(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 16:1–3, “Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.”
Even though Samson was the Lord’s servant and Israel’s judge, he still practiced some of the habits of the people who lived in the Land before Israel took possession. The Amorites worshipped fertility gods and part of the practice was to go to Temple prostitutes to worship the fertility gods. Samson had married a Philistine woman but she was murdered by her fellow Philistines. Samson was still attached to women even though he wasn’t married. According to the Law, there were no Israeli temple prostitutes so Samson went down to the Philistines to satisfy his needs. One night Samson visited a prostitute and the Philistines heard that he was there. They set and ambush for him and waited till the morning, hoping to catch him and and kill him. Gaza was one of the five main Philistine cities; Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza and Gath. These important cities were surrounded by walls to keep them secure from attack. Samson woke up and took the city gate on his shoulders, this was obviously a miracle, performed in the Lord’s strength otherwise it would have been impossible. Samson carried the gates about 35 km (about 21 miles). This was a great distance and meant that they could not use the materials from the old gate to build a replacement gate. This shows that when the Lord performs a miracle it cannot be undone.
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