"Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took Samson, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol " (Judges 16.31)
Slaying thousands upon thousands of Philistines Samson was a one man wrecking crew.The bible version of the Incredible Hulk except he didn't turn green and it wasn't gamma rays that made him strong.Most of his life was lived "between Zorah and Eshtaol" and that would be his burial place as well .Whats the significance? Read on. As a boy I remember watching the Cecile b Demile 1949 epic version of Samson and Delilah.It starred Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr.Based on bible story right out of Judges chapter 16. Some of the dialog, although not biblically recorded rings true to this day.
Delilah: I hate him.
Delilah's Father: Because he's a Danite?
Delilah: Because he's a fool!
Delilah's Father: Most men are, Delilah. There's nothing you can do about it. Delilah:Sometimes a bee can move an ox.
The little foxes spoil the vine.Solomon was not referring to Victoria Secret models.We Christian singles are not to be unequally yoked (2 Corinthians 6:14) A yoke is only effective when the yokeese (is that a word?) are moving in the same direction.Don't be unequally yoked or the joke will be on you and you'll be walking on eggshells instead of sunshine. Samson’s presumption was his greatest danger. He’d gotten off scot-free so many times. He would play games with the Philistines then rely on his strength to get him out of a tough jam. Fatally, Samson told Delilah the secret to his strength, she lopped off his lovely locks then when he woke up from a nap on her lap, the jig was up.
When I was a boy my Father would take me for a haircut.The day of the dreaded,abominable military style CREW CUT! No Fantastic Sam's,no Super Cuts,It was always the same old guy that smelled like Old Spice aftershave...yuk I still hate that aroma.As my curly locks hit the floor my eyes would water.."Old Spice the Barber" would give me a lollipop and the sweetness of candy made up for the fact that I looked like Curly from the 3 Stooges.The next day I was subjected to teasing. Somehow praise God I made it through,no permanent damage.Now I know why I was always being saluted.
Because Samson was a lone child and “special” his parents didn’t put any restraints on him. Electric chairs are seldom needed where highchairs are properly used.The downward spiral of Samson's life began when he failed to take the Nazarite vow for himself. Don't live on your parents convictions or hairstyles.Settle sin issues or you will find yourself between between sin and the sting of its consequence or between a rock and a hard place...well, you get the picture.Whatever pleased Samson was what Samson got. Soon the lust, near disaster, escape, repent, start over, lust, near disaster and escape routine began to spiral out of control. Just because Samson was “special” didn’t mean he enjoyed a special set of rules. Sin's stinger pricks and is painful to extract.The first forty steps in the dark are fine but then there is the cliff. The unthinkable happened to Sammy, the young man had to pay the piper. He could no longer pull off a Houdini.He lost his sight – the blinding, his freedom – the binding, and his dignity – the grinding.If you are dealing with sin's sting in your life,God's grace will restore your strength and heal the wound.God could have raised up another Samson;He didn't because the call of God never left Sam.He left the call of God and wound up buried between Zorah and Eshtaol " A Strong woman and a Hornets Nest".......
Eshtaol in Hebrew means "strong woman"......
Zorah was a valley "full of wasps"
Nuff said,
No comments:
Post a Comment