Strength

Relying on God’s Strength to Master Sin (Judges 16:4-5, 17, 19-22, 28-30) Consecrated/Dedicated/Set Apart for God Before his birth Samson was chosen by God to be consecrated/dedicated/set apart for God, as a Nazarite. (Judges 13:4-5, Num. 6:1-6) (Nazir means unpruned and comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for crown) In token of his consecration, a Nazerite: 1. was to drink no wine, to show that he could derive joy from the Holy Spirit instead of from wine; (Eph. 5:18) 2. was to allow his hair to grow, untouched by a razor, as an outward, crowning sign of holiness and dedication and because long hair was commonly viewed as a sign of weakness or submissiveness, and he was to be a living demonstration of God’s strength made perfect in human weakness; (2 Cor. 12:910, 13:9, Heb. 11:34) 3. was to abstain from going near dead bodies to show that he was a clean, unblemished sacrifice and to show that he was not dependent upon dead flesh for sustenance, but instead was dependent wholly upon God. (The scriptures do not specifically say that this requirement applied to Samson, so he may not have been in violation of his consecration when he came into contact with the dead bodies of the lion (Judges 14:5-9) and of the Philistines that he killed (Judges 15:8)) We, as believers in Christ, have likewise been chosen by God and consecrated/dedicated/set apart for God. (Deut. 7:6, Acts 22:14, Eph. 1:3-5, 2 Th. 2:13, 1 Pe. 2:4) As with Samson, God knows each of us completely and intimately. He knew what we would be like before we were even conceived and He has a good purpose for which he formed us and caused us to be born. (Psalm 139:1-16, Jer. 1:5, Jer. 29:11, Eph. 2:10) Perhaps God places restrictions in our lives to teach us to want different things than we otherwise would. We are being taught to become aware of unseen realities, to long for heaven, to care more about the presence and peace of God in our lives than worldly gains. Perhaps He makes it hard on us precisely to teach us that the things we keep reaching for aren't worth having. Satan/Sin seeks mastery over us God warned Cain, “If you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door; and its desire is to master you, but you must master it.” Cain didn’t listen. The sins of jealousy and anger mastered him, and he killed his brother. (Gen. 4:7-8) Samson was far from a model of piety. He sinned in many ways, in disobedience, deceit, pride, uncontrolled lust (Judges 16:1-3) and fits of rage. He did this despite the fact that he knew God’s law, having the first five books of Moses, despite the fact that he served successfully 20 years as a judge in Israel (Judges 15:20) and despite the fact that he was often cautioned or corrected by those who loved and cared about him. (Judges 14:3) God allowed Samson, in his free will, to sin, as he allows us to sin. Samson liked taking chances, living on edge. He played with Delilah/sin like a cat plays with a mouse. He went to Delilah and he had three chances to get out, but didn’t. Likewise, we sometimes get involved in sin and because there is no thunder and lightning, we think we have gotten away with something. We haven’t. God is just seeing what we really want. He may bail us out for a period, but at some point, He stops. He lets us do as we chose. God is a loving God and he will warn us through his Word, he will warn us through his Holy Spirit, and he will warn us through those who love us. But if sin is what we want, he will allow us to have it. God doesn't produce puppets. Like Samson’s wife (Judges 14:16-17) and like Delilah (Judges 16:6-16), sin/Satan is persistent. It will keep trying us, especially if we draw near to it, like Samson did.

Where is the harm in a little sinning for a “saved” person? It's very embarrassing to be in sin and to try and share Christ with others at the same time. Have you noticed that? Sin, in particular, immorality, gives our enemies a chance to mock us and God (Judges 16:21-25) and it sets a poor, and potentially fatal, example for others, including our children. It desensitizes us. It makes us less capable of giving and more insistent on getting, to the point that we're not able to understand that in our desire to use another, we're very likely to get used in return, like Delilah used Samson. As believers, we have access to God’s unlimited and everlasting power, through the free, undeserved and loving gift of His Holy Spirit. With that power we can resist and master sin God endowed Samson with supernatural strength through His Holy Spirit (Judges 13:25, 14:6, 19) It was not Samson’s long hair that made him strong; but the consecration that that hair symbolized. By the time Delilah shaved his head, Samson had drifted so far away from depending on God, and so far into a mindset of arrogant self-reliance, that he didn’t even realize what he had lost. (Judges 16:20) It is critical that we have a relationship with God that is founded upon trust in His strength and not our own. When the Spirit of God moved him, there was no task Samson could not accomplish, but left on his own resources, he was easily overcome and humiliated. The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, they bound him and they imprisoned him. All these are pictures of what happens when sin masters us. It blinds us, it binds us, and it holds us captive. We can trust in God’s strength because it is everlasting (Isa. 26:4) We receive God’s power when we receive his Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) Having been made free from the law by grace, through salvation, we can and should resist sin (Rom. 6:12-14, 1 John 4:4) If we seek to increase our knowledge of God and to walk in his ways we will be made powerful with all power to the full extent of God’s might to endure long-suffering with joy (1 Chron. 16:11, Psalm 31:34, 105:4, Col. 1:9-12, Eph 6:10) As God’s people we are blessed with all the supernatural strength of the Lord that works in our behalf, if we will only humble ourselves enough to receive it. When we learn to see God as the source of strength and rely upon Him for direction, He not only can use our existing strengths, but He also can give us the strength and ability we lack. (Psalm 29:11, 73:26, 68:35) What must we do? Despite his failings, Samson is honored in the Scriptures as a man of faith (Heb. 11:32) Why? Because God sees him as a man of faith. God judges a man based on what he finds in his heart, not by his outward appearance, activities or circumstances.(1 Sam.16:7, Matt. 23:27, John 7:24, 2 Cor. 5:12, 1 Pe. 1:24) Samson cried out to God and said, "God, remember me" and God remembered him. (Judges 16:28) God does not abandon us. He continues to love and care for us despite our sin. Then Samson said, "Lord, please strengthen me," because he remembered where true strength comes from. (Judges 16:28) We must do likewise. We must confess our sin to God and repent of it and then ask for His strength to overcome/resist it.