Hey everyone, last time I wrote about Nehemiah and how he rebuilt the walls in eight weeks that had lay in ruin for over a hundred years. Now I want to start looking at Nehemiah and what he did to make this happen.
In the opening of the book, Nehemiah is in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire. He asks his brother Hanani about the condition of Jerusalem. Hanani had just come from there and reports three things about Jerusalem. First, the people there live in great trouble and disgrace. Second, the walls are broken down and third, the gates have burned with fire. After hearing this new, Nehemiah sits down and weeps.
Understand that Nehemiah had risen to an important position in the Persian government. It had been generations since the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been carried off into exile. Nehemiah was likely born in Persia, and it is possible that he had never been to Jerusalem. Yet when he hears this news he sits down and weeps and mourns for several days for his homeland. Even though he had attained a place of prominence in Susa, he did not consider Susa home, nor had he allowed his heart to be assimilated into the more dominant Persian culture. God's people lived in God's city unprotected, without walls or gates, and Nehemiah cared deeply. He mourned, fasted and prayed for several days. Do you think Nehemiah would have accomplished what he did had he not cared so much? I'm inclined to think that he would not. It was this concern that prompted everything that followed, the prayer, the hard work, everything.
As I examine Nehemiah and look at what he did that enabled him to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, I have to ask myself, "How much do I care?" Is my concern for God's people prompting me to pray? Is it motivating me to work hard? God has placed each one of us in a ministry. In my case, it is the Youth and Family Ministry. As a high school teacher, I walk the same hallways that our teenagers do, and I can say that our teens walk around in a culture where the spiritual walls have been broken down and the spiritual gates have been burned by fire. They need help to build their own spiritual walls and gates to have protection from the onslaught that the world is bringing at them. I feel the challenge of this and I want to help. I want to help our teens as individuals, and I want work alongside my co-builders to help make our ministry here in New Jersey great.
OK, so we can see Nehemiah begins with concern over the people of God and a burning desire to do fix the situation. So we will continue form here to see what his concern prompted him to do.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Expert Builder
Hey everyone. It's President's Day, and I am off work for the week. Having a bit more time on my hands this week, you may hear from me a little more often.
In my last post, I finished up a six-part lesson about Samson. Having finished studying the book of Judges, I have now turned my attention to the book of Nehemiah. I want share with you briefly why I chose to study this particular book. My wife and I work alongside Ross Lippencott, Manami Kim and some other great disciples with the teens here in New Jersey. Together we are working to build a great ministry for our teens. With that in mind, I read a little booklet written by Dave Pocta on building Youth and Family Ministry. It was very good, and he talked about Nehemiah a lot. It inspired me to examine Nehemiah more closely to see what I can learn to more adeptly build the ministry God has placed me in.
I am learning valuable lessons that I want to share, and the truth is that we are all building something, whether it is a ministry, small group or just our relationship with God. We want to build well. Think about 1 Corinthians 3:10, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds." We are all building something. I would assume that we all want to build it well. Let's see what Nehemiah can teach us.
Now to understand what is going on in Nehemiah, we have to understand a few things. First, we need to know that Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and many of the inhabitants of the city were carried off into exile. Later the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, and in 538 B.C. the Persians allow some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. In 516 B.C. the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem as recorded in Haggai, but the walls (the protection) of Jerusalem still lay in ruin. It is not until Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. that the walls are rebuilt. Think about this. Nehemiah comes along to fix something that had been broken for 141 years. Israelites had been back in Jerusalem for 107 years and had not rebuilt the walls. Three or four generations had come and gone and no one had fixed the problem. It appears that they had just accepted that the problem was too big to fix for generations, as if they were saying, "Well, that is just the way things are." I'm jumping ahead a little, but when Nehemiah comes along, he sets his mind to fix this problem, and completes the work in 52 days. (See Nehemiah 6:15) A determined man with a great relationship with God fixes a hundred year old problem in less than 8 weeks. I don't know about you, but I think Nehemiah might have some things to teach me, not only about building my ministry, but about fixing the 49 year old problems in my character. I hope you will join me on my journey.
