Samson: Strength Without Surrender. Samson is perhaps Israel’s most famous judge—and its most conflicted. He is a man of supernatural strength and spiritual weakness, a Nazirite consecrated to God yet continually drawn to the world. His story is not about muscles—it’s about mission. Samson shows that the Spirit’s empowerment is no substitute for obedience, and that even the strongest man falls when he stops surrendering.

Every Man Did What Was Right in His Own Eyes: The Rise and Fall of the Judges. The book of Judges is one of the darkest chapters in Israel’s story. It begins with conquest and ends with chaos. God’s chosen people, once united under Joshua, descend into moral and spiritual decay. The refrain that defines the era is chillingly modern: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25, NASB).

Book of Judges Summary: The Cycle of Collapse and the Mercy of God. Judges is not a kids’ storybook—no matter how many Sunday school flannelgraphs made it look safe. It’s violent. It’s messy. It’s tragic. And it shows what happens when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Spoiler alert: things fall apart.