The True Story of Samson
by Vincent Cheung
Samson is often remembered as a shallow and careless figure, but Scripture assigns him a place of honor. He was chosen before birth, empowered by the Spirit, and raised up to confront the Philistines when Israel preferred safety under oppression. His strength humiliated the arrogance of the enemy, his faith moved him to act when others refused, and his victories revealed the purpose of God at work through a man whom many commentators now dismiss. He walked alone because his own people recoiled from the conflict he embraced, yet his faith endured and his final act secured a greater victory than anything that came before. His life casts a prophetic shadow toward Jesus Christ, not as an equal, but as a flawed type whose calling and faith direct our attention to the Deliverer who alone could accomplish the salvation no man could complete. Samson was not Christ, and could never be, but when you trace his shadow, you can see the outline of the One to come.