CONSECRATION UNTO DEATH

Psalm 119:124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.

In every story that each account was given to man by God through out the whole Bible, we first see an offer and the showing of God’s mercy to the individual. Including the very commands and direction given to man by God, it was the offer of His mercy. In both Old and New Testament we see how God’s mercy truly endures forever as David prophetical sings through out Psalm 136. God’s mercy was spoken in the beginning, carried through generation after generation until the promise of Christ came to the earth, and continued on until this day until the second coming of our beloved Christ Jesus! Our God is a forever God!

To my fellow readers, I want us to see the very mercy God gave to Samson from the time he was called into existence until he was used to show forth the power of God one last time before a people.

Judges 13:5 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.

The mercy of God was spoken to Samson’s mother concerning the children of Israel through the life of Samson. There seemed to be a bareness of God’s favor upon Israel for another 40yrs. in bondage to the Philistines, to whom the Lord himself delivered them INTO, due to their sin. Even the womb of Samson’s mother was barren. A child, which is God’s favor in a gift, was not in the dialogue of this mother’s conscience. She accepted the fact that she was indeed not able to bear any children from her womb. Until suddenly, the word of the Lord came unto her!

Through out the book of Judges up till this point of the word of the Lord spoken concerning the conception and plan of Samson, Israel was given by God, eleven people to be used to deliver and judge Israel. Man would think God’s mercy would cease after eleven “deliverers” sent over the course of at least 367 yrs. or more. However, we serve a forever merciful God!

Little did Israel know that God was about to send them the twelfth deliverer! Twelve prophetically being the number of government!

We see as the angel of the Lord prophesied that Samson was to be a Nazarite! Immediately from birth, he was to be of no part of his parent’s tribe or specific identity of his lineage, but to be born into the vow of consecration to God!

Judges 13:7… for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

A Nazarite was known to be of a people specifically, called to consecration; by the way they look and take care of themselves, by not cutting their hair and not eating of unclean things or drink . It was an outward reminder to them, beyond circumcision, that they were called to live life daily by the vow of consecration (separation) unto God. (Numbers 6).

Numbers 6:8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.

Now, let us see how God’s mercy was upon Samson from the womb unto the day of his death.

Judges 14:1-3 (1) And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.(2) And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. (3)… for she pleaseth me well.

This woman, this person, who should have been a stranger to Samson by covenantal status, was the first insight into the life of Samson of the very own snare he was about to put himself into. This Philistine woman was a woman who was not of his mother or father’s side of the tribe, not even of the Nazarites. Perhaps since Samson was called to be of another tribe, that caused him to feel like he had an excuse to love after women who are not in covenant with the God. You can say they were…unequally yoked.

Judges 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

The Bible says the Lord sought an occasion against the Philistines. So while God was sought out an occasion against the Philistines, Samson was busy trying to seek an occasion WITH the Philistine woman, in the most intimate way. Samson’s heart of intimacy was in the wrong place, but thank God He is merciful!

Samson then goes to a vineyard to meet with this out of covenant woman. Don’t forget, Samson was a Nazarite, he is not allowed to drink of anything from the vine, yet he goes to a vineyard. If conviction arose in his heart, he probably tried to justify in his mind, think “well it’s not like I am drinking from the vine, I am just going there to see someone, nothing wrong with that!”

Samson was willing to go into a place, where even though he did not partake from the vine, he was NEAR, or in the atmosphere of Disobedience. His selfish boldness in his anointing of strength rooted in by his actions the acceptability of playing with His consecration, yet the anointing was upon him.

On the way meeting this woman in the vineyard, the spirit of the Lord anoints Samson to kill a young lion with his bare hands, but later in the chapter we see that as Samson returned “after time” back to the vineyard to take the woman to marry, he looks at the dead body of the lion he killed.

Judges 14:8-9 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

Samson was anointed to kill the lion, but not to take the honey. Even though he may have avoided the drink from the vine, his playing around with consecration lead him to lay hold of honey in the dead carcase, of which being a Nazarite was commanded to not partake in eating of any unclean thing. Well, he didn’t eat the dead body of the lion, but willing to use that justification in order to get the honey.

Samson is letting his reasoning for selfishness to get him to a place where he was growing numb to the consecration he was to have unto the Lord.

