Unlikely Savior :: Religion Religious Essays

Unlikely messiah If great deal were asked to describe a judge or leader for the Israelites, imaginations big businessman conjure up a pious, older man paying unrelenting adherence to the Mosaic laws and Codes of his people. One would not call to mind a young man with superhuman strength who drinks, fights, gambles and goes whoring whenever the spirit moves him. Samson fits the last mentioned description, a very unlikely vessel for the Holy Spirit. Even more(prenominal) remarkable is the realization that Samson was exactly the way divinity fudge valued him to bea hell-raiser. Why would God pick such a rabble-rousing rogue to be the champion of freedom for His chosen people? Because Samson was a catalyst meant to disrupt the complacency of the Israelites with regards to their subjugation to the Philistinesthe proverbial lit match to the powder keg. He was also created to serve as an archetypical folk hero for his generation and those to follow, a larger -than-life symbolisation to remember and take heart from when things got tough. Created is the operative word for Samsonhe is created for a purpose. He doesnt be strike the man he will be due to happenstance he is given no choice. God had plans for him since before he was born. In a passage similar to others launch in both the Old and New Testaments, an angel comes to Samsons mother (then barren) and announces a miraculous birth. He instructs her to abstain from wine and not to eat things from the vine or unclean things. He adds that no razor shall come to his head for the child will be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Samson was predestined to initiate a chain of events, not to see what he started to its conclusion. tone of voice that the angel said, shall begin to deliver, not shall deliver...(Judges 133-5). Regardless of the outcome, Sampson reaches adulthood and sets onward to fulfilling his destiny with great aplomb.