We learn from Judges 13-16 that Samson is anything but a godly man. He lies, he has illicit sexual relations with multiple women, he kills indiscriminately at times, and he is impulsive and self-centered. How could this man be blessed by God with supernatural physical strength when he acted so badly? Was God rewarding Samson’s bad behavior?

The answer to this question is that nobody deserves God’s blessings as we are all sinners. Maybe we don’t sin as badly as Samson, but we still sin. God bestows His blessings because of His grace, which means God gives us good things that we do not deserve.

God’s purpose in blessing Samson was to raise up a leader of Israel who would drive the Philistines out of the land that Israel was given by God, to complete the settlement of the Promised Land that had begun centuries earlier. The Philistines had been allowed to subjugate the Israelites for 40 years because of Israel’s worship of Canaanite gods, and God was ready to extend grace to Israel.

Samson was the man God chose to get this done. Throughout the Bible, God chooses deeply flawed human beings to accomplish His work. All of Israel’s prophets, judges and kings failed to live perfect, godly lives. Israel had to wait until the birth of Jesus Christ to finally see what a perfect follower of God would look like, a man in whom no sin could be found.