Spirit of the Lion!

Judges 14:6

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

The above story of Samson really captivated Ethan and Nicholas for a split second. Here it is a true story compared to Power Rangers’ spirit of the lion or spirit of the tiger or shark mode or rhino mode! Samson, through the power of the HOLY SPIRIT tore the lion apart with his bare hands. No need for weapons!

As I read the story of Samson, I was surprised I did not even know that he later found honey in this lion carcass and ate from it. I thought “How strange. What does it all mean Lord?”. That night, I shared with Henry and he told me that as a consequence of touching the dead, Samson became defiled. Samson sinned for touching the carcass. Then, I stumbled upon the definition of Nazirite. Samson was a Nazirite which for Samson meant he was set apart for God (under vow) since birth until the day of his death and his mission was to save Israel from the hands of Philistines who ruled over them then (Judges 13:4):

1. He can’t make contact with the dead.
2. He can’t drink wine, eat raisins or even drink grape juice
3. He can’t cut his hair during the time the consecrated time to God

Interesting eh? All I knew of Samson was “Samson and Delilah”!

And Samson in his lifetime broke all his vows although vow no.2 is only a possibility because of his wedding feast which would have involved drinking. His life seems to be about the women he loved, women that nagged him (ha ha), his revenge towards the Philistines for love lost, for losing his riddle game and for gouging his eyes out. Yet in only 2 instances did he cry out to God, when he almost died of thirst (Judges 15:18) and when he asked God for strength one last time before pushing the towers of the building down (Judges 16:28).

I shook my head as I read about Samson. All I can think of was Ng Kam Weng’s sermon last Sunday. “Unsanctified gifts, unsanctified gifts”. God gave Samson so much power, so much strength but he rather follow his lust, mix with wrong company and think about plotting revenge the whole time. Imagine how much more Samson could have done if he inquired of the Lord for everything he did. YET, God still used him to deliver Israel from the Philistines, at least the first step. I think about us in FBC too, our unsanctified gifts. Imagine how much more we can do for His Kingdom if our gifts were sanctified. YET God still works in us to accomplish His will. That’s how great our God is.

To God be the glory and may we learn from Samson’s mistakes. Let us not repeatedly walk into temptations which lead to sin, we will suffer the consequences of our disobedience even though God still uses us to accomplish His will.