Strength of Samson

Samson was a man who, by faith in God, stopped the mouth of a lion, waxed valiant in battle, and out of weakness was made strong.  As I observe the life of Samson in the book of Judges, the majority of the time it seems he took the supernatural strength provided by the Holy Spirit for granted.  Without uttering a prayer or making a request to God, the Holy Spirit came mightily upon him, his bonds put up the resistance of ash, and he defeated numerous Philistines.  After he was made weak as any other man, he cried out to God who remembered and strengthened him to fulfil God's purpose to wreak havoc on the Philistines who oppressed Israel.

God's plan and purposes for Samson were revealed when he sought a wife of the Philistines--much to the dismay of his God-fearing parents.  Judges 14:4 says, "But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD--that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel."  For 20 years Samson judged Israel and terrorised the Philistines with his great strength provided by God's grace.  The life of Samson is often criticised for his lack of morality because the Bible presents an unvarnished account of his going into a harlot in Gaza, living with a lover Delilah while unmarried and taking vengeance on the Philistines.  While sin is never justified, Samson's faith in the LORD God is commendable and ought to be emulated.

After much pestering, Samson revealed the secret of his strength to be his hair which had not been cut from his birth in obedience to the LORD.  Delilah betrayed him into the hands of the Philistines by having Samson shaved while he slept.  His hair, however, was not his true source of strength:  it was the Holy Spirit who had strengthened Samson during his life.  When his hair was cut, Samson did not realise the Holy Spirit departed from him.  It is God who is to be praised for the strength and marvelous exploits of Samson--despite his moral failings.  God ought to be glorified for using a crude implement to supply a miraculous deliverance for His people.  After his capture, Samson cried out to God for strength once more to be avenged on his enemies for His eyes, and God graciously did this to fulfil his designs for Samson's life.

Faith in God is what our LORD God requires of us, and our faith ought to be shown by obedience to Him.  We might assume it is God's will for us to walk in victory over evil in this world, yet victory springs from our faith God.  That is how Samson prevailed over the Philistines with foxes, the jawbone of a donkey, and by collapsing the temple of Dagon by muscling up on the supporting pillars:  faith in God.  We can make victory our aim when God desires we would exercise faith in Him.  Walking in victory is the result of faith, for without faith in God we are weak as the most pathetic.  In recognition of our chronic weakness, it is faith in God that makes us strong to endure and prevail--even if it is the last thing we do.

God's Love Up Close

"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." ²² So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ²³ "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

Matthew 1:21-23

The almighty God revealed in the Bible is unique from all other gods and people in how personal He is.  He did not remain unseen and unknown in a place far away but chose to draw near to sinful man in the person of Jesus Christ.  People who fear God in both the Old and New Testament knew God was with them--even when He did not assume any physical form--by the amazing deliverances and salvation He wrought and fulfillment of His promises.  When the virgin Mary gave birth to a son in Bethlehem, God kept His word to visit His people in person and provide peace to all people.

Everyone who met with Jesus during His life on earth experienced God's divine love up close.  Jesus was not content to only become a human being who lived on earth, but He was pleased to do all the dirty work of rubbing shoulders with lost humanity in person.  He discussed matters of the Law with the experts who lacked knowledge of God in truth, and He touched people (even lepers!) when He healed them.  He took a dead girl by the hand and raised her to life!  There are rulers and celebrities today with bodyguards who will not allow themselves to be touched by anyone, but Jesus allowed Himself to be touched as well.  He immersed Himself in the lives of others to show God's love, and ultimately demonstrated it by dying for the sins of the world on Calvary.

The church is referred to in the New Testament as the body of Christ of which Jesus is the Head (1 Cor. 12:27).  Though Jesus ascended alive into heaven 40 days after His resurrection, the church is comprised of born again Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit.  The church is more than Christ's fan club but many members united as a single organism that is divinely ordained and empowered to do God's will until He returns.  It is by fellowship with the church and connection with the lives of Christians where the love of God can still be seen today up close.  Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 3:16 explains because God loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believes in Him will not perish but has eternal life.  While this is powerful and true, we may not always feel like God is personal or close.  Since Christians are united with other believers in the church by faith in Jesus, we have the incredible blessing to see God's love up close through our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We also have the opportunity to be a source of God's love and grace to others because of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.  How blessed we are to be known and loved by Jesus our Saviour, and may all who interact with us realise He lives because of His love up close in us.

