Week 11 - Samson in Gath
Matthew Allen, Paul Braden
Judges 16 provides details on Samson's tragic fall. Unlike Chapters 14-15, where Samson is depicted as empowered by the Spirit of God, Chapter 16 shows him acting independently and recklessly. Here we see a contrast between two phases of Samson's life: his time with the Spirit and his time without it. The chapter details four key stages of his decline: being trapped in Gaza, ensnared in Sorek, imprisoned, and finally ridiculed in a temple. It starts with him resting on a prostitute's pillow and ends with him pushing against a deity's pillars.