheel. Then they set him between the (yellow radius, lunar) pillars" (16:25) and on the roof were "about three thousand men and women" (16:27) or 300° x ten laps. Then he toppled the pillars collapsing the house. |
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13:1 And the (Gemini) children of Israel did (lunar crescent) evil again in the (lunar eyeballs) sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the (lunar) hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the Lord (golden Castor) appeared unto the woman (Pollux), and said unto her, Behold now, thou art (lunar) barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no (lunar) razor shall come on his (lunar) head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God (Castor) came unto me, and his (golden radius line) countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 But he (golden radius line) said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God (lunar ears) hearkened to the (yellow radius) voice of Manoah; and the angel of God (Castor) came again unto the woman (Pollux) as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the Lord (Castor) said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the (Pollux) woman let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the (yellow radius) vine, neither let her drink wine or strong (solar) drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her (lunar eyeballs) observe.
15 And Manoah (Auriga) said unto the (Orion) angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid (small goat) for thee.
16 And the (Orion) angel of the Lord said unto Manoah (Auriga), Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy (solar) bread: and if thou wilt offer a (solar) burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah (Auriga) knew not that he was an (Orion) angel of the Lord.
17 And Manoah (Auriga) said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
19 So Manoah (Auriga) took a kid (small goat) with a meat offering, and offered it upon a (lunar) rock unto the Lord: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife (lunar eyeballs) looked on.
20 For it came to pass, when the (golden radius line) flame went up toward heaven from off the (lunar) altar, that the angel of the Lord (Auriga) ascended in the (golden radius line) flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife (Gemini) (lunar eyeballs) looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground (rotated).
21 But the angel of the Lord (Auriga) did no more appear to (Castor) Manoah and to his (Pollux) wife. Then Manoah (Castor) knew that he was an angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah (yellow radius) said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have (lunar eyeballs) seen God.
23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a (solar) burnt offering and a (lunar) meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
24 And the (Pollux) woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1 And Samson (Orion) went down to Timnath, and (lunar eyeballs) saw a (Castor) woman in Timnath of the (Gemini) daughters of the Philistines.
2 And he came up, and told his (Gemini) father and his mother, and said, I have (lunar eyeballs) seen a (Castor) woman in Timnath of the (Gemini) daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
3 Then his (Gemini) father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the (lunar) uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson (Orion) said unto his father (Auriga), Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
4 But his (Gemini) father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord (Samson couldn't help it), that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5 Then went Samson (Orion) down, and his (Gemini) father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the (golden radius hedged) vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young (Leo) lion roared against him.
6 And the (solar) Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid (small goat), and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his (Gemini) father or his mother what he had done.
7 And he went down, and talked with the (Pollux) woman; and she pleased (Castor) Samson well.
8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the (Leo) lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees (Beehive Cluster in Cancer) and (solar) honey in the carcase of the (Leo) lion.
9 And he (golden radius line) took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his (Gemini) father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the (solar) honey out of the carcase of the (Leo) lion.
10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson (Orion) made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
11 And it came to pass, when they (lunar eyeballs) saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12 And Samson (Orion) said unto them (Gemini, Auriga, etc.), I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty (lunar crescent) sheets and thirty (lunar crescent) change of garments:
13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty (lunar crescent) sheets and thirty (lunar crescent) change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's (Pollux) wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we (solar) burn thee and thy father's (yellow radius) house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?
16 And Samson's wife wept before him (glistening star teardrops rotating), and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the (Gemini) children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my (Gemini) father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 And she (glistening star teardrops rotating) wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the (Gemini) children of her people.
18 And the (Gemini) men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down (sun on golden radius line horion), What is sweeter than (solar) honey? And what is stronger than a (Leo) lion? and he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the (solar) Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave (lunar crescent) change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's (yellow radius line) house.
20 But Samson's wife (Pollux) was given to his companion (Castor), whom he had used as his friend.
15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of (golden radius line stalk) wheat harvest, that Samson (Auriga) visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father (Orion) would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion (Castor): is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
3 And Samson (Auriga) said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred (Ursa Minor & Canis Major) foxes, and took (solar) firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn (grain) of the Philistines, and (solar) burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn (grain), with the vineyards and (lunar black) olives.
6 Then the (Gemini) Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and (solar) burnt her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson (Orion) said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he (Orion) smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
9 Then the (Gemini) Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 And the (Gemini) men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind (Orion) Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the (lunar) rock Etam, and said to (Orion) Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.
12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson (Orion) said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they (Gemini) spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new (yellow radius) cords, and brought him up from the (lunar) rock.