In my last post, I finished up a six-part lesson about Samson. Having finished studying the book of Judges, I have now turned my attention to the book of Nehemiah. I want share with you briefly why I chose to study this particular book. My wife and I work alongside Ross Lippencott, Manami Kim and some other great disciples with the teens here in New Jersey. Together we are working to build a great ministry for our teens. With that in mind, I read a little booklet written by Dave Pocta on building Youth and Family Ministry. It was very good, and he talked about Nehemiah a lot. It inspired me to examine Nehemiah more closely to see what I can learn to more adeptly build the ministry God has placed me in.
I am learning valuable lessons that I want to share, and the truth is that we are all building something, whether it is a ministry, small group or just our relationship with God. We want to build well. Think about 1 Corinthians 3:10, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds." We are all building something. I would assume that we all want to build it well. Let's see what Nehemiah can teach us.
Now to understand what is going on in Nehemiah, we have to understand a few things. First, we need to know that Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and many of the inhabitants of the city were carried off into exile. Later the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, and in 538 B.C. the Persians allow some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. In 516 B.C. the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem as recorded in Haggai, but the walls (the protection) of Jerusalem still lay in ruin. It is not until Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. that the walls are rebuilt. Think about this. Nehemiah comes along to fix something that had been broken for 141 years. Israelites had been back in Jerusalem for 107 years and had not rebuilt the walls. Three or four generations had come and gone and no one had fixed the problem. It appears that they had just accepted that the problem was too big to fix for generations, as if they were saying, "Well, that is just the way things are." I'm jumping ahead a little, but when Nehemiah comes along, he sets his mind to fix this problem, and completes the work in 52 days. (See Nehemiah 6:15) A determined man with a great relationship with God fixes a hundred year old problem in less than 8 weeks. I don't know about you, but I think Nehemiah might have some things to teach me, not only about building my ministry, but about fixing the 49 year old problems in my character. I hope you will join me on my journey.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Turning Strength into Weakness Part 6
Hey everyone. I'm gearing up for the team lock-in tonight. It's an awesome time. I get to help with the inflatable jousting, whatever that means. Can't wait.
Any way, I thought I would take the time to finish up my thoughts on Samson this morning. Last time we looked at Samson he had pushed the pillars of the temple of Dagon down on hundreds of Philistines as well as himself. What I want to do is now look back at his life and compare the life that was with the life that could have been.
All the way back in Judges 13, when the angel first appeared to Samson's mother, he said that Samson would be the one who "will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Samson was the Chosen One. He was selected by God to lead the way in throwing off the yoke of the Philistines. Now to be fair, he did begin this process and the angel did say that he would "take the lead" in this process. So he began a work that took a couple of generations to finish. After Samson came Saul and David, still fighting the Philistines. But imagine if Samson had not been so easily entangled by his sins, appetites and weaknesses. (Look at Hebrews 12:1-2) Imagine if Samson had not been such a lone wolf, instead having great spiritual relationships and really leading the people into battle. Perhaps he could have led the nation into victory in just one generation. Samson did some really cool things, but for a number of reasons, he was not what he could have been. He did not listen to advice. He did not seem to have any real friends to help him. He did not take his vows to God very seriously. An attractive women could get him to behave rather stupidly. He seemed to forget where the power really came from (God) and believed too strongly in his own strength. So near the end he gave the enemies of God an opportunity to rejoice. Had he been true to his vows, serious about his relationship with God, open to advice and not so given to his appetites, this would have been a completely different story. That is why I have entitled this "turning strength into weakness." That is what Samson did. God had given him much strength, but in many cases it was his weaknesses that prevailed. Compare that to Paul in II Corinthians 12:7-10, where God gave him weakness and turned it into strength.
