The book of Judges has some interesting accounts.

It records an action packed account of the failure of

Israel to maintain the high spiritual standards laid down by Moses and Joshua. Last time we looked at
the story of Gideon and how God used him to bring deliverance to Israel. Two points from that sermon
that I want to mention here

1. God raised a prophet to call back Israel to the Law and the commandments before the deliverer
came (Judges 6:8-10). God will always send a messenger first before He does something.
Amos 3:7
“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants
the prophets.”KJV
2. God requires us to first of all destroy the altars of Baal, before we take up the great work that is
before us (Judges 6:25-26)

Thus with today. God sent a special warning message through the messenger, who wrote volumes of
books which are very relevant for the last day Church. And if we properly follow the counsel, these
messages will usher us to the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. God is also calling us
to put away and destroy all the altars of Baal in our lives. He wants us to come to him wholeheartedly.
He is calling us to stop limping between tow opinions. God’s chosen people must never compromise
with worldly things. God’s chosen people must be distinct, separate and different from the world.

Today we will look at one interesting story from the book of Judges. Which talks of one man who was
especially chosen for a great work of delivering Israel. This man was the last of the Judges recorded in
this book. We find this story in the book of Judges Chapter 13 through 16.

Samson’s Birth

Judges 13:1-5

13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them
into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name [was] Manoah;
and his wife [was] barren, and bare not.

13:3 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.

13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any
unclean [thing]:

13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child
shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the
Philistines.
Samson was to be a Nazarite-One separated from the world and consecrated to the Lord”-from birth.
Now this was a vow that was very strict. And him who had chosen to take this vow was to observe strict
temperance in the way he lived his life. The Nazarite was supposed to be an example to Israel of
commitment to God.

We find the Nazarite Vow in Numbers 6:1-21. It had 3main terms or regulations:

1. He shall drink no wine or eat any product of the vine-from the kernels even to the husk.
(Numbers 6:3-4)
2. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head. (Numbers 6:5)
3. All the days that he separateth [himself] unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.
(Numbers 6:6)

Nazarite means to be set apart and it is explained as a separation “unto the Lord”. This vow was taken
by those who desired to consecrate themselves in an outstanding or unusual manner. It was a total
consecration to “the service of the Lord”. The rules voluntarily assumed by the Nazarites resembled
those “governing the behavior of priests”. Actually the restrictions placed on Nazarites suggest that
their sanctity exceeded that of ordinary priests and resembled that of “The High Priest”.

The Nazarite’s long hair and the High Priest’s diadem and anointing oil are called nezer, for in both cases
these were outward symbols of the holiness expected of them(Lev 8:9, 21:12, 2 Kings 11:12).

So this vow was very strict. Very very strict that a compromise would lead to the vow being nullified. So
Nazarites were careful people.

Now Samson was a Nazarite from the womb. This led to the change in lifestyle of the mother and the
father. Because of the nature of the child that was in the mother’s womb, their lifestyle had to change
so as not to pollute the Nazarite.Even the parents had to enquire twice from the Lord on how they
would order the child.

Adventist Home Chapter 39-The Influence of a mother

The sphere of the mother may be humble; but her influence, united with the father's, is as abiding as
eternity. Next to God, the mother's power for good is the strongest known on earth.1………………  What
a thought is this—that the mother's looks and words and actions bear fruit in eternity, and the salvation or
ruin of many will be the result of her influence!2…………… To fashion a character after the heavenly
Model requires much faithful, earnest, persevering labor; but it will pay, for God is a rewarder of all well-
directed labor in securing the salvation of souls.3…………….The thoughts and feelings of the mother will
have a powerful influence upon the legacy she gives her child. If she allows her mind to dwell upon her
own feelings, if she indulges in selfishness, if she is peevish and exacting, the disposition of her child will
testify to the fact. Thus many have received as a birthright almost unconquerable tendencies to evil. The
enemy of souls understands this matter much better than do many parents. He will bring his temptations
to bear upon the mother, knowing that if she does not resist him, he can through her affect her child. The
mother's only hope is in God. She may flee to Him for strength and grace; and she will not seek in vain.
Likewise parents today have been given the responsibility to order their children in the right path. There
are deep responsibilities resting upon Christian parents which many do not accept and carry in the fear of
the Lord……….. Fathers, mothers, you need to seek God morning and evening at the family altar, that
you may learn how to teach your children wisely, tenderly, lovingly.1The Review and Herald, June 27,
1899.

