Judg 13:1 | KingComments | STEP | The history of Samson always appeals to the imagination. The man of great strength, who is also so weak. In contrast to the previous judges, who brought fellow citizens with them when fighting the enemy, Samson does everything on his own. He does not lead an army like Gideon and Jephthah. In this acting as a loner, where there is no connection with the people of God, Samson also seems to be focused on himself in a strong way. On the other hand, acting as a loner fits in with a people of God who, as a whole, have deviated far from the Word of God. As far as professing Christianity is concerned, this situation can be found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. If the decay in Christianity has taken such forms that it is no longer possible for Christianity as a whole to be restored, it comes down to personal faithfulness to the Lord and His Word. This faithfulness is found in the separation from sin and dedication to the Lord. Then there can be talk of “the man of God” ( ). This is the man who in his own life shows the characteristics of God, while everything around him is in a state of decay. It is someone who stands for God and His rights in the midst of a professing Christianity that does not take them into account. The whole principle of strength lies in being separated to God. It is good to keep in mind that the people of those days do not so much represent people of today, but they represent spiritual power that guides an entire people or the individual today. If we apply this to Samson, we see that he represents the idea of the Nazirite. In other words, God wants to show by him that, in a time of decay, spiritual strength can only be found in someone who walks in separation from evil and in fellowship with Him. Complete separation to God is the source of strength in the struggle against our spiritual enemies. In a perfect way this can be seen in Jesus Christ. He is the true Nazirite. The history of Samson is one of peculiar contrasts. In him we see on the one hand the grace and purpose of God, the plan God has for him. On the other hand, we see how little of it ends up in his life. What God means by Samson and who Samson is in practice are two different things. Samson is always a prisoner of the enemy from which he frees himself again and again. He even dies in the hands of his enemies, the Philistines. He is also a type of Israel that has separated God for Himself as a people, but that has not behaved as His people. This is how it went with the church, which God has chosen as a heavenly people. The church has become unfaithful to its vocation to behave as a heavenly people on earth. She has become earthly oriented. Philistine principles have crept in and largely determine the face of the church, or rather professing Christianity. The following applies to her: “Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” ( ). That is what the Philistines represent. We will experience this phenomenon of ‘holding to a form of godliness’ again and again in the history we have before us. For the church there is no complete restoration to be expected, although there are times of revival. Its earthly history ends, as in this book, in a still unbroken domination by the Philistines. Samson’s life shows us something of the Christian testimony on earth, both communally and personally. If the testimony becomes an individual matter rather than a common one, it means that the whole is in decay. In Judges 13, the first chapter of Samson’s history, everything is seen from God’s side. We see how He is at work and makes sure that everything is prepared for the birth and upbringing of the Nazirite. God wants Samson to be a Nazirite all his life. Numbers 6 contains the law of the Nazirite. There we read that someone can consecrate himself as a Nazirite for a certain period of time on a voluntary basis. To Samson that choice is not presented. God has destined him to be a Nazirite all his life, and He arranges everything in a way that it is also possible for him to meet God’s purpose with him. As this chapter makes clear, the entire preparation testifies to this. That God does so is another testimony of His unceasing care and love for His people. This is even more evident when we think about how these people have once again become so unfaithful to Him, for the umpteenth time and now to the greatest extent. God is going to act sovereignly. For the seventh time we read: “The sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD.” The rod that God uses now are the Philistines. The Philistines are not mentioned among the seven evil nations of Canaan. They have already been involved in a disciplinary action before ( ). There, however, they are not the main enemy and they are now. They seize the land. As for what or who the Philistines represent, something has already been said in the explanation of Judges 3:3. Because of the importance of the recognizability of this enemy, it is good to repeat a few things briefly and add some new characteristics. The Philistines represent people who externally occupy a position corresponding to what God has given to His people, without having a living relationship with God. They possess an external form of godliness ( ). In our time they can be compared to nominal Christians, people who pretend to be Christians, but are not born again. They are imitators. Philistines represent a religion acceptable to not born again people. Their work is, for example, to stop up wells ( ). The meaning of this is that they prevent the Holy Spirit from working, for wells are a picture of the Word of God which is made alive by the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus speaks about this in John 4 and 7 ( ). Philistines use the things of God for their own benefit. That is the reproach God makes, among other things, the Philistines, through the prophet Joel ( ). An example is that the nominal Christian gives to certain important biblical definitions a completely different content. Just think of the blessing of the childhood and the sonship of the believer. Believers are called children of God and also sons of God. What makes the nominal Christian of them? He says that all men are children of God. In this way, this blessing is brought down to the level of the natural, not born again human being. And what to think of their view on the physical resurrection of Christ, one of the foundations of the Christian faith? The nominal Christian also speaks of the resurrection of Christ, but he means that Christ lives on in the ideas spread by His followers. With the Philistines it is about recognizing the tactics they use to hollow out the truth of God and make it meaningless. To quote the verse quoted earlier from 2 Timothy 3: “They have denied its power” ( ). They invoke the Bible, but in reality the whole Bible doesn’t mean anything to them. Yet the only thing they want is to introduce their ideas to the Christian area. The Philistines are not enemies from outside the land, but they live in it. Although they have no right to the land, for God has assigned it to His people ( ), they still attach their name to it. The name Palestine is derived from the name Philistine. Of all Israel’s enemies, the Old Testament mentions most the Philistines. They have kept Israel in slavery longer than any other people. David has only defeated them once and for all. If by grace and new birth we are children of God and not nominal Christians, we have to be very careful not to get under the spell of the pleasant life that the nominal Christians seem to lead. However, it is a life out of and for the flesh and not for God. The only thing that can save us from this is to occupy ourselves with the Lord Jesus, of whom David is a picture. We see in Samson that he gets under the spell of the attractive side of the Philistines, represented in a few women. He is not the boss of his lusts. That means his downfall as a Nazirite and therefore he fails in his assignment. We will experience the same if we do not remain separated from what professing Christianity has to offer carnal man. We can no longer be a witness for God; our testimony will be destroyed.

