The True Source of Strength by Brother Curtis Hansen

         This morning we are going to go to the book of Judges chapter 16. We will start reading in verse 17, but, here's a brief overview of Samson. First thing to know was that he was born a Nazarite who would be a judge of Israel for 20 years. Next thing to know was that he was a figure of contradiction as he was a man who had at times great physical strength but he had a moral weakness. Last thing, Samson was a continual thorn to the Philistines, who were oppressing the Israelites. By the time we get to the scripture reading, Samson had fallen in love with Delilah. She was a Philistine woman whom the Philistine rulers were had bribed to discover the source of Samson's strength. This was a mystery to the Philistines, given how Samson fared against them. Samson would trick Delilah with wrong answers starting in verse 6. Let us read verse 17.

        17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

        18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shown me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

        19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

        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. 

        Before we continue on with this story, let's look at the Nazarite vow which Samson had mentioned in verse 17. There were guidelines and restrictions for those who took the vow. Three guidelines to be exact. The first was to abstain from fermented drink or wine. They couldn't eat grapes or raisins not even the skins, nor did they drink grape juice. The next one was not to cut his hair. The last one was he was not to go near a dead body, because that would make him unclean. You can find the scripture for the vow in Numbers chapter 6 verses 3 to 7.

        Let us look at a portion of verse 20. Samson had replied to Delilah that "I will go out as at other times before." He had been accustomed to having his strength available to fight the enemy not knowing that the enemy had taken it. The strengths God gives you could be a weakness to you. Samson had relied more in his strength than in God. He was a womanizer who, in spite of being blessed with great strength given by the Spirit of God, kept a sinful lifestyle. The strength of Samson, the true source of it did not lie in his hair but in his obedience. Entertainment has always cast a bodybuilder type as Samson and wrongly taken Delilah's deception as a doomed romance. Samson wasn't deadlifting hundreds of pounds and looked like the Incredible Hulk. He was a regular guy whom at times the Spirit of the Lord fell upon. Look at Judges chapter 13:25, 14:19, 15:14. These were all references to when the Spirit fell upon him. If we look at 1 Samuel 16:13 we see the prophet Samuel at the house of Jesse.

        13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

        In this scripture the Spirit came upon David from the anointment of oil. It acts as a covering which came upon David from that day forward. As long as you are working in the realm of your calling, the spirit will empower you.

        God had given Samson strength, but his character was one of contradiction. Samson did things that violated the Nazarite law. He had reached in the carcass of the lion he slain for honeycomb in chapter 14 as an example. His values and actions were the opposite of the laws he was supposed to live by. The very group he would slay and fight for his people were also the ones he liked to spend a lot of time with.

        In verse 17 Samson's explanation is the real reason for his strength. By this point Samson had become haughty, forgetting again about God and leaning into his own understanding. He had become sold on himself as a man of action. Today, we have a covenant with God to uphold. We should always please God in our walk through our conversation and our action. That's the goal anyway, but often times we will exhaust all other options in life before we even start to think if we can please God. When God is on your side, and you KNOW it, there's no fight for you. You aren't being overwhelmed by the enemy or the lusts of your flesh. It isn't even close.

        We can see parallels in the life of Samson with the many who are professing to be Christian today. Where we know the steps, what to avoid, yet continually hang out with the wrong people, fall to our base flesh needs. We all do what is right in our own mind. The only time we see Samson praying is at the very end of his story. David would pray frequently before God in his life. If the things we stress from the pulpit really didn't matter to God, these things would not be in the Bible.

        Our mindset of "I'm a christian, blessed and highly favored" without seeing if we are in God's will is a huge risk. We need to break away from the me-centric thinking where we are the center of everything, and look at things from God's point of view. You cannot come to the conclusion that the Bible is merely a book of history. We may separate God through our continued disobedience. Realize that this is still the time of grace where we can return to him. Disobedience always separates man from God. Your flesh will turn on you. If you have the Holy Spirit, that is what keeps you under submission to God.