And so Samson’s parents did their part faithfully in raising up their son. One may ask why then did
Samson rebel if the parents did their part faithfully. It’s a subject for another day.

Now let’s look at Samson after he was born. Samson well knew of the responsibility that was upon him.
He well knew what he was supposed to do. But because of one weakness that he harbored , Samson
rebelled against God.

Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 54-Samson

Had Samson obeyed the divine commands as faithfully as his parents had done, his would have been a
nobler and happier destiny. But association with idolaters corrupted him. The town of Zorah being near
the country of the Philistines, Samson came to mingle with them on friendly terms. Thus in his youth
intimacies sprang up, the influence of which darkened his whole life.

Samson’s error was in uniting with idolaters. He associated with them until he was corrupted. And this
error led him to continuously break the conditions of the vow and his was a downward slop towards
destruction. The first thing that the Bible records after the Chapter 13 is the fact that Samson went
“DOWN”. Now here we begin to see Samson’s journey towards his bitter and sad end. And Samson
broke all the three terms of the vow.

1. Samson touched a dead body (Judges 14:6-9)

Today we have polluted ourselves by touching and even eating honey from dead bodies. Satan
has blinded us to believe that dead bodies can produce honey yet God says only his word is
sweeter than honey”. The Honey that you get from the Bible is the only one that is good for you. If
Samson had eaten honey from somewhere else it wasn’t going to be a problem. But because he
ate honey from a dead body, he violated the vow and it was accounted to him as a breach of his
vows. If a philistine man had eaten that same honey, then there would have never been a
problem. But Samson was a man under oath, God was not pleased.

2. He attended a drinking feast.

God is not pleased when we attend certain feasts. Many a times we attend certain feasts that are
in complete opposition to our beliefs just for the sake of attending yet God is not pleased with
such behaviours. God’s angels do not attend us when we go to certain places.

3. Had his hair cut.

Remember that The Nazarite’s long hair was an outward symbol of the holiness expected of
him. Now Samson allowed himself to lose that which was his identifying mark. He lost his
identity by removing the outward resemblance of a Nazarite Vow. Now I have heard many
people pass a statement that “The outward look doesn’t matter, what matters is the heart”. God
is not pleased when we lose our outward resemblance of a Christian. The way we dress or
fashion ourselves, the music we listen to, even the way you handle yourself in your workplace,
 the way you treat others, especially those of your own househols-All that is a necessary
resemblance of a true Christian. Not that you must have an outward resemblance only but your
heart also must be in line with the principles of God. The losing of the outward resemblance was
the last thing that Samson lost. If you see yourself looking like, dressing like the world, then
know that the inward is nolonger that of a Christian.

Other things he did in addition to that was to:

-marry a Phillistine, visited and slept with a prostitute(Judges 16:1) and went on to marry live with another
Phillistine.

The Nazarite Vow symbolized the Holy Calling of an individual or the nation and as such it had to be
adhered to. Through our everyday lifestyles we must by all means seek to stick to our calling. If you didn’t
know, our calling as a church is also very special and it comes with special conditions. Conditions of
which each and every member must adhere to without compromise. Compromising a single condition
might be the beginning of our journey “DOWN” to Timnath. There must be no question as to whether you
are an Adventist or not. People must be able to identify us without doubt. It is sad to note that it’s hard to
find a true Adventist among the professed Adventists of today. We can’t identify Adventists during the
week…and You may even struggle on a Sabbath to pick out an Adventist from our churches. We have
played so much with the inhabitants of Philistia that we have adopted their customs and practices. Listen
to what God has to say about our calling

Testimonies of the Church Volume 5

God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth.
By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has
separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to
Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths
of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred
trust to be communicated to the world. The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people
who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning
throughout the length and breadth of the earth. {5T 455.2}

Or calling is special and the work before us is great. God is calling us to separate ourselves from the
world-to be in the world but not to be of the world. He is saying Destroy the Altars of Baal. Cut off any
connection with the world that will bring you down to Timnath. Samson was priviledged to have another
chance. And he repented and finished his work. God has given us another chance. We do not know when
those chances will run out but we know that today’s chance has been granted unto us. Let us live up to
our calling. Let us remember the vows we made when we were baptized. We raised our hands and said
“YES LORD”. But now we have taken the road down to Timnath. God is saying turn back and live up to
your calling.