Why Samson’s Name Made The List

I’ve never thought of Samson as a hero.

He wasn’t a good guy. His story is tragic. While Samson wasn’t a heartless psychopath, he certainly wasn’t a saint.

Throughout history, Christian writers have called Samson plenty of things (not exactly glowing praises)…

Judge & Fool.

Reckless Practical Joker.

Full of High Spirits & Low Ethics.

Noble Savage.

Bandit.

Judge Who Chased Women Instead of Enemies.

Anti-hero.

Oversexed Muscleman.

Obstreperous Lout.

I had to look those last two words up…

Obstreperous: unruly, aggressive noisiness; stubbornly resistant to control.

Lout: awkward, brutish person

It seems like we all agree: Samson is not role model material.

This fact makes his name in the list of “Heroes of the Faith” catch your attention…

“Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets—by faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God promised them. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith…” (Hebrews 11.32-33, 39)

Quoting Jeff Lucas, from his book: There Are No Strong People…

“Some scoff at the mention of his name. But as we read the list of faith luminaries in Hebrews, we realize that it was the God who works on rubbish dumps, who works in the midst of our mess, this was the God who decided to put His servant Samson’s name in there.

And, by grace, our names are in his book too.

Remember this grace truth: Jesus works on rubbish heaps. On the mixed bags that are us.

He works out His purposes through us with a grace so epic, it’s a mystery.

Strength made perfect in weakness.

There are people with strengths.

But there are no strong people,

Except One.”

NOTE: Image is by designer Jim LePage. You can check out more of his Word Bible Designs here: http://jimlepage.com/word-designs/