Continued from part 1 -

Descending the stairs into C-Block I received the usual glances from the inmates in the rec area.  The deputy on duty greeted me and opened the training room door where the bible study was held.  With a loud voice the deputy shouted, “Bible Study!”

I set my books down inside the room and greeted the men as they entered   My mind began to ponder where we go now with this new direction. After sitting down one of the men opened in prayer.  I then posed the question, “What comes to your mind when you think of Samson?”  Delilah, man’s failures, superhuman strength, defeat were just some of the responses.  Honestly, these were my shared responses as well.  Until we actually read the story in light of God’s perspective.

Here we begin the lesson.

(NOTE:  The following has been adapted to include ten months of study)

Beginning in Judges 13:1, we discover that the Philistines had oppressed the Israelites for at least 20 years (or 40 years depending on when Samson came on the scene.)  When a people are oppressed for a long period of time they begin to adapt and modify to the oppressor.  Remember the greatest weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. What happens then is salvation comes, an answer to our oppression, but we want to reject it because the appearance is not packaged as we expected.  Somehow it needs to come at the convenience of our world, identity, and comfort.  This became true to me when I talked to a young man with a cane.  I had asked him how his life had changed since he damaged his leg and now has constant pain. At first he was bitter, but now he receives his schooling paid and income.  “I am in no rush for it to get better,” he told me.  Don’t get to uppity over his last comment.  We all have done this in some area of our life.

Back to the story. An angel appears to a woman who was unable to have children.  Tells her in verse 3 what SHE must do and that no razor should come on his head.  This man would be a Nazirite to God from birth and he will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistine.

A Nazirite, according to Numbers 6:1-21, was required to take a vow that required a sacred consecration of their life to God.  There was a specific period of time for the vow.  During this time they were not allowed to touch any fruit from the vine (ie., wine, grape juice, grapes, not even the skin from a grape).  They could not come into contact with anything dead or bring a razor to their head.

The father, Manoah, now enters the scene and the wife tells him of this angel that appears.  He is not satisfied so he wants to meet this Angel and ask (vs.8), “what shall WE do for this child.”  Angel returns, but Manoah is not there (there could be a whole book written on that subject).  The barren woman goes and brings her husband, Manoah, back to the Angel and he asks (vs. 12), “What will be the boys rule(s) of life, and his work.”  Not an unusual question unless you missed the PURPOSE for the child.  This idea runs through our social circles as well, “how do we conform or legislate God’s idea into our box?” These Isrealites needed deliverance, yet the focus was not on the GRACE  God had bestowed, but on mans WORK to see it come to pass.  This would be Manoah’s challenge, entering into the meaning of his own name, “place of rest.”

The angel quickly addresses the man (vs. 13), “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.”  The best development for Samson was the father watching out for his wife in order for the deliverer to be revealed. This is what Joseph did for Mary and what a deliverer we received.

Samson is now birthed into the world with a secret, a power the underworld feared, but to those needing deliverance a misfit.  This concept runs through the annuls of history, both in fiction superhero’s to modern day leaders.  I was reminded by my seven year old girl about Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and the Island of misfit toys.  Rudolph’s nose did not fit in and his father tried to cover it up to his own embarrassment.  The father believing he was doing something noble was actually cheating one foggy Christmas from Santa’s visit.   It was on the island of misfit toys Rudolph unashamedly discovers his gift.

Back to real world.  This frustration and ultimately isolation followed Samson all the way to his death. We talk about the unique gifts and purposes that lie on the inside of every individual. Yet, we as parents or leaders try to legislate it in those we birth or discover. We try to shape them into what we can manage, but deliverers cannot be made with cookie cutters . . . they are revealed and released. They are like all the other great men (and women) misfits to the status quo.

To be continued…