Judges 13-16

Say hello to Samson the Nazirite. The specs and qualifications for a Nazirite is as follows:

"If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the LORD as a Nazirite, he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.
During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the LORD is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. Throughout the period of his separation to the LORD he must not go near a dead body. Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he must not make himself ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of his separation to God is on his head. Throughout the period of his separation he is consecrated to the LORD."

This guy's "period" was his WHOLE LIFE!!!! What else do we know about Samson? Yep! He was the strongest man that ever lived. You can get a full taste of that by watching the Olympic weight lifters and these "Strongest Man on Earth" shows. Whoa. But here are the two words that Samson is all about: "Girls" and "Revenge". Why, you ask? It goes like this...

Samson apparently doesn't think too much of his consecration to God, because he killed a lion with his bare hands (self defense) and then LATER went back to the body and saw that the bees had made a hive in it, so he took some honey (touching the dead body). And he didn't tell anyone. But God can even use a wild man like this. He enticed Samson to marry a Philistine woman, and at the feast he told a riddle that went like this, "Out of the eater, something to eat. Out of the strong, something sweet." If the guys could guess it, he would give them 30 sets of clothes. If they couldn't it was the other way around. The guys asked Samson's wife the answer, and she told them in order to save her skin. The guys guessed it, and Samson got those sets of clothes - by killing 30 Philistines. Later he went to visit his wife, but she had remarried. He got mad again and caught three hundred foxes, tied their tails together with a torch between, lit the torch, and turned them all loose in the Philistine's wheat fields. The Philistines killed his ex-wife and her father for causing that trouble, so Samson got mad again. He just attacked them with a donkey's jawbone. Whoooo.

There's the revenge part. Now for another girl. A pretty Philistine named Delilah. He liked her, and spent a lot of time with her. But the Philistine leaders said to her, "Find out how to subdue Samson and we will each give you 1100 pieces of sliver." And man did she want those. She nagged him and he lied quite a few times. Whenever the Philistines came, he'd just break loose. He was having some fun at the start, but when she kept nagging, he got sick of it and told her about his long hair. Not smart. They cut it, and he was no longer strong. They put out his eyes and put him in prison.

Another girl disaster.

Well, his hair started to grow back. The Philistines were having a big party on two floors, and they called for Samson to amuse them. But here comes that Revenge again. He prayed to God,

"O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

He pushed on the two pillars that held the roof up and it collapsed.

So this guy had a sorry life and a lot of weaknesses, but God can STILL use even the stoopidest and most sinful and lazy people to do his will.