Judg 13

Devotion 1 of 1: Judg 13

In this chapter, we see the story of Samson, the 12th and last judge of Israel. He was an example of a man with the gifts of the Spirit but without much of the fruit of the Spirit. He was the strongest man to ever live, but he was also one of the weakest when it came to relationship with women. There are many powerful men today who, like Samson, have been destroyed because they were too weak to resist the temptation of women.
Samson was called to be a Nazarite from birth (v.5). This meant that he was supposed to be dedicated to God and the calling of God on his life. He was also obligated to live a pure life, not drinking wine, nor eating unclean food, nor cutting his hair.
If Samson had lived the Nazarite life, God would have used him to fulfill his calling and lead Israel to a complete victory over the Philistines. But because he failed, he couldn’t fulfill his life calling and had only partial success against the enemy.
Let’s put God 1st in our life so we can fulfill the amazing calling He’s given us—to partake in the greatest revival in world history and lead thousands of Japanese people to salvation!

JUDG 14: Free sharing!
This chapter shows some of Samson’s characteristics. Let’s list a few:
1. He was weak toward women (v.1-2). This weakness led to his eventual downfall.
2. He was disloyal (v.1-4). He wanted to marry a Philistine woman despite Philistines being Israel’s enemies.
3. He was strong (v.6a). He killed a lion without using a weapon!
4. He was humble (v.6b). He didn’t tell his parents about killing the lion! A proud person would have bragged!
5. He liked to have fun, play games, challenge people (v.12-14). He made a riddle for the Philistines.
6. He wasn’t smart, but foolish (v.17). He told his wife the answer to the riddle, and she told the Philistines.
7. He got angry (v.19). When Philistines solved his riddle, he got angry, killed 30 men and paid with their clothes.
Samson had a couple of good characteristics, but his bad characteristics far outweighed the good. This was the reason his leadership was up and down, and wasn’t effective against Israel’s enemy, the Philistines, until the very end.
Let us seek the Lord to help us grow in all areas of life so we can become a well-balanced, fully mature disciple of Christ. That’s the kind of people God can use to bring about revival in every nation.