Questions for the Week

1.  Why might it have been so easy for Israel to return to sin after the death of a judge, knowing that each previous choice to do so led to years of oppression? How does Israel’s predisposition toward sin contrast with Manoah’s response of TWO offerings (one for sin and one in worship)?

2. How do you handle a child or friend that is adamant about doing something foolish (as Samson    was with the Philistine girl he wanted to marry)? When have you gone to someone older for     wisdom and they saved you from making a bad choice? What would have happened if you had     “done what was right in your own eyes”?

3. If you were writing the story of how God would use Samson to save/redeem Israel (Judges 13-16),    how would YOU write it? What would you have changed/added? What does the way it actually     played out have to say about how GOD writes redemption stories? How does God’s grace toward     Samson at his end foreshadow Jesus’ grace through the Cross?