Bible Studies, Inspired by Faith and Science

1. What tribe did Samson belong to? 2. Why was Samson a Nazirite? 3. How did Samson lose his wife? 4. Why were the Israelites and the Philistines at war? 5. What has the jawbone of an ass got to do with Samson? 6. What have lions and honey got to do with Samson? 7. Who was Delilah? 8. Why was Samson a prisoner? 9. How did Samson bring down the house? 10. What’s the connection between the tribe of Benjamin and Sodom and Gomorrah? The earliest judges were called by God when God’s people turned to Him for aid. Later judges were more like tribal dynasties, living and dying by the sword. But Samson, the Danite, was called before his birth when God sent an angel to tell his barren mother that she would bear a child (Judges 13). The woman’s husband is unconvinced, but the angel reappears and the woman brings her husband to see him. Samson’s mother follows the rules of a Nazirite (no grapes, no wine, no strong drink, and presumably no cutting her hair) during her pregnancy because the child is

1. What does the Bible mean by judge in the book of Judges? 2. What was a Baal? 3. What was an Asherah? 4. Who was the first Judge in the book of Judges? 5. Why was it important that Ehud was left-handed? 6. What was Gideon’s fleece? 7. Who was the first “king” in Israel? 8. What was the Tower of Shechem? 9. What was Jephthah’s vow? 10. When was a lisp important? The book of Judges opens with the conquest of southern Canaan and destruction of Jerusalem. Further north, the other Israelite tribes gain hold of the hill country but can’t conquer the cities of the plains since they’re protected by armies with chariots (Judges 1). Unable to separate themselves completely from their enemies, God’s people begin to mix their religion with that of the locals. Ba’al was a title meaning “Lord” and could be applied to divine or human rulers, including God, but came to mean a false god in the time of judges. Names such as Jerubbaal (a name given to the judge Gideon) in the Bible began to be changed