All right, it's been a little while. Let's see if you can find your way back to the book of Judges this evening, the book of the Judges in chapter 13. We'll continue on in our study. It's been a while. Subtitled this series on the study of the judge's divine intervention or heavenly intervention from the consequences of sin. and that will fit well again with our message this evening. Tonight, we'll be introduced to the final judge, 12th, 13th, 14th judge, depending on how you want to count them. But we're introduced to our final judge, and we're told that probably Samson's life would have preceded the life of, say, King Saul by some 50 years or so. So maybe that'll help you a little bit as you try to put the framework in your mind of how things are going in the history of Israel. It'll take us a few minutes, but I'd like to read this 13th chapter of Judges together, and then we're just gonna tackle it little by little and work our way through it. And all tonight really will be an introduction to the life of Samson. That's all this 13th chapter really is. It is an extended explanation or exposition of Samson's birth. And let's read this together. Judges chapter 13 verse 1 says, And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was Baran and Baranah. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and barrest not, but thou shalt conceive and barrest not. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing for lo, and I shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible. But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name. But he said unto me, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah. And the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah, her husband, was not with her. And the woman made haste and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day. And Manoah rose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? The angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, of all that I said unto the woman, let her beware. She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her, let her observe. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. The angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou will offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel, and I believe the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name? That when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord. And the angel did wondrously. And Manoah and his wife looked on, for it came to pass when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it and fell on their faces to the ground. And the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife than Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife, we shall surely die because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands. Neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told us such things as these. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshter. This evening is simply an introduction to the life of Samson, the birth of Samson, the promise of Samson. And I have a name for Samson. I think it is a fitting name that will follow him all throughout his judgeship. We'll we'll call Samson the strong, weak man, the strong, weak man. I don't pretend as if my life has been any better. But Samson is a fine example of squandered potential. Squandered potential. I realize that Samson makes his way into the Hall of Fame in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, yet we have to study his life and look at it and wonder what could have been if only. If only Samson had controlled his lusts and his passions. If only he would have submitted and yielded to the Spirit of God in many more things. How mightily God could have used him. And Samson's life will cover chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16. of the book of Judges. So we're gonna spend the next few weeks, probably the next four or five weeks looking at Samson's life. But Samson's life overall is a mixture of heroism, national pride, victory, mingled with moral failure, adultery, sexual sin and covetousness. Samson's life is one of a warrior who single-handedly fought against the enemies of Israel. Other judges led armies. Other judges served as generals and captains, but not Samson. Samson would fight alone. This strong, weak man has a dark cloud hanging over his life. And while we can look at Samson's life and study it, we must see it in view of the context of the nation of Israel. And the truth about it is, and I'll finish with this thought, but Samson's life is really a microcosm of the nation of Israel. If you'll just stop and consider what I just said, Samson's life is a microcosm of the nation of Israel during this time period. Squandered opportunity. strong and weak, if they had only, if they had only listened to the word, spirit, and voice of God. In verse one, we hear this same broken record playing again and again. Some of you young people don't know what that is to hear a broken record playing over and over again. But when it gets stuck on something, it just keeps playing that same one line over and over again. In verse one of our text is this same broken line about the broken people of Israel. How many times have we read this before in the book of Judges? And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. There it plays again and again, that cycle of sin in Israel. And the Lord delivered him into the hands, this time, of the Philistines. It has been other people groups, Moabites, Ammonites, and others, and even warring amongst themselves. But this time, the same broken record continues to play, the same sad words again and again. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of God. And God delivered them by his chastening hand into Gentile servitude. But notice at the close of verse one, this is 40 years. 