Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Do you know the story of Samson? He was a strongman in the Bible. He was a Nazirite. And for a large part of his story, he was hanging by a thread.
Samson did all kinds of feats of strength during his life. He killed 1000 men with the jawbone of a donkey. He caught 300 foxes and tied their tails together, lit them on fire and sent them through the grain fields of the Philistines. He actually tore loose the city gates (doors, posts and all) and carried them on his shoulders to the top of the next hill. Y’all, when the Spirit of the Lord comes on you, it’s POWERFUL. Schwarzenegger didn’t have nothin’ on Samson.
Being a Nazirite (not to be confused with Nazarene – which simply meant you were a citizen of the town of Nazareth) meant that you were a member of an Israelite order. “Nazirite” comes from the Hebrew word “Nazir,” which means consecrated or separated. A Nazirite had dedicated himself and his life to the Lord. He took voluntary vows. There were three. 1) They vowed to not drink wine or other strong fermented drink. They couldn’t eat or drink anything that came from the grapevine, not even seeds. 2) They could not cut their hair. 3) They were to avoid corpses and even the structures that held them.
Samson was dedicated to God from the womb, by divine decree. An angel appeared to his mother, who was barren, and told her that God would give her a son. Samson had a covenant with God. He had taken vows. Because of his covenant, God had given him supernatural strength. The Word says, in Judges 13:25 that “the Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him.” His strength was in the covenant that he had with God. But Samson was playing fast and loose with his covenant.
Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, but later on, he saw that the carcass of the lion was full of bees and honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate it, thus breaking one of his Nazirite vows. Later he attended a 7-day wedding feast where he probably drank and broke the second vow. But the Lord was merciful to him, and every time he went to battle the Philistines, God’s power came on him and he was victorious.
Have you ever seen a frayed rope? Part of it is severed, but it’s still hanging on by the last thread? That was Samson. He had broken two of the three vows, and God was still merciful to him – Samson still had his strength. He thought he had gotten away with something. He thought the rules didn’t apply to him. He thought he didn’t have to be obedient. He thought he didn’t have to keep his covenant with God to retain his anointing. He was hanging by a thread – the third vow.
Most of you know the last part of the story. As strong as Samson was, he had a weakness for Philistine women. The Philistines were enemies of Israel and their women were no different. Their loyalties were with their countrymen. So, there he was, shacked up with a Philistine woman named Delilah. Delilah was nagging him about the source of his strength so that she could tell the Philistine army. By this time, Samson was getting kind of arrogant. He thought that God needed him so much that he was the exception. He thought he was the one guy who didn’t have to be obedient. He thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to compromise.
Finally, after giving Delilah all kinds of bogus answers (and she tried them all out – most folks would call that “Clue number One,”) he FINALLY relented and told her the source of his strength. One can only imagine that he figured since he had broken the first two vows and still had his strength that one more vow didn’t matter.
Of course, Delilah had Samson’s head shaved and then called in the Philistine army. He had broken the last thread – the last vow. He had compromised, but he didn’t realize that the Spirit of the Lord had left him. This time, the Word says he tried to “shake himself as before” but it didn’t work. He was captured. The Philistines gouged out his eyes and set him to grinding grain in the prison. Do you know what happens when you grind grain? You go around and around and around in circles. Do you know when the Lord lets you go in circles? When you didn’t learn your lesson the first time.
So here is your story for obedience: Samson spent a large part of his life hanging by a thread. He was disobedient in his choices. He was a compromiser. He was pushing boundaries just as far as he could push them. And it worked…until it didn’t. The last thread finally broke and he found himself blindly going around in circles. He couldn’t see his way out. He found himself in a situation that could have been totally avoided if he had been obedient to God – if he hadn’t broken his vows – if he hadn’t been shacked up with the enemy.
In the end, Samson’s hair grew back, and he prayed and asked the Lord to restore his strength one last time. The Philistines had taken Samson into the temple of Dagon to humiliate him and make him perform, but it was the last performance – the last celebration of idolatry – they would ever see. Samson DID give them a performance. In fact, he brought the house down. Literally, he brought the house down on their heads. He defeated 3000 Philistines that day – more that day than in the rest of his life.
Are you hanging by a thread? Are you shacked up with the enemy? Now is your opportunity to repent and make things right with God. If you call upon the name of the Lord, He is faithful and able to deliver you. Just like Samson, God has set you apart for a purpose. Are you going to play fast and loose with your covenant and end up blindly going in circles like Samson? Or are you going to go forward with God’s plan for you? The choice is yours.
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