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Samson's Burial SAMSON’S BURIAL Judges 16:31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. There is one final verse in the account of Samson’s life that we must consider … and it is the occasion of his burial. In our previous study, we saw how the enemy had brought him down into the lowest pits of despair, to the city of Gaza. Shackled and blinded … he must have been a wretched sight! Yes, he had been taken down into a Philistine prison, and yes, he had been made blind … but we noticed too that God had the enemy take the physical sight from Samson for a definite purpose because only when the Philistines took away his eyes could he see clearer spiritually than ever he saw before. Previously his eyes had attracted his heart and his feet to places they should not have been. William Kelly, in his Lectures on the Book of Judges, wrote, “Let us not forget that we have got a nature exempt from nothing we deplore in Samson, and the person that does not believe it may live to prove it ... But what a God we have to do with, as Samson had!” It was a work of God’s grace that Samson found it easier to die for the Lord than to live for Him, for God reserved great things for his death. Indeed, his dying moments, - like the thief on the cross, - brought more honour to God than at any other time during his experience (16:30 So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life). In some ways though, it is sad when the measure of a person’s life is left so late to commend him. Yes, Samson died a death that was glorifying to the Lord, but why did He leave it so long?! He had all the privileges since his birth … but his crowning glory took place in the last few moments of his earthly life. What a waste! At least though, he came good eventually. It is a lesson to us that we can never go so low that God can not lift us up. It is a lesson too that we never stop serving until God takes us home. This final verse of Judges sixteen is a simple appendix to the account of Samson’s story and it is important to remember God will not forget us and leave us for He put it into the heart of Samson’s brethren to bring him home, … Judges 16:31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. 2 In this verse we are re-introduced to his family. This time though, we note his father has died … probably his mother has died as well. These brethren who came for his body were his relatives, for Samson was an only child. … Take a look and see first of all how … HIS FAMILY CARED FOR HIM How easy it would have been to have judged the judge and to have said, “He made his bed with the Philistines. Let him lie in it! He deserved all he got. Leave him where he is!” But, you see, that was not the type of family Samson belonged to. Yes, I know these were times of real spiritual poverty in the land, - 13:1 the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, - but Samson’s mother and father were exceptions to the rule. They loved the Lord and brought their son up in the ways of the Lord. We can’t prove it but we would like to think their example had an influence upon the wider family too. A figure like Samson, - and the job of judge that he held, - would have been a focus for all the tribes of Israel … and especially his own local tribe of Dan where he lived. They are all bound to have followed his ‘career’, - the ‘ups and downs’ he managed to get himself into and out of! Each of us has loved ones we care for and we love so dearly … and it is not just on an ordinary level we care for and love them … we love them for the Lord and for eternity. … We want to see them saved. We know though that we cannot cause a single anxious thought regarding their eternal destiny outside of Christ … and I’m sure Samson’s mother and father were broken on many occasions. But think of your own family … and the amount of times you stubbornly followed after your own pursuits and you rode ripshod over the way you were brought up. You were brought up, - like Samson, - in the things of the Lord but you decided you wanted none of it. Nonetheless, your family never gave up. They prayed for you. They had other believers pray for you too. The Lord heard their prayers and saved you. It is good to have a caring family, and you praise God for your family who loved you and prayed for you and worked towards you being saved. Samson’s family cared for him. They went down among the enemy. They picked Samson out from under the rubble, - they threw all the stones and rocks away to get to him. This strong man needed to be delivered from the place of death. 3 You can look back and remember how those who loved you took you out from under the rubble … and now it is your turn to help someone else. They immediately came down to Gaza to collect him. They didn’t wait, they were ready. They loved him, even despite his waywardness, and even despite where they found him. … Yes, indeed, his family cared for him. HIS FAMILY CARRIED HIM Notice how the Holy Spirit described what happened here. Samson’s loved ones came down, and took him, and brought him up. … After his relatives would have lifted the stones and rocks from off Samson they would have lifted this mighty man up in their funeral stretcher. They had no other business in Gaza, except to bring one of their own home. There was no other reason for them to be there, except to fetch their loved one. I remember hearing of a minister in the town … and when his son turned eighteen this minister brought his son for his first drink. I cannot see any way Samson’s relatives fraternised in the enemy’s country. They would not have stayed a moment longer in Gath than they had to, they came down, and took him, and brought him up, - they were out as quickly as they could! The Philistine city was the place one of their own had been taken prisoner and tragically died … why would God’s people want to spend a single moment more in such a place than they had to! The enemy’s camp is no place for the people of God! I remember my father coming and taking me out of a place I should never have been in … many of us get ourselves entangled … so entangled we become spiritually trapped, and God sends loved ones to carry us out. Once again, remember they were waiting at home in Zorah … maybe they were even praying that someday the Lord would bring Samson home … and the Lord used them to answer their own prayer. We mustn’t pray, “Lord, use someone else. Lord, send someone else”. The prayer must be, “Lord, use me. Lord, send me”. It could be you the Lord uses to lead a loved one to Him. Yes, you might have to carry them, their sin has made them so weak. You might need a fresh and up-to-date strengthening you can be given only from the Lord. You might need to help your loved one along to the Saviour in the same way Paul and Silas helped the man in the Philippian jail to the Saviour when he cried out, Acts 16:30 what must I do to be saved? 4 Like the family of Samson, Paul and Silas were at the jailer’s side without any hesitation, v.31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Solomon wrote, Prov. 11:30 he that winneth souls is wise. These relatives of Samson were constantly ready to ‘go down’ to ‘come up’. His family cared for him and his family carried him, … HIS FAMILY COMMITTED HIM TO THE LORD He died with the enemy, - he slew more of them in his death than he did in his life, - … but he was not buried with them. His family brought him home to be with his own. They brought him back into the land of Canaan, the land God had given them. He was buried in the same graveyard as his father. He was brought home, and he was committed to the Lord. … His mother was so proud when she ran and told her husband she was going to have a baby son, 13:7 Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Little did she know he would bring so much heartache … but they loved him no matter what he did, where he went, and the mistakes he made in life.
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