Judges 16:25-31

Judges 16:25

And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

The feast was probably progressing to the point that they were starting to get drunk and feeling pretty good about themselves.  They got to the point where they called for Samson to be brought to them, so they brought him out of the prison house to the temple where the feast was being held.  They made sport out of him.  The word “sport” may also be understood as “mock, laugh, and play.”  They did the same thing to the Lord Jesus Christ.  And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.  (Mark 10:34, KJV)  No doubt they were hurling insults at Samson and spitting on him and making much laughter at his condition.  Then they finally placed him on display by putting him between the main supporting pillars in the temple.  A fatal mistake because they were not paying attention to the fact that his hair was growing again and they should have known that his hair was the key to his strength.

Judges 16:26

And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

There was a young boy who accompanied Samson that no doubt led him around by the hand.  They no doubt used a child for this to further humiliate him as the strong man who needed a child to lead him.  By this time he knew that his strength was returning and asked the lad to allow him to feel the pillars which were the main support pillars for the temple.  He wanted to lean on them was his reason hoping to show that he was feeling very tired but his real reason was to get the feel of the pillars because he knew what he was going to do.  The deliverance of Israel out of the hands of the Philistines was nigh at hand.

Judges 16:27

Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

This must have been a very large temple since it accommodated three thousand people on its flat roof.  Samson must have been down below where the people above could see him in possibly what may have been a courtyard.  It was not at all uncommon for people to go to the roofs of their own private homes since the heat was tremendous in desert countries.  Peter prayed on his housetop (Acts 10:9).  The Lord warned those when the days of vengeance comes on Jerusalem, those who are on the housetops need to flee (Matthew 24:17; Mark 13:15)

Judges 16:28

And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

Then Samson turns his heart to the Lord and begins to pray.  He knows he is here because of bad decisions he made with the women.  He asks God to remember him and not only that but to strengthen him with the strength he had in prior days and the fact that he was raised up to be the twelfth judge of Israel, to deliver them from the hold of the Philistines.  He sought this strength only once because he knew that he would die with the destruction of the temple.  He wanted to be avenged of what they did to his eyes.

Judges 16:29

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

These two middle pillars which Samson grabbed hold of were the main supporting columns for this building.  Since Gaza had hilly area, if this temple was built on a side of a hill, once Samson would remove them, it would cause the entire building to come down as if it was imploding.  The destruction would be fast and total.

Judges 16:30

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Then Samson said to let him die with the Philistines.  When he bowed himself, he had stretched his arms out causing his head to bow.  Then the two pillars were moved out of their place causing the carnage.  When the temple came down, all three thousand who were on the roof died in the destruction.  Samson killed more Philistines with his death than he did while he was alive.  The most he killed was a thousand with the jawbone of the donkey. Now he was able to destroy the ruling lords along with many nobles and probably other influential people meaning there would have been a dearth of leadership and probably much confusion among their ranks at this time paving the way for the freeing of the Israelites from Philistine rule.  The Lord Jesus Christ on the cross stretched his arms out and bowed His head and died.  He also died with the unbelievers but one became saved and the other did not.  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.  (Isaiah 53:12, KJV)

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.