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CHAPTER 1
Physical Appearance
Many people think of Samson as a physically muscular, large, brawny man. But if this were so, why could the Philistines, Samson's enemies, and also Delilah, the person closest to him, not realize the source of his strength? Could Samson have been a regular sized, or even a thin or scrawny man that God used to show His power and strength?
Many of us look on the outside of a person and judge him accordingly. We can only see things from an earthly perspective, or we see things as they appear to be as reality, with no spiritual significance. God works in many ways, through circumstances, people, etc., to make us much stronger to face not only life's physical challenges, but our spiritual challenges also.
If you believe Samson looked like a muscle man, and his great strength came from himself, you limit God. But God is limitless. His ways are certainly not our ways. Just read the chapters 40 & 41 in the book of Job and see God's response to Job after Job justifies his actions toward God.
God asks Job to, "contend with the Almighty" and to "girdup your loins like a man", to which Job could only reply, "I aminsignificant" and that he should cover his mouth. (Job 40:1-4)
If physical appearance mattered most, some of us would never measure up to any standard of strength, physical or spiritual. Only if you believe that it is possible that Samson's appearance made no difference to his strength can you begin to realize God's power of the Holy Spirit to use inner strength to physically "move mountains." This inner strength is not from us, like some psychologists and even some television evangelists believe and promote. They think each of us has the ability to control our physical situation from "within" ourselves.
We all know that what is on our inside, in our heart, mind and spirit, affects our outward image and actions. Of course, God knows all about us. We also know that we should not be judged, or judge others, on strictly outward appearances. The reality is, however, that we are physical, earthly beings. Physical appearance is important to us.
From birth to death what people look like is an integral part of their identity, both in how other people see them and in how they see themselves. The psychology of physical appearance may be neatly divided into two perspectives. The first is the "view from the outside," the social view of an individual. This social-image perspective concerns how aspects of appearance affect interpersonal perceptions and social relations. The second vantage point is the "view from the inside," a person's subjective evaluation of his own physical attributes and aesthetics. Psychologists use the term body image - a core aspect of self-concept - to refer to these personal attitudes and perceptions concerning one's own appearance.
A comprehensive psychology of physical appearance takes into account both views, especially because measures of body image often have only a modest correspondence with socially perceived reality. Put simply, beauty does not ensure a satisfying body image nor does homeliness dictate that one loathe one's looks.
Behavioral scientists have amassed hundreds of controlled studies confirming that physical traits, such as physical attractiveness, weight, height, facial features, and grooming, can systematically shape social attitudes, attributes, and actions. Physical appearance indeed provides the most readily available information about a person and conveys basic facts such as a person's gender, approximate age, race, and possibly even socioeconomic status or occupation."
As a result of socialization by peers, parents, and society in general, we develop attitudes about physical attributes and aesthetics and, based on these assumptions, classify people into a variety of cognitive categories, often unconsciously. Our implicit stereotypes about appearance can influence who, among the many people we encounter in our daily lives, will remain strangers or mere acquaintances and who will become our close friends or loved ones. Beyond its obvious impact on dating and mating, physical attractiveness shapes the reactions of both sexes. Physical traits can influence social decisions and behaviors in any situation, in the workplace, classroom or courtroom.
The bottom-line scientific conclusion is that people who possess the physical qualities that our culture deems attractive are sometimes, albeit not always, viewed and treated more favorably than less attractive people. Homely persons, especially those who are obese or physically disfigured, encounter significant social prejudice and discrimination." (1)
It is important to realize that physical appearance is not important to God, even though He made us who we are and what we look like. There is nothing wrong with trying to improve our appearance with exercise, or even some surgeries, which are readily available with today's advances in medicine. But the key is to accept the way that God has made us, who we come from, and the things we cannot change.
In Romans 9:19-26, Paul compares us to a clay vessel that God molds for a purpose that only he decides. We have no right to tell God what to do or to change how he made us, even to question his purpose. God showed much patience by making us with his mercy and calls us 'his people', sparing his wrath toward us who are imperfect creations.
We should all be thankful for his patience toward us. We are so dependent on God's provision for us, whether we realize it or not. God chooses to allow whatever benefits we get. Our focus should be on His mercy toward us as "earthly vessels".
Isaiah 45:9-12 tells us to beware quarreling with God, our maker. We should not question our God, our parents, our mother or father. He tells us to commit to his purpose for our lives. God created us like he did all creation. Our purpose should be to reflect God's glory in our lives.
