The Strongest of Weak Men

A man was needed, once upon a time, to contribute toward the solution for the problem of human rights; Stephen Lanton appeared with the Magna Carta in hand. A man was needed again to vindicate the freedom of individual conscience; out of the monastery of Wittenberg came Martin Luther, unbinding his rosary and preparing to nail the thunderbolts of the Reformation to the chapel door. A man was needed to break the chains of Jewish isolationism and bring the gospel to the Gentile world; out of a lightening encounter on the Damascus Road emerged Paul, a persecutor who became a proclaimer of the "good new" available to all people of all nations. So, times and men come together by divine ordinance. The clock strikes, and someone answers, "Here am I!"

The Children of Israel had taken possession of the Land of Promise. Sadly, the settling was quickly followed by apostasy. S now the glory had departed from Israel. ON every hand were altar fires in honor of Baal. Up from the southern plains came the Philistines in their war chariots, devastating the fields and plundering the villages. The banners of God's people were trailed in the dust. The Ark of the Covenant had been carried away into exile. Was there no man to save? If man's extremity is God's opportunity, surely the hour had come. Where was the man?

In the house of Manoah at Zorah, just then a child was to be born of whom it was said,

Judges 13:5 NKJV

For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

His parents chose the name Samson which means "sunshine" and intimated a joyous parental welcome, a divine benediction, and a glorious outlook. If we follow Samson through the years, we will learn the lessons of power: its secret, its loss, and its recovery.

The Secret of Power

Samson's mission had been set forth in the annunciation of his birth; to wit, as in 13:7 he should "begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of th Philistines." This was "the reason of his life." There is no life without a reason, though many, failing to discover this, live and die unreasonable. Our power is measured by our loyalty tot he divine purpose concerning us.

This child was to be set apart from his birth as a Nazarite. The word means "separated." the Nazarites were persons who regarded themselves as divinely called to special tasks and who shaped their lives accordingly. They were pledged to put down every personal feeling and ambition in the interest of their vow. The badge of this austere brotherhood was their unshorn hair, which hung over their shoulders in seven braided locks.

Samson's physical strength was a supernatural gift for a definite end. His sturdy limbs, broad shoulders, and muscles like twisted cords were the special equipment for his appointed work. IN his youth, he encountered a lion and ripped it jaws completely apart as easy as if it had been a baby goat. This was just a preview of larger deeds of prowess later on, as when he lifted the gates of Gaza from their hinges and carried them away on his shoulders in grim derision to a neighboring hilltop, laughing back at them "See how your bars and bolts restrain me!" Later, when he met the enemy at Lehi, he single handedly smote them hip and thigh with the jawbone of ass or donkey. He rejoiced in the slaughter afterward. Was there any wonder that the Philistines wanted Samson controlled.

His endowment was more than physical, as it is written that "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him" Judg 15:14 The spirit came mightily upon him or rushed upon him the ESV says. What does that mean? It means that Samson's physical equipment was practically useless save it it should be used in fulfillment of his vow. His unshorn locks were a visible reminder of his remembered duty. Let him, forget and he would be as weak, no weaker than other men.

Why are we Living? Is it merely to eat and drink? Or our lives related in some way to God's great plan? If we ignore the constraints of the Holy Spirit and lose sight of God's plan for our lives, we will drift away form God and loose our power just as Samson did.

The Loss of Power

The fall of a soul into moral debility is usually a process of gradual decline. How dies it happen? The book Prophets and Kings portrays the process graphically:

Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 41—Apostasy at the Jordan

A long preparatory process, unknown to the world, goes on in the heart before the Christian commits open sin. The mind does not come down at once from purity and holiness to depravity, corruption, and crime.

In Samson's case, it began with a certain journey down to Timnath. He had seen there a woman of the daughters of the Philistines and was captivated by her fair face. His temptations came in at eye-gate. IN vain did his parents remonstrate,

Judges 14:3 NKJV

Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”

All he could see was that he desired her. Get her for me, she pleases me well!

A. The beginning of the decent from strength to weakness is in self-will. The road to Timnath leads away from consecration, away from power, away from God. Once and again the strong man made that journey, always a little further from the serous business of his life. We have been warned

Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 54—Samson

To all who seek first to honor Him, God has promised wisdom; but there is no promise to those who are bent upon self-pleasing.

B. The snare of distractions from our mission. The end of self-will is surrender. Our safety is in hewing the line. And yet, here we are in a world absorbed in the latest fashions and celebrity sightings, charmed by the music on iTunes, engrossed in our favorite TV shows, or maybe mingling with the self-seeking crowd and we have to be very careful that we aren't losing ourselves in sordid worldly cares. Meanwhile, what of the purpose of life and what of our message? The world is waiting in darkness, waiting for a message of hope. Mrs. White asks in the book Christian Service, "Why are we so indifferent, so selfish, so engrossed to temporal interests ... Men and women are ready to do anything to indulge self, and how little are they willing to do for Jesus, and for there fellow men who are perishing for the want of the truth."

