Samson and Delilah

The story of Samson begins because the Israelites were once again getting into trouble with God. The Israelites just couldn't seem to stay out of trouble for very long. Even after God saved them from the Egyptians, helped them through the Red Sea, and miraculously sent manna from the sky to feed them, they still complained. Even when Moses went to get the Ten Commandments these people started worshipping another god.

So when they started misbehaving again God decided something had to be done. So to punish the Israelites he put the Philistines in charge of them for forty years.

This is where Samson came in. He would help free the Israelites from the Philistines. Except Samson's mom actually couldn't have any children, but an angel of the Lord came to her and said,

"You can't have any children now, but God is going to give you a son. Make sure you don't drink any wine or eat any animal considered to be unclean. You will have a special son. He should never cut his hair, eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or touch a dead body, and most importantly his purpose will be to save the Israelites from the Philistines."

This special boy was Samson. As he grew up he realized that he had a special gift, he was incredibly strong. As Samson got older he was able to kill a lion with his bare hands and defend himself against 1000 Philistines.

I guess you could say Samson didn't like the Philistines and the Philistines didn't like Samson. The Philistines were constantly trying to figure what the secret was behind Samson's strength. If they could figure that out then they would get rid of him. After all Samson had killed many Philistines.

As Samson became a young man he started to like girls. There was one girl he especially liked, her name was Delilah. The rulers of Philistine noticed that Samson was coming to see Delilah a lot more lately. So they decided to go to Delilah and make a deal with her.

Delilah was just on her way home from a walk, thinking about the next time she would see Samson, when some of the rulers of Philistine approached her. On of the men asked her,

"Uh, Delilah we were wondering if you could find out what makes Samson so strong. We are so curious, if you find out we would like to give you 5,500 pieces of silver." This was about $5000 dollars, which was tons of money in those days. Imagine getting $100 dollars from your parents to go buy candy. The amount of money Delilah got seemed as big as that!

Delilah was just about to say no, when all of a sudden she starting thinking about all the fabulous things she could buy with all that money. She really hadn't taken that much time to think about it when she said, "I'll do it!"

So Delilah went home and started to think about how she could get the secret out of Samson. She thought maybe she could make his favorite dinner for him and just ask him. After all he did love her, maybe this would be easier than she thought.

So Delilah got busy making a nice meal and waited for Samson to arrive. As they sat down to eat, Delilah asked how Samson's day was and after a few minutes she just decided to ask,

"Samson, could you please tell me the secret of your great strength? I guess I'm just curious and want to know how your enemies can tie you up and how you can get out so easily."

Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me up with seven brand new bowstrings (from a bow and arrow) that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."

So later that night after supper Delilah made an excuse to go for a walk and met up with the rulers of Philistine and told them what Samson had said. They immediately went out and found seven bowstrings to give to Delilah and told her,

"We want you to tie Samson up when he is asleep. Let us into your house when the coast is clear and when you wake him up we want to be there to capture him."

So Delilah did what the men asked her to do. It was a little tricky because it took Samson a while to fall asleep, but once he was snoring she started to tie him up. When she was done the men came in and hid all around, and when they were ready Delilah shouted,

"Samson, the Philistines are here!" But without any difficulty at all Samson snapped the strings like there was never anything around his hands.

Well, Delilah felt quite silly and was a little hurt that Samson wouldn't tell her the secret of his strength. (It's funny she was hurt since Delilah was trying to trap Samson). She started to think that the Philistines wouldn't think that she could find out the secret and then she wouldn't get any money.

So Delilah put on her sad face and looked up at Samson and said, "You made a fool out of me Samson, you lied to me. Seriously now, tell me how you can be tied."

Samson said to her, "If anyone ties me with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man." So Delilah did what she had done before and tied him up with the new and improved ropes.

She shouted again, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" But without any difficulty at all Samson once again snapped out of the ropes like there was never anything around his hands.