14 And when he came unto Lehi, the (Gemini) Philistines shouted against him: and the (solar) Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the (yellow radius) cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his (lunar) hands.
15 And he (Orion) found a new (club) jawbone of an (lunar) ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16 And Samson (Orion) said, With the (lunar club) jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came (lunar crescent) water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and (lunar eyeballs) saw there an (Castor) harlot, and went in unto her.
2 And it was told the (Gemini) Gazites, saying, Samson (Orion) is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the (brass radius) doors of the gate of the city, and the two (brass radius) posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
33 miles away
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he (Castor) loved a woman in the (Milky Way) valley of Sorek, whose name was (Pollux) Delilah.
5 And the (Gemini) lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
6 And Delilah (Castor) said to Samson (Pollux), Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new (yellow radius) ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
12 Delilah therefore took new (yellow radius) ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his (lunar) arms like a (yellow radius) thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven (yellow radius line) locks of my head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
15 And she (Castor) said unto him (Pollux), How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a (lunar crescent) razor upon mine (lunar) head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's (lunar) womb: if I be (lunar crescent) shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
18 And when Delilah (lunar eyeballs) saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
21 But the (Gemini) Philistines took him, and put out his (lunar) eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of (solar) brass; and he did (lunar) grind in the prison house.
22 Howbeit the hair of his (lunar) head began to grow again after he was (lunar crescent) shaven.
23 Then the (Gemini) 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.
24 And when the (Gemini) people (lunar eyeballs) 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.
25 And 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 (Orion) between the (yellow wooden radius) pillars.
26 And Samson (Castor) said unto the lad (Pollux) that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the (yellow wooden radius) pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of (Zodiac) 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 (lunar eyeballs) beheld while Samson (Orion) made sport.
28 And Samson (Orion) 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 (lunar) eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle (yellow wooden radius line) 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.
30 And Samson (Orion) said, Let me die with the (Zodiac) 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.
31 Then his (Gemini) 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.
Was SAMSON a Type of Christ?
1. Samson's birth was foretold by an angel (Judges 13:6-16), just as Jesus' birth was foretold by an angel. Both were born at a time when Israel had been handed over to their enemies.
2. Both Samson and Jesus were "deliverers". 'Samson' means "the sun" - linking him with our Lord's title as "the Sun of Righteousness" (Malachi 4).
3. Samson was a Nazirite (Judges 13:3-5) just as Jesus was called a Nazarene "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets" (Matt. 2:22-23). What prophets? Where? Netzer (Branch) is found in Isaiah 11:1 referring to Jesus the Messiah. Nazir (Separated) is found in Judges 13:7, Genesis 49:26 and Deuteronomy 33:16 referring to Samson and Joseph -- both types of our Messiah. Joseph was not a Nazirite in the sense of Numbers 6. Yet he was "separate from his brothers" just as Jesus was. Natsar (to Keep or Preserve) is found in Job 7:20, 27:28, Deut. 32:10 and Isa. 27:3. Jesus is our Preserver.
4. Samson tore a lion apart by pulling his bare hands apart, thereby saving himself from death (Judges 14:5-9). Then he later took sweet honey out of its carcase and shared it with his parents. In the same way, Jesus destroyed the second death by pulling his hands apart on a cross. The gospel of the good news is like honey coming from a dead Lion of the tribe of Judah. “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” It is sweet and healthy for us. The swarm of bees are “the sting of death (which) is sin.” (1 Cor. 15:56) Christ our Lord destroyed the second death. First Corinthians 15:55-57 says, "O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Rev. 20:14) Jesus, like Samson (14:5-6), was all alone when He took away Satan’s power over us (1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 John 4:16-18). He had been abandoned by His Father (Matthew 27:45-46)
5.Samson sought a wife outside of his own Israelite kind (Judges 14:1-4) in the same way Jesus Christ sought His bride of humanity outside of His divine heritage. Samson married a sinful bride just as Jesus married a sinful bride at Sinai. But Israel was adulterous or a prostitute because she worshipped idols instead of God (Matthew 15:7-9). The harlot Philistine from Timnah whom Samson married parallels unfaithful Israel that our Lord married in the Old Testament. She was burned up at Samson's second coming (15:1,6). Delilah continues the parallel of the unfaithful wife who betrays him (Judges 16:4-20).
6. Just as Samson asked a riddle during a seven-day feast, so also our Lord will ask a riddle of Israel during a seven-year tribulation: “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” Will you accept the free gift of salvation (honey) from the Lion of the tribe of Judah who died for you? (1 Corinthians 6:11). If so, He will provide the clothing –the righteousness of God– to those who have put their faith in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21) and keep his commandments. Those who don’t know the answer to his riddle will be stripped naked and bare.
