CHOSEN FROM BEFORE BIRTH TO LEAD GOD'S PEOPLE

Proclamation:

“You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb.  He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines … Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.”  Judges 13:5-7 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Samuel under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After the Israelites did evil in the eyes of The Lord, He let them be conquered by the Philistines. (Judges 13:1)  Afterwards, The Lord God raised up Samson, who was chosen before he was born, to lead His people. (Judges 13:2-14)  It was Samson who killed a young lion with his bare hands, (Judges 14:5-6) who killed thirty men to pay a debt, (Judges 14:12-19) and who took the jawbone of a donkey and slew a thousand Philistines. (Judges 15:14-16)  Then Samson led Israel for twenty years. (Judges 15:20)  Unfortunately, Samson had a weakness for the Philistine women.  His first wife was a Philistine woman, (Judges 14:1-8) who betrayed him. (Judges 14:15-17)  So was the second woman who was the love of his life, Delilah. (Judges 16:4)  It was Delilah who told the Philistine leaders the secret of Samson’s strength so that they could defeat him. (Judges 16:5-20)  When they seized him, they gouged out his eyes, bound him in shackles, and made him push the grain grinding machine in the prison. (Judges 16:21)  Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he did when he was alive.  The temple was filled with the rulers of the Philistines and there were about three thousand more people on the roof of the temple when Samson collapsed the two pillars which supported the temple killing more than three thousand Philistines. (Judges 16:27-30)

Application:

The Lord God knows everything about each of us.  It was He that made us when we were in our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-16)  Each of us is unique.  The Lord God has something special for each of us to do and He knew what we would do before we were born. (Psalm 139:16)  Just as He knew what Samson would do, He knows what we will do.  Samson made some bad choices during his life but he never lost faith in The Lord.  He prayed to The Lord God for strength on his dying day.  We need to remember, just because we are in a bad situation does not mean that The Lord God is not with us or that He cannot hear us when we pray.  We are part of God’s plan and we just need to do our part.