Delilah was getting angry but she didn't want Samson to notice. She had to make Samson think she was sad that he lied to her. Delilah put on her saddest face (and even tried to cry a little) and said to him, "Oh, Samson how could you lie to me again (sniff, sniff)? Please tell me now how you can be tied."

Even though Delilah seemed sad Samson told her another lie and Delilah was once again made a fool of. Delilah finally said to Samson, "How can you tell me you love me, when you don't trust me with your thoughts and secrets?"

But Samson just decided to ignore her the best he could. The only problem was that Delilah wouldn't stop asking. She asked in the morning during breakfast, when they were out for a walk, at lunch, at supper, before bed, she asked all day long and Samson just couldn't take it anymore.

Finally Samson said, "Enough already! I will tell you everything, just leave me alone! My hair has never been cut. I had to take certain vows when I was born and have been given this gift by God. If my head was shaved I would become as weak as any other man."

Delilah could tell this was the truth, so she asked the Philistines to give her one more chance. They came as they had all the other times, but this time they brought Delilah's money along with them.

Samson fell asleep on Delilah's lap so she got someone else to shave off his hair. As they were shaving it off Samson's body began to get weaker. When it was completed Delilah called out, "Samson, the Philistines are coming!"

As he woke he wasn't aware that his gift from God had left him and the Philistines grabbed him. This time Samson could do nothing to fight them off.

The Philistines had captured Samson but his hair began to grow again. God still had plans for him. In the end Samson regained his strength before they could kill him. They tied him up to two large pillars that held a large temple up and he was able to break free, but when he did the temple fell on him and a large number of Philistines.

This was how God freed the Israelites from the Philistines.

Samson ended up breaking all of his vows. He didn't seem to take God's rules for him seriously. God still used Samson to defeat the Philistines but he could've done so much more if he had obeyed.

God made each of us for a reason too. He made each of you exactly how he wanted, and remember God doesn't make mistakes. You have the family you do because that's who God wanted you to be with. You live where you do because that's where God put you. Your life might not be perfect but he wants you to learn and grow with what you have.

Jacob and Esau

As Isaac was getting older, he wanted to divide his possessions between his two sons. He would give his elder son, Easu, a special blessing, and would pass on to him the promise which God hade made to Abraham. Easu was a clever archer and did not care much for his father�s blessing or for God�s word. He cared more about being a good hunter. Jacob however loved his father and cared for God�s word. He always wished he was the elder son so that he can receive this blessing. As the years went by and the two brother were grown men, Isaac was old and nearly blind. He could not distinguish his son�s faces, but he knew them apart by their voices. He also used to touch them and he knew the strong hairy arms of his favorite son Easu.

One day, Isaac called his son Easu and told him �My son, take your bow and arrow and go hunting. I want you to cook for me a meal that I will love, then I will give you my blessing before I die.� Isaac�s wife, Rebekah, heard the conversation between Isaac and Easu. She called her favorite son, Jacob, and told him what his father said to Easu. �My son, Obey my voice, go hunt as well and bring the hunting to me so that I can prepare a meal for your father. Then you shall take it to him and you will get the blessing.� Jacob was afraid that his father would recognize him from the smoothness of his arms. When the meal was ready, Rebekah called Jacob and made him wear a coat that belongs to Easu. She also tied pieces of hairy goat skin on his arms and hands and sent him to his father.

�Come near me my son� said Isaac to Jacob. �These are Easu�s hairy hands, and the coat is Easu�s and it smells of the fields� thought the old man. Isaac dined from the meat and wine that Jacob brought for him, and he gave him the wished-for blessing. After Jacob left, Easu returned from the fields and went to see his father. �Who are you?� Isaac said As he heard Easu�s footsteps. �I am your first born son, and I have brought you the meal that you may eat it and give me your blessing� Easu replied. Isaac trembled as as he heard this. �Who is it that came before you, brought the meal and took the blessing?� Isaac said. Eausu wept for the blessing which he began to value when he knew it could not be his. He left his father in anger and set out to kill his brother Jacob. When his mother saw him, she knew what he was up to and feared for the life of her favorite son Jacob. Rebekah told Jacob �My son, you must leave this place until your brother�s anger has passed�. Jacob, received the last blessing from his father and left home without seeing his brother again.

