The Call of Samson

God’s ways are truly higher than our ways! God chose and called Samson to serve Him in His Kingdom. This man was flawed and at times out of control!

Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.  Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.  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.” Judges 13:1-5

A prophetic word came to Manoah and his wife through the angel of the Lord prophesying of the upcoming conception and the birth of a baby boy. He was going to be consecrated to the Lord as a Nazirite. The angel told the mother to abstain from wine, and she was told that the child was to abstain from wine all the days of his life as well. The child was also never to shave his head. The parents did what they were told to do (See Judges 14). The boy was born, and they named him Samson.

A Nizirite vow was nothing new to the Israelites. This vow is explained and specified in the book of Numbers in chapter 6 for those who desired to consecrate themselves to God. Generally this vow was for a period of time for a person to abstain from certain things until such a time that they went to the temple to offer their sacrifices. However, in the case of Samson, God called him to become a lifelong Nazirite for the specific purpose that God had for him.

As for Samson, his parents did everything God asked them to do, but unfortunately good parents did not guarantee a right character on the part of Samson.  Nowadays blaming someone’s bad behavior on his/her childhood is the norm. However, Not all ungodly or marginal behavior is due to bad childrearing. We all have choices to make.  We can exercise our choice for good or for evil. We can move in the direction of following God or moving away from Him. Samson could not have blamed his lifestyle on his parents’ failure to raise him right.

Samson became a judge to help deliver the people of Israel from the hands of their enemies and specifically the Philistines. Samson did not have a military as some of the other judges did. God had given him strength to fight these people single-handedly. Unfortunately, the very people he was supposed to overcome, became his Achilles heel. 

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.