Judges 14: 11-13 (11) And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. (12) And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments(13) But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

Now we Samson gamble. Samson makes a potential offer that God never called him to make. Perhaps he thought that because he has God’s anointing upon him, he can just gamble his way through life, always winning, making deals with people that God never ordained. Yet we see in Judges 14: 15-18 that Samson doesn’t win the gamble and he moves in God’s anointing to kill other innocent blood to take care of his debt. The Bible says Samson’s angry and he went up to his father’s house. He also lost his wife in this foolish and uncalled for bet. Yes, it was a way to get rid of an unequally yoked wife, but his selfishness caused a marriage to break, in which God hates. God hates the breaking of covenant! Yet, God was still upon Samson. God was still upon him even when he went in unto a prostitute; he went in unto an “unclean thing”. Yet God never left him, because God is faithful to His word in covenant!

As we know the rest of the story of Samson, we can now understand what lead up to his blindness after revealing his secret to Delilah. As Delilah pressed Samson time and time again of the secret to Samson’s “success”, which didn’t happen over night but I believe through the process of time and playing around with consecration, he became a man who was blind, a man who knew not God departed from him!

Judges 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

Samson grew so caught up in himself and his gifting, that he revealed a secret to a woman (who was not his wife), of that which was to be a shared intimacy only between him and God! At this point in Samson’s life, it was easier to share ALL is heart to some woman who is not in covenant with him, than to the Lord who called him into covenant, to be this Great Deliverer! Samson’s blindness to his consecration started with his association to a woman who didn’t share the same covenant with God and it became manifested in the day that IT CAME TO PASS when his eyes were literally burnt unto blindness after forfeiting his covenant with God, the ONE who loved Samson first, enough to call him into existence. (Judges 16:21)

Psalm 136:16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Thank God, we serve a God of restoration! When Samson’s hair began to grow back, it was a sign that it was the beginning of restoration!

Little did the Philistines know that as they were just going to make fun and tease a man who was called by God to deliver a people, now bound with chains, restoration has come upon him! As Samson’s hair grew longer, restoration became more relevant! Although Samson’s sense of sight was singed away, his sense of feeling became triggered as his hair grew longer. The feeling of hope within his heart, of God’s mercy became to grow deeper and deeper, as restoration grew longer and longer by second. I believe Samson felt so much of God’s mercy that as he had time, since the burning of his eyes, for a clear conscience to come upon him, that he felt restored enough to covenant status with the Lord, to ask Him of one last favor. For once Samson was going to ask God a favor that would Glorify God in the fulfilling of His word, in the giving of Samson’s life. (Hebrews 11:21) As Jacob ended his days worshipping God and blessed Joseph’s sons when dying, so did Samson worship God and blessed Israel with deliverance by willfully giving his life for God and others, rather than himself.

Judges 16:28-31 (28) And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. (29) And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. (30) And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. (31) Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

I encourage us all. Even though the Lord did deliver Israel as promised, through the life of Samson, because God’s word will not be mocked, we can’t play around with our consecration. Yes, God’s mercy will follow us and it’s new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), however just because we accepted Jesus into our hearts and have a word over our lives, doesn’t mean we can just continue in whatever we want to do, with out God’s acceptance on it. We are not called to be religious, but to be in relationship with Christ! He desires to know us daily more intimately. I believe we are to put on the full armor of God to not only use to fight off the enemy, but to be consciously aware that we are protecting ourselves from everything that is contrary of the covenant we are to share with our Lord!

Thank God for the free gift of repentance and the very covenant that is so powerful that sin has no hold on us any more! Death has no hold on those who walk in covenant with Christ, because we are servants of righteousness! Being born again into the Kingdom, is to be born into covenant! As Samson was born into a consecrated vow unto God, so are we called to be born into a consecrated relationship with Christ! And thank God Christ is in the restoration buisness! Always restoring those who desire it! To put together that which was once broken. As Samson asked God, " REMEMBER ME!", even as the theif on the cross asked Jesus to " REMEMBER" him, God so graciously did just that, He RE-MEMBERED the broken pieces of a life, back into covenant relationship Him! Till this day, He still restores and brings together marriages and even relationships with familes and even friends! Leave it to God, He knows how to get ahold of a heart!

As Samson being the twelfth deliverer, right before his death, showing forth the POWER and STRENGTH of God’s Government which is the Kingdom, so are we to live life showing forth God’s Power which is the Kingdom!

I Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power!

God Bless