40 years that they served. It is possible that this time period will coincide with other judges who are not certain about this, but it's 40 years. This is a long time. In fact, it is the longest captivity that we read about in the book of Judges. Yet at the close of verse number one, there is something missing. I want you to just consider this with me this evening. Again and again we have read that the children of Israel did evil in the sight of God and God delivered them into the hands of their enemies. And then what happened? The children of Israel would cry out unto God and God would raise up a deliverer. Yet that second line is missing in this chapter. There is no place here where it says that the children of Israel cried out unto God for deliverance. It is almost as if they are comfortable in captivity. They are, as one writer says, they are intoxicated with Babylon. And I don't know if you may follow that, but later in the history of Israel when they have the opportunity, remember Nehemiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, when they have the opportunity to return to the homeland. Many of them, in fact, the majority of the Israelites choose to stay in Babylon rather than returning back to the homeland or to Jerusalem. It's almost as if they've got comfortable with this lifestyle. Comfortable with not being spiritually powerful and close in fellowship with their God. And that may sound like it's impossible, but it's not. Too many of God's children reconcile themselves to a life of secondary service unto God. And rather than living a life of victory and nearness and fondness and fellowship with God, they seem to be content in captivity. rather than yielding and giving themselves fully over to God. So there's something missing here. What is missing is the cry from the ground upward, the cry from the people of God to their God for deliverance. They are seemingly content in their weakness, satisfied in their frailty, yet God will remain faithful and help a people that don't seem to want any help. God will send a deliverer to a people that have not asked for deliverance. And I'm indeed thankful that God remains faithful even when we don't. And if we find ourselves content in a place of weakness, yet God is very often not content to leave us there and will send something or someone to stir us, to move us, to break that brokenness. To do so, to deliver Israel, God, and I believe as we read through this 13th chapter where it talks about an angel of God, again and again, I believe very clearly that this is the Lord Christ himself. This is what we call the pre-incarnate Christ. It is what Bible scholars call a theophany. It is an appearance of God. This is Christ assuming the role of flesh and coming to this earth, looking like a normal person, like any other human being, before he would ever be incarnated in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And he comes, and this is not, I don't think this is the only time, I think he's come several times in the book of Judges, to speak, to encourage, to direct the people of God in the midst of their adversity. And here God will condescend and comes down to a childless home in the village of Zorah. This little town, this little village of Zorah is some 14 or 15 miles west of Jerusalem in the land of Dan. And here the angel of God is sent to the household of a man named Manoah. And Manoah's name means wrist. And that is just exactly what the children of Israel did not have at this time. They did not have Manoah. They did not have rest. And yet God will send his son, I believe, as the angel of God to speak to Manoah's wife. Verse 3 and 4, the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman and said unto her, Behold, now you're barren. You've not given birth. This is a childless home. But it's not going to stay that way. You are going to give birth. You will give birth to a son. And listen to the instructions in verse 4. This is one of those things that we can slip right by if we're not careful and maybe never even notice. But in verse number 4, the angel instructs Manoah's wife. We don't know what her name is. We'll call her Miss Manoah. Miss Manoah. God instructs, Christ instructs, the angel, however you want to say it, instructs her. that she is to now and from the time that she is pregnant, she is to abstain from wine or strong drink. But more than that, if you'll notice at the close of verse number four, she is not to eat any unclean thing. Now if you are familiar with your Old Testament civil law, ceremonial law, you'll know that all Israelites were forbidden from eating that which is unclean. So what this angel of God tells her in the demand that she abstain from all forms of alcohol, wine, or strong drink, but more than that, when he tells her to refrain from eating any unclean thing, you know what that tells us? That tells us that the nation of Israel is in a mess at this time. They don't even know this very basic law of God, that they are not to eat any unclean thing. They are so far removed from God that it is like they absorb the culture and the practice of the Canaanites around them. And the law of God, including a very prime law of God, not eating any unclean animal, is nearly all but forgotten in Israel. And so to remind her of God's demands on every Israelite, but in particular incumbent upon her during her pregnancy, is that she's not to drink any wine or strong drink and not to eat any unclean thing. It just goes to show you how far people can drift away from God, right? This is the people of God, given the oracles of God. Delivered the very precepts of God by the hand of God through Moses And now they forgot one of the most basic tenets of their faith and that is they're not allowed to eat any unclean thing This angel of God had not would not have told her that had it not become a common practice of the day It's sad how far God's people can drift away from what they know to be right and then in verse 5 The angel affirms or reaffirms to her that she will give birth, she will conceive, she will bear a son. And then he says to her that this child, notice verse 5, this is important about the life of Samson. I shall conceive, bear a son, and a razor shall come on his head. For the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Here