Our Awesome God

One awesome quality of God is His sovereignty and immaculate plans only He could possibly conceive and accomplish.  While we try to do our best with our scraps of intelligence and limited ability, He brings into existence what could not be foreseen or predicted.  The birth of Samson is one of those moments in history when God was working to do what His people could not even dream was possible in an unlikely, improbable way.

During their marriage, Manoah and his wife had been unable to have children.  This suggests they desired children, did everything in their power to have a child, but as time wore on they were unsuccessful.  One day the wife of Manoah was met by an angel of the LORD who told her she would have a son who would begin to deliver the children of Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, a people who had oppressed them 40 years.  It is remarkable that Manoah and his wife were well aware of their present inability to even fall pregnant, much less deliver Israel from the Philistines!  Their own personal struggles likely overshadowed the plight of their nation God intended to deliver by their son who was not yet conceived.

Where there was only inability, emptiness and barrenness, God purposed to raise up a deliverer to save His people.  The second time the angel of the LORD appeared Manoah feared they would be struck dead because they had seen God, yet his wife wisely responded in Judges 13:23:  "But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time."  Consider all God has spoken to us in the Bible concerning the future and how to presently order our lives in the way that pleases Him.  God has chosen to allow His redeemed people to remain on earth so His plans, purposes and salvation would be accomplished through us--despite our inability to do anything.

Regardless of our season of life on earth, God reveals enough for us to take the next step of faith in obedience to Him.  We are the overwhelmed and ignorant; we are the helpless and barren, yet God plans to work His wonders, deliverance and salvation through us.  God's answer to our prayers is not only for our sakes but to accomplish His purposes concerning our nation in the years to come.  Praise be to God who only does awesome things, who instructs and prepares us for what we never could have dreamed or foreseen that He will make reality by His grace and goodness.

The Legacy of Glory

"The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools."

Proverbs 3:35

There is a desire in the hearts of men to be well-thought of and long remembered, and this is seen even in lives of self-serving people who did not fear God.  Absalom the son of David could easily be numbered among such people, for 2 Samuel 18:18 tells us:  "Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King's Valley. For he said, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance." He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom's Monument."  The proverb spoken by the wisdom of God proved true, for Absalom's infamous insurrection that ended with his death and being cast into an unmarked grave only brought himself and his memory shame.

A legacy is what a person leaves behind for others, something that imparts a positive or negative impact that remains long after the person is gone.  As Absalom's case demonstrates, both the foolish and wise are considerate of how they will be remembered after their days on earth are brought to an end.  It is a good thing to consider:  will your legacy be one of shame?  What this passage shows us is better than leaving a rich legacy to others is to be one who inherits glory by faith in God.  The wise, whom Jesus identified as those who hear His words and obey them, are God's legacy and inheritance.  When we are born again He chooses to allow us to remain on earth for a season as a testimony of His love and power to save for the benefit of others, and He has also chosen us as His everlasting inheritance in glory.

Whilst Christians can have a bad rap for their imperfections (as if those who criticise are any better), followers of Jesus Christ have many admirable qualities due to our heavenly Father.  The love, grace and goodness of our LORD Jesus covers and cleanses us of our many transgressions and sins, and our God begins to refine us day by day to be more like Him.  How blessed we are by the legacy left behind of godly men and women who expended their lives in faithful service to the LORD day by day, an inspiration that encourages us to press on as they did through many trials, persecutions and troubles.

All have sinned, yet the wise who follow Jesus need not have a legacy of shame as the fools.  Many people have heard the Good News of the Gospel and given it no heed, and in the eternal state they will look back upon their calloused hearts and minds with shame.  People who can recite the Gospel as easily as lyrics from a popular song have not been saved or transformed by the Gospel, and it will not be God or "hypocritical" Christians but only themselves who are to blame.  Those who place their faith in Jesus can be assured of inheriting glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools--regardless how much they accomplish, acquire or leave behind to others.  The world is enriched by Christ more than they know through His legacy of Christians who have died and those still living.  While the world may take Christ for granted, may we live for His glory today.