What comes into your mind when you think of Samson? Violence? Supernatural strength? A problem with women? All of these are part of his gripping story! What do you think he looked like? Some people assume Samson was a very muscular man, one with perfect physique; but as you read the narrative this doesn’t seem to fit. The Philistines couldn’t understand how Samson was so strong — it just didn’t make sense to them. They knew there was a secret and they were determined to discover it which seems to indicate that one would never realize Samson’s strength by looking at his outward appearance. So what was God doing in the life of this man? Samson is the last judge in the book of Judges, and he also has the most space devoted to him (spanning chapters 13-16). A whole chapter is devoted to the story of his birth, which may not grab your attention at first until you realize only a handful of people in Scripture have a long narrative of their birth, and one of them is Jesus Christ! So what’s so special about this man named Samson? We learn that he was to be a Nazirite from birth which was unique; we read that he attacked the Philistines multiple times but usually it was out of revenge, not because he was trying to deliver his people from the Philistine’s rule. So what was God trying to do with Samson, this very strong weak man? While there are many important themes wrapped up in the life of this judge, there is one overarching theme that explains God’s purpose in Samson. This morning we’ll closely follow the text to discern that purpose.