Hope Beyond Despair: Finding Truth After A Loved One’s SuicideSample

Suicide is an age-old mode of death; people have been killing themselves for years. Scripture records six suicides and one attempted suicide (Acts 16:25-34): 1) Samson, 2) Saul, 3) Saul’s armor bearer, 4) Ahithophel, 5) Zimri, and 6) Judas Iscariot. (Some people say that Abimelech died by suicide. If you read Judges 9 you will see his death was not at his own hands.)

Some of these men were husbands who left behind grieving wives. Others were fathers, whose children were devastated by their loss. Undoubtedly, each of these men had family members and friends who mourned and grieved their deaths and the tragic way in which they died. Let’s examine their stories over the next six days. Then we will look at eight lies we might be tempted to believe in a suicide situation. 

Today we will read about Samson, son of Manoah. Samson’s suicide was an act of vengeance on his enemies as well as a release from his horrific suffering in captivity.