HaNazir
HaNazir
Shimshon haGibbor
Samson (Shimshon in Hebrew) was a very special man, his birth, life as a nazir, and death were all declared to his parents by the Angel of the LORD. In his unique walk with the Lord this Samson was able to partake of a life few could imagine for themselves. He was a judge of Israel, a man who could summon great supernatural strength at seemingly any time, and he was known for amazing feats of valor and bravery. But, above all, Samson was a man who had a rarely seen faith in his God, for no other could do the stunning works he did, or place his life in certain jeopardy time and time again, unless he had an absolute trust in the God whom he was created to represent. However, when one looks beyond the faith he had, and beyond the great works, and beyond the mighty Angel of the LORD who announced and prophesied the beginning and the end of this unusual life, a reading of the scriptural narrative finds that Samson walked an oft times hard and lonely road. In fact, a look at the narrative tells us of the momentous task Samson was given to do: "...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." Judges 13:5 The word in the preceding verse which speaks volumes unto us is 'begin'. Samson was to begin the task of delivering Israel from the Philistines (who at the time were representative of all goyim), but he wouldn't be able to complete the job. That task would be left to another man in another generation. It is a hard thing to begin a mission which has no completion in sight, it is a thankless chore, and one often done alone for there are few who venture to join in such a marathon. The burden of beginning the return of wayward Israel back unto God was placed upon Samson and he was to carry its weight all the days of his life. We may well ask, "If Samson was to begin the delivery of Israel from the hands of its oppressors who was the man to finally complete the task of Israel's return"? That great mission was given unto Elijah the prophet (Elijahu haNavi in Hebrew) and it is one he shall yet complete. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6 The two men, Samson and Elijah, had little in common with each other. Their anointings were at opposite ends of the 'spectrum' and their offices were different; Samson was a judge while Elijah was a prophet. Samson fought physically while Elijah fought spiritually. Samson died destroying his enemies while Elijah rode off in firey chariots to live on in shamayim until this day. That is the crucial difference between the two. Samson exemplifies the flesh and the first Adam while Elijah represents the spirit and the second Adam (Messiah). As we know, that which is of the Spirit is always greater and more effective than that which is of the physical. Samson was tasked with the burden to represent the physical. Now, back to Samson's story. Samson's battles against the Philistines, though great in the scale of their victories, were mostly fought alone. He had no great army of fellow Israelites there to help him. There is no mention of cheering bands of well wishers looking on to offer him a warm smile or a blessed prayer. No, in many ways it seems Samson was alone against a mighty army of oppressors and whether he lived or died fighting the enemies of God it seems many of his countrymen simply did not care. In one instance, according to the narrative, when the Philistines were gathered together for the sole purpose of binding Samson and taking him into captivity to die a certain death it was his fellow Israelites, his fellow believers in God, who rose up to bind him. Three thousand of God's people were found to bravely rise up against the one man of God, three thousand who should have been Samson's friends, three thousand who should have trusted in the might of Torah rather than in the arm of the Philistines, arose to bind the nazir in the name of personal peace and safety. Yes, Samson was destined to walk the path of the 'set apart'. He did so, and without complaint. But, what of 'Am Israel'? Such was their fear of God's enemies; and so minute was their regard for this man whose entire life was ordained to free them and return them unto God that they speedily set out to rid themselves of the 'troublemaking nazir' when evil so required. "Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines [are] rulers over us? what [is] this [that] thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock." Judges 15:9-13 The fascinating thing is Samson wasn't the least bit upset about the behavior of his 'brothers in the faith'. He wasn't angry or bitter that they would rise up to bind him and give him over to the enemies of God. He wasn't shocked that they came to relinquish him unto a people who seemed to live for his destruction. He wasn't upset that they wouldn't help him when all circumstances indicated he was in a time in which he needed help. No, for above all else, Samson was a nazir, and though he was often alone in all the world he had a confidence in the sure presence of the Spirit of God upon his life. Samson was confident in God's victories over evil and he knew they two walked as one. His greatest concern throughout this event was that his fellow believers would but promise that they themselves wouldn't try to kill him. He didn't mind if they would betray him, he didn't mind that they would bind him. He simply wanted an assurance