So now apply. We all have dreams, things that we would like to see God accomplish in our lives. Are we doing things that can make those dreams reality? Or are we making the same kinds of mistakes that Samson made? To be sure, we all have weaknesses. We always will. But, the question is, are we allowing God turn these weaknesses into strength, or are we allowing the strengths God has given us to become weakness?
Any way, I thought I would take the time to finish up my thoughts on Samson this morning. Last time we looked at Samson he had pushed the pillars of the temple of Dagon down on hundreds of Philistines as well as himself. What I want to do is now look back at his life and compare the life that was with the life that could have been.
All the way back in Judges 13, when the angel first appeared to Samson's mother, he said that Samson would be the one who "will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Samson was the Chosen One. He was selected by God to lead the way in throwing off the yoke of the Philistines. Now to be fair, he did begin this process and the angel did say that he would "take the lead" in this process. So he began a work that took a couple of generations to finish. After Samson came Saul and David, still fighting the Philistines. But imagine if Samson had not been so easily entangled by his sins, appetites and weaknesses. (Look at Hebrews 12:1-2) Imagine if Samson had not been such a lone wolf, instead having great spiritual relationships and really leading the people into battle. Perhaps he could have led the nation into victory in just one generation. Samson did some really cool things, but for a number of reasons, he was not what he could have been. He did not listen to advice. He did not seem to have any real friends to help him. He did not take his vows to God very seriously. An attractive women could get him to behave rather stupidly. He seemed to forget where the power really came from (God) and believed too strongly in his own strength. So near the end he gave the enemies of God an opportunity to rejoice. Had he been true to his vows, serious about his relationship with God, open to advice and not so given to his appetites, this would have been a completely different story. That is why I have entitled this "turning strength into weakness." That is what Samson did. God had given him much strength, but in many cases it was his weaknesses that prevailed. Compare that to Paul in II Corinthians 12:7-10, where God gave him weakness and turned it into strength.
So now apply. We all have dreams, things that we would like to see God accomplish in our lives. Are we doing things that can make those dreams reality? Or are we making the same kinds of mistakes that Samson made? To be sure, we all have weaknesses. We always will. But, the question is, are we allowing God turn these weaknesses into strength, or are we allowing the strengths God has given us to become weakness?
Monday, December 24, 2012
Turning Strength into Weakness Part 5
Hello everyone.
It's Christmas Eve. Soon I will be in the kitchen making cornbread and pie for tomorrow's big dinner. I thought that I would take some time to continue the story of Samson. My hope is that soon my blogging will catch up with my Bible study. So here we go:
We pick up the story after Delilah cuts off Samson's hair, he becomes like any other man and is captured by the Philistines. Judges 16:21 tells us that the Philistines then blinded Samson, then bound him and set him to grinding their grain while in their prison. But here is what they do after that, They would go to the temple of their false god, Dagon and thank him for delivering their enemy into their hands. At times they would bring Samson out as a form of entertainment, so that they could laugh and rejoice in their victory over this man of God. Because of his weaknesses and sins Samson gave the enemies of his people and the enemies of God reason to rejoice. He made the true seem small, and made the false god, Dagon seem the victor. Praising Dagon, they said: "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands."
What I want us to think about here is how the Philistines were using him as entertainment, laughing at Samson and his God. Samson was in the position that he was in because of his weaknesses: He didn't listen to advice, he didn't take his vows seriously, he began to think to highly of himself, forgetting that his power really came from God, not himself. Plus, I've never even mentioned how easily he could be played by an attractive woman (which could be a whole other lesson.) We need to think about this. We all have weaknesses. We all have sins that dog us and are difficult to overcome. How much effort do we make to overcome them. If our efforts are on the level Samson put forth to overcome, we may put ourselves in a position some day, where the enemies of God are laughing at us. We do not want worldly people celebrating our downfall.
