Why did God answer the suicidal prayer of Samson? (Most Astonishing Bible Discussion By Nigeria Bible Enthusiasts Association Members

NOTE: Do not judge any of the Bible Enthusiast that contributed to this pertinent Bible topic, and do not conclude on this topic of the real reason why God answered the suicidal prayer of Samson until you read the conclusion given by the president of B.E.A.N - Bible Enthusiasts Association of Nigeria.

Olayiwola I.D:

Why did God answer the suicidal prayer of Samson?

Sunnypraise: The prayer shows his dependence on God. More so, it appears that Samson was aware of his faith. He turned to God to remember him and to give him strength for the last time.

God probably answered Samson's prayer to avenge the Philistines because his request aligned with God's purpose regarding the Philistines. So God was not answering a request for personal revenge.

Olayiwola I.D: God bless you sir for breaking the ice so that others can enter into the water...🙏🙏🙏 

Sir, you said God's answer was not for personal revenge, but Samson's prayer revealed two things (checked my highlighted parts of his prayer below):

1. his intent for revenge

2. his suicidal motive

Judges 16:28

Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! STRENGTHEN ME , I pray, JUST THIS ONCE, O God, THAT I MAY WITH ONE BLOW TAKE VENGEANCE on the Philistines for my two eyes!”

Still waiting for other Bible Enthusiasts in the house to help us out on why God answer the suicidal prayer of Samson.

Bro Etim: God answered Samson's prayer concerning His purpose toward philistine but not to avenge for Samson.

Olayiwola I.D: okay... Another question that readily comes to mind is why then did God wait for Samson's revenge prayer laced with suicidal motive before he destroyed the Philistines since all he wanted all along is to destroy the Philistines?

Secondly, if God never allowed the revenge Samson wanted, why did he kill the Philistines through the hand of this same Samson who wanted revenge at all cost?

Bro Bright: In my opinion, Samson did not consider his prayer to God suicidal, he saw it as a way of dying honourably because of how the philistines mocked him and plucked out his eyes.

Secondly, God has given us the power of choice (Deuteronomy 30:1) and Samson was a covenant child, he knew the implication of what was at stake when he prayed to God.

Olayiwola I.D: Hmmnnn... That's huge sir. That means to die with one's enemies is AN HONORABLE WAY OF DYING.

Is that really an honorable way of dying?

Bro Bright: He did not die in vain, he would have if they killed him without him avenging himself for justice.

His death brought victory to Israel and delivered them from oppression.

That's Samson's mission on Earth as a judge

Olayiwola I.D: Okay sir... Then, and in other words, we could say, according to you, that God answered his prayer of revenge laced with suicidal intent that never seem to be suicidal to Samson, himself.

Bro Bright: Yes sir

Olayiwola I.D: Do we ALL agree to that assertion and interpretation???

Bro Josh: Samson pulled the house down upon them.

By what?

By prayers of pleading to God...

He gained strength to do it by prayer. That strength which he lost by Sin he — like a true penitent — recovered by prayers. He prayed to God to remember him and strengthen him this once. This once, shows he had repented, then he asked for specific thing: "Strength." 

Verses 29-31 show how God really answered Samson in the midst of philistines; God's mercy was released upon him to destroy philistines.

Olayiwola I.D: You said God's mercy was released on him to DESTROY the Philistines.

 Sir, can we then ascribe God's MERCY to an answer to Samson's prayer of revenge laced with a suicidal intent???

While we are almost concluding Brother Bright's interpretation, Brother Josh is giving us another angle to this Samson's prayer.

We need other Bible Enthusiasts in the house to help us out so that we can come to a conclusion and give our association interpretation to this pertinent Bible issue.

Bro Victor: In my little understanding, Samson was born because of the oppression from the philistines...what is there for him to do again even if he didn't die after finishing his assignment?...his prayer showed that he had lost hope of living after killing his enemy... imagine a man living without his sight. 

God answered the prayer of his vengeance as Samson chose to die along with his enemy... it was his personal decision to die along with his enemies, not God's will for him: POWER OF CHOICE. 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️

Bro Josh: Let me ask this question...what is the meaning of suicidal prayer?

I want to know please.

Bro Bright: It means to ask God for death.

If by your interpretation, suicidal prayers, Samson was being entangled by the Enemies of philistines because by the sin he had committed.

I believe he had confessed his sins as it's written in book of I John 1:7-9, if you confess your sins he is faithful to forgive.

All these are words of faith which I believe Samson adhered to while being entangled by his Enemies.

