Discover The Word

Thursday, November 22, 2007

“What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets” (Hebrews 11:32).

IDEA: What we call a person or a story has a great deal to do with how we think about that person or story.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand the true drama in the story of Samson.

Does it surprise you that the story of Samson has been made into both a motion picture (in 1949 by Cecil B. DeMille and in 1984 for TV) and an opera (by Saints-Saens)?

Why?

I. What is there about the story of Samson and Delilah that makes it strong drama?

The title Samson and Delilah points to the elements that most movies are made of. It has a blend of power, love, sex, violence, and treachery.

It’s not the kind of thing you’d think would be in the Bible at all.

The story has conflict. If you were to describe the conflict, what does it consist of?

Is it the conflict of Samson against the Philistines?

Is it the conflict between Samson and Delilah?

Is it the conflict of Samson and Samson?

Is it the conflict of Samson and God?

II. The movies and the opera are called Samson and Delilah.

Does what you call a story make a difference in how you think about the story?

What do you think the biblical writer might have called it?

Conclusion:

Do you think that what applies to stories may also apply to people?