Samson ripped open a lion with his bare hands! Can you do that?

Samson slew 1,000 Philistine warriors with the jawbone of a donkey! Can you do that?

Samson hauled a heavy gate and two gateposts on his back up a hill! Can you do that?

If you’re like me, you had to answer, “No, I can’t do that.” Maybe we can’t do the feats of physical strength that Samson did. Yet we can be stronger than Samson. How? We’ll find the answer to this riddle when we look at Samson’s strengths and weaknesses.

What were Samson’s strengths?

Samson was strong and agile. He caught 300 foxes and tied burning torches to their tails (Judges 15:4). I can’t even outfox my dog, Twinkle Toes!

When tied up by enemies, he outdid Houdini by just ripping the ropes off instead of wriggling out of them (Judges 16:9).

When he owed clothes to 30 party companions after his wife leaked them the answer to his riddle, Samson “went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle” (Judges 14:19).

Samson
Was it Samson’s hair that made him strong? After all, it was after Delilah had a man cut off the seven locks of his head (Judges 16:19) that the Philistines were able to take him prisoner. Then it was after his hair grew back that Samson was able to pull down the pagan temple so that about 3,000 Philistines perished (Judges 16:30). No, Samson didn’t have superpower hair, so we don’t need to go looking for his hairdresser and special brand of shampoo! Cutting his hair broke his covenant with God, a Nazirite vow (Judges 13:5). It was God, not his hair, that made him strong.

Samson’s biggest strength was that he called upon God when he got into trouble. When he was thirsty—and it must have been a powerful thirst!—he “cried out to the LORD and said, ‘You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?’” (Judges 15:18).

Samson knew he was God’s servant. Samson’s activities were “of the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel” (Judges 14:4).

When Samson wanted to pull the temple down, he was willing to sacrifice his own life. Again he called out for God to help, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes” (Judges 16:28).

With these strengths—physically strong, agile, courageous and looking to God for help—Samson was a great “hero of faith” listed in Hebrews 11 (the faith chapter). Samson was truly one of those who “out of weakness were made strong” (verse 34).

What were Samson’s weaknesses?

Samson hauled a heavy gate and two gateposts on his back up a hill! Can you do that?

Samson disobeyed his parents and ran after Philistine women (Judges 14:3). He met a girl in the Valley of Sorek named Delilah (Judges 16:4). Philistine men came up to Delilah one night and asked her to find out what made Samson so strong and they would each give her 1,100 pieces of silver. Delilah betrayed Samson. He should have been more careful in choosing his barber!

Samson always wanted revenge on people. For example, after the Philistines burned his wife and her father, Samson said, “Since you would do a thing like this, I will surely take revenge on you, and after that I will cease” (Judges 15:6-7). But he didn’t cease until after he took vengeance at the temple (Judges 16:28). This time, he first asked God before he took revenge.

The answer to our riddle!

So how can we be stronger than Samson? Samson was physically strong, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Samson was strong because the Lord was with him so that he could defeat the Philistines. He was not strong enough by himself. He did those great feats of strength through God’s help.

When it came to his weaknesses, Samson wasn’t strong enough to control himself, and he didn’t ask God for help.

When he tore the lion apart, killed the 30 men of Ashkelon for their clothes and shed ropes like they were flax, the Bible says Samson was able to do it because “the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him” (Judges 14:6, 19, 15:14). But when it came to his weaknesses, Samson wasn’t strong enough to control himself, and he didn’t ask God for help.

We can be stronger than Samson by:

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Obeying our parents. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
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Looking to God, not revenge. “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
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Watching whom we spend time with and whom we date.
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Keeping our commitment to God and not letting anybody tempt us.

Jessica Curry, age 11, is from Colorado.