Keep out of it!

I love the water and I love scuba diving. Exploring under the water is one of the things
that really makes me happy and I just wish I could be down there all the time. With air
tank on my back, I can dive into the water with limited amount of time. But I can’t stay
down there forever. The longer you stay in the water, and the deeper you go down, the
nitrogen in the compressed air of the tank will get dissolved into your body. With careful
procedures you can let out the nitrogen naturally and have no problem but once you
ignore certain procedures and stay too long, the nitrogen that was dissolved in your
body will grow bubbles and will cause serious damage to your body. In some cases you
will be intoxicated with oxygen.

The reason for these things happening is because we do not belong in the water. We
are mammals that belong out in open air, not under the water. We belong up there, not
down there. The point is, to keep yourself safe, keep out of it.

With oppression of the Philistines for 40 years, God gave Samson through Manoah and
his wife. Samson was to become a leader and judge for the people of God, and at the
same time, he was to live as a Nazirite. A Nazirite was a special group of people that
consecrate their life to only devote themselves to God. They were to live with a special
lifestyle. (To see more on Nazirite, read Numbers 6) When Samson was born, he “grew,
and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at
Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (Judges 13:24, 25).

Our lives as Christians are specially consecrated to God. The famous verse in
Revelation tells us, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12) As we live in the end
time of history, we are called as a group of people specially consecrated for God. We
are asked to keep God’s commandments and have the faith of Jesus. Not only that, “the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.” (1Corinthians 12:7)
Just as the Spirit of God moved upon Samson, He moves upon us as well.

Samson was a strong and powerful leader. And the Lord was surely with Samson in his
legendary stories: when he killed the lion with bare hands, when he caught 300 foxes
and tied their tails with torches, when he killed 1000 men with just a fresh jawbone of
a donkey, when he pulled out the gates of Gaza. No matter how strong you can be,
you can’t do these things on your own. It’s just impossible. The only way these were
possible was faith. “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon and Barak and Samson... who through faith ... stopped the mouths of lions...”

(Hebrews 11:32,33) “And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore
the lion apart...” (Judges 14:6) God was with Samson in all the legendary stories of
Samson. It is God who gave strength to Samson.

Though Samson was physically strong, he had a weak side. He was weak on women.
I am pretty sure most men will understand Samson. The problem here is that he keeps
falling for Philistine women, not an Israelite. They were heathen and did not believe
in God. People of God interacting with the secular things of the world is surely a big
problem for God. One of the reasons that God brought the Flood upon the earth
was “that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they
took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.” (Genesis 6:2) This is something
we need to look into as Christians who confess to have dedicated ourselves wholly to
God. Are we too much consumed and occupied by the things of the world? Are we not
spending enough time with God due to the fun and glamorous things of the world? Do
we belong to the secular world? Is it where we should be as Christians?

When Samson had a wedding with a Philistine woman, he gave a riddle to the people
there. No one knew the answer. Then Samson’s wife came upon him, wept and begged
to tell her the answer (so she can tell the people, for she was threatened). “Now she
wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh
day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle
to the sons of her people.” (Judges 14:17) This similar experience happens again
later with Delilah. The Philistines are seeking where Samson’s strength comes from.
And so Delilah keeps asking Samson what secret is. Samson lies for 3 times to this
woman. “And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed
him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to
her...(the secret)” (Judges 16:16, 17). After this, Samson loses his strength, is captured,
and his eyes are gauged out.

Had Samson chose to leave that place where those Philistines dwelled, the
consequences could have been different. Because of Samson’s choice to stay there
and to give in, it gave the women opportunity to press on them. Secular temptations
will press you and grow unto you, should you choose to compromise and mingle with
the secular things. Keep out of it! Just as Samson didn’t belong with the Philistines, we
don’t belong to the world.

Now this is why I always choose Samson as my favorite character of the Bible.
Not because of his weakness and lust for women, not because of his strength, but
because of God’s grace and faithfulness. Despite the mistakes and wrongdoings
of Samson, God still used Samson as a judge and a leader for 20 years. (Judges

15:20) And whenever Samson had faith in God, God came upon him and gave him
the strength. “However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been
shaven.” (Judges 16:22) As Samson’s hair grew again, I believe Samson’s faith in
God grew again, too. Samson chooses to fight for God one last time. The Philistines
are celebrating at the temple and they call for Samson to make fun of him and his lost
strength. While Samson is being led by a servant boy, Samson asks him to lead him in
between two pillars that support the temple.

“Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, ‘O Lord God, remember me, I pray!
Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance
on the Philistines for my two eyes!’... then Samson pushed (the two pillars) with all his
might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead
that he killed at this death were more than he had killed in his life.” (Judges 16:28-30)

God did not forget Samson but was with him once more as Samson shout out in faith.
I wonder, however, did Samson have to die this way? Like I said earlier, had Samson
chose not to mingle with secular temptations and be faithful to God, then God could
have used Samson for more than 20 years. And he would not have ended up with his
eyes plucked out and die in that heathen temple. He would have been able to serve
God the rest of his life and age to death.

We now live in the end times of history. I can feel in my skins that Jesus is coming
very, very soon. It’s time to look back to our lives and see where we are at. It’s time
to get out of it if you find yourselves too much into the secular things of the world. We
don’t need to make the same mistakes that Samson had made. But it’s also ok to make
mistakes (for we are weak) as long as we remember to return back to God in faith. Let’s
remember that we do not belong to this world but that we belong to God.

Keep out of it!