.Judges 13:24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
Yes Friends, another bit of drama beautifully scripted by the Lord, to prove that whatever He brings us to, He will also bring us through. Israel had been disobedient again, ‘and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.’ (Jdg13:1) But people, at the same time He also prepared their deliverance, sending His angel to a barren woman. Hn! One of them always seems to play a pivotal role in the lives of His leading men; like the mothers of Samuel and John. The angel told Manoah’s wife, ‘For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.’ (Jdg.13:5) Nazarites consecrated themselves to God, not eating unclean food, nor imbibing strong drink, or cutting their hair. The angel told her that she shouldn’t touch strong drink or unclean food during her pregnancy either. ‘And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. But, like Adam, women were Samson’s downfall. His first wife was a Philistine. He married her against his Jewish parents wishes, not telling them that it was the Lord’s way of getting back at their enemies. He killed a lion barehanded on his way to arrange the marriage, ‘and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him,’ (Jdg.14:6) then later on found a hive of bees living in the carcass, from which he got honey for himself and his parents. Then he played ‘Riddle I this,’ with the Philistine men at his prenuptial feast, promising thirty sheets and thirty changes of clothes to anyone who could solve it by the seventh day. Since he had kept the whole lion escapade a secret, they could not solve the riddle and threatened the wife to burn her and her family if she didn’t coerce Samson into telling her. Poor woman, afraid for her welfare, cried her eyes out to Samson, who eventually told her. So the men boasted at sundown on the seventh day: ‘What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?’ (Jdg.14:18) But Sammy was cool, just said they found out because they messed with his wife. Then he went out and killed thirty of them to pay the debt, and angrily went back to his parents house. ‘But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he used as a friend.’ (Jdg.14:20) With friends like that, who needs enemies eh? And when Samson found out. Wow! He rounded up three hundred foxes, tied two tails together, set them ablaze and loosed them in the Philistines cornfields. They retaliated by burning Samson’s in-laws. Then Sammy ‘smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.’ (Jdg.15:8) That only caused the Philistines to turn up the heat on the Israelites, until a group went to Sammy and pleaded with him to give himself up. They bound him with two new ropes and took him back to the Philistines, who harangued him. But Friends, like Bruh David and Goliath, Sammy was fighting the Lord’s battle, and when the Spirit came mightily upon him again, he easily broke the ropes, ‘as flax burnt with fire,’ picked up the new jawbone of an ass that was nearby and waded into them with it, then boasted, ‘with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.’ (Jdg.15:16) But the Lord wasn’t finished with Sammy, for when he threw away the jawbone, he discovered he was thirsty and cried out to God, ‘Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst…’ So the Lord took the same jawbone, found a hollow spot and presto! There was water. Sammy drank, and his spirit was revived. The moral of the story; Friends, don’t mess with the Lord! (smile) To be continued. Much LOVE!..He always provides the tools…to do His work…
Yes Friends, another bit of drama beautifully scripted by the Lord, to prove that whatever He brings us to, He will also bring us through. Israel had been disobedient again, ‘and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.’ (Jdg13:1) But people, at the same time He also prepared their deliverance, sending His angel to a barren woman. Hn! One of them always seems to play a pivotal role in the lives of His leading men; like the mothers of Samuel and John. The angel told Manoah’s wife, ‘For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.’ (Jdg.13:5) Nazarites consecrated themselves to God, not eating unclean food, nor imbibing strong drink, or cutting their hair. The angel told her that she shouldn’t touch strong drink or unclean food during her pregnancy either. ‘And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. But, like Adam, women were Samson’s downfall. His first wife was a Philistine. He married her against his Jewish parents wishes, not telling them that it was the Lord’s way of getting back at their enemies. He killed a lion barehanded on his way to arrange the marriage, ‘and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him,’ (Jdg.14:6) then later on found a hive of bees living in the carcass, from which he got honey for himself and his parents. Then he played ‘Riddle I this,’ with the Philistine men at his prenuptial feast, promising thirty sheets and thirty changes of clothes to anyone who could solve it by the seventh day. Since he had kept the whole lion escapade a secret, they could not solve the riddle and threatened the wife to burn her and her family if she didn’t coerce Samson into telling her. Poor woman, afraid for her welfare, cried her eyes out to Samson, who eventually told her. So the men boasted at sundown on the seventh day: ‘What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?’ (Jdg.14:18) But Sammy was cool, just said they found out because they messed with his wife. Then he went out and killed thirty of them to pay the debt, and angrily went back to his parents house. ‘But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he used as a friend.’ (Jdg.14:20) With friends like that, who needs enemies eh? And when Samson found out. Wow! He rounded up three hundred foxes, tied two tails together, set them ablaze and loosed them in the Philistines cornfields. They retaliated by burning Samson’s in-laws. Then Sammy ‘smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.’ (Jdg.15:8) That only caused the Philistines to turn up the heat on the Israelites, until a group went to Sammy and pleaded with him to give himself up. They bound him with two new ropes and took him back to the Philistines, who harangued him. But Friends, like Bruh David and Goliath, Sammy was fighting the Lord’s battle, and when the Spirit came mightily upon him again, he easily broke the ropes, ‘as flax burnt with fire,’ picked up the new jawbone of an ass that was nearby and waded into them with it, then boasted, ‘with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.’ (Jdg.15:16) But the Lord wasn’t finished with Sammy, for when he threw away the jawbone, he discovered he was thirsty and cried out to God, ‘Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst…’ So the Lord took the same jawbone, found a hollow spot and presto! There was water. Sammy drank, and his spirit was revived. The moral of the story; Friends, don’t mess with the Lord! (smile) To be continued. Much LOVE!..He always provides the tools…to do His work…
SCRIP-BITS 