The Biginning

did he have to sit down and plan it all out first? (And if he did, where did he sit down? He hadn’t thought up chairs yet!)

Or did He just think it all up at once?

Did God get out a piece of paper and start drawing out ideas - and then scribbling them out when he didn’t like them? Did he try different ideas for things? Like, did God think people might be good with six legs instead of two?

Or, because He is perfect, were all God’s ideas right from the very start?

And how long would it take to think up EVERYTHING in the universe?! Did it take a day? Or a week? Or maybe it took forever. But since forever has no beginning and no end, when he finally said, “That looks good!!” and then created everything, there still was forever left.

Or maybe He thought it all up in an instant!

Something to think about!


One thing is for sure, if it weren’t for God, we wouldn’t be here!

Moses

Moses Dividing The Red Sea

The children of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. After Joseph died, there arose a ruler who did not remember how kind Joseph had been, and the people of Israel became slaves to the Egyptians.

Ten plagues had been sent on the Egyptians so that Pharoah would let the Israelites be free.

In the last plague that came upon them, the firstborn of every Egyptian family died. Pharoah finally agreed to let them go, but when he realized that he was losing all his slaves, he decided to go and bring them back. He took his soldiers and 600 of the best chariots along with all the chariots in Egypt.

The Israelites were afraid when they saw the chariots coming. The Red Sea was in front of them, and the Egyptians were following behind them. There seemed to be no escape.

Moses told them, " The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still."

God told Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea to divide it, and the children of Israel could cross.

The angel of the Lord moved from in front of the Israelites to a place behind them. The cloud also moved. It was light on Israel's side, and dark on the Egyptian's side.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. All that night the Lord caused an east wind to blow. The Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians ran after them and followed them into the sea. They saw the Israelites crossing on dry land, and they thought they could, too.

The people of Israel all got across to the other side. Then the Egyptian army became confused and the wheels started coming off the chariots. They could not overtake the Israelites.

The water came crashing down on the soldiers, and they were all lost in the sea.

Moses sang a song of praise to God for the great blessing that had come to his people that day.

Think about this:

Where did the help come from when there seemed to be no way of escape?

Their help came from God, and He was the one who made a way for them to escape the danger.

Today God helps us to live our lives for Him. He will show us a way out of our troubles if we ask Him for help.

This story can be found in the Bible in Exodus 14.

Abraham and Isaac - Sacrifice

When Isaac became a young boy, God spoke to Abraham and commanded him to take his son to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to God. This was God’s test of Abraham’s faith. Abraham loved his son very much, but did not hesitate to follow God’s words for he was a man whose faith in God was strong. As Abraham and his son reached the place where the sacrifice was to be performed, Isaac said to his father, “Father, where is the lamb that is to be sacrificed?” Abraham replied, “My son, God will provide the lamb”.

It is not known how eventually Abraham told his son that he was to be the sacrifice, but Isaac courageously laid on the sacrificial place ready to be sacrificed for god. As Abraham was taking out his knife, his hands were trembling. He was about to sacrifice his son when heard the voice of God saying, “Abraham, Stop! Do not hurt your son. You have proven your faith and shown how much you love Me by willing to sacrifice your son for Me. Therefore, I shall bless you and your family, and through you, I shall bless all the nations on earth”. God also provided a lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham went home along with his son, and their hearts full of love and faith.

David - The Shepherd

David and Goliath.

David was a shepherd boy who spent most of his time in the fields with the lambs and the sheep. He always wondered about the God who created this lovely world. Prophet Samuel had sent for him and anointed his head with oil. This was the sign that God had chosen David to be the future king of Israel. David had returned to the hills near Bethlehem to take care of his father’s sheep.

