Based on the writings of Ellen White, here are some sermon highlights on the life of Samson: ### 1. A Life of Divine Purpose and Promise Samson was not an accident of history; he was a child of promise, chosen by God for a specific and mighty purpose. From his birth, God had a plan for him to begin the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines. * **A Chosen Vessel:** "Amid the widespread apostasy the faithful worshipers of God continued to plead with Him for the deliverance of Israel... God's providence was preparing help for them. Even in the early years of the Philistine oppression a child was born through whom God designed to humble the power of these mighty foes." (PP 560) * **Set Apart from Birth:** The instructions given to his parents about his Nazarite vow and training show that God had surrounded him with every advantage for a life of greatness. "From infancy he was to be trained to habits of strict temperance." (MH 379) ### 2. The Secret of His Strength: A Connection to God Samson's extraordinary physical power was not his own. It was a direct gift from God, conditional upon his faithfulness to his sacred calling as a Nazarite. His long hair was not a magical charm but an outward symbol of his obedience and separation to God. * **Strength Through Consecration:** "This was not, however, as Samson and his parents well knew, dependent upon his well-knit sinews, but upon his condition as a Nazarite, of which his unshorn hair was a symbol." (PP 562.2) * **The Symbol vs. The Reality:** "There was no virtue in his long hair merely, but it was a token of his loyalty to God; and when the symbol was sacrificed in the indulgence of passion, the blessings of which it was a token were also forfeited." (PP 566.2) ### 3. The Downfall: A Series of Wrong Steps Samson’s tragic fall was not a single event but the result of a series of compromises and a willful disregard for God's commands. * **Wrong Associations:** His downfall began when he chose to connect with the enemies of God for his own pleasure. "But association with idolaters corrupted him... He did not ask whether he could better glorify God when united with the object of his choice." (PP 562.2, 563.1) * **Presuming on God's Grace:** He repeatedly placed himself in the path of temptation, trusting in his own strength to deliver him, forgetting the divine source of that strength. "But one wrong step prepares the way for another. Samson had transgressed the command of God by taking a wife from the Philistines, and again he ventured among them—now his deadly enemies—in the indulgence of unlawful passion." (PP 564.3) * **Betrayal of a Sacred Trust:** Overcome by Delilah's persistence, he finally betrayed the secret of his consecration. When his hair was cut, his strength left because "Jehovah was departed from him." (PP 566.1) ### 4. The Consequences: Humiliation and Repentance The result of his sin was immediate and devastating. The champion of Israel became a weak, blind, and degraded prisoner. Yet, in his suffering, he found the path to repentance. * **A Painful Lesson:** "In suffering and humiliation, a sport for the Philistines, Samson learned more of his own weakness than he had ever known before; and his afflictions led him to repentance." (PP 566.3) * **The Change:** "What a change to him who had been the judge and champion of Israel!—now weak, blind, imprisoned, degraded to the most menial service! Little by little he had violated the conditions of his sacred calling." (PP 566.2) ### 5. A Final Act of Faith In his final moments, Samson turned back to God. His last act, though one of destruction, was a fulfillment of his life's mission, accomplished only after he recognized his complete dependence on God. * **Mission Fulfilled in Death:** "God's promise that through Samson He would 'begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines' was fulfilled; but how dark and terrible the record of that life which might have been a praise to God and a glory to the nation!" (PP 567.2) * **A Hero of Faith:** Despite his tragic failures, his final act of turning to God places him in the record of faith. "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson... who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises..." (Ed 158.1) **Conclusion:** The life of Samson is a powerful sermon on the danger of compromising with sin and the tragedy of wasted potential. Yet, it is also a story of God's enduring mercy, showing that even after great failure, repentance can lead to a final, victorious fulfillment of God's purpose.