‏ Judges 13:1

Introduction

The history of Samson always appeals to the imagination. The man of great strength, who is also so weak. In contrast to the previous judges, who brought fellow citizens with them when fighting the enemy, Samson does everything on his own. He does not lead an army like Gideon and Jephthah. In this acting as a loner, where there is no connection with the people of God, Samson also seems to be focused on himself in a strong way. On the other hand, acting as a loner fits in with a people of God who, as a whole, have deviated far from the Word of God.

As far as professing Christianity is concerned, this situation can be found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. If the decay in Christianity has taken such forms that it is no longer possible for Christianity as a whole to be restored, it comes down to personal faithfulness to the Lord and His Word. This faithfulness is found in the separation from sin and dedication to the Lord. Then there can be talk of “the man of God” (2Tim 3:17). This is the man who in his own life shows the characteristics of God, while everything around him is in a state of decay. It is someone who stands for God and His rights in the midst of a professing Christianity that does not take them into account. The whole principle of strength lies in being separated to God.

It is good to keep in mind that the people of those days do not so much represent people of today, but they represent spiritual power that guides an entire people or the individual today. If we apply this to Samson, we see that he represents the idea of the Nazirite. In other words, God wants to show by him that, in a time of decay, spiritual strength can only be found in someone who walks in separation from evil and in fellowship with Him. Complete separation to God is the source of strength in the struggle against our spiritual enemies. In a perfect way this can be seen in Jesus Christ. He is the true Nazirite.

The history of Samson is one of peculiar contrasts. In him we see on the one hand the grace and purpose of God, the plan God has for him. On the other hand, we see how little of it ends up in his life. What God means by Samson and who Samson is in practice are two different things. Samson is always a prisoner of the enemy from which he frees himself again and again. He even dies in the hands of his enemies, the Philistines. He is also a type of Israel that has separated God for Himself as a people, but that has not behaved as His people.

This is how it went with the church, which God has chosen as a heavenly people. The church has become unfaithful to its vocation to behave as a heavenly people on earth. She has become earthly oriented. Philistine principles have crept in and largely determine the face of the church, or rather professing Christianity. The following applies to her: “Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2Tim 3:5). That is what the Philistines represent. We will experience this phenomenon of ‘holding to a form of godliness’ again and again in the history we have before us.

