Thursday, June 10, 2010

Samson: A One-Man Wrecking Crew



Judges 13: 3-5: "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

Judges 13: 25: "And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol."

Judges 14: 4: "But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel." Here is the Sovereignty of God. In God's economy, He uses EVERYBODY to effect His will in the earth--believers and unbelievers. Believers should know this, but unbelievers don't have a clue. The Lord uses us even when we think our lives have no impact on others. God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

Judges 14: 5-6: "Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done."

Judges 14: 19: "And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house."

Judges 15: 14-17: "And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi."

Physical warfare in the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of spiritual warfare in the New Testament.

When the Holy Ghost fell on Samson, he had the power to physically subdue the enemies of Israel. When the Holy Ghost falls on a Blood-washed believer in Jesus Christ, he has the power to confuse and remove satanic strongholds (e.g. principalities and powers of darkness) in heaven and earth (Hebrews 12: 26: "Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven."). He also has the power to deliver himself and others from demonic bondage.

Wherever the Lord positions you in the earth, that is where His Spirit will flow through you, so that He can use you like the jawbone of an ass to defeat satanic strongholds. In the Old Testament, the jawbone of an ass was an object; in the New Testament, the jawbone of an ass is a subject. If you abide in Christ, you are the subject, you are "the jawbone of an ass" that the Lord uses to subdue His enemies in heaven and earth. See the Hebrew word paga (below).

All of this Holy Ghost Warfare (intercession) is predicated on obedience to the Lord.

Paga (Intercession)
Intercession
Two Emails (Intercession) 

1 comment:

  1. Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
    25 June 2010

    Several Translations Examined

    Judges 13: 25: “And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (King James Version)

    “And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (New American Standard Bible)

    “The spirit of the Lord first stirred him in Mahaneh-dan, which is between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (The New American Bible)

    “And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (New International Version)

    “And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (Revised Standard Version)

    “In time Jehovah’s spirit started to impel him in Mahaneh-dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures)

    “The boy grew up in Mahaneh-dan between Zorah and Eshtaol, and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to drive him hard.” (The New English Bible)

    “And the Spirit of the Lord beganne to mooue him at times in the campe of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (King James Version, 1611 Version)

    I especially liked the line in The New English Bible: “and the Spirit of the Lord began to drive him hard.”

    We are not to be passive; passivity is sin. We must be aggressively seeking the Lord at all times. This reminds me of a Scripture that reads, “the violent take the Kingdom of heaven by force.”

    Harper’s Bible Dictionary: “Israel: May God strive, contend or rule.”

    Genesis 32: 28: “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with man and hast prevailed.”

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