Obeying the Calling
I want to go back to a time over a thousand years BC, to the tribe of Dan. A time, after the great leaders of Moses and Joshua, and before the succession of kings. It is the Dark ages of Israel’s history. There is no succession of godly leaders:
Judges 21:25
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
The Nation was in disunity, with each of the twelve tribes moving further apart. Their fervour for God was ebbing away and each time it did God would allow an enemy to come and conquer Israel. In their despair they would cry out to God and he would rise up a leader to conquer the enemy. This time the situation was getting serious. The Philistines had come and had ruled over them for the past 40 years. The Philistines were uncircumcised and followed foreign Gods. This is the situation the Israelites found themselves in, but this time they had moved so far away from God that they hadn’t even called on his name for help. But God had decided to act. In his Mercy He could no longer stand to see His people imprisoned, even if it was their fault. God had decided to raise up a man who was going to set them free. This man was Samson.
Samson was very representative of the state of Israel at the time. When things were going well he would forget the destiny that God had for him and turn away to his natural desires. Israel turned to their foreign Gods, while Samson turned to the foreign women. God would then allow the enemy to take Samson captive until he came to the state where he would cry out to Him again. God would hear his cries and give him the victory. If we are honest this not only represents Israel, but also the church and even our own hearts. We only seem to cry to God when we have a need. Help us Lord to be faithful in the good times also. Yet Samson, despite his human tendencies, is described in Hebrews 11:32 as one of the great hero’s of Faith, and so I want to look at who he was, and what exactly he did. He is also one of the forerunners to Christ, and so I want to compare their to lives.
Called for a purpose:
Samson
Judges 13:1
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD
delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2: A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had
a wife who was sterile and remained childless.
3: The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and
childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.
4:Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you
do not eat anything unclean,
5:because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used
on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth,
and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."
Samson was chosen to fulfil his destiny before he was even born. Like many of the other great men of God even his birth was miraculous. Samson would have known that his purpose was to defeat the Philistines and free Israel from their oppression. He was to be a Nazirite, totally dedicated and separated to God. A Nazirite vow was normally voluntary and for a limited period, and yet here we see Samson being chosen by God as a Nazirite for all of his life.
How closely did Samson obey his calling? In Numbers 6 it shows that a person who has taken the vow should not have their hair cut, should not come into a contact with a corpse, and should not drink any wine. The only one that Samson took seriously was not having his haircut, he even took honey out from the corpse of a dead lion. How often do we pick and chose those of Gods commands that we wish to follow. When it comes to fighting the Philistines, Samson’s record was even worse, instead of going after their armies with the sword, he went after their women with a lustful eye. We have to be careful that we are not fraternising with sin and the enemies to our spiritual walk with God.
Jesus
Jesus was also called to a destiny. He was called to destroy the powers of sin and death. His purpose was prophesied in Isaiah 53. Like Samson we read of a miraculous birth. But where as Samson’s parents had been trying for children but were baron, this birth was an even greater miracle, as Mary was still a virgin.
Where as Samson put little importance upon his calling and simply wanted to be like other men, Jesus took the mantle and he ran with it. He did this even though he knew what his Father had install for him.
Isaiah 53:10
Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Samson never had this excuse as he would have simply known that his purpose was to defeat the Philistines. Jesus knew he had to suffer and still in Matthew 26:39 said "Not as I will but as you will".
Fought the Enemy:
Samson
Samson needed a little persuasion to fight the enemy. Firstly God had to get him into the battlefield. Because Samson wasn’t going to go their voluntarily, God allowed Samson’s own lustful desires to position him in the centre of his enemy. Firstly he went after an unnamed Philistine woman, and after a bit of a bad wedding, he ended up killing 30 Philistine men. Further more after discovering his wife had been given to somebody else he destroyed their harvest. This led to a succession of battles, and on one occasion he destroyed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. When God empowers you to do something, whatever you have available can become a powerful weapon. Samson didn’t wait for a sword or a spear, he simple went into battle and won the victory. Sometimes Christians can know God has a ministry for their lives, and yet they feel that they have to wait until they are more confident or more fluent speakers. You can often miss the opportunity.
Jesus
Jesus was continually in the thick of the battle throughout his life. But unlike Samson Jesus was there out of choice and obedience to God. Not only did Jesus raise people from the dead, heal the sick, and cast out demons, but he also demonstrated that he had the authority to forgive those that society had rejected. All this went against the teachings of the Pharisees and religious leaders, who should have welcomed Jesus a fulfilment of scripture, but instead hated him for exposing their hypocrisies. We have to realise, that to follow the Lords will means that we are in a continual battle against the Satanic powers of this world.