Although I have little disagreement with the word 'suicidal prayer,' I would rather call it PLEADING PRAYER, or another suitable word because he started his prayer with the Spirit of humility.

Thank you

Bro Josh: If you look at the way he started his prayer points in that verse 28, you will understand he started it with a humble spirit

Listen, "oh Lord God , Remember me,"

If you look at Jeremiah 15:15 —O Lord, Revenge me of my persecutors, oh Lord — communicate strength and comfort.

"Oh Lord" means pleading...

When you plead for pardon over your sin, definitely the Lord will look inwardly and pardon you.

Olayiwola I.D: Sir, the intent of Jeremiah's prayer in the 15th chapter of the book of Jeremiah was not the same intent Samson had when he uttered that last prayer to God. 

If you want to know the intent behind people's action. Don't just look at the action, but check what comes before or after the action. To see the REAL INTENT behind that Samson's prayer of telling God to strengthen him just this once for vengeance in Judges 16:28, just check Judges 16:30...

See it below sir...

Then Samson said, “LET ME DIE WITH THE PHILISTINES!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

 That statement of Samson in bold text above came after he had received the strength from God before he used the strength. God is not even a man for him to be oblivious of the intent of one's prayer request. 

More so, to ask for strength is QUITE different from asking for strength for "just this once."

From the Hebrew Bible, the English phrase "just this once" was translated from the Hebrew word פָּ֫עַם (paam) which means FOR THE LAST TIME.

FOR THE LAST TIME symbolised something of a shocking significance... meaning, he won't ask for another strength again as there would be no need for it. If he had the intent of staying alive, he would have asked for strength (for survival after all the troubles) without requesting it to be a last strength.

Note also sir that whenever Hebrew people use that Hebrew word "paam," it was ALWAYS for the last time.

Let me show you a typical derivative of that statement in another book of the Bible. 

When God revealed to Abraham what he wanted to do to Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham started bargaining with God. At first, he started with 45, God said for 45 people he won't destroy them. Then for the second time, he said for 30; God replied he won't destroy for the sake of 30. Then, for the third time, he asked for 20; God replied he won't.

Father Abraham knew he was stressing beyond necessary (all he wanted was a bargain that would save his Nephew's life). So, be begged God not be angry AGAIN, that he will now ask "paam"... see the Hebrew word he used sir... "הַמַּעַם"... that is a pure derivative of paam Samson used. So, he asked for 10 and God replied and LEFT. 

When he was asking and asking, God stood back. The moment Abraham used the word "paam," God replied and left because Abraham had revealed that that was his LAST REQUEST.

In addition, if you check Judges 6:39, you will see another derivative of this same phrase "just this once" when Gideon tried to confirm if the Lord would save Israel by his hand.

Judges 6:39

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, JUST ONCE MORE with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”

That Gideon "just once more" is from the Hebrew ׳אַךְ הַמּ, which also means paam. Of course, that is another derivative of "FOR THE LAST TIME." 

 After that statement, he NEVER requested for any fleece of wool test again from God.

So, for using paam, God who sees the heart of men would have searched his heart to know that that frustrated Samson was asking for A LAST STRENGTH to carryout his suicidal thoughts. Don't forget sir, words we speak come from our thoughts. The statement he made after he received the "just this once" strength correlated with the prayer request he made, thereby making his intent obvious to we readers, how much MORE Almighty God.

Olayiwola I.D: Okay sir. You said it was not God's will for him to die along with his enemies...then, how come God answered that prayer that had the intent of dying with his enemies or does God answer prayers outside his will?

Bro Josh: Thank you so much, God almighty Will give us more Light to His word in Jesus name.

Psalm 119 line 105,

The word is a Lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

God almighty will reveal himself mightily to us.

Thank you so much the Admin.

Bro Josh: You said 3 biblical deductions... where are they?

Olayiwola I.D:👆👆👆👆👆The 3 biblical deductions are already cited above sir. Here is it below, again:

So far, we can deduce from all the earlier contributions that it is BIBLICALLY INCORRECT to say...

1. Samson never had a suicide intent, as Samson's suicide statement before dying correlated with his prayer.

it will also be BIBLICALLY INCORRECT to say...

2. Samson's prayer was not for revenge, as Samson told God in his prayer that he wanted a revenge.

More so, it is BIBLICALLY INCORRECT to say...

3. God did not answer Samson's suicide prayer for personal revenge, as Samson's prayer was answered..

To interprete that Samson's prayer, all those three Biblical deductions above must be put into consideration, else we will be giving interpretations that seem SENSICAL to us but NOT BIBLICAL. 

