Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. – Judges 15:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 12, 2012): Judges 15

One of the most misunderstood Presidents was, in my opinion, Jimmy Carter. Carter was in office in the late 1970’s. He came to power as the first elected president after Richard Nixon’s team self destructed. (Gerald Ford was the next president after the abdication of Nixon, but he came to power because he was the vice-president.) Carter single term was during one of the most tumultuous times in American history. Worldwide inflation had reached epidemic proportions. The Vietnam War had ended, but its aftermath still gripped the American people. And foreign policy problems had made the average American a target whenever they ventured outside of the North America. This was a time of kidnapping and hostages; finishing with the hostage crisis in Iran at the tail end of Carter’s single term. History looks back at this time in history and sees an American President that simply could not keep up with the task at hand. It was a failed Presidency and, for most of us, I am not sure that it was an event we could recover from.

But for Jimmy Carter, the 1980 election only brought a close to a chapter of his life. The next chapter was only beginning. Consistently Jimmy Carter is ranked among the worst of the Presidents. But he is also ranked among one of the best of the ex-presidents. After his presidency, he became one of clearest voices for peace in our world. In fact, only three sitting presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama, have received the Nobel Prize; Jimmy Carter is unique in that he received the award for his actions after leaving the presidency. When the landslide political rejection happened to Jimmy Carter in 1980, it did not end his life – it only closed the book on a chapter in his life.

Samson led (literally judged) Israel – that is that he ruled over them and protected and avenged them - for twenty years. And he did it with a moderate amount of success. But Samson never finished the job. Unlike Jimmy Carter, but so much like most of us, his success came first. With these words the author closes this chapter on Samson’s life so that he can begin the next chapter; which is the story of his downfall and destruction. But the author seeks to remind us of his success before he tells us of his failure.

Samson led Israel for twenty years. It could have been longer. The job of defending Israel against the Philistines was incomplete at the close of the twenty years – and maybe it did not have to be left that way. But Samson’s pride was about to lure him away from the God that had given him the success in the first place.

And that is the great moral reminder of Samson’s tale. It is a recognition that what is good in our lives and what is successful in our lives never comes from us – but always comes from the God that we seek to serve.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges 16