In the Book of Judges there are seven judges raised-up by God to help Israel. Israel would go into deep periods of disobedience toward God. This would lead them into great times of depression in their souls. When the pressure of their enemies became so heavy they would as a nation begin to repent of their sins. The gracious God of Israel would hear their groaning and send them a deliver. The story of Samson occurs in the seventh and last of these cycles of repentance by Israel. These experiences of Israel are so like many of us when we stray from the principles and the union with Christ. Samson depicts in many ways these times of loss in fellowship with our union with Christ.
In the Old Testament the Philistines represent the flesh in our lives. When we let our flesh rule our lives we become the slaves of sin. This leads to great times of depression and separation in our minds and makes us think we are abandoned by God. However, the Gracious Father sees our lives and will always hear our cry of repentance. Repentance is a way of life for the weak and strong children of God. When we stray from the idea of repentance we forget how dependant we are on the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Much of the teaching presented in today circles of influence has strayed from any idea of such dependence upon God. In today’s teaching it is a sign of weakness to admit such need for God. They have forgotten the exhortation And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 2Cor. 12:7 Here is the crux of the matter, "Lest 'I' should be exalted above measure."
I would label some of the teachings presented to the body of Christ as exaltation's of self rooted in the rudiments of this world. Egypt represents the world. We have escaped Egypt but some of its teaching are still found in the hearts of men. Even King David cried out: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Ps. 51:10 Oh, people of God read Ps.51 and repent.
A Nazarite depicts the life of a believer once they have entered into a union with Christ. The experience of the new birth is like Samson, he was a Nazarite from birth. This Old Testament teaching is true for our life today. A Nazarite symbolizes the experience of sanctification. We are sanctified ,set apart, for a particular purpose to serve him through our union with Christ. We live from out of him. The Nazarite vows are true as we apply them in our spiritual relationship with the Father.
1)We are not to touch anything dead. We are to flee the old life as leaving Egypt. Paul says, "You have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God." We are not to go back to Egypt or live under the rule of the Philistines attempting to resurrect or collect some of the good from the old life, the flesh has been crucified with Christ, and Christ is the source of our new life. We have a new life, we are new creatures and we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit from now on. Our power source, our strength starts when the Holy Spirit baptizes us with fire.
2) We are not to be drunk with wine in excess but filled with the spirit. We derive our joy not from the world but from the Holy Spirit. We are to become the new wine which is in the cluster. Dependence on anything other than the spirit of God will rob us of his life. We are not even to touch the grapes from the vines of this earth or be found near its orchards. For we do not want the stains of this world on our garments; without spot or wrinkle, we are lovers of righteousness. Jude 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
2Peter 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
3) In the Scriptures long hair is said to be a shameful thing for a man. Samson had long hair as a symbol of holiness within his heart. This was his sign of weakness. This is the very thing that will keep us humble. James writes that we are to humble ourselves before the Lord. It is better to humble ourselves then to have God humble us. Note the hair is on the head. We must wear weakness upon our heads. It is our own minds that lead us into temptation. We rely on the renewing of our minds and our dependency is letting the mind of Christ be in us. As Nazarites we let our hair grow to indicate our weakness but we know we are made strong by our weakness. When we are weak we are strong. We know our need for dependence upon the Spirit’s resource. It is in weakness that we discover our strength in our indwelling Lord. So as Nazarites we fulfill the conditions of sanctification as our sign of remaining humble before our Lord.
We have already mentioned that Samson was called to be a Nazirite from his birth, which was unusual. Usually a Nazirite would take his vow later in life or for a short period of time. But Samson was a Nazirite from his birth. God knew him before he was born and called him by name. We are Nazarites from our birth, our new birth and we have been pre-ordained. From the time we are born into God's family these principals are born within our being and help to rule our life before the Lord. These principles are not laws we guide ourselves by but they are the shared characteristics of our Father. We are made partakers of his divine nature. 2Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. We have escaped Egypt's corruption and we have been freed from the slavery of the Philistine even the lust of our flesh.
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SAMSON: Part One