So, let's have interpretation(s) to this Samson's suicidal prayer based on the 3 biblical deductions above.

Bro Josh: Reference to the point one, That Samson never had a suicide intent, I asked a question about suicidal prayers,

What is suicidal prayer?

Why do we call it suicidal?

All is well with your derived answers.

Olayiwola I.D: Sir, read all the comments I wrote above.

If a man says give me A LAST STRENGTH to take revenge on my enemies and then make the statement of LET ME DIE WITH MY ENEMIES after receiving the so-called "last strength"... What do you think was the man's intent for asking for the last strength?

If this sounds confusing sir, the question we should ask is why did he call the strength he needed to be A LAST STRENGTH (I already showed you "just this once" in Samson's prayer from the Hebrew Bible means FOR THE LAST TIME).

Bro Josh: Sir, I am not arguing with you, but Jeremiah 15:15 have the same word used in judges 16:28, remember me.

"Remember me" means what sir? compare to Jeremiah 15:15.

More so, we all agreed with me that the source of his power was his Hair that was cut off with a razor .

While he was under the philistines custody, the source of his power had been completely destroyed. However, the hair started growing later, meaning sense of belonging has come upon him.

...kudos to you ,we are learning sir.

Olayiwola I.D: This is no argument sir. We are deliberating on this issue so as to arrive at the correct biblical interpretation.

For pointing out "remember me" statement of Samson, it shows you are acquainted with the Hebrew Bible. 

Let me bring something to your notice... that SAME english phrase "Remember me" is used for more than 12 different Hebrew words in the Hebrew Bible. One of them is to remember one's sin, which means forgive me my sin. That's the part you were referring to. Mind you sir, the Hebrew word translated to "remember me" for Samson is not for that "forgive me my sin" you thought of.

Bro Josh: Ok 

More Light Will be illuminated.

Olayiwola I.D: Samson's remember me Hebrew word is מָּקְדֵנִי . It is that same Hebrew word Nehemiah used when he asked God to remember him for all the good things he did for the children of Israel in Nehemiah 5:19...

Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

Can you see that sir? That Nehemiah's phrase (remember me) also comes from the same Hebrew word Samson used: מָּקְדֵנִי

So, what Samson meant by his "remember me" was that God should remember all his past deliverance for the children of Israel and give him this last strength to get revenge for what they did.

Bro Josh: This is great.

Thank you so much.

Olayiwola I.D: Now, let me show you the "remember me" that meant forgiveness of sin.

👇👇👇👇👇👇

 Ezekiel 20:43

And there you shall REMEMBER your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.

In the Ezekiel 20:43 above, the "remember" word is not written as a phrase like remember me or remember us. That word "remember" used comes from the Hebrew word  וְנִכְלַמְתְּ (to repent).

So, if we are to translate Ezekiel 20:43 literally, this SHOULD be the translation...

 Ezekiel 20:43 

And there you shall REPENT OF your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.

Mind you sir, that Hebrew word "remember" used in Ezekiel and the Hebrew word "remember me" used by Samson and Nehemiah both come from the main word "(Zakar)," which was what confused you. That Zakar has more than 12 different meanings, as I stated earlier, but Bible translators translated all the different instances they appeared in the Bible WITH THE SAME WORD "remember or remember me." Instead of giving each of those different zakar verses different words that revealed the exact "zakar" they were referring to.

Hope that is clear?

If that is clear, then we can start interpreting Samson's SUICIDAL prayer based on the 3 Biblical deductions we arrived at earlier 👆👆👆👆

Brother Andrew: (1) He was betrayed by his lover because of money, fame and probably position.               

(2) For LORD to deal with the Philistines to end their dominion and attacks against the Israelites.                                

(3) So that Samson which God has been using to judge the Israelites will not die a shameful death in the hands of the enemy.           

 (4) For God to show His magnanimity in forgiving sins and honour His servant last request .

Olayiwola I.D: Hmmmm... God bless your understanding sir🙏🙏🙏

Bro Victor: I want to get something clearly and right...a suicider can make heaven, right? so in case of Samson did he make it?

Olayiwola I.D: GOOD QUESTION... Let me answer the question.

 That question came up because God answered a suicidal prayer meant for a personal revenge. 

Now, let's take note of something here. In that Judges 16:28, two things are involved. 

 1. Revenge

&

 2. Suicide 

For the first one, in the old testament, REVENGE, in DIFFERENT CLINES OF PEOPLE, was lawful.

Leviticus 24:19-20 says...

‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him

fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.