At that time, the Israelites were still at war with their old enemies, the Philistines. One day when David was in the hills, one of the king’s servants came to fetch him. The servant asked David to bring his harp and go to the king. King Saul who was ill and unhappy wanted to hear David play the harp. David played the harp for the sad king who was comforted by the music. The king regained his strength and went to his army. The armies of the Israelites and the Philistines were on opposite sides of the hill, and both armies were ready for battle. Each day the Philistines sent their champion, Goliath, who was fully armed and gigantic in size, to shout across the valley “Choose a man, and if he were able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I kill him, then you shall serve us.”

The Israelites trembled as they heard the voice of Goliath. Nobody was brave or strong enough to fight with this giant Philistine. One day, David came to the Israelites’ camp to see his brothers. He heard the words of Goliath. He was amazed that the Israelites were all afraid. “I will go and fight with this Philistine” David said. When the king knew about David’s intention, he said “You are not able to fight for you are a youth, and the Philistine is a man of war”. David replied “The lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear when I kept my father’s sheep, will deliver me.” The king said “Go, then, and the Lord shall be with you.” Unarmed, except for his staff, his shepherd’s sling and a few stones, David went to confront the giant.

Goliath was angry when he saw that the Israelites sent a shepherd boy to meet him. “Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks and stones?” Goliath shouted. “Today the Lord will deliver you into my hands and all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” David replied. David ran fearlessly towards the Philistine giant, he slipped one of the stones into his sling, and skillfully flung it so that it hit Goliath in the forehead, who fell to the ground. When the Philistine army saw that their champion is dead, they fled the battle. The Israelites won the battle and David whom God had chosen to be the future king of Israel was the hero of the people of Israel.

Moses

Israelites Crossing The Red Sea

The children of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. After Joseph died, there arose a ruler who did not remember how kind Joseph had been, and the people of Israel became slaves to the Egyptians.

Ten plagues had been sent on the Egyptians so that Pharaoh would let the Israelites be free.

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

1. Rivers and other water sources turned to blood killing all fish and other water life. (Dam)
2. Amphibians (commonly believed to be frogs) (Tsfardeia)
3. Lice or gnats (Kinim)
4. Flies or beasts (Arov)
5. Disease on livestock (Dever)
6. Unhealable boils (Shkhin)
7. Hail mixed with fire (Barad)
8. Locusts (Arbeh)
9. Darkness (Choshech)
10. Death of the first-born of all Egyptian families. (Makat Bechorot)

In the last plague that came upon them, the firstborn of every Egyptian family died. Pharaoh finally agreed to let them go, but when he realized that he was losing all his slaves, he decided to go and bring them back. He took his soldiers and 600 of the best chariots along with all the chariots in Egypt.

The Israelites were afraid when they saw the chariots coming. The Red Sea was in front of them, and the Egyptians were following behind them. There seemed to be no escape.

Moses told them, " The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still."

God told Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea to divide it, and the children of Israel could cross.

The angel of the Lord moved from in front of the Israelites to a place behind them. The cloud also moved. It was light on Israel's side, and dark on the Egyptian's side and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. All that night the Lord caused an east wind to blow. The Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians ran after them and followed them into the sea. They saw the Israelites crossing on dry land, and they thought they could, too.

The people of Israel all got across to the other side. Then the Egyptian army became confused and the wheels started coming off the chariots. They could not overtake the Israelites.

The water came crashing down on the soldiers, and they were all lost in the sea.

Moses sang a song of praise to God for the great blessing that had come to his people that day.

Story of Noah

Noah's Ark

Noah was a good man. He walked with God and was pleasing to Him. He did not live as the people around him lived. They were wicked and violent.

God warned Noah that the earth was going to be destroyed with a flood, but He told him how he could save his family and himself. He could also save some of the animals.

God told Noah exactly how to build the ark. It was to be 300 cubits long. That's about as long as one and one-half football fields. It was REALLY BIG!. It was to have three stories, a window and one door.