Samuel was told by God to go to Bethlehem to see Jesse, because God had selected a new king for his people. When Samuel looked at Jesse's son, Eliab, he thought that he was the one that God wanted to be king. But the Lord told Samuel to not look at his appearance or his height because he does not see as man sees. God said that man looks at the outward appearance, but that he looks at the inside, at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:1-7)
CHAPTER 2
Other Opinions and Comments
Here is a short compilation of other opinions and comments about Samson's appearance that also match my belief that Samson was scrawny. I list them here to show the similarities and add credibility to the scrawny point of view.
Most likely, the portrait of Samson that we have in our minds is largely based upon what our childhood 'Picture Bible' depicted him as looking like. Usually when we see pictures or paintings of Samson he is portrayed as a huge man with great, rippling muscles. Some of the most famous paintings are by Rubens, Rembrandt and Van Dyk, and are just a few of the many. But this image may not be the accurate one of Samson in the Bible.
In fact, the Bible tells us that the Philistines couldn't figure out what was the secret of his great strength. If he'd been a huge, muscular hulk, his strength would've been no secret. It would've been obvious how he burst ropes and carried off the gates of cities. But Scripture records that the secret of his strength was not the size of his muscles, but the Lord's Spirit. (Judges 14:19).
Perhaps we can easily find ourselves falling into the same trap spiritually. We assume that the secret of the spiritual strength of great men of God is found in the size of their knowledge or the strength of their oratorical skills. Yet, in reality, their strength is found in the same place ours can be found – in helpless dependence upon the Lord.
Do you realize what this means? Since your strength is unrelated to anything found in you, any of you can be used of God in just as great a way as these men were. God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that his grace is all we need and that only in weakness is his strength made perfect. Those things which are weaknesses, from human perspective, are strengths from God's perspective.
In the divine economy, those whom men esteem as 'less gifted' are those who are most easily used of God; and those whom men esteem as 'most gifted' are those who will have the greatest struggle before they can be of use to God.
To see yourself as having strengths is spiritual suicide, for the Lord says in Jeremiah 17:5 that a man is cursed when he puts his only confidence in human strength. The words of the Lord to faithful John were the same as His words to doubting Thomas – 'You can't do anything without me.' (John 15:5).
Perhaps the reason for this generation's spiritual impotence is that we have too much strength in ourselves and not enough weakness before God. If we would stop and acknowledge our weakness, there would be no more show to put on before others. Then we could cast ourselves in helpless humility upon the Lord and find His strength.
We long for men who "through faith" can subdue kingdoms, work righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire, and escape the edge of the sword (Hebrews 11:33). But we forget that these men were men who "out of weakness were made strong" (11:34).
How can God give us men of spiritual strength if we will not give him men conscious of their spiritual weakness?
Do you want to be great for God? Then become weak for strong men can only be made "out of weakness"; and God's strength can only be "perfected in weakness".
When Gideon originally went out to fight against the enemy, he was outnumbered 4 to 1. He was certainly weak, but he wasn't weak enough for God to use him. By the time God pared down his army to 300, the enemy outnumbered him 450 to 1. Now he was no longer weak, he was entirely helpless. He had no choice, but to depend entirely on God, and it was then that Israel's greatest victory was won.
No wonder Paul says that I gained things for myself when I considered that I lost them for Christ (Philippians 3:7) and I would prefer to be glad about my sicknesses so that Christ could heal me with his power. (2 Corinthians 12:9).
O that we each would be fully yielded to God today! For until we are fully yielded, we cannot be fully used. (2)
I know what Samson looked like. The children's story books in our church library depicting the Bible's strong man as an early version of Arnold Schwarzenegger have it all wrong. You know the image---muscles on top of muscles, bulges everywhere, veins apoppin', long hair flowing in the wind. But, alas, he did not look that way at all. Not even close.
People wondered about the source of his strength. They watched him slaughter thousands of the hated Philistines bare-handedly and stood in awe. Where did he get such strength? Samson could not have looked like Mr. Olympia with a 46-inch chest and 32-inch waist and biceps the size of my thighs. Had he done so, everyone would have concluded his strength came from his great muscles in the same way that works for everyone else on the planet.
