Samson

Samson

Samson was a Nazirite from his childhood, and he promised to remain a Nazirite. As a Nazirite he was to lead a God-fearing life according to God’s commandments; he was not supposed to drink any strong drink nor cut his hair. For as long as Samson was faithful to his covenant with God, he possessed a heavenly strength, and there was no power that could overcome him. He killed a lion, he slew a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey, he pulled up the gates of the city of Gaza and carried them on his shoulders to the top of a mountain, etc.

The Philistines were always out to kill Samson. One time, three thousand men of Judah were successful in binding him with a new, strong rope. When the Philistines saw that Samson was bound, they were overjoyed and ran to take him prisoner; but the Spirit of the Lord came over Samson, and the ropes around his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and the bonds broke loose from his hands. Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey and killed a thousand men with it. He became very thirsty, so “God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.” Judges 15:9-19.

Nevertheless, one day he revealed the secret of his great strength to Delilah. This was the moment of defeat for Samson, and his seven locks were shaved off his head while he slept. Now the Philistines came again to take him prisoner, but Samson awoke from his sleep and said, “‘I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” Thus Samson was just like any other ordinary man without God’s power. Now the Philistines could do with him as they pleased. They put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza; there they bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

Samson’s fate is a serious lesson, especially for every young person who wants to live wholeheartedly for Christ. Such wholehearted young people are Satan’s worst enemies. It is of the utmost importance for him to stop them at the beginning of their race and destroy their life in God at birth before its abundant power can develop, because this is the power that will one day utterly destroy his kingdom.

However, as long as we remain faithful in our covenant of discipleship with Christ and keep a pure mind, we will be invincible just like Samson was. We possess a heavenly power in our life. If carnal people want to bind us and hinder us in our race, we can break these bonds in the Spirit of Christ like flax that has been burned. If the battle becomes intense, the Lord will even today split His hollow and refresh us with living water so that we will receive new strength to continue to fight bravely. The Lord will mightily strengthen those whose hearts are wholly for Him.

However, if we depart from this purity of heart and cease to be faithful, then the Lord’s power will also depart from us, and we will be just ordinary people without divine strength who will easily fall prey to all kinds of spirit powers. When the enemy comes, it is useless to rely on our previous victories and think like Samson that we are going to win this time as well. No one can go against Satan’s mighty power unless he possesses God’s power in his life, and we possess this power only in relation to the purity of our heart and our faithfulness. It doesn’t help to be brave and to flex our muscles and grit our teeth in the battle against sin. We need a different kind of strength to overcome sin.

Many people have shared Samson’s fate. The Lord’s power has departed from them because of their unfaithfulness, and they have lost their clear, spiritual vision. Many such people sit like prisoners in the assemblies of the dead. They are bound to their denominations with thick ropes, and their job is to grind. In other words, they perform a great deal of religious work, but it is all dead works because they possess neither God’s power nor a spiritual vision. They are spiritually blind and do not see all the religious folly and harlotry in which they are engaged.

May God preserve every one of us from such a fate. May we preserve the simple faithfulness and purity of heart toward Christ. Then God’s power will dwell and increase in us, and our spiritual vision will become increasingly clearer. We will be invincible and will increasingly be able to see through all lying and hypocrisy; we will learn to separate the vile from the noble and to put them in their rightful place.