For the church there is no complete restoration to be expected, although there are times of revival. Its earthly history ends, as in this book, in a still unbroken domination by the Philistines. Samson’s life shows us something of the Christian testimony on earth, both communally and personally. If the testimony becomes an individual matter rather than a common one, it means that the whole is in decay.

In Judges 13, the first chapter of Samson’s history, everything is seen from God’s side. We see how He is at work and makes sure that everything is prepared for the birth and upbringing of the Nazirite. God wants Samson to be a Nazirite all his life.

Numbers 6 contains the law of the Nazirite. There we read that someone can consecrate himself as a Nazirite for a certain period of time on a voluntary basis. To Samson that choice is not presented. God has destined him to be a Nazirite all his life, and He arranges everything in a way that it is also possible for him to meet God’s purpose with him. As this chapter makes clear, the entire preparation testifies to this.

That God does so is another testimony of His unceasing care and love for His people. This is even more evident when we think about how these people have once again become so unfaithful to Him, for the umpteenth time and now to the greatest extent. God is going to act sovereignly.

The Philistines

For the seventh time we read: “The sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD.” The rod that God uses now are the Philistines. The Philistines are not mentioned among the seven evil nations of Canaan. They have already been involved in a disciplinary action before (Jdg 10:7). There, however, they are not the main enemy and they are now. They seize the land.

As for what or who the Philistines represent, something has already been said in the explanation of Judges 3:3. Because of the importance of the recognizability of this enemy, it is good to repeat a few things briefly and add some new characteristics. The Philistines represent people who externally occupy a position corresponding to what God has given to His people, without having a living relationship with God. They possess an external form of godliness (2Tim 3:5). In our time they can be compared to nominal Christians, people who pretend to be Christians, but are not born again. They are imitators.

Philistines represent a religion acceptable to not born again people. Their work is, for example, to stop up wells (Gen 26:16). The meaning of this is that they prevent the Holy Spirit from working, for wells are a picture of the Word of God which is made alive by the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus speaks about this in John 4 and 7 (Jn 4:13-14 ; Jn 7:37-39).

Philistines use the things of God for their own benefit. That is the reproach God makes, among other things, the Philistines, through the prophet Joel (Joel 3:4-5). An example is that the nominal Christian gives to certain important biblical definitions a completely different content. Just think of the blessing of the childhood and the sonship of the believer. Believers are called children of God and also sons of God. What makes the nominal Christian of them? He says that all men are children of God. In this way, this blessing is brought down to the level of the natural, not born again human being.

And what to think of their view on the physical resurrection of Christ, one of the foundations of the Christian faith? The nominal Christian also speaks of the resurrection of Christ, but he means that Christ lives on in the ideas spread by His followers.

With the Philistines it is about recognizing the tactics they use to hollow out the truth of God and make it meaningless. To quote the verse quoted earlier from 2 Timothy 3: “They have denied its power” (2Tim 3:5). They invoke the Bible, but in reality the whole Bible doesn’t mean anything to them. Yet the only thing they want is to introduce their ideas to the Christian area. The Philistines are not enemies from outside the land, but they live in it.

Although they have no right to the land, for God has assigned it to His people (Deu 32:8-9), they still attach their name to it. The name Palestine is derived from the name Philistine. Of all Israel’s enemies, the Old Testament mentions most the Philistines. They have kept Israel in slavery longer than any other people. David has only defeated them once and for all.

If by grace and new birth we are children of God and not nominal Christians, we have to be very careful not to get under the spell of the pleasant life that the nominal Christians seem to lead. However, it is a life out of and for the flesh and not for God. The only thing that can save us from this is to occupy ourselves with the Lord Jesus, of whom David is a picture.

We see in Samson that he gets under the spell of the attractive side of the Philistines, represented in a few women. He is not the boss of his lusts. That means his downfall as a Nazirite and therefore he fails in his assignment. We will experience the same if we do not remain separated from what professing Christianity has to offer carnal man. We can no longer be a witness for God; our testimony will be destroyed.