ADVENTURES OF SAMSON: SOME FACTS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Adventures Of Samson
a) We continue in the time of the Judges and the Conquest of Canaan.
b) No matter how far people stray from God, he is still reaching out to them. No matter how weak they become, he still credits what faith they retain. No matter how unworthy they may be, he still uses them as instruments of his will. No matter how wrongly they act, he still acts justly toward them, hoping they will return to him.
2. Some Facts
a) Samson was the last judge except for Samuel
i) For twenty years Samson judged Israel, at a time when Israel was "in the hands of the Philistines" (Judges 13:1). He was born into a "family of the Danites" (Judges 13:2). The tribe of Daniel was one to whom a territory "had not yet fallen" so they were an unsettled people (Judges 18:1). This, incidentally, is symbolic of us. We are "sojourners and pilgrims" in this wicked world, waiting for the inheritance of heaven (1 Peter 2:9-12).
b) Samson was born by way of a miracle
i) His parents were apparently godly people. As seems to be an oft-repeated sign, God chooses a barren woman and promises her, "You shall conceive and give birth to a son" (Judges 13:2-3).
c) Samson was a Nazirite from birth
i) The Nazirite vow is described in Numbers chapter six. A Nazirite did not cut his or her hair, did not eat or drink anything made from grapes, and did not go near a dead body. The vow was usually for a limited time, but God commanded that Samson be "a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death" (Judges 13:5,7). This vow has little value in itself, but it symbolizes sanctification through Christ (Hebrews 10:10,14).
ii) A Christian cannot not keep the Nazirite vow, because it would conflict with the partaking of the LORD's supper. One would violate the vow literally in partaking of the cup, and symbolically in partaking of the bread.
d) Samson 'obtained a good testimony through faith'
i) Although Samson's ways fell sadly short of God's ways, God still used Samson's faith for victory. We, though sometimes of too "little faith", look for the victory to be finally perfected in Jesus (Hebrews 11:32-34,39-40).
The End ...
1. Adventures Of Samsona) We continue in the time of the Judges and the Conquest of Canaan.
b) No matter how far people stray from God, he is still reaching out to them. No matter how weak they become, he still credits what faith they retain. No matter how unworthy they may be, he still uses them as instruments of his will. No matter how wrongly they act, he still acts justly toward them, hoping they will return to him.
2. Some Facts
a) Samson was the last judge except for Samuel
i) For twenty years Samson judged Israel, at a time when Israel was "in the hands of the Philistines" (Judges 13:1). He was born into a "family of the Danites" (Judges 13:2). The tribe of Daniel was one to whom a territory "had not yet fallen" so they were an unsettled people (Judges 18:1). This, incidentally, is symbolic of us. We are "sojourners and pilgrims" in this wicked world, waiting for the inheritance of heaven (1 Peter 2:9-12).
b) Samson was born by way of a miracle
i) His parents were apparently godly people. As seems to be an oft-repeated sign, God chooses a barren woman and promises her, "You shall conceive and give birth to a son" (Judges 13:2-3).
c) Samson was a Nazirite from birth
i) The Nazirite vow is described in Numbers chapter six. A Nazirite did not cut his or her hair, did not eat or drink anything made from grapes, and did not go near a dead body. The vow was usually for a limited time, but God commanded that Samson be "a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death" (Judges 13:5,7). This vow has little value in itself, but it symbolizes sanctification through Christ (Hebrews 10:10,14).
ii) A Christian cannot not keep the Nazirite vow, because it would conflict with the partaking of the LORD's supper. One would violate the vow literally in partaking of the cup, and symbolically in partaking of the bread.
d) Samson 'obtained a good testimony through faith'
i) Although Samson's ways fell sadly short of God's ways, God still used Samson's faith for victory. We, though sometimes of too "little faith", look for the victory to be finally perfected in Jesus (Hebrews 11:32-34,39-40).
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