Two of every kind of animal, both male and female, came to Noah to be kept alive. Seven of each of the "clean" animals went into the ark. Noah had stored food for the animals and for his family.

There were eight people in the ark. Noah had a wife and they had three sons named Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Each of their sons also had a wife.

After they were all in the ark, God shut the door and it began to rain. It rained and rained. For 40 days it rained! The water rose until it covered the highest mountains.

When seven months had passed, the waters began to go down. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Forty days after that, Noah sent out a raven. It had strong wings and could fly for a long time. It flew back and forth over the earth.

Then he sent out a dove, but she became tired and came back. A week later, he sent her out again, and this time she came back with a fresh olive leaf. The trees were growing again! In seven more days, he sent her out again, and she never came back.

Noah and his family were in the ark for one year. Noah waited for God to tell him when he could come out. Finally, God told him it was time. They were so glad to be on dry land again!

Noah built an altar and offered thanks to God for keeping them safe.

God put a rainbow in the sky and made a promise: "Never again will there be a flood that will destroy everything."

Life of Joseph

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Joseph. If you read and really understand this story, you will see that nothing is coincidental and that all things work according to God’s plan. It might not be according to YOUR plan, but it all works out for the best.

Just check out the story of Joseph.

Joseph had a bunch of brothers. I think it was about 12 of them mugs altogether, but Joseph’s father loved him the best. The reason he loved him more is because Joseph’s father had a bunch of baby Momma’s and he loved Joseph’s mother more than the other momma’s and therefore was the proudest of Joseph.

The other brothers didn’t like Joseph because of their father’s blatant favoritism. (Side note: you should never treat any of your children better than the others. If you don’t believe me, check out this story for proof.)

Well, one day, Joseph’s father bought him a really nice coat with a lot of colors in it. It was an expensive coat and his brothers were jealous because of it. To give you an example using today’s standards—did you ever watch the movie, Starsky and Hutch where Snoop Dog plays Huggy Bear? I think it’s on either Showtime or HBO right now. Towards the end of the show, Snoop comes out in this big old fur coat with a lot of colors in it. I don’t know why, but when I saw that movie, I thought of Joseph and wondered if his coat looked anything like the one Snoop Dog was wearing in that movie.

Anyway, I digress.

Well, Joseph loved the coat and wore it all the time. Then, one day Joseph had a dream and made the apparent mistake of sharing his dream with his brothers. He dreamed that one day they would bow down to him.

Well, if this wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back. His brother’s started plotting and came up with a plan to get rid of him so that their father can stop showing him all the love and start showing them some. Their plan was to kill him. One of the brother’s talked them out of killing him and made them agree to simply put him in a ditch and leave him there. They were going to bring his coat back home and tell his father that some wild animal must have killed Joseph.

So they did. They threw him in the ditch and took his coat. But then, they had another fantastic idea. There were these guys who were buying people to bring them to Egypt to be slaves. So, the brother’s said, hey, why not make a few bucks off of him and sell him to these guys as a slave. This way our brother’s blood won’t be on our hands, but he will be out of our lives.

That’s exactly what they did.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were Joseph, I might not be able to see any Godly plan in all of this. How could this be a POSITIVE thing—my brothers selling me into slavery and taking my Huggy Bear coat?

I know I would have gotten angry with my brothers and been ready to fight. I probably would have gotten a little angry with God, too, for allowing this to happen to me.

There will be times when you are working towards a goal or towards something that is important to you, and then something comes out of nowhere and sets you back. At the time, it might seem like a horrible thing. But chances are, it is not. God has a plan. You might not understand His plan it right now, but trust me, He does.

Well, back to Joseph.

He gets sold into slavery.

Listen to this. God never left his side. Joseph knew this and simply allowed God to lead his life.