Betrayed by his own:
Samson
Samson knew what it was like to be betrayed by those close to him and handed into enemy hands. Firstly in Judges 15:9-13 we read about Samson being handed over by the men of Judah. Samson had escaped into a people that should have been friendly to him. Judah the biggest and most powerful of the tribes of Israel and the one from whom David and then Jesus himself eventually came. This was a tribe that at the beginning of this book had bravely led the fight against the Canaanites, and yet here while under Philistine attack we see them quickly hand over Samson rather than disturb their peaceful existence and fight for one of their own. We have to be careful in our Christian walk to not get complacent and weary of the fight not defending those that we should care for because the fight seems to difficult. If you start praying for your loved ones then you are going to come under attack. Are you willing to stand and fight, or when trouble comes are you just going to be handing them over to the enemy.
Next Samson was handed over by the person closest to his heart, Delilah. Samson would have been familiar with the pain of betrayal, we have to make sure that our trust is in nobody but God first. If Samson had been with the right woman he wouldn’t have had that problem. We have to be careful of ungodly relationships.
Jesus
Jesus felt betrayal at all levels. The same people who had been singing his praises as he entered Jerusalem, were condemning him to death the following week. He was handed over to be killed by one of his own disciples, and Peter who had shown more faith in Jesus than anybody up to this time, in His hour of need, denied that he even knew Him. This being only a few hours after Peter had said that he would follow Jesus even to death. To top it all, as he hung in agony on the cross, even God had to look away, leaving Jesus to cry out:
Matthew 27:46
..."Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" - which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
If you ever feel betrayed, look to Jesus, as He knows exactly how your feeling.
Conquered through Death:
Samson
Samson was eventually captured by his enemy after he had turned away from God by revealing to Delilah the secret of his power. He had his eyes plucked out and was made to grind at the mill in prison. It seems that it was only after he was physically blind that he became spiritually able to see and have the real desire for Gods will. While we are looking at our physical desires, our spiritual destiny can go out of the window. While in this state, the bible states that Samson’s hair began to grow, a symbol that God was once again with him. His enemies were ridiculing Samson and decided to put him on show, not realising that he was about to win his greatest victory. Samson destroyed the building killing both himself and the Philistines.
Judges 16:30
Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
It was through Samson’s death that he was to set his people tree.
Jesus
Jesus also gained His greatest victory during his death. Like Samson, while Jesus hung on the Cross, His enemies ridiculed him, not realising that he was about to win his greatest victory. If we read on from our previous verse in Isaiah we read this:
Isaiah 53:11
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Because of Jesus’ death He is able to bear our sins and open the way for us to enter heaven.
Conclusion:
When we look at the lives of Samson and Jesus we have seen that they had many parallels, but where Samson failed Jesus was able to demonstrate the right way. Even through his failings Samson did perform Gods will, even if it was mainly done through disobedience, anger and revenge. Jesus on the other hand followed God’s will through obedience, faith and love. That is why Samson’s victory was only for a time. The Israelites would have many more battles with the Philistines, David and Goliath to name but one. Jesus’ victory however means that we can have permanent victory over sin and death if we choose Him as a leader.
There is just one more parallel I want to draw from Samson’s life, and that is the killing of the lion. In chapter 13 of Judges, we read bout the story of Samson killing the lion that attacked him as he made his way to Timnah. A few days later Samson passes that way again to find the dead carcass of the lion. In that heat it would have been rotten, smelly and full of maggots. Yet Samson doesn’t notice this, instead he sees that a swarm of bees have made some honey inside the carcass. He tastes it and sees that it is good, taking it home and even giving some to his parents. Samson doesn’t tell them where it has come from.
In the same way when Jesus died on the cross he destroyed the Devil and the powers of sin and death, which the bible, in 1 Peter 5:8, describes as being like a roaring lion. As our sin in our lives is like the rotting carcass, Jesus is able to save our souls as he scrapes us away from the fleshly nature. Not only does Jesus decide that we are then good but he takes us home and gives us to the Father without even a mention of the rotten carcass from which we came.
Jesus is able to save you from the sin. Sometimes we try and pretend its not there, but the stench that it creates always gives us away. We need to be like that sweet tasting honey so that he can take us home and show us to the father. It is only by repentance and following Jesus that we can become sweet honey, which is when we inherit eternal life.
