Meet Samson

Judges 13-16

Most people think of the famous Bible character as having rippling muscles, rather like this:

But given the Philistines could not work out what gave him his strength, he probably looked more like this:

Delving a bit further into the detail, and you see that Samson is very much a "type" of Christ.

• His birth is miraculous - Judges 13:2
• He is a Nazarite - set apart for holy war - Mark 14:25
• His name means "one who shines like the sun." 
• Moreover, the name of his enemies - the "Philistines"' means strangers/sojourners, but the word "Philistine" comes from another word which means to roll in the dust. The Bible is clearly making a connection here between the Philistines and the seed of the serpent. (Gen.3:14-15)
• He causes trouble for the Philistine elders because they had subdued his people, Compare the confrontation in Judges 14:18 with Luke 11:46.

Consider then his story - how he defeats the Philistines in the strength given to him by the Spirit, how he clearly allows himself to be "deceived" to his death by a treacherous bride, and how his death brings victory and relief to Israel.

Consider also Christ - the sun from above, who comes in the power of the Spirit to apostate Israel - busy making converts twice as much offspring of Hell as she has become (Matt.23:15) - he allows himself to be betrayed by this faithless, apostate bride and handed over to death. But in his death, he vanquishes all his enemies and brings rest to his true bride, the people of the new humanity.