Unlikely Savior :: Religion Religious Essays

Unlikely Savior If people were asked to describe a judge or leader for the Israelites, imaginations might conjure up a pious, older man paying strict adherence to the Mosaic laws and Codes of his people. One would not call to mind a young man with superhuman strength who drinks, fights, gambles and goes whoring whenever the spirit moves him. Samson fits the latter description, a very unlikely vessel for the Holy Spirit. Even more remarkable is the realization that Samson was exactly the way God wanted him to be—a hell-raiser. Why would God pick such a rabble-rousing rogue to be the champion of freedom for His chosen people? Because Samson was a catalyst meant to disrupt the complacency of the Israelites with regards to their subjugation to the Philistines—the proverbial lit match to the powder keg. He was also created to serve as an archetypical folk hero for his generation and those to follow, a larger-than-life symbol to remember and take heart from when thi ngs got tough. â€Å"Created† is the operative word for Samson—he is created for a purpose. He doesn’t become the man he will be due to happenstance; he is given no choice. God had plans for him since before he was born. In a passage similar to others found in both the Old and New Testaments, an angel comes to Samson’s mother (then barren) and announces a miraculous birth. He instructs her to abstain from wine and not to eat things from the vine or unclean things. He adds that â€Å"†¦no razor shall come to his head: for the child will be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.† Samson was predestined to initiate a chain of events, not to see what he started to its conclusion. Note that the angel said, â€Å"†¦shall begin to deliver,† not â€Å"†¦shall deliver...†(Judges 13:3-5). Regardless of the outcome, Sampson reaches adulthood and sets forth to fulfilling his destiny with great aplomb.