Day 48: Judges 12 to 16
Samson was going to be the one who would overtake the Philistines. He was the man chosen by God to defeat them. Samson, however, had different plants. He grew enamored with the Philistines and with one woman, in particular. Delilah. A Philistine prostitute. Samson literally went to bed with the Philistines. Instead of leading Israel
Samson was eventually lied to and betrayed by Delilah. She enticed him to give her the secret to his enormous strength. As a result, Delilah shaved Samson’s hair and his strength—and the Lord—left him. He was overpowered by the Philistines and taken prisoner.
Eventually, his hair grew back. He was then led out into the temple to entertain the Philistine crowd. He prayed to God for strength to destroy the Philistines and he gave up his life to do so. He pushed the pillars of the temple with all his might and the temple came crashing down on all those who were inside it, including himself.
Samson was an Israelite living amongst the Philistines, yet he was called to be set apart from them because of his loyalty to the Lord God. Samson, however, got entangled with the Philistines and grew distracted from the person God called him to be.
Today, we as Christians are called to be in the world but not of the world. We live in the midst of the world, but we are still called to be set apart, to remember the Lord God and the people he called us to be. Too often it is easy to get entangled and entrapped in sins that are not of God but are instead of the world. We find ourselves tempted to engage in activities that God does not condone or endorse. We are like Samson. We are enamored with un-godly things. We are lured by these things like Samson was attracted to the Philistines and ensnared by Delilah. Yet God wants us to remember who we are: we are HIS people, called by him to live in this world yet remain separate from it as well. To encourage and save the world but not to become ensnared, trapped, and enticed by it.
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