over to be near Samson in these final moments.
Samson, meanwhile, is behaving strangely. He seems to be caressing the stone on which he rests. He's even talking to the stone. "Lord God," he whispers, "if I am Yours, remember me and strengthen me once more so that I may have my revenge."
Abimilech overhears Samson's prayer and leans his face close to Samson's.
"Haven't you forgotten, Samson? Your hair has gone. You have broken your pact with your God, and now He has abandoned you."
"It wasn't God who took my eyes," Samson fires back. "It was you. But I'm glad you did what you did. The dark has helped me think."
Abimilech has never heard such foolishness. "Your God has deserted you and taken your strength with Him," he scoffs.
A look of complete serenity crosses Samson's face. "No. You're wrong. I can see Him more clearly than ever."
"Really. And what is He saying?"
Samson leans hard into the pillar, suddenly pushing on it with all his might.
He closes his eyes and prays a last prayer to God. "Lord, remember me.
Please God, strengthen me. Just this once. I pray that I am avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."
Abimilech shakes his head as he watches Samson pray. "It's over, Samson.
I've won. Don't you see that?"
But then Abimilech feels a sting as something hard slaps his hand. He looks down and sees shards of fine stone. Then a cloud of dust seems to lower itself from the ceiling. A disbelieving Abimilech swivels his view back to Samson, whose entire body is flexed as he leans into the pillar like a desert wanderer leaning into a stiff desert wind. The muscles of Samson's back and shoulders ripple; his legs, pushing so hard into the stone, are coiled and taut.
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Fear sweeps through Abimilech. This can't be happening. Those locks were shorn. Samson's power should be gone. And then Abimilech realizes the truth: Samson's hair has grown back, but it was never the entire source of his power. It comes from God. Those great locks were just a daily visual reminder of Samson's pact with God.
The power comes from God. The God of the Israelites. And it always has.
Screams echo through the chamber. Philistine guards throw themselves at Samson, desperate to pull him from the pillar, but he swats them away like gnats. The roof begins to cave as great sections fall to the floor, crushing dozens at a time. Delilah is among them. Her mangled body lies in the rubble. The bones of her face are destroyed. Those curves that once enchanted Samson are now but a memory. All that silver cannot buy back her life.
Samson finishes what he started. The pillar topples, and finally Samson can stop pushing. He stands and smiles, nearly invisible in the dust and ruin. All around him the temple is collapsing, and he knows that his time has come.
"Lord," he says in surrender. "I am Yours. Let me die with the Philistines."
God answers this prayer. The entire temple is destroyed.
But Samson's victory is short-lived. The Philistines continue to wage war on the Israelite people. In the midst of this mayhem, the God of Abraham, for the first time in history, sends a holy man, a prophet. God will reveal the future of the Israelites to this man, Samuel. Not only will he deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, but he will also become their greatest spiritual leader since
Moses.
It has been many years since God has spoken to His people. Again God chooses Hannah--a righteous, barren woman--as his vessel. God
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answers her prayer for a son, whom she names Samuel, which means "He hears God."
When Samuel is fifty years old, he stands at a sacrificial site atop Mount Mizpah, surrounded by priests and elders. His hair is long and his beard is turning gray. The day has been a disaster for the Israelites, as Philistine soldiers have cut down entire Israelite families on the slopes of this rocky mountain. Even as Samuel now stands at its summit, a new battle rages below. The Israelite fortifications are weak, and though their army does their best to repulse the Philistines, the odds of them holding on for one more hour are slim. It is up to Samuel to save the day, because he is a man of faith. He chooses to wage war by calling on God.
"We must make a sacrifice," Samuel tells the gathering of men. "Where warriors fail, God will triumph." Samuel places a handful of dried twigs on top of a large