the angel of God gives directions for how Samson is to be raised. He is to be raised as a Nazarite. Now normally, and we'll develop this just a little bit more, but normally the Nazarite vow was voluntary and it was temporary. But in this case, God has set This vow, in fact, he's made it incumbent upon, I think, Manoah's wife, but also certainly Samson, all the days of his life. For him it is not voluntary, nor is it temporary. In fact, the close of verse 7 says that he shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. The word Nazarite simply means to be consecrated or separated under God. Now this is a foreign practice to us, a foreign custom to us. Can I say this? I hope it doesn't sound silly. Sometimes preachers make assumptions. There is a difference between Christ as a Nazarene and Samson as a Nazirite. Now I struggled for a long time when I was a young Christian, a young believer, no more than a teenager, with trying to understand Christ being a Nazirite, but Christ never was a Nazirite. Christ never took the Nazirite vow. Yet God's Word calls him a Nazarene, and then God's Word calls him a Nazarene because he grew up in the city of Nazareth. These two things have nothing to do with each other. I had those wires crossed for a long time in my life. Maybe you've not struggled with that at all, but I have. And I've tried to figure something. It makes sense to me why Christ would enter into that Nazarite vow with long hair and these things. Well, that's not true. It's just not true. Christ is named or called a Nazarene simply because he grew up in Nazareth. But this is a specific vow. This is what people would do if they wanted to come apart, separate themselves. It usually would last about 30 days, where they would give themselves over fully and completely to get along with God. Something like prayer and fasting, except for it just takes it to a new level. During this time period, three things are demanded. Three things are demanded. Now normally it would be voluntary and it would be temporary, but these three things were incumbent upon Samson all of his life because he was to be a Nazirite from the womb until his death. From his mother's womb until his death. Three things incumbent. Number one, abstinence from all strong drink and wine. Abstinence from any fruit of the vine at all. Secondly, no cutting of the hair. And thirdly, no contact with the dead. Even if your parent died, your child died, your spouse died, while you were under that Nazirite vow, if you were to keep that vow, you could have no contact with the dead at all. If so, it would be a breach of that vow and you'd be no longer under that Nazirite vow. If you're interested, I'll just give this to you, rules governing the vow of the Nazarite is spelled out specifically in the book of Numbers in chapter number six verses one through twenty-one. If you want to take the time to look at that, Numbers chapter six verses one through twenty-one. Simply these three things, remember this, no fruit of the vine in any form, not in wine, not in alcohol, not grapes, not raisins, not any fruit of the vine, No cutting of the hair, no contact with the dead. Samson will break all three of his Nazarite vows. All three of them. Rather than being separated to God and separated for God, Samson will compromise his vows for various reasons. And the angel instructs that her son is to be a perpetual Nazarite from the womb. He is to be separated. Notice the close of verse number five, he will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. He'll begin to do it, but he won't finish it, right? Sadly, we know the end of Samson's life, and it's really not until the time period of David and Jonathan, years later, that the Philistines will be really run down and pushed out of the land to some extent, at least stop becoming a constant thorn in the flesh. See, this is real. So this angel of God tells Miss Manoah all of this, You're going to have a son. Here's what is incumbent upon him all of his life. Here's what I want you to do until the day that he is born." And so she excitedly goes and tells her husband, Manoah, what has happened? Verses 6 and 7, the woman came, tells her husband. She outlines what has been said. She said, I don't know where he came from. I don't know what his name is. Here's what he told me. And seemingly, Manoah doesn't really believe his wife. I don't want to be overly hard on him, but these things seem a little bit too far-fetched for Manoah. They've been married a while. She's been barren for a number of years. And now all of a sudden, out of the blue, in some little obscure town, the angel of God, a man of God, shows up and says, you're going to have a son, and your son's going to be in Nazarite all of his life. These things are a little bit strange sounding to the ears of Manoah. And like many other stubborn men, he doesn't have enough sense to listen to his wife. and maybe score me a few points there. But he doesn't really take her at her word about this miraculous meeting. And in fact, he calls out to God and says, God, do you mind coming back down here or sending somebody back down here to affirm what my wife has said? Verse 8, Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, Let the man of God which you send which thou didst see, and come again unto us, and teach us what we should do unto the child that shall be born." And I'd like to think that Manoah's intentions here are pure, but I really think a lot of it is just doubt. Doubt about what his wife has said to him. So he calls upon God to show himself, to tell them again what was said, and then God very graciously, in verse number 9, God very graciously hearkens to the voice of Manoah. And the angel of God appears again, but notice that angel of God doesn't appear to Manoah. The angel of God appears to Mrs. Manoa as she's out sitting in a field. And so she goes to get her husband. She runs. Manoah is not with her. She runs, verse 10, makes haste to go tell her husband, this prophet, this angel, this man of God is here again. The same