The Lord Had Departed From Him
Sometimes, we depart from the Lord. Other times, it is the Lord who departs from us. Samson is a very tragic figure in the Bible. He was the strongest man in the world, but he died blind and broken. How did that happen? He told the secret of his strength to a Philistine woman, because she pestered him, and then, she sold him into the hands of his enemies.(Judges 16:20) We need to learn from Samson's mistakes.
Samson departed from the Lord by pursuing pagan women. God had made it clear that the people of Israel were not to intermarry with pagans. Samson did not listen to the Lord. Time after time, he went after the Philistine women. It never worked out well for him, even though God used it to get back at the Philistines, who were oppressing His people. We are not told anything to lead us to believe that Samson sought to honor the Lord in any way, except that he did not cut his hair. God graciously allowed him to remain strong, even though he departed from the Lord.
The thing that brought Samson's life to a terrible end was that he told Delilah if his hair was cut, he would become weak. He should has expected her to cut his hair and tell the Philistines, because she had tried to betray him 3 times already, but that did not stop him. When his hair was cut, because of his loose lips and unrighteous life, God departed from Samson. They took him, put out his eyes, and celebrated their victory over him, but it was all his fault. He finally exhausted the mercy of God, and God took his strength.
Are you departing from God by making unrighteous decisions? Maybe you are even sinning willfully like Samson. What is it going to take before God departs from you and something really tragic happens? I don't mean you would lose your salvation. Even Samson still trusted God and died praying to the Lord. However, sometimes God departs from us, because we just go too far. All of a sudden, we are on our own, and we are powerless to stop the horrible consequences of our actions. I pray that never happens to you. It doesn't have to happen, if you will walk closely with the Lord all the way.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 17-19.
Samson departed from the Lord by pursuing pagan women. God had made it clear that the people of Israel were not to intermarry with pagans. Samson did not listen to the Lord. Time after time, he went after the Philistine women. It never worked out well for him, even though God used it to get back at the Philistines, who were oppressing His people. We are not told anything to lead us to believe that Samson sought to honor the Lord in any way, except that he did not cut his hair. God graciously allowed him to remain strong, even though he departed from the Lord.
The thing that brought Samson's life to a terrible end was that he told Delilah if his hair was cut, he would become weak. He should has expected her to cut his hair and tell the Philistines, because she had tried to betray him 3 times already, but that did not stop him. When his hair was cut, because of his loose lips and unrighteous life, God departed from Samson. They took him, put out his eyes, and celebrated their victory over him, but it was all his fault. He finally exhausted the mercy of God, and God took his strength.
Are you departing from God by making unrighteous decisions? Maybe you are even sinning willfully like Samson. What is it going to take before God departs from you and something really tragic happens? I don't mean you would lose your salvation. Even Samson still trusted God and died praying to the Lord. However, sometimes God departs from us, because we just go too far. All of a sudden, we are on our own, and we are powerless to stop the horrible consequences of our actions. I pray that never happens to you. It doesn't have to happen, if you will walk closely with the Lord all the way.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 17-19.