JUDGES 15 AND 16
JUDGES [p. 177] 15 AND 16
It is well for us to keep in mind that, Samson being the last of the judges his history brings out the most important principles for us in the last days. It would seem that we learn in Samson the secret of strength and the secret of weakness.
It is mentioned twice that Samson judged Israel twenty years, indicating that there was that in Samson which was for the deliverance of the people of God. Just because there was that, he seemed to be especially assailed by things that would divert him and deprive him of his power. He sets forth exercises that come very closely home to our souls in these last days.
We have already noted this three times in which we are told that the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Samson. Whenever that was the case he was marked by power to overcome, whether it was the lion or the Philistine. Then we see that power in itself is not sufficient to maintain us for God. There must be that which is inward. There may be great power for service in certain quarters and it is of the Spirit of God wherever souls are being converted and the people of God helped; but we see in Samson (verse 18) that, after doing very great exploits in the power of the Spirit of God, he after all was a thirsty man. A man may have the power of the Spirit of God on him for mighty acts of service, and yet not have inward satisfaction, the power of life in his own soul by the Spirit. These great lessons are for the last days. Power is a matter of sovereignty. God by His Spirit can work sovereignly; He can use any instrument He sees fit; but the real life and joy and satisfaction of our hearts inwardly is another matter. Many a servant may be publicly marked by extraordinary power in service, and yet not know the blessedness of inward satisfaction — he may be a thirsty man. At the end of chapter 15 Samson has to learn the Spirit in a new way. Perhaps the Lord would call our attention to the Spirit under this beautiful designation, Enhakkore, “the caller’s spring”. Paul speaks of “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”; he feels the need of this in order that he might meet his sufferings, persecutions, and pressure with an inward source of supply. The epistle to the Philippians brings out largely the inwardness of things.
There are two incidents in the life of Samson where he is seen as calling on Jehovah. One is in chapter 15:18, where he is very thirsty, and he called on Jehovah, “And God clave the [p. 178] hollow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out of it and he drank, and his spirit came again and he revived Therefore its name was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day”. The other time is in chapter 16:28: “And Samson called to Jehovah and said, Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may take one vengeance upon the Philistines for my two eyes”. I would suggest that Samson as calling on Jehovah is a greater man morally and spiritually than he was in all the other incidents of his history. It is a peculiar resource of the last days that we call on the name of the Lord.
The power spoken of in 2 Timothy is an inward power rather than what is outward. I have known several instances of men who have served and been used of God, but when they had been withdrawn from what is external it came to light that they had very little of what was internal. Samson was one with a most extraordinary power — there is not a man in Scripture who externally had such strength — but, notwithstanding that, he was conscious inwardly that his heart was unsatisfied and he was a thirsty man. He has to call, and then, in type, he gets the Spirit in a new way in connection with what is inward — not power to do great exploits outwardly, but to satisfy his inward cravings. My impression is that in Samson calling on the Lord we see something morally greater than his killing thousands of Philistines. However much God is pleased to use me publicly, sooner or later the question is raised, Have I the thirst of my soul satisfied? Have I the Spirit inwardly, not only for outward power; that is “the caller’s spring”, a beautiful designation of the Spirit.
We are so apt to go on with what is outward, but I believe a time comes with every one of us when we are brought face to face with this question: I have had meetings, and they have been very precious; I have had the companionship of the brethren, and it was very sweet; I have had ministry and it has been happy; I have had the power for service and it has been wonderful, but I am not satisfied. None of these things or all put together will give inward satisfaction. Inward satisfaction would not detract from the power God gives for service; it would add to it. I think it was a poet who said, “All great deeds flow from the centre of a quiet heart”. It is from a quiet, restful, and satisfied heart that the most efficient service flows; we want the caller’s spring.
[p. 179] In Numbers 21 the proposal comes from the divine side. God says, “Gather the people together and I will give them water”. But in John 4 we are to ask: “If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water”. God is the Giver and He is seeking to awaken thirst by presenting what He has to give. It is of vital importance in these last days that we should know what it is to be in life inwardly; this book is exercise for the last days. The calling is the expression of inward exercise. We do not see that in Samson’s case when the Spirit of Jehovah comes upon him; that is the sovereign act of God. But what he gets in answer to calling comes in connection with his inward exercise. It is what is inward that will help us in the last days — something that God gives which meets the exercises and cravings that have been produced in our souls Godward. It is a personal and an individual matter.
In connection with this incident we find a remarkable little phrase which often occurs in the Old Testament, “to this day”. These words have a moral force and indicate that the matter which is spoken of has a permanent place in the ways of God with His people. It is available for us now. The spring subsists morally unto this day; the Spirit as “the caller’s spring” is there to this day. I would encourage all our hearts to entertain thoughts of the Spirit as “the caller’s spring”. We know a little what it is to be supported in our testimony and in our conflicts; but what is inside me is more important as far as I am concerned personally than anything I do in conflict outwardly. We see in Stephen the two things. There was an extraordinary power in his testimony; he goes through the whole history of the people and presses their guilt on them at every turn, but, great as Stephen’s testimony is, he himself inwardly is as great, when he kneels down while they batter him with stones. That angelic face shines with the light of heaven while their murderous stones batter on it, and he cries, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. When you read that wonderful address, one of the most marvellous chapters in Scripture, you see the man in his extraordinary power. He is a king among men. When you see him kneel in prayer, you see the wonderful inwardness of him; Stephen inwardly is as great as Stephen outwardly.
