Again, the Israelites were disobedient to God, so He delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. Near the end of that time an angel of the Lord appeared to a childless couple and informed them that they would have a baby; and the baby would be special because he would grow up to take the lead in delivering the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines.
In time, the parents of Samson became frustrated when he expressed an interest in a Philistine woman. They didn’t know this was part of God’s plan to arrange a confrontation with the Philistines. During the twenty years that Samson led the Israelites, the Spirit of God empowered Samson on a number of occasions to inflict casualties on the Philistines. The final confrontation occurred at his death when he destroyed the temple of their god, with about three thousand Philistine casualties. [Reflection based on the Bible Reference – Judges 14:1-16:30]