It's kind of depressing, so I will try to nose up the plane a little. We know the story and its bittersweet ending. Samson regains his faith and God returns his strength. He pushes the pillars of of the temple down, killing everyone in it. In this one act he shut the mouths of those who were laughing at God. Sadly, Samson is killed as well. But he is remembered for his faith in Hebrews 11:32, the chapter we refer to as the Faith Hall of Fame. To this point Samson has served as a bad example. I haven't had much good to say about him, but in spite his many weaknesses, the Hebrew writer lists him along side Gideon, David and Samuel as men of faith. So if we have been messing it up, we can make start making changes now so that God's enemies do not have the opportunity to rejoice.
Tom
It's Christmas Eve. Soon I will be in the kitchen making cornbread and pie for tomorrow's big dinner. I thought that I would take some time to continue the story of Samson. My hope is that soon my blogging will catch up with my Bible study. So here we go:
We pick up the story after Delilah cuts off Samson's hair, he becomes like any other man and is captured by the Philistines. Judges 16:21 tells us that the Philistines then blinded Samson, then bound him and set him to grinding their grain while in their prison. But here is what they do after that, They would go to the temple of their false god, Dagon and thank him for delivering their enemy into their hands. At times they would bring Samson out as a form of entertainment, so that they could laugh and rejoice in their victory over this man of God. Because of his weaknesses and sins Samson gave the enemies of his people and the enemies of God reason to rejoice. He made the true seem small, and made the false god, Dagon seem the victor. Praising Dagon, they said: "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands."
What I want us to think about here is how the Philistines were using him as entertainment, laughing at Samson and his God. Samson was in the position that he was in because of his weaknesses: He didn't listen to advice, he didn't take his vows seriously, he began to think to highly of himself, forgetting that his power really came from God, not himself. Plus, I've never even mentioned how easily he could be played by an attractive woman (which could be a whole other lesson.) We need to think about this. We all have weaknesses. We all have sins that dog us and are difficult to overcome. How much effort do we make to overcome them. If our efforts are on the level Samson put forth to overcome, we may put ourselves in a position some day, where the enemies of God are laughing at us. We do not want worldly people celebrating our downfall.
It's kind of depressing, so I will try to nose up the plane a little. We know the story and its bittersweet ending. Samson regains his faith and God returns his strength. He pushes the pillars of of the temple down, killing everyone in it. In this one act he shut the mouths of those who were laughing at God. Sadly, Samson is killed as well. But he is remembered for his faith in Hebrews 11:32, the chapter we refer to as the Faith Hall of Fame. To this point Samson has served as a bad example. I haven't had much good to say about him, but in spite his many weaknesses, the Hebrew writer lists him along side Gideon, David and Samuel as men of faith. So if we have been messing it up, we can make start making changes now so that God's enemies do not have the opportunity to rejoice.
Tom
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Turning Strength in Weakness Part 4
Hello.
It's almost Christmas. Today is the first day of an 11 day weekend for me and my family. I have trying to get some things done around here today, and to continue the story of Samson is the last item on today's agenda.
When we last looked at Samson he had made a series of mistakes that had risen out of his refusal to listen to his parents, a lack of seriousness about his vows to God and a lack of real spiritual relationships. Today thoughts about Delilah and how he literally turns his strength into weakness because he forgets where his real power comes from.
The story of Samson and Delilah begins in Judges 16:4. Samson marries Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines offer Delilah a great deal of money to find out the secret of Samson's strength. Delilah asks him the secret first in 16:6. Samson doesn't really seem to take any of this stuff seriously and makes something up, telling her that if someone ties him with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, that he would become as weak as any other man. So after he falls asleep, with the Philistines hiding in the room, she binds him with bowstrings. Then she yells, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you." Samson jumps up and snaps the bowstrings like they were thread. Delilah gets angry and continues to pester Samson. So he makes something else up, which she, of course, tries and again fails. The third story that Samson makes up in verse 13 and 14. If you try to visualize this, it pretty hilarious. It's almost like Samson is trying to what he can get he to believe. Any way. He tells that if she weaves the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on a loom and tighten it with a pin, he would become weak. So she does, and again yells, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you." He jumps up, strong as ever. In my mind's eye, I see Samson ready to fight the Philistines dragging a loom along in his hair.