7. Samson was betrayed by a friend for silver (Judges 16:4-5). Yeshua our Lord was betrayed by a friend for silver (Matt. 26:15). Probably with a kiss in both cases. Delilah may have even been an Israelite. Furthermore, Samson was arrested by a mob of his own people of Judah and ultimately voluntarily gave his life for them while in Philistine captivity (Judges 15:6-13). Likewise, Jesus was arrested by a mob of His own people of Judah (Mark 14:43-50) and died voluntarily for them while in Roman captivity.
8. Samson killed 1,000 Philistines (Judges 15:14–16) with the recently-dead jawbone of an ass. One could say that out of his "mouth" came a sharp "two-edged sword". In the same way, in the near future, "out of his mouth goeth a sharp ("two-edged" -- Rev. 1:16) sword, that with it he should smite the nations" (Rev. 19:15). Both Moses and Joshua prophesied that "one man of you shall chase a thousand" (Lev. 26:8; Josh. 23:10). This was fulfilled in Samson; and will be fulfilled in our Lord.
9. Just as Samson went "to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her" (Judges 16:1), so also Jesus "came eating and drinking, and they say, behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners" (Matt. 11:19). Many commentators are quick to condemn Samson, thinking he committed fornication here. This reads more into the scriptures than they actually reveal. Samson was a judge (15:20) and a type of our Lord. Furthermore, we read in Judges 14:4: "But his father and his mother knew not that it was OF THE LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel." If Samson was merely fulfilling DESTINY and FATE, he cannot be blamed, can he? He more likely took refuge with her until midnight. Jesus Christ was also falsely accused because of the company He kept.
10. Just as the Philistines were exultant that they had imprisoned Samson in Gaza, so also Jews were delighted Jesus was held captive by the gates of death. The Philistines posted guards around Samson during the night when they thought he was sleeping, just as the Romans posted guards around the tomb of our Lord when his dead body was placed in it. What does the city of Gaza signify, if not hell, the abode of the dead? However, in the middle of the night, Samson not only escaped, but carried the gates away with him 33 miles up onto a hill near Hebron. In the same way, our Redeemer rose from the grave, not only walking free out of death and of hell, but also destroying hell's very gates. He removed the gates of hell. When he died, the sun stopped shining (Luke 23:44-45), as if midnight. Yet he arose in the darkness (John 1:4-5) and rendered powerless the gates of death and carried them up to a high altitude to heaven. He took away the power of death. He both arose and ascended into heaven.
11. Just as Jesus carried his cross-beam (at least part of the way) to Golgotha, so Samson carried his gate to the top of a hill (Judges 16:2-3). The Sacrifice on the cross is our door into eternal life and destroyed our enemy called "Death". Taking away the gate of Israel's enemy made them vulnerable and weak, thus preserving Israel. Jesus Christ carried His door (the crossbeam) on His back (at least part of the way) up to the hill of Calvary, just as Samson carried the city door on his back and set it upon a hill. Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9) Samson was also a savior of Israel. The doors, posts, bar –much like the door and its frame of a house at Passover– were a shadow of the cross and what it represented. (Exodus 12:6-7) It was the full payment for the sins of the entire world. (John 19:30 and 1 John 2:2)
12. Just as Samson's supernatural strength was due to the secret of his long hair, so also Yeshua's miracle-working powers were due to the secret of his being God with us -- Emanuel. Eventually Samson's secret was revealed, leading to his hair being cut (Judges 16:18–21) and to his death. Eventually Yeshua's secret was revealed leading to his death also. Yeshua said to a cleansed leper, "see thou tell no man" (Matt. 8:4) about the healing. He said this to avoid being taken by force and made a king (John 6:15), and to avoid enraging the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, who were very bitter against him, any more than was unavoidable, (Matthew 16:20-21). This was not the only time when Christ commanded those upon whom he had wrought miracles to say nothing of it (see Matthew 9:30 12:16 17:9).