However, the old testament law forbade REVENGE, involving PEOPLE OF THE SAME CLINE.

Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Consequently, to revenge was not a sin according to old testament law, as seen in that Leviticus 24. In other words, Samson did not commit sin for seeking personal revenge on his enemies, who were people of a different cline.

 Then, for the second one, in the old testament, we have 613 LAWS. Mind you, these laws did not cover all the spheres of human life. However, the Bible covers "everything" on earth. There is nothing that you will come across on this Earth — either now or in the future — that is not already in the Bible.

For instance, the 613 laws did not cover POLYGAMY. Just as it doesn't cover polygamy, so did it not cover SUICIDE. 

Are you surprised?

This is the reason many preachers who are not theologians tried to help the Bible by preaching to their congregation that suicide is murder. That is totally wrong and biblically incorrect. Those words are not the same and can never be the same based on their origination.

I told us earlier, the 613 old testament laws did not cover some certain things in life. However, the Bible covers EVERYTHING on earth. This is what we theologians and Bible enthusiasts focus on when concluding on things not cover by the ambit of the old testament laws.

To be precise, and for polygamy,  God created one man and one woman (Matthew 19:8). But over time, man began to marry more than one wife. Remember, no old testament law forbade polygamy. 

As we have it, several people, most especially women abhor it. So, to know the Bible stand on this polygamy issue, we resorted to studying God's stand on it. Surprisingly, God who created one man and one woman has no issue with polygamy... Don't argue yet until you read the Bible verses below.

I've quoted this verse times without number when God was angry with David for taking Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. 

Then, God said to him...

I GAVE YOU your master’s house and YOUR MASTER’S WIVES into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!

2 Samuel 12:8

Hope you understand what God was saying in that verse above?

Remember God knew David had more than 6 WIVES before he gave him all the wives of Saul, which we don't even know their number and identity except Ahinoam.

Read on to understand better...

After David committed that atrocity of taking Uriah's wife, God said in that 2 Samuel if what I had given you were little, you should have asked me, and I would have given you MUCH MORE (instead of him taking another's wife).

Hope you now understand what God was really saying?

And in as much as God as already showed his stance on something, what law are we looking for. Immediately, we see God's stance, we knew POLYGAMY was biblical.

Although today, in our own time, polygamy is secluded from all ministers of God (1 Timothy 3:2). 

Now, for suicide...

No old testament law forbade taking one's life. For the fact that the 613 laws did not cover SUICIDE does not mean there is no suicide in the Bible. In fact, atleast about 7 people committed suicide in the Bible.

I told you what we, theologians and Bible enthusiasts, usually do whenever the law does not cover an instance... We look for God's stance on that thing.

As surprising as it sounds, God does not have problem with SUICIDE. That we confirm in the situation of Samson. God himself gave Samson LAST STRENGTH to carry out his personal revenge which had a suicidal intent so that he could use it to achieve his own purpose of avenging the enemies of the children of Israel. Had it been that suicide was against God's will, he would have sought an alternative means of killing those Philistines without granting that SUICIDAL PRAYER OF SAMSON.

Mind you, today, in the new testament, one cannot commit suicide if the Holy Spirit dwells in one's body. 

Once the Holy Spirit dwells in someone, any sin against that body is a sin against the Holy Spirit as the body has become the temple of the lord (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and every sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven (Matthew 12:31).

 But if someone does not have the holy Spirit inside of him or her, God does not have a problem with the person taking his or her life. This is why I often say those who commit suicide are (permit me to use this world) are senseless and stupid. They don't know that sinners are given the opportunity to live longer so that they can repent. How can someone in his or her right senses be living in sin and still cut short his very own life to hasten the eternal judgement of God on him or her?

Can you see that they are senseless and stupid? 

This is more or less like someone who sought EVERY opportunity to travel to America and on getting there decided to board the next available flight back to Nigeria because it is taking time for him in America to achieve his goals and life ambition.

 And don't be mistaken like many, one can be a Christian and not be born again and one can be born again and not be sanctified...that is, not have the Holy Spirit as he is the only one that can make us holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

So, a Christian with no Holy Spirit in him is no different from a sinner who does not know Christ. If both of them commit suicide, that is sin against their bodies and not against God. Once they take their bodies through suicide, God takes their spirits because they belong to him.

Intuitively, committing suicide to man seems to be a final solution, not knowing that it is just the removal of human body for the already sinful spirit (which is their TRUE SELF) to go and suffer eternal damnation.

 Hope that long answer clears your doubt on suicide sir?

Bro Victor : Thank you sir

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