Any way, Delilah pesters him until he tells her the truth. Verse 16 says, she nagged him until he was sick to death of it. He tells her that if she cuts his hair he will become as weak as any other man. Now this is the point where I started thinking, "Samson, how stupid are you?" He has to know that she is going to do shave his head. She already done far more ridiculous things. So Samson gives up the one of his vows that he seemed to take seriously.
Now here is what I want you to think about. Samson had told her that if she cut his hair, he would lose his strength. He understood to be true intellectually and he told her any way, knowing that she was going to do it. never-the-less, after she cut his hair and shouted, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you," he jumped up thinking he would shake the Philistines off, just like he always had before. I think that Samson had lost sight of where the power was really coming from (God) and really been trusting the wrong source of power (himself).
It is important for us to realize that the power in our own lives comes from God. When we start trusting in our power we are in for trouble. Samson lost sight of this and had a colossal fall. Unfortunately for Samson, in this part of the story he only serves as an example of what not to do.
Tom
It's almost Christmas. Today is the first day of an 11 day weekend for me and my family. I have trying to get some things done around here today, and to continue the story of Samson is the last item on today's agenda.
When we last looked at Samson he had made a series of mistakes that had risen out of his refusal to listen to his parents, a lack of seriousness about his vows to God and a lack of real spiritual relationships. Today thoughts about Delilah and how he literally turns his strength into weakness because he forgets where his real power comes from.
The story of Samson and Delilah begins in Judges 16:4. Samson marries Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines offer Delilah a great deal of money to find out the secret of Samson's strength. Delilah asks him the secret first in 16:6. Samson doesn't really seem to take any of this stuff seriously and makes something up, telling her that if someone ties him with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, that he would become as weak as any other man. So after he falls asleep, with the Philistines hiding in the room, she binds him with bowstrings. Then she yells, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you." Samson jumps up and snaps the bowstrings like they were thread. Delilah gets angry and continues to pester Samson. So he makes something else up, which she, of course, tries and again fails. The third story that Samson makes up in verse 13 and 14. If you try to visualize this, it pretty hilarious. It's almost like Samson is trying to what he can get he to believe. Any way. He tells that if she weaves the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on a loom and tighten it with a pin, he would become weak. So she does, and again yells, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you." He jumps up, strong as ever. In my mind's eye, I see Samson ready to fight the Philistines dragging a loom along in his hair.
Any way, Delilah pesters him until he tells her the truth. Verse 16 says, she nagged him until he was sick to death of it. He tells her that if she cuts his hair he will become as weak as any other man. Now this is the point where I started thinking, "Samson, how stupid are you?" He has to know that she is going to do shave his head. She already done far more ridiculous things. So Samson gives up the one of his vows that he seemed to take seriously.
Now here is what I want you to think about. Samson had told her that if she cut his hair, he would lose his strength. He understood to be true intellectually and he told her any way, knowing that she was going to do it. never-the-less, after she cut his hair and shouted, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you," he jumped up thinking he would shake the Philistines off, just like he always had before. I think that Samson had lost sight of where the power was really coming from (God) and really been trusting the wrong source of power (himself).
It is important for us to realize that the power in our own lives comes from God. When we start trusting in our power we are in for trouble. Samson lost sight of this and had a colossal fall. Unfortunately for Samson, in this part of the story he only serves as an example of what not to do.
Tom
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Turning Strength into Weakness Part 3
Hello Everyone.
I'm going to continue the story of Samson tonight. Now last we looked, Samson had refused tolisten to his parents, even thought they were righteous people. He had broken at least one vow by touching a dead body and perhaps more. In the very least we could see that Samson did not take his vows very seriously.