Samson’s second calling on the Lord was when he lost his [p. 180] sight and liberty. He had been betrayed into forfeiting his Nazariteship, and he was a poor blind prisoner making sport for the Philistines. He reached the lowest point that a servant of God could reach, and from that point he calls on Jehovah and becomes greater than he had ever been before. In spite of his falling so low, there is inherent power in Samson that is greater than all the power of the world and greater than all the power under which he fell.
If we look at the weaknesses that come out in Samson, we find that he was tested in three ways. The Philistine woman in chapter 14 represents what is natural; the harlot of chapter 16 represents what is carnal; and Delilah represents what is Satanic, for from the outset she is identified with the adversary and does her utmost to destroy Samson. God by His ways delivers His servant from each of these three snares. Samson’s weakness left him open to these influences, but that which was of God in him extricated him in each case from the snare. Satan will use either the natural or the carnal or the Satanic in order to undermine the truth of Nazariteship. He will try to rob us of our Nazariteship until he has done for us. But we see in Samson that, in spite of all the weakness that came out in him, there is something else there and God delivers him.
God delivers him from the Philistine woman in chapter 14 by keen disappointment. Samson did not get what he expected; he was keenly disappointed when he found he had a woman who betrayed his secret, and he was disappointed when he found that she was given to his companion. Many of us have known what it is to be influenced on the line of what is natural, and we have found on that line nothing but disappointment; we did not get a single thing that we expected. That is how God delivered us from the natural.
The harlot represents carnal or fleshly influences and, through yielding to these influences, Samson finds himself in a terrible place of restraint. He finds himself shut up in Gaza, the gates barred, and the people waiting to kill him in the morning. But we find that there is a power in Samson that enables him to make his escape. Speaking typically, there was something in Samson that was great enough to break loose from the snare in which he had been taken; he rises up at midnight and carries off the gates and bars of Gaza. That was not the Spirit of the Lord upon him; it was what Samson was himself, the inherent power in him which enabled him to [p. 181] do it. We have all seen cases like this, the saints of God taken captive by what is fleshly, but in many cases we have had the joy of seeing that there was inherent power in them as born of God that has enabled them to make their escape from the position into which those carnal influences had thrown them. It is a fine thing to see saints who have been overcome by the flesh and in terrible bondage rising up and freeing themselves, so that they have been able to carry off the gates and bars and they are recovered to the companionship of the people of God — that is what Hebron means. If we see a person who has failed restored to the companionship of the people of God, we are apt to dwell on the failure and to hold it as a black mark against that person for the rest of his life, I am sure that is not of God. I believe that, if a saint has fallen under the power of the flesh, and has found that he has a power as born of God to get free from it, we ought to be more occupied with the thought of the energy with which he freed himself than with the weakness which brought him into captivity. The cleansed leper was a greater man morally than the man in Israel who had never been a leper. That is a thing only understood in the school of grace.
Delilah represents what is Satanic, what is directly opposed to the testimony of God. From the first she does her utmost to get Samson’s secret, and eventually she succeeds. It is a most solemn warning. To think that a man who is the great picture of strength in Scripture should become such a melancholy exhibition of weakness! Power for the testimony of God lies in Nazariteship, and Delilah plies her arts on Samson until in the end she gets his secret, and then she betrays him. Then she takes good care not merely to cut his hair; she shaves it until not a vestige is left of his Nazariteship. He has yielded and given himself up to this wicked woman so that he loses every vestige of his Nazariteship, and the Philistines take him and bind him and put him in prison and actually make him an object of sport; he makes amusement for them. What a depth to fall to! Can any saint fall lower than that? They have put his eyes out, and he is reduced to the lowest point. But it is most encouraging to find that even then the energy of life is in his soul and his hair begins to grow. The man who has drunk at the caller’s spring has life in his soul so that, whatever happens to him, his hair begins to grow. Although the Philistines had put out his eyes, it was only a deliverance,
[p. 182] for his eyes had been his ruin — “he saw a woman of the Philistines”, “he saw a harlot”. When they put out his eyes they only delivered him from that which had led him astray. That is God’s government. However low we fall, God always acts on the line of deliverance, and when we fall under the power of Satan we are delivered as we accept the government of God. When Samson, the blind prisoner, grinding in the prison house, and making sport for the Philistines, called on the Lord, he was a greater man than he had ever been before. He could do more than he ever did before, but he did it by death. He had to learn that his own death was the secret of power. We have all to face these lessons.
The two callings on Jehovah are connected with the secret of power. The first calling in chapter 15 is connected with the power of life; the caller’s spring is where the Spirit brings the power of life into a man’s soul. The second power brings out the power of death, and we have to learn that the two things go together. Paul says to the Corinthians, “We who live are always delivered unto death” — “I protest by your rejoicing in Christ Jesus that I die daily” — and again, “Death works in us, but life in you”. Paul had not only learnt the secret of life but the secret of death. When Samson had learnt the secret of death, he was ready to be taken away. He had reached the climax; he slew more in his death than ever in his life. When I come to accept my death, the great secret of the power of God works in me, and I become an efficient instrument for the use of God.