Judges 16:3 The Gaza gate

GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
JUDGES 16:3

3 But Samson lay there only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts, and tore them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the mountain that overlooks Hebron.

This was a big gate, no matter how we imagine it. It probably weighed half a ton (if made of oak; a little less if made out of pine). But our assessment of Samson in this case is not to marvel at what the Lord accomplished through him in this case, but to ask: What was the point? There is no mention of the Spirit of the Lord coming on him in power; no mention of anything this did toward saving Israel. Our seminary notes reduce this incident to two sentences: “Samson prostitutes his body as well as God’s gifts at Gaza. His amazing feat of strength with the city gate accomplishes no purpose.” Even the Philistine “solution-failure” pattern merely shrugs at this incident, since there is no immediate retaliation. Samson flexed his incredible muscles to perform an incredible feat of strength. Gaza is in the far southwest of Philistia on the coast, forty miles west of Hebron. It would have taken him several days to heft that lumber all the way to south-central Judah.

I asked my sons to think about everything that they knew about Samson and imagine that Samson foreshadowed Jesus, even just a little bit. Assuming that to be true, I asked them to think about different ways that this shows up in Samson’s story. We came up with an interesting list:

1. As long as they didn’t fall into sin, they saved Israel. Samson fell into sin, but Jesus did not (“In him is no sin,” 1 John 3:5).

2. Samson was preceded by twelve other judges, one of whom (Abimelech) was a traitor. Jesus was followed by twelve disciples, one of whom was a traitor (John 18:2).

3. Samson was predicted to be a Nazirite (Judges 13:15); Jesus was prophesied to be a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23).

4. Samson was betrayed for silver (Judges 16:5); Jesus was betrayed for silver (Matthew 26:15).

5. Samson associated with prostitutes for his own sinful purposes (Judges 16:1-3); Jesus associated with prostitutes without sinning, for the sake of their souls and ours (Mark 2:15-16; Luke 7:34; 7:37-39)

6. The gates of Gaza did not prevail against Samson (Judges 16:3); but even the gates of hell will not prevail over the whole church of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18).

7. Samson gave up his strength, causing his arrest and death (although it was an error and a sin, Judges 16:16-21); Jesus set aside his strength, permitting his arrest and death, but still committed no error or sin (Matthew 26:53-57).

8. Samson gave his life to save Israel (Judges 16:30); Jesus gave his life to save all mankind (Mark 10:45).

There are probably more comparisons to be made (Samson was taken while sleeping; Jesus was captured after he caught his disciples sleeping, etc.).. Mostly they illustrate Samson’s flawed humanity and Jesus’ flawless divinity. But something needs to be said about Samson’s sin with the prostitute.

Just because God’s chosen Nazirite slept with this woman, that doesn’t mean that prostitution or any sex outside marriage is condoned or permitted by God. Sins against the sixth commandment are every bit as forbidden as sins against the first. Luther’s comments about this shows that in his time, five hundred years ago, a lot of people had the idea that they could run around sexually when they were young and then “settle down” later on. This sounds like a very up-do-date issue.

“Many think they can evade marriage by having their fling for a time, and then becoming righteous. My dear fellow, if one in a thousand succeeds in this, that would be doing very well. He who intends to lead a chaste life had better begin early, and attain it not with, but without, fornication, either by the grace of God or through marriage. We see only too well how they make out every day. It might well be called plunging into immorality rather than growing to maturity. It is the devil who has brought this about, and coined such damnable sayings as, “One has to play the fool at least once;” or, “He who does it not in his youth does it in his old age;” or, “A young saint, an old devil.” Such are the sentiments of the poet Terence and other pagans. This is heathenish; they speak like heathens, yea, like devils.” (LW 45 p. 44-45)

Perhaps Samson’s gate removal antagonized the Philistines. It certainly hurt the Gaza city budget. God is glorified here that he worked his will despite Samson’s sins, which—God be praised all the more—he also does despite ours.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

Note: I asked master carpenter John Apitz to estimate the weight of this door assuming about a two hundred-pound bronze bar. His professional estimate is where the “half a ton” comment comes from.

Either way, this was a big gate.

Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota