He Carried Off WHAT!?!?

Many families, schools, churches, organizations have at least one child or adult that is their ongoing worry. They won’t follow all the rules, nor will they go away to a far nation. Samson was such a person and he enjoyed having fun at other’s expense. For example: 

Jdg 16:2  And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.

Jdg 16:3  And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

Imagine the high school coach trying to sign up Samson for the football; Sam, when the guy hands you the ball, either run or walk to the other end and put it down. Samson heads to the goal line, with 10 guys hanging all over him, waving to his Mom, Dad and girlfriend, “Hi, Mom, this is so fun and look at all my friends”.

Samson is a delinquent but he doesn’t paper wrap anyone’s house or toss all the motel chairs into the pool at midnight; HE rips the gate (frame and supports) off the walls, goes through the Starbucks Drive Thru for a Grande Carmel Macchiato (extra hot and two shots) and carries them up a mountain. He had a cup holder.

I asked a group of engineers about the mechanics of this venture. How many pounds or tons per square inch would Samson have exerted on this material to accomplish this task.

You knowwww, these were not the types of questions to ask in the 1970s. There were not a lot of free thinkers, then and it was hard to find anyone that believed this account really happened.

Think, with me, Samson does a static pull/lift and tears the hinges out of the wall. Today, a contractor would bring in a heavy lift crane, dynamite to free the wall mounts and remove the gate. The pressure would have been in the thousands of pounds per square inch on his entire body, hands and feet.

All you weight lifters, don’t you just hate that?

The local tough guys (1,000) arranged with the Hebrews to tie him and bring him to them for a severe beating. Samson gets loose, finds a jawbone of an Ass, same size as a horse, and kills the thousand member gang. I favored the content of the linked site below and his time calculations for the fight.

http://purposelydifferent.com/101/samson-was-different/

God energized Samson through his uncut hair. He was able to accomplish feats revealed in fiction novels and movies. Either the Philistines were slightly retarded or had super egos; the last group to get close to this killing machine should have done their math.

Samson is thirsty after the battle (ya think?) and calls on God.

Jdg 15:18  And he was sore athirst, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised.

Jdg 15:19  But God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore the name thereof was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, unto this day.

My question concerning many of these types of accounts, is why didn’t anyone in Church classes, Junior or High School Math, or College Engineering discuss these?

Here is another one:

Jdg 16:26  and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them.

Jdg 16:27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

Jdg 16:28  And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

Jdg 16:29  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.

My question to engineers and technicians was how much pressure would it have taken to push the columns apart for the collapse? Naturally thinking, Samson should have crushed himself in the process. Why didn’t he die then but died when the building fell on him?

Jdg 16:30  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life.

 God sent word to Manoah’s wife how to prepare for her child and how to prepare the child for his career. They did not suspect his abilities or his attitude.

Jdg 13:5  for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Jdg 13:24  And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him.

Jdg 13:25  And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.  

I have observed people with:

·        Uncut hair

·        The Colored Robe

·        A Burning Bush experience

·        A Gideon account

These are metaphors for those with special talents or callings or gifts that are recognized as God given. Many of us know people that were different from their birth and they excelled in one endeavor or many fields of enterprise.

I have watched men and women grow from childhood to adults unintentionally terrorizing their parents, teachers and certain adults on their journey. It seems unfair a person is born with a brilliant mind and abilities suited for a mature adult, yet they are trapped in an infant body, with parents unprepared to deal with them.

Imagine, with me, Samson’s mother and father:

·        Your son took the city’s gate to the mountain!!

·        Your son caught and used 300 foxes to burn half the county!

·        We saw your son with that trashy woman again.

I tend to think many were giving them ideas where to send him. I remember a young man that enjoyed the times he could scare me. Gary, how do these relate to measuring Samson’s strength and ability? Some abilities and talents cannot be measured or their source proven or the future of the person known. 

We that believe God is all that is written of him in holy books and spoken of him by holy people do so by faith and in faith. We look to him for assistance for ourselves and our children.

Samson is one person of hundreds of thousands through centuries that left impressions on their families and neighbors. Opportunities that were designed just for you are still waiting for you and God.

·        Better home

·        Serene home life

·        Loving spouse

·        Cruises

·        Make your own list, then prepare to live it.