one that was here the other day, he's here. Verse 11, Manoah responds by getting up and runs out after his wife. He comes to the man, verse 11, says to him, are thou the man that spakest unto the woman? He said, I am. And then Manoah says, do you mind running this by me again? And that's essentially what he said, right? I mean, I know what she told me, but the whole thing sounded a little far-fetched. Do you mind running this thing by me again? And so, in verse 13, the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, of all that I said unto the woman, let her beware. In other words, in verse 14, she can't do this, and all that I commanded her, let her beware. In other words, I already told the woman, and things hadn't changed any. I got the same message today I had a few days ago. I'll tell you the same thing I told her, this is what's supposed to be done. And so either through curiosity or doubt, perhaps some of both, he asked, and God graciously sends the same messenger with the same message down. Everything I told your wife is the response. Make sure she does everything that I've told her to do. How she lives will affect the child that is within her. And then I think, through some, you're gonna think I'm being overly hard on Manoa here. I don't think so. I really think the truth about it is I really think that Manoa's wife is far more spiritual minded than Manoa is. And that's just the case in a lot of homes. I wish it wasn't so, but it is in a lot of homes. A wife is just more spiritual minded than the husband is. And in this case, Manoa's offers to Provide a meal look at verse 15 and Manoah said an angel and let us I pray thee let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a Kid for thee so Manoah desires to feed and provide a meal for their messenger But I think it's somewhat superstitious of him in fact. I think he's trying to curry favor with this being he does not know That this is the angel of God that is speaking unto him. He's trying to curry favor There was a lot of ignorance going around about God and God's law during this time period in Israel. I'm sorry, but it's just true. In verse 16, this angel of God responds and says unto Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread. And if you want to offer a burnt offering, offer it unto the Lord. In other words, don't try to worship me. Don't try to bow down to me. Don't try to curry favor with me. Notice the closing of verse 16, for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. He did not understand who this was and probably Manoah thought this may be one of the many gods of the lands and I want to curry favor with him if I can. And so Manoah says unto him in verse 17, what's your name? That when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor. Do you hear what he's saying there? Tell us what your name is so when these things happen, we'll know who to worship. We'll know who to give reverence to, who to pay homage to. And this angel of God will have none of it. This angel, I believe, certainly, again, is Christ and would only have God the Father receive glory for these things that are done. And so, the angel of God, I think Christ, the angel, verse 18, and the angel of the Lord said unto him, why do you want to know my name? And in fact, if you'll study this, and you just have to take my word for it or study it for yourself, the angel replies, why are you asking my name? It's too wonderful for you anyway. You can't handle it. You can't comprehend it. It's too beautiful for you. It's really quite the Hebrew language is how it portrays. My name's too remarkable. You don't need to know my name. It's beyond your comprehension anyway. It's too much for you. What you need to do is make an offering unto God. So Manoah takes the offering, the bread that he had gathered that obviously his wife had gotten ready for them. Manoah takes the offering, places it on a large rock or on a boulder, and as God had done before for Gideon, if you'll remember this, the angel of God then consumes the sacrifice right off of the rock, verse number 19. So Manoah took a kid with a mean offering and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord, and the angel did wondrously. Did a miraculous thing, a wondrous thing. And Manoah and his wife looked on, verse 24, it came to pass that when the flame went up toward, so Manoah takes what he had prepared, offers it as a burnt offering, and when the flame of that burnt offering ascends from off of that altar, that stone altar, that the angel of the Lord descended, I'm sorry, ascended, not descended, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar, And Manoah and his wife looked on it, verse 20, and they fell on their faces to the ground. So after this theophany, after this pre-incarnate appearance of our Christ to give this message of this promised deliverer, the Lord then disappears as this flame ascends up. The angel of God ascends up in that flame. And being somewhat superstitious and spiritually immature, notice what Manoah says in verse 22. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. I skip 21. And the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and his wife than Manoah. