The Birth of Samson

The story of Samson is one of my favourites. Though his is a tragic but heroic story, Samson is very close to our hearts. He was a man of flesh and blood, with a flawed personality, like most of us. We tend to fantasize heroes to be virtuous. Yet, God Almighty is able to deliver His people with a questionable person. Therefore, let us try to be less arrogant and to tolerate imperfections.
Judges 13-16 tell of his story. When the Israelites were able to enjoy a relatively peaceful time, they again did what was evil in God's eyes and God allowed the Philistines to defeat them for 40 years. Then Samson appeared and become the Judge for Israel for 20 years. Like many legendary heroes, Samson's mother was barren. One day, an angel appeared to her and told her that she would have a child who was to be a Nazirite and he would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. He should refrain from wine and his power grew along with his hair. His story is typical. When he grew up, he broke nearly all the restrictions. He fell in love with a Philistine woman who wished to make a fortune. This woman, Delilah, betrayed him to a number of lords of the Philistines each of whom promised to give Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver (Judges 16:5). Samson cheated Delilah twice and the third time, Samson revealed the secret of his power. Delilah put Samson to sleep, shaved off his hair and called in the Philistines. Samson had lost all his power and was not able to put up any resistance. The Philistines caught him, gouged out his eyes and made him a slave. Gradually, his hair grew again. When the Philistines gathered in the temple of Dagon to offer sacrifice, they brought forth Samson in order to make fun of him. Samson was standing between the pillars that supported the house. He prayed to God for the last time, grasped the two pillars with his arms and tore down the house. He died with many Philistines. The story of Samson is very dramatic and entertaining. Probably the story evolved from local folklore. It gained popularity and was embellished all the way when it found its way into the Scripture.
Today, we read of the birth of Samson. The Bible recorded the name of his father, Manoah, but not his mother who was barren. God removed her shame by giving her a son. An angel, who remained nameless throughout the story, appeared to the woman to inform her of the good news. She did not know that what she met was an angel. She came to inform her husband, Manoah, who prayed to God for further revelation. They still thought that the angel was just a man of God. Manoah wanted to keep this angel for a few more days. The angel suggested Manoah offered a sacrifice to God.
And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground (Judges 13:20).
Only then did they know that they had met an angel.
Today, we also read of the story of Gabriel appearing to Zechariah whose wife had a name, Elizabeth.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years (Luke 1:7).
When Gabriel informed Zechariah of the birth of John, Zechariah did not dare to believe it.
And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." (Luke 1:18)
Zechariah's doubt was highly reasonable. He was actually old. Yet, he had forgotten their ancestor Abraham, who at the age of 100, had a son by Sarah. Sarah was also a barren old woman. Zechariah should know this Abraham story. He might also be familiar with the story of Samson. So, it became unreasonable for Zechariah to doubt the word from Gabriel. What prevented Zechariah from believing, even an angel?
We have read many stories and enjoyed them a lot. Yet, we seldom believe the story would happen to us! This "not-me" psychology is very common. Furthermore, the news was too good to believe in. Combining these, it was reasonable for Zechariah to doubt the word of Archangel Gabriel.

My God, I pray that You open our hearts, our minds and our eyes to experience Your presence. May we happily receive Your blessings of love and sharing. Amen.