that the people he had lived and fought for all his life wouldn't be the ones to attempt his death lest they would suffer at the hand's of the Spirit of God as a consequence. Such faith in God! Such trusting confidence! Little wonder then that Samson is mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 as a 'hero' of faith. But, the 'aloneness' of his life and the lack of results in his quest to turn the heart's of Am Israel back to the Lord took a terrible toll on the soul of this greatly anointed man. For Samson spending time among the Philistines seemed to be almost more preferable than living among his fellow countrymen. When he was among the Philistines Samson knew who he was with, they were the enemies of God and of Torah and though they hated him they were helpless against him, and he could live free and fearless among them. Whereas the life and relations he had with his fellow Israelites appeared to be more complicated and more hurtful. Among these who were his own people Samson was sold to the enemy, he was seen as a man of lofty ideals and their subdued captivity mentality saw those same ideals as a danger to all. Samson was seen by many of his countrymen as the troubler of a willingly wayward Israel. And, even during the final year of his life as he suffered under the cruelty of the heathen we read of no accounts of a rescue attempt or even of visits to his prison. There was no begging for his release. No. There isn't even a mention of sadness among the people of Israel or prayers over Samson's plight. The man was by all accounts alone. And, in his uniqueness, in his aloneness, the nazir began to lose sight of his one true friend; Samson began to forget the Spirit of God. What can be said for a warrior when, as is so often the case, he begins to love the war more than the cause for which he fights? This was Samson's folly. In his involvement with the Philistine woman, Delilah, we can see Samson's attraction to the adventures offered by the adversarial Philistines outweighing his one time respect for the Spirit of God and his holy life task became for him but a game. During this time in his life Samson trusted in Samson's ability to be a nazir, as the will of the God who empowered him and sent him to guide Israel began to matter less and less. It was in the house of the Philistines that the prideful blindness which began to come upon Samson years earlier through his dalliances with self trust showed itself in its fullest darkness. Let us now begin our look at the Nazarite who would see no more the works of his God in the land of the living... The Philistine soldiers attack Samson in the house and seize him. Samson just cannot muster enough faith in circumstances to understand what is happening. After all, he has lived his entire life in the supernatural power of God and he simply cannot fathom the natural world overcoming him. The next, and last, thing Samson will see is a Philistine sword gouging at his eyes. And, from then on his world is dark, dark and confused. I will present some possible thoughts of that great Nazarite, Samson, as he journeyed through his most difficult times. Samson: "Aaa! My eyes! What happened!?! I can't see! The pain, my eyes! They hurt!" Philistines: "Let's go, baldy. Its time you suffered for all you've done to us." Samson hobbles along with guards pushing and shoving him, and every so often one of the guards pokes at him with a sword out of spite. But, none of that seems to matter much to him, Samson is in shock and bewildered. His eyes hurt him too much for him to notice the great weight of his hair is no longer upon his head, and the fact that the Philistines have overcome him is more than his mind can comprehend. He was a Nazarite, after all, and up until recently the Philistines were but bread to him. (Numbers 14:9) After Samson is locked into the prison house to grind at the millstone he receives his first guests. No, they aren't Israelis pleading for his release they are Philistine children who have come to mock and heckle him. Samson's wounds are still fresh and his eyes are still bleeding but the moisture on his face, he cannot tell what it is. Is it the blood of his eyes flowing down his face or is it bitter tears? He doesn't know. But, added to the blood tears of the nazir is the spit of Philistine children. Samson is now drenched with the spittle of his enemies as he begins the numbing task of milling Philistine wheat. Around it goes, the millstone with its incessant grinding sound, and the moment it stops Samson receives another lash to his already torn back. He cannot know anymore, this shorn nazir, how long he has been in captivity but every minute is too long. The blind one cannot see the sun, he has no one to ask. His only company is the millstone, the millstone and the children who come to mock him and to spit. But, over time it seems as if even they do not come as frequently anymore. At first they came to see Samson, the mighty man, but they quickly lost interest in a common prisoner who could barely turn the mill wheel. Not even children care to see a broken man. That which caused Samson to enter into folly kept him bound in that prison house tighter than the brass fetters of the enemy which pressed upon him. He was lost in the galus of pride, of deceit, of bitterness; and all he knew was that millstone. That millstone! Like the Philistines it was a