13. Samson extended his hands to the wooden pillars to die, and the house of the Philistines fell with its princes; Christ stretched out His hands to the two beams of the cross as to two pillars to die, overthrowing and destroying the house or kingdom of the devil and his angels by destroying the temple of his own body. Samson's greatest victory is associated with his death. The same is true of Christ our Lord. Both died for the sins of others while serving God . Both men destroyed more enemies at their death than were defeated in the whole course of each man's life. The freedom Samson purchased with his life is a parallel to that freedom Christ purchased with his life. Samson's death returns prisoners to their towns, whereas Jesus' death has returned us. Just as Samson demolished the temple with 3,000 Philistines –more than when he was living (Judges 16:27), so also Christ's body was the temple that He was going to destroy by giving up His own life. (John 2:19-21)
14. Jesus was tempted three times and He withheld the source of His power until His “time had come”. Three times Samson was tempted, but by the fourth he had grown weary so he told her his secret. – (Judges 16:6-7; 16:10-11; 16:13-14) Three times Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert: with food for His hungry body (Matthew 4:1-4); with security for His spirit (Matthew 4:5-7); and with power and respect for His soul (Matthew 4:8-10). It was at His fourth temptation where Jesus handed Himself over to be taken prisoner and killed. No one could take His life from Him; He had to give it willingly (John 10:17).
15. With Samson's head shaved [authority given up], his strength left him so he was blinded, shackled and taken to Gaza to prison. (Judges 16:19) Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would submit Himself to be public shame and punishment for our sins. (Isaiah 53:6-7) He was blind-folded so that He could not see (Luke 22:63-64). He was bound and taken into custody (Mark 15:1). The Philistines gathered together to worship their god Dagon [a fish] at the temple and asked for Samson to be brought out to entertain them. (Judges 16:23-25) The crowd –under the influence of Satan– was pleased to have Jesus displayed at Passover for execution. (Luke 23:20-21)
16. The Jews wanted the Lord's death because they saw Him as their destroyer (Jn. 11:50). The Philistines likewise saw Samson as "the destroyer of our country" (Judges 16:24). The way they made sport of Samson (16:25) links with how the Lord was mocked, and was even the song of the drunkards (Ps. 69:12). The Lord's silence was due to His complete humiliation (Acts 8:32,33). That extreme humiliation can be understood through Samson's shame. He was given women's work in prison, grinding at the mill (Ex. 11:5; Mt. 24:41). 'Grinding' may have been some kind of figure of speech for the sex act (cp. Job 31:10). The " fetters of brass" with which he was bound would have recalled his games of bondage with Delilah, and the same word is translated "filthiness" (#5178: "fetters of brass") in a sexual context (Ez. 16:36). Samson loved Delilah, a worldly woman. The word used for 'prison' means literally 'house of binding' -- an extension of Delilah's house, they may have joked. The utter exhaustion of Samson from their afflictions (prodding or whipping with sticks?) is revealed when he asks the lad to allow him to rest or take a break (17:26). Our Lord was whipped also to physical exhaustion, driven to the limit of human endurance because he "loved the world" (John 3:16) -- his bride.
17. The Philistines intention was probably to torture Samson to death at the feast to their god. Just as Jesus was tortured on a cross as the sacrifice at the Passover feast. The great sacrifice which they planned to offer (Heb. 'kill') was probably Samson (16:23). Samson dying with his hands stretched out between the two (wooden) pillars is similar to our Lord's death with his hands stretched out by means of two wooden beams making a cross. The way the lad " held" Samson's hand is significant, for the same word is translated 'to strengthen or encourage'. Perhaps the lad strengthened Samson as the repentant thief did our Lord. Like Samson who took the entire weight of Dagon’s temple upon himself, Jesus was crushed by the enormity of the punishment for all of our transgressions. (Isaiah 53:5) "(T)hrough death he (destroyed) him that had the power of death" (Heb. 2:14-15). This is exactly the idea of Judges 16:30: "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" . Through his own death, Christ destroyed the power of sin, epitomized in the dead Philistines. Hebrews 2:15 goes on to say that Christ delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Israel in hard bondage to their Philistine masters, living in fear, until judges or 'deliverers' like Samson delivered them from their oppressors.
18. The way the body was taken up by brave Israelites after Samson's death (Judges16:31) recalls the action of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
19. Even numbers correspond between Samson and our Lord. Notice Delilah's words: "mocked me these three times" (Judges 16:15) corresponding to Jesus being tempted three times (Matt. 4) and "the third day" (Matt. 16:21). We read about "thirty changes of garment" (Judges 14:13,19) corresponding to "30 pieces of silver" (Matt. 26:15) and Christ was 30 when he began his ministry. We read about 300 foxes (Judges 15:4) corresponding to ointment worth 300 pence (John 12:5). Finally we read about 3000 men of Judah (Judges 15:11) and 3000 men and women (Judges 16:17) corresponding to "3000 souls" (Acts 2:41)
True Courage
To struggle when hope is banished!
To live when life's salt is gone!
To dwell in a dream that's vanished!
To endure, and go calmly on!