That's why we must conclude that Samson looked like any other average Joe, just your ordinary citizen; Don Knotts, maybe, with a pony tail. You recall the secret to his strength lay in a Nazirite vow he had lived under since birth, requiring him never to enter a bar or a barber shop. Judges 16 narrates his foolish dalliance with the treacherous Delilah and his fall from grace. (3)
Now as you read the story of Samson you will notice that when Samson uses his supernatural strength, it says that God's Spirit showed his power through him. (Judges 14:19). When Samson became involved with Delilah the Philistines bribed her to find out his hidden strength. (16:5). Why did they believe there was some secret to his strength? Because Samson was skinny! Yes I said skinny. If he looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger they would have believed that his strength came from his big muscles. But they knew he had some other power giving him strength. What's more, this is exactly what one would expect from God, knowing how he works.
So, Samson must have been skinny, because the only way he could perform his feats of superhuman strength was when God's Spirit showed his power through him. Only by being skinny would all the people know beyond any doubt that it was not Samson's strength, but God who did it. (4)
Samson was a puny little squirt of a man. I know, I know ... you're thinking, 'yeah, right.' Ok, so let's look first at what Samson did in verse three of Judges 16. Samson slept til midnight and then woke up. He lifted the 2 gates to the city with its supports and carried them on his shoulders to the mount of Hebron. Now that is probably evidence enough that Samson was a man of great strength, but I believe that his physical appearance was very ordinary, perhaps even somewhat scrawny, except for his hair. If you look at the vow that was taken by the Nazirites, everything they did, even down to the hair on their head, was to symbolize their vow of separation unto God. Samson, being a Nazirite from birth, would have had great lengths of hair, as a razor had never touched his head. Other than this, he would probably have looked no different than anybody else in that area.
But take a look at what the Philistines said to Delilah in verse 4, "Tempt him so we can figure out where he got his strength". There was nothing about Samson's appearance in which they could see his strength, nothing that suggested any kind of extraordinary strength. If there was, then there would have been no need for them to be looking for the source of that strength. He was most likely a very ordinary man as far as physical appearances go. Couple this with the fact that he had very long hair, he most probably rather had quite an effeminate (shameful for a man) appearance (a real 'girly man' if you will). The force of all this, was so that the Philistines would know that Samson's great strength did not lie in himself, but rather that it came from God, whom he had been separated to under the Nazirite vow.
Shouldn't this be an example to Christians? Being holy; set apart to do the will of God, the love of God should fill us completely and overflow (Psalm 104:15) to make his face shine. (Ecclesiastes 8:1) Knowledge and understanding make a man's face shine because it is God that created the light from darkness and made our hearts to reveal that light in the wisdom of the visage of Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 4:6).
While we are just ordinary people, the extraordinary love of God can be manifested by our devotion to Him. Samson had only the long locks of his hair to distinguish himself from other men. When God tells us to 'be holy', it is an all-encompassing command that should cover every area of our lives, our attitude, our actions, our words, etc. Can the world see the strength and the hope that is within you? Can they see that it comes from God? And so, the sovereign strength, the great power of God unto salvation, can be manifested in the glaring truth that this strength comes not from worms such as ourselves, but from God.
Physical appearance may be important to us as earthly beings, but it is not what God looks at. In fact, God sees the inward side of each of us and wants us to allow Him to indwell us with His Spirit. When we focus on the outside, God cannot use us. Physical strength can be obtained through a regimen of weight lifting, diet and exercise. Spiritual strength is obtained through only a willing and yielded heart. (5)
CHAPTER 3
Jesus' Physical Appearance
Just as we see that Samson's physical appearance was not necessarily a basis for what he did, or who he was, it is interesting also to note that Jesus' appearance was also unimportant. Of course, Jesus performed greater feats of strength than Samson.
It is for good reason that the Bible does not describe Jesus' appearance. We ought to give thanks for that every day. Imagine how we would distort and misuse such information.
Some think that Jesus had wavy black hair and an olive complexion, stood 5 feet 10, carried 185 pounds of muscle. Anyone looking like Jesus would feel superior, everyone else inferior, entire racial groups would feel excluded, and the plastic surgeons would have a field day reconstructing bodies into a physical Christlikeness. As it is, every culture on earth reads the New Testament and pictures the Lord Jesus as one of them. That's exactly how it should be.
The one thing we can say with certainty about Jesus' appearance is that Jesus looked like everyone else. He would not have been chosen by Hollywood to play Himself. No shining face, radiant robes, piercing eyes, perfectly shaped head, with hair to die for. I'm remembering the time when Charlie Chaplin was living in France and entered a contest for the best imitation of himself. He lost.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Samson: Brawny or Scrawny?"
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Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Verheyden.
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