Because God loved him and showed favor to him, Joseph wasn’t the kind of slave that we visualize when we think of slavery. He wasn’t picking cotton and singing, “Swing Lo’”. No, none of that. But he was a slave who had a wise master. His master saw that God was with Joseph and that everything that Joseph did, even though he was a slave, prospered. So, his master found favor in him and made him a “house slave.” Joseph’s job was to take care of the master’s needs.

Joseph was cool with where he was and simply went with the flow. He remained positive and held fast to his belief in God.

His master had a wife who was big on Joseph. I liken her to a “gold digger.” She saw that everything Joseph did was prosperous and so she wanted to get her hands around him and get in like Flynn. But Joseph was a godly man and was not going to sleep with his master’s wife. Then, like any other Gold Digger, she got highly offended because Joseph wasn’t falling for her little games. She figured he’d get him back by lying to her husband and telling her husband that Joseph was trying to get with her. This, of course, angered her husband, Joseph’s master, who couldn’t believe that Joseph would do such a thing, especially after how wonderful he had treated Joseph. But, of course, he took his wife’s word over Joseph’s and had Joseph put in jail.

Now, I don’t know about the laws back then, but that seemed like a harsh punishment for coming on to someone’s wife (even though he never did come on to her). But, nevertheless, that is where he ended up.

So now, look at Joseph’s life—his brothers get angry with him because their father loves him more (nothing Joseph has control over). Then, he gets sold into slavery--gets a good master, but a bad master’s wife, who gets him thrown in jail for nothing.

Seems rather hard, doesn’t it?

But God isn’t finished with him yet. Everything happens for a reason.

Joseph goes to jail and is simply forgotten—or so it seems. Time keeps ticking away and he has more than served his time. Why is he forgotten? Well, because right now the timing isn’t right. Everything works in God’s time—not ours.

Even though he is in jail, God is still with him and the wardens find favor in him (isn’t it “coincidental” that everyone finds favor in Joseph? No, because nothing is coincidental. Everything happens for a reason. God has him in jail—waiting for the right time so He is going to make his stay as pleasant as possible.)

While he was in jail, he interprets two inmates’ dreams, both of which come true exactly the way he said they would. One gets out and one gets the electric chair (or the equivalent to the electric chair nowadays.)

The one that gets out is supposed to remind the people that Joseph is there so he, too, can get out. But, he forgets about Joseph. Sounds like a bad thing, doesn’t it? Well, it is not because the timing still isn’t right for the plan that God has for Joseph.

Then one day the King has a dream that bothers him. He doesn’t understand what it means, but feels that it has a meaning to it. There is no one who could interpret his dream. This is when the guy (who happens to be the baker for the King—coincidence? Not at all) remembers Joseph and how accurate he was in his dream interpretation.

So, they call Joseph out of jail. He interprets the dream and the King puts him in charge of saving Egypt by preparing for the drought that is going to hit the land over the next seven years. He is no longer a slave but the most important person in Egypt.

WOW. Now this entire story is fantastic when you think of it. His brothers HAD to do what they did. Even though it was evil and the whole nine yards, but without this part of his life, Joseph would not have been able to save Egypt. See how everything works for the best.

If Joseph wasn’t sold into slavery and given the master that he was given, you know, the one with the whore, gold digging, wife, Joseph probably would never have ended up in jail where he happen to be at the exact same time as the two men who had dreams. If he wasn’t there to interpret their dreams, who knows what could have happened? Even more “coincidental” one of the inmates was let go. If both of them died, no one would have known that Joseph could interpret dreams. And the ex-con who lived, just coincidentally worked as a baker for the King, who coincidentally (two years later mind you) had a dream that needed to be interpreted.

Now, if after reading this you still believe in coincidences, I don’t know what to tell you. Your life is not a series of coincidences, but a series of related events that is planned out by God.

When hardships come into your life, it is just preparing you for the greatness that is on the way. Now, your timing may not be aligned with God’s timing so just be patient. Everything happens for a reason, and your day to shine is on its way.

Oh, and by the way, Joseph’s brothers did end up bowing down to him—just as they did in the dream that started it all.