So as the story continues in Judges 14:5, Samson goes down to Timnah again with his parents, this time to get married. At the wedding the Philistines provide Samson with thirty companions. At the party he takes vow-breaking actions and turns them into a riddle. You are probably familiar with the story. The riddle has a wager on it of thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. These thirty companions ultimately threaten Samson's wife, that if she doesn't get the answer for them, they will burn her house down upon her and her family. Through her tears, she eventually gets the answer and gives it to the Philistine "companions." So Samson has lost the bet, he goes to a different Philistine town, kills thirty men and takes their clothes, gives the clothes to his "companions" and goes home.
Later, he returns to Timnah to get his wife only to find out that she had been given to another man. Samson gets angry and gets his revenge. The Philistines get their revenge by burning his former wife's house down with her and her family in it. Samson gets even more revenge, including killing a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Samson makes mistake after mistake, all along the way and hundreds die, including the woman he loved.
After all that happens during and after his wedding, I wondered this: "Doesn't he have any friends?" Samson goes to his wedding day, and the enemies of God have to provide people to stand up with him. Wendy and I have been married for over twenty years, but I still remember my wedding very well. I had a lot of friends there. Most people do. And I believe that if I had been at my wedding reception making a fool of myself, that one of my friends would have pulled me aside and said, "Tom, you're making a fool of yourself." Samson apparently did not have any relationships like that. Things might have turned out differently if he had someone there at his wedding to say, "hey bro, maybe this riddle isn't such a good idea. Making light of your vows to God and turning them into a foolish riddle may not be the way to go."
So, we have ask ourselves, then, who are the friends in our lives that are helping us move in the right direction? Are we listening to them? Samson's story could have turned out very differently had he listened to righteous people.
Tom
I'm going to continue the story of Samson tonight. Now last we looked, Samson had refused tolisten to his parents, even thought they were righteous people. He had broken at least one vow by touching a dead body and perhaps more. In the very least we could see that Samson did not take his vows very seriously.
So as the story continues in Judges 14:5, Samson goes down to Timnah again with his parents, this time to get married. At the wedding the Philistines provide Samson with thirty companions. At the party he takes vow-breaking actions and turns them into a riddle. You are probably familiar with the story. The riddle has a wager on it of thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. These thirty companions ultimately threaten Samson's wife, that if she doesn't get the answer for them, they will burn her house down upon her and her family. Through her tears, she eventually gets the answer and gives it to the Philistine "companions." So Samson has lost the bet, he goes to a different Philistine town, kills thirty men and takes their clothes, gives the clothes to his "companions" and goes home.
Later, he returns to Timnah to get his wife only to find out that she had been given to another man. Samson gets angry and gets his revenge. The Philistines get their revenge by burning his former wife's house down with her and her family in it. Samson gets even more revenge, including killing a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Samson makes mistake after mistake, all along the way and hundreds die, including the woman he loved.
After all that happens during and after his wedding, I wondered this: "Doesn't he have any friends?" Samson goes to his wedding day, and the enemies of God have to provide people to stand up with him. Wendy and I have been married for over twenty years, but I still remember my wedding very well. I had a lot of friends there. Most people do. And I believe that if I had been at my wedding reception making a fool of myself, that one of my friends would have pulled me aside and said, "Tom, you're making a fool of yourself." Samson apparently did not have any relationships like that. Things might have turned out differently if he had someone there at his wedding to say, "hey bro, maybe this riddle isn't such a good idea. Making light of your vows to God and turning them into a foolish riddle may not be the way to go."
So, we have ask ourselves, then, who are the friends in our lives that are helping us move in the right direction? Are we listening to them? Samson's story could have turned out very differently had he listened to righteous people.
Tom
Monday, December 10, 2012
Turning Strength into Weakness Part 2
Hey everyone.