The story of Samson's fall is full of warning. He laid his head in the lap of Delilah and rose up shaved of his God given strength. But it didn't happen all at once.

Judges 16:6–20 NKJV

So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.” And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.” So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread. Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”— So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom. Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he 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.

Look at how he played with the symbol of his calling.

There is the sorrow of it: The most insidious diseases are those that give no pain. Their victims, in the midst of business or pleasure, swoon and are gone. This brings us to the last step that brought Samson down.

c. The snare of a stifled conscience. A sin indulged creeps like an ambushing assassin, nearer and nearer to the center of life. Mrs White observes

Testimonies for the Church, Volume 4 Chapter 8—The Testing Process

Men may have excellent gifts, good ability, splendid qualifications; but one defect, one secret sin indulged, will prove to the character what the worm-eaten plank does to the ship—utter disaster and ruin!

It would doe us well to evaluate our lives to make sure that this not happening to us.

In Moscow, inside the Kremlin, is the world's largest bell. It is 18 feet high and weighs more than 200 tons. But its toll has never been heard. The czar who had it built never heard it ring. During its casting, as the hot metal was poring into its mold a fire broke out in the factory. In the process of extinguishing the fire, a small amount of water entered the mold. When the mold was removed, the metal was cracked, and the bell was ruined forever. One trickle of water was all it took to silence the bell's powerful voice that was meant to sing. What about the fine edge of our moral sense? Is our conscience, once as sensitive as the palm of a child's hand, now seared as with a hot iron? If these are going on, they are ominous signs of spiritual decline. The christian can start out in the beginning with a determination to be strong, but if we play with sin, we become weak like other men.

The Recovery of Power

Judges 16:21–31 NKJV

Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!” When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, And the one who multiplied our dead.” So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.

The man who had forgotten his vow, ignored his duty, and denied his Lord yet had and opportunity for grace.

In the prison house of Gaza Samson sits, the champion of Israel, grinding like a woman at the mill. His eyes are gone and people walk by and make sport of him. Fair women of Philistia walk by but he can not see them. No more temptation for these eyes. But as he sits he remembers. He begins to out things in the right perspective. Lets look at the 3 steps to Samson's recovery of power.

A. Remembrance and Repentance. He recalls the prophecy of his birth "He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines" He bemoans his wasted strength, his abuse of privilege. He is alone in the surging crowd, alone with God. He repents, bitterly and whole heartedly repents. O, that he might prove himself a Nazarite again before he dies! But there is more to repentance than sorrow for sin. It is always accompanied by;

B. A Renewal of Loyalty. His enemies had not perceived that his locks were growing again. They had been growing as he returned to the Lord. His affliction was not in vain. IN the secret place of penitent sorrow, he renews his vow and his loyalty to God. But more than loyalty there is:

C. A Revival of Consecration. The closing scene is both pathetic and wondrous all at the same time.

The festival of Dagon is at hand. The Philistines are gathering to offer a great sacrifice to their god. The blind giant of Israel is brought into the temple so that everyone can behold their ultimate achievement. He bears their mockery in silence; the Spirit of God is again striving with him. His heart is no longer in the past; in this fierce hour he renews his consecration. He will yet, with God's help, "begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines."He hears all the people gathering, thousands and thousands. The galleries are full. His time to take a stand for God has come one more time. He stretches his arms and hands out and feels the great pillars. The muscles in his iron frame tense and he lifts up his scarred face toward heaven and state

Judges 16:28 NKJV

Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”

There is a trembling of pillars, a momentary hush, then cries of the fear-stricken and dying as with an explosive crash the temple falls burying the blind captive and his persecutors. IF everyone would return to God as Samson did what a different world we would have.

Conclusion

In closing, lets look at Hebrews Chap 11 starting with vs 32.

Hebrews 11:32–34 NKJV

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

By this, we are given to understand that faith is the measure of power. And what is faith but the vital touch of a soul by God.

It is faith that holds us fast to duty, brings us back from wandering, and makes all things possible for us. We are strong only when we are weak, because then the power of God rests upon us.

The beginning of power is when we find our mission, when, like Saul of Tarsus, we look in the face of Jesus and ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" The loss of power occurs when we turn aside from he path of duty to do down to Timnath. He who walks in faith will shun that road. Listen to this poets words:

"An' O be sure to fear the Lord always

An' mind your duty duly morn an' night!

Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray,

Implore His counsel an' assisting might

They never seek in vain who seek the Lord aright."

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