bittersweet enemy. Its endless sound would grind on his nerves as if they were grains of wheat being milled into flour, but it did provide a certain comfort in its hum. It became a slender thread unto sanity for a man whose entire knowledge of the world was turned up side down one fateful night. And, at least the hum of the turning stone would cloak his wails of pain from Philistine ears. As time went on Samson's eyes stopped bleeding and his heart could cry no more. He just turned the stone and lived with the occasional beatings and mockings. Until one day he noticed that his hair began growing again, and that caused him to begin thinking with a clarity he hadn't had for the longest time. Samson: "What happened? Why am I here? This wasn't the life I expected! I sure had it good as a nazir, didn't I? I was unstoppable. No, God was unstoppable and I was with God." Samson began to reminisce about the great exploits which God achieved throughout his life. Samson: "Aah, remember the foxes? That was a classic. And, the jawbone? Ha! Even I was surprised by that one. And, the cords, my poor countrymen thought they could bind the Spirit of God upon me with mere cords! How little they knew... How... how... little I know." At that Samson grew serious once more, he remembered the Holy Spirit, the dear Holy Spirit, and Samson began to weep once again... Samson: "Oh, what was wrong with me! I didn't even like that Delilah, I didn't really like any of them. And, I traded the honor of God for them! I was insane!" Time came and time went and Samson's heart grew soft towards God, and he repented as only a man could repent who had tasted the clear pure waters of heaven on this soiled earth. He knew his captors would soon kill him, it was just a matter of time; but who could tell time in a situation like that? "LORD", he pleaded, "Forgive me!" Then he heard the crowds assembling, and the guards milling about. Samson: "What's that? The stadium above is filled with Philistine dignitaries chanting praises to their idol for my capture. In my failures they mock my God!" Samson is brought up before the great crowd of Philistine dignitaries so that they can rejoice in his shame. As he is presented to the crowd the nazir hears catcalls and insults, but what hurts him most of all are the shouts of blaspheming coming from all corners of the building. Samson: "God is being blasphemed and it is all my fault!" It was then that the great nazir (and yes, he was always a nazir in accordance with the word of the Angel of the LORD despite all which had happened), sought to serve the Lord his God with all his heart once again. "And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." Judges 16:28 What an interesting prayer! On a superficial look at this prayer it would appear that Samson is asking for trouble. It doesn't seem that one who has sinned as much as he had should ask God to remember him, now does it? Wouldn't most people try to ask God to forget the things they have done? But, here is Samson asking God to remember him. He has no merit in his life to speak of and his past is laden with sin. Does it make sense to pray such a prayer? It does if we understand that Samson is calling upon God to recall God's own Words spoken of him. Samson was asking God to fulfill the words of the Angel of the LORD and allow him to be a nazir unto the day of his death. This prayer is not based upon Samson's kindness and holiness but upon God's. There is yet more to be seen in this prayer. In reading it we can see Samson was asking for vengeance and not only asking for vengeance, but asking that he be given the very right to avenge the loss of his two eyes upon the Philistines. To the shock and dismay of many good people that prayer pleased God and He granted the request of the blinded nazir. In his last act of valor Samson slew the the Philistines both lord and low. However, there was one more sentence in his prayer, one more request he had to the Almighty: "And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines." Judges 16:30 Samson, knowing too well that one day all flesh must die sought to leave the earth as a nazir in right standing with his God. In his life he had known both righteousness and sin, he had seen triumph and tragedy on a scale witnessed by few others, and he wanted to be sure that he would finish the race put before him not holding a baton but holding the hand of His Maker. That last moment of his life was one filled with the presence of the Most High and he didn't want to lose His God, not ever again. On the day of an apparent Philistine celebration Samson, the Nazarite of the tribe of Dan, was able to enter into the rest of God as the dark time of his life gave way to a Great Light with the veils of the earth passing away. Gan Eden lay ahead. Samson was buried by his immediate family. And, there was no mention that the nation mourned for him. One thing I honestly hope to have the privilege of doing, when by God's grace heaven becomes my home, is to meet this great nazir and to look into his eyes. They see now, those nazarite eyes, and I want to see them for they will sparkle the goodness of God and declare the faithfulness of my Lord in ways no others can. I'm glad there are no tears in heaven, lest I would cry my own eyes blurry with great tears of joy at seeing Shimshon haNazir and his renewed eyes aglow with the fullness of haRuach.