Quenching or Rekindling

Are we quenching or rekindling the fire of the Holy Spirit?

Judges 13: 3-5: The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Samson’s birth through a barren woman indicated God’s supernatural plan of him for a special purpose. Samson was set apart to God from birth by divine appointment as he was to begin deliverance of Israel who were under the hands of Philisitines. It was by a divine command that He was to be a Nazirite and Samson’s parents were to raise him as a Nazirite from his birth.

To understand what distinguished Samson from others, let us briefly look in the life of a Nazirite. Normally Israelites assumed the Nazirite vow voluntarily and temporarily. Three laws governed the person under a Nazirite vow in addition to the other Mosaic laws :

1. Do not eat anything that the grapevine produced

2. Let one’s hair grow without ever cutting it

3. Refrain from contact with a dead body

Each of these laws have a deeper meaning resonating behind them. This vow placed the Nazirite in a position of separation to God in a special sense. Staying away from wine would have prevented Samson from bondage to that drink so he could operate under the control of God’s Spirit consistently. Long hair stood for a public testimony to the Nazirite’s separation to God. Contact with a dead body precluded worship at Israel’s central sanctuary temporarily, but no contact with dead bodies would enable the Nazirite to have unbroken fellowship with God. These show the privilege and intimate relationship with God that a Nazirite possesses.

We read in Judges 13:8 that Samson was brought up by exemplary parents. “I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.” How much more must we pray these days while we raise our children in this world with cultures and norms contradicting the Word of God. We too need the guidance of God on how to bring up our children in a godly manner. It is a great responsibility that has been given to us by God and hence can never be taken for granted.

In verses 24-25 of that chapter we read, ”The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Since he was set apart and was under the influence of God alone since his birth, the LORD blessed him and the Spirit began to stir him. But years later, he started misusing the power and blessings which was bestowed on him. Judges 14:6 ”The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him 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.”

By killing the lion, he may have become unclean as he was in the presence of the dead and should have brought the right sin and burn offering as was the law. But he did not take the effort to come clean before God Almighty.

When he scraped the honey out of the lion’s carcass with his hand (Judges 14:9), he broke part of his Nazirite vow. Nazirites were not to touch dead bodies (Numbers 6:6). He thought so little of his privileged position as separated to God and gave importance to his appetite more than that. Perhaps he did not tell his parents about the honey because he knew that he would have disappointed them for having broken his vow. By giving them some of the unclean honey without telling them that it was unclean, Samson callously led them into defilement. His parents had previously sanctified him, but now he desecrated them.

Although Samson may have disconnected from God’s presence and from his commitment to God, still the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power as we read in Judges 14:19 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.” God had chosen Samson as His instrument to begin defeating the Philistines even though Samson was reluctant. That was God’s saving grace and mercy shown towards the house of Israel. Even though it may seem that we have been disconnected from God and have broken our fellowship with God, if we take effort to repent and get back on our relationship with God, His presence will still be with us because of his unfailing love and mercy. But never take that for granted to keep sinning.

Judges 15:14 gives an account of Samson killing thousands of people with just a jaw bone of the donkey because the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. But the same person, didn’t trust God to save him when he was just thirsty in Judges 15: 18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

When we get the honours and blessings in this life, never forget that it is by the Spirit of the LORD you were able to achieve it and give due credit to God through worship. It is also important to trust God who just led you out of a battle. He is more than sufficient to provide for your daily needs.

Samson also got into a lot of wrong relationships in his life. He married a Philistine woman, later he spent a night with a prostitute, and finally we see him falling in love with Delilah which later led to his fall. We must be extremely careful in our connections and the relationships we establish. At times we think certain relationships are according to the will of God, but later those become big traps which would be difficult to break apart. The stronger those wrong relationships get, the weaker your relationship with God becomes. Seek godly wisdom and the will of God before you enter such relationships.

Judges 16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him." These are what wrong relationships does to our lives - they lure us, overpower us and subdue us. Delilah was able to accomplish all 3 of these goals in no time. She lured him, let the Philistines overpower and subdue him.

Judges 16:20 is very powerful and thought provoking - “But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” Samson didn’t recognize that the LORD had left him. Samson lost his physical sight as well as spiritual sight. Many times we don’t realize that the LORD has left us due to our ways of life and sins within us. We may go to church, and worship, but in reality on the inside the evil one has lured us, overpowered us and subdued us through our thoughts, actions, words, deeds. Today, take some time to reflect if the LORD is still with you. As per the New Testament, is the Spirit of the LORD still in you?. Are you experiencing His presence or are you doing things making him stand far away from you?

But we have a forgiving God, He forgave Samson when he repented and God fulfilled the mission that He had for Samson which was to begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

We see a man in New Testament who had great similarities with Samson. It is none other than John the Baptist.

1. Just like Samson’s mother, even Elizabeth was barren or childless.

2. An angel of the LORD appeared to announce of the birth

3. Luke 1:15 reads that He was never to take wine or other fermented drink. So he may have been a Nazirite.

4. John the Baptist was also born with the mission to turn the people of Israel back to God

But the key differences are seen in Luke 1: 80 “… child grew and became strong in spirit”, John led an obedient, self-disciplined life and lived up to his calling by preparing the way for the Lord. John boldly rebuked the king for the sin that he committed in marrying his brother’s wife and divorcing his own wife for it without cause. Without hesitation John rebuked him.

So we see two men who had great similarities, but John the Baptist stood for his calling, committed his life to God till the end, and always had an unbroken relationship with God and became one of the greatest prophets. Whereas Samson, never valued his calling or his life separated for God, disobeyed the laws, indulged in sin and soon the LORD left him.

Where is our life heading to? Are we fulfilling the calling of God in our lives or has the LORD already left us? If we are off track, this is a good time to repent and come back to His presence as we have a forgiving God. Else the world can lure us, overpower and subdue us. If we come back, God has greater things planned for our lives. Just like Samson, who repented at the end of his life, God utilized him to complete his mission as we see in Judges 16: 30 “Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.”