Lord please keep us close to your heart!
Judges 16:20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.”
But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
In some ways it brings me no joy in writing about Samson. God wanted to do so much through him, but he ended up throwing it all away and even bringing disgrace to the Lord and his calling. Before his birth or even before he was conceived, God wanted to use him to set Israel free of the attacks the Philistines had been bringing on Israel for forty years. God had sent an angel to Samson’s parents to tell them that they would have a child that would be a Nazirite from birth, and that even before his birth his mother should live as a Nazirite until his birth.
As a rule becoming a Nazirite was voluntarily and for a specific time. It could be as short as 30 days or even for a lifetime as it was supposed to be for Samson. In Samson’s case he was called by God, but a father could do it for a son. Usually it was done by the person that wanted to be a Nazirite. It could also be stopped if need be. It did have several things that needed to be done to fulfill the vow. The Nazirite was defined as one that was separated or consecrated for the Lord. It could be done by a male or female. If it was done by a female it had to come at the approval of the father or husband. The person had to abstain from wine, any fermented drink,or grape products. They could not cut their hair, or go near something that was dead as to make the person unclean for worship. To complete their vow they needed to immerse in a mikveh, offer a lamb, ewe, ram, grain, unleavened bread and a drink offering. Then they were to cut their hair and burn it on the altar of the temple. Today this vow is seldom done by Jews, because they do not have a temple to offer their sacrifices as well as their hair on.
If you have read the story of Samson in Judges chapters 13-16 you will have seen that Samson not only didn’t take his Nazirite vow seriously, but he deliberately broke all the rules. He not only touched the dead carcass of a lion, but he ate honey that was taken from it. He even gave some of it to his parents to eat, and didn’t even tell them where the honey had come from. He not only drank wine, but got drunk. He broke God’s laws by wanting to marry a non-Jew. He went to a prostitute, and broke other moral laws of God. While God was very patient with Samson and continued to give him supernatural strength, God’s patience would not last forever. When Samson told Delilah that his strength was in his hair and she cut it off that ended the vow that was made for him. Samson’s last act of rebellion against God brought about a separation from God where God removed his Spirit from him. And because Samson had lived so rebellious against the Lord, he didn’t even realize the Spirit of the Lord had left him. Samson had crossed the line, and he had to pay the price.
We have all sinned and fallen short the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) We still can’t be perfect as God is perfect without sin even after we become a Christian. As hard as we may try and as much as we want to never sin, we find ourselves doing what we do not want to do just a the apostle Paul says of himself. (Rom 7:5-20) But because of the great price Jesus paid for us to have forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with God, we can not continue in willful sin and disobedience against God as Samson did. Romans 8:12-16 says, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave gain to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship.” In some ways this is a call similar to the Nazirite vow of separation or consecration of a Christian’s life to Jesus. I don’t think that God is calling us to a true separation from non-Christians as some groups like the Shakers or other groups have. If we do this, how will we become an inspiration for non-Christians to want to become Christian. We are call to live in the world, but not be like the world. Jesus even says as much as he prayed for all his disciples in the garden before his going to the cross. (John 17:15) When a Christian starts going down the slippery slope of returning to the things of the world they will find themselves to become numb to their condition and go deeper back into sin, and eventually find themselves like Samson. Sad to say many will wake up to find the Spirit of God gone from them. God’s patience will not last forever, and God will not be mocked. (Gal 6:7) While we can not earn our salvation, we can certainly throw it away!
After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba he said in Psalm 51:11, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” David was a man after God’s own heart, but even he knew he had been walking on dangerous ground. As Christians we will not live a perfect sinless life here on earth. We are still walking in the weakness of our humanity, but we must be ever mindful of the traps and snares that Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world has for those who walk in areas of sin. God will always respect our free will after we become a Christian and even go to heaven. Without our free will, we an never love God as he wants us to be able to do. But with that same free will, we can also turn from the Lord and like Samson could find ourselves far from God and his salvation by turning from our calling.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please keep us close to your heart! We are weak and so prone to falling into sin. It our hearts desire to be holy, and not bring you disgrace or discourage others from loving you either. Please have mercy and patience. We ask this in your name Lord Jesus.