I am at home today, with Aaron, who is slowly recovering form a bout of pneumonia. Any way, I thought that I would continue the story of Samson. Last post, I talked about how Samson did not listen to his parents, who were ultimately more righteous than he was. As we continue through the story we will see how much trouble he could have avoided if he had listened to his parents.
The next part of the story we can see that Samson does not take his vows to God very seriously. Going back to Judges 13 and the appearance of the angel, we see in v. 7 that Samson was to be a Nazirite. Now, Numbers 6 tells us the vows that a Nazirite must take. First, they don't cut their hair. Second, they do drink wine, or eat grapes or raisins. Third, they cannot touch a dead body. These are Nazirite vows that someone would take over a period of time as a sign of dedication to God. But, Samson was to do this for life.
OK, as the story continues, Samson is walking with his parents to Timnah where his Philistine bride awaits. He goes off by himself into a vineyard and kills a lion with his bare hands. On his second trip to Timnah, he revisits the vineyard and finds honey in the carcass of the lion. He takes the honey and then gives some to his parents. Here is where we realize that Samson does take his vows to God very seriously. He breaks one of his vows by touching the dead lion's body. One also has to wonder what a guy who has vowed to God that he would not drink wine or eat grapes is doing wandering around a vineyard. It seems that the only vow he took seriously was the hair vow. We can be the same way, though. We can justify almost any behavior. We get as close to the line (of sin) as possible and as long as we don't cross it, we think that it is OK. It's foolish though, if we flirt with sin, eventually it will win. God told Cain, in Genesis 4:7, "sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you." Do we realize that sin desires to have us. It is wise then to stay away from it. In other words, if you don't eat grapes, stay out of the vineyard.
Later, at his wedding party, Samson who has definitely broken one vow, and messed around with breaking another, turns his vow-breaking into a riddle to entertain his wedding party. The riddle leads from one disaster to the next. Again Samson turns strength into weakness because he does take his vows before God very seriously.
Tom
I am at home today, with Aaron, who is slowly recovering form a bout of pneumonia. Any way, I thought that I would continue the story of Samson. Last post, I talked about how Samson did not listen to his parents, who were ultimately more righteous than he was. As we continue through the story we will see how much trouble he could have avoided if he had listened to his parents.
The next part of the story we can see that Samson does not take his vows to God very seriously. Going back to Judges 13 and the appearance of the angel, we see in v. 7 that Samson was to be a Nazirite. Now, Numbers 6 tells us the vows that a Nazirite must take. First, they don't cut their hair. Second, they do drink wine, or eat grapes or raisins. Third, they cannot touch a dead body. These are Nazirite vows that someone would take over a period of time as a sign of dedication to God. But, Samson was to do this for life.
OK, as the story continues, Samson is walking with his parents to Timnah where his Philistine bride awaits. He goes off by himself into a vineyard and kills a lion with his bare hands. On his second trip to Timnah, he revisits the vineyard and finds honey in the carcass of the lion. He takes the honey and then gives some to his parents. Here is where we realize that Samson does take his vows to God very seriously. He breaks one of his vows by touching the dead lion's body. One also has to wonder what a guy who has vowed to God that he would not drink wine or eat grapes is doing wandering around a vineyard. It seems that the only vow he took seriously was the hair vow. We can be the same way, though. We can justify almost any behavior. We get as close to the line (of sin) as possible and as long as we don't cross it, we think that it is OK. It's foolish though, if we flirt with sin, eventually it will win. God told Cain, in Genesis 4:7, "sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you." Do we realize that sin desires to have us. It is wise then to stay away from it. In other words, if you don't eat grapes, stay out of the vineyard.
Later, at his wedding party, Samson who has definitely broken one vow, and messed around with breaking another, turns his vow-breaking into a riddle to entertain his wedding party. The riddle leads from one disaster to the next. Again Samson turns strength into weakness because he does take his vows before God very seriously.
Tom
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