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife, we shall surely die because we've seen God. And that's a little bit silly for him to say. That's why I think he just, just not, Lord, I might stand before Manoah one day. You know, I think about this as I stand here and teach. I really, he just don't get it. I mean, I'm not trying to be hard. I mean, he just didn't get it. He didn't fully understand all that was taking place right here. And he says to his wife, no man can see God at any time and live. We're going to die. We've seen God. We're going to die. But his patient, wise wife says to him in verse 23, if God wanted us dead, we'd be dead already. And then she said, I mean, just look at verse 20. His wife said, if the Lord were pleased to kill us, we would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering in our hands. Now listen to this. And then she also says, man, would you use your brain for once? I could just hear Miss Manoa. Use your brain for something besides a hat rack. That's what I heard a lot growing up. She says, man, if God wanted us dead, we'd be dead. And besides that, why would the angel of God come down here and promise that we're going to have a son if he plans on killing us? Why would he tell us how to raise this son if God's going to kill us? I just say that to say that I really believe that in the family, she was the more spiritual of the two. thinking more clearly about biblical or scriptural things than her own husband. You see that? Why would he have showed us all these things? Nor would he at this time have told us such things as this. It wouldn't make any sense for God to promise us a son and tell us how to raise him if he intended on killing us. And in verse 24, four things are mentioned. The woman bear a son. She called his name Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him. Four things take place in that single verse right there. She, Miss Manoah, does give birth to a son. She calls his name Samson, which probably means sunlight, or light of the sun. Why he came to be known that, there's a lot of speculation as to why that is. Whether he was named after one of the sun gods that was prominent during that time period. Whether or not she named him that because he was going to be as strong and brilliant as the morning sun, we just don't know. But his name is Samson, which has something to do with sunlight, or the power of the sun, or the light of the sun, these kind of things. But he began to grow. And I think that Sansom becomes a strong man, a man's man, a he-man, if you will. I'm really reaching back now into my cartoons. A he-man. I don't think he's some sissy, spaghetti-armed weakling. I don't believe that. I believe he's a big man. But I don't believe that his power that he'll get, that supernatural power that he has in his life, is all based on his stature or his muscles. Rather, it is the Spirit of God that would come on him in a supernatural way that would empower him. Later on, Samson will stand up underneath the gates of a city and put him on his shoulder and stand up and lift him up out of the ground and carry him out of the city. You've got to be a pretty tall man in order to do that at all. So I think Samson will grow and become a man, but Samson's strength is not in his arms or his biceps or those things. His strength is in God, just like it is ours. It's not in this flesh. The old songwriter's right. Samson proves it to be true, the arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. But he grows and the Lord blessed him. The Lord was with him. The Lord blessed him. He is a young man, full of potential, with a godly calling on his life. There is a people in need. His nation is in need. Even if they don't know it, and even if they haven't asked for help, they need help. How will his story play out? We know this. We who have read our Bibles and have studied, we know how the life of Samson will play out. We know that it is full of both highs and lows, mountain peaks and deep valleys. Yet we must also agree that the life of Samson is a life of what could have been. What could have been. Verse 25, And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times, began to stir him. The word is also translated that I believe to burden him, to direct him. I believe, I believe really what I think is God the Holy Spirit began to direct his heart and his mind about what he would be doing with his life. In my own life, if I may share this simple analogy, in my own life, I have told you all that I didn't want anything to do with the ministry. I didn't want to be a preacher. I grew up as a PK, a preacher's kid, didn't want anything to do with it at all. But God the Holy Spirit wouldn't leave me alone. He began to stir me and put within me a desire to preach the Word of God. In fact, it reached a place where I thought I'd better do what God said or He may yet kill me. That's really the place where I got to. And I think in like manner God burdens His people and in particular He has a calling on their life like Samson does. God began to stir him, to move him, to motivate him, to direct him, to make him sensitive to the leadership of the Spirit in his life, so that he would know when it's time to stand up and fight and be a man. Yet sadly, Samson will spend much of his life grieving the Spirit of God, quenching the Spirit of God. And his life, I say this again, his life epitomizes the nation of Israel. Samson would abandon his holy calling to satisfy his carnal desires. So would Israel. Israel would abandon their holy calling to be a holy people, to satisfy the desires of their flesh, their carnal desires. Yet in the midst of this, God would remain faithful to an unfaithful nation. God would use a broken vessel like Samson to be a blessing to his people. And aren't you glad that God does that? Because that's all of us. We're all broken vessels. Samson would not utterly deliver the people from the rule of the Philistines, but God will. Samson wouldn't get the job done, but God will. And I can't help but as we study these different judges to see their strengths and their weaknesses in these things, I can't help but see everywhere where Samson failed, Christ remained faithful and true. Had a holy calling on his life. He never quenched the spirit, never grieved the spirit, never succumbed to temptation and the allurement of the flesh. He always remained faithful, even to the end. And in the end, Christ would do what Samson failed to do, and that is deliver us from our enemy. Sin and Satan. Death in this world. So here's just some introductory thoughts about Samson. We'll get into his life and we'll pick him apart before it's over with. But I want to be careful. We don't overly criticize him, but I don't want to be honest about it. And listen. There's no way to sugarcoat it. Samson had a problem with women. He just had a problem with women. I mean, that's all there is to it. He was a strong, weak man.