by David Scott Robertson
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"And Samson said, 'With the jawbone of a donkey, I've made heaps on heaps! With the jawbone of a donkey, I've killed a thousand men!'" (Judges 15:16)
"Now Samson was very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, 'You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagan people?'" (Judges 15:18)
"So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank. Then he named that place 'The Spring of the One Who Cried Out" [En-hakkore], and it is still in Lehi to this day." (Judges 15:19, emphasis mine).
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Samson, the son of Manoah of the tribe of Dan, was the last of the major judges over Israel about 1100 B.C. (Judges 13:1-16:31). This legendary hero frequently did battle with the Philistines, who at that time had dominion over Israel (Judges 14:4).
I personally believe that Samson was an ordinary looking man, not some muscle-bound bodybuilder type. The source of his great strength, which often was converted into supernatural exploits, came through the "Spirit of the Lord" who would "come upon him" and enable him to perform amazing feats of physical strength (Judges 14:6,19; 15:14; 16:28-29). (Another example of this phenomena in Old Testament times was when the power of the Lord came upon the prophet Elijah and enabled him to outrun the chariots of King Ahab to Jezreel (1 Kings 18:46).
Before his conception, Samson was dedicated to the Lord by his parents to be a lifelong Nazarite. Part of his vow was letting his hair grow long and abstaining from wine and strong drink. Tragically, Samson did not live a consecrated life to the Lord and was careless with the calling of God on his life and his unbridled lust eventually cost him not only his eyesight but also his very life.
These Samson factoids may be conversation starters but they are not my point at all. Here is my point:
In the opening passage that I quoted, Samson had just clubbed to death one thousand Philistine loyalists and at this point was so thirsty that he felt in danger of perishing himself. Here is where I noticed something so captivating to my thinking that I wanted to write about it.
Here we have one man with one need (one time only) praying one prayer to the one true God to provide for that one need that one time and God immediately answers that prayer.
"So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank…" (Judges 15:19)
Samson drank, his physical body revived; prayer answered, problem solved. But notice especially the last part of that verse where the life-giving gift of water goes on…
"…Then he named that place 'The Spring of the One Who Cried Out" [En-hakkore], AND IT IS STILL IN LEHI TO THIS DAY" (Judges 15:19, emphasis mine).
Samson is dead and gone but the spring God opened up for him remains to this day. There is no telling how many countless other men and creatures who have been refreshed from drinking from the spring called En-hakkore.
What can we learn from this ancient story of a backslidden judge of Israel that can teach us spiritual truth TO THIS DAY? Here's at least five observations:
1. God answers prayer - Go ahead and call on God in your time of crisis and He will come and save you.
2. God knows your difficult situation - God is an ever-present help in time of trouble. He is not far away when a child of His is in trouble.
3. God is able - God can not only make water gush from a rock, He can, in fact, do anything for anybody at anytime and anywhere He chooses.
4. God thinks long-term - We think answered prayers are disposable, but God recycles. He is thinking about meeting the needs of someone else down the road, perhaps decades or centuries later, and His provision for them may have stemmed from His previous dealings with you. .
5. God keeps His Word - To this day God is keeping His promises to whomever He has cut covenant with. We can trust the Lord to hold up His end of the bargain.
- To this day the rainbow that follows a rain shower proves that a universal flood will never again destroy the earth.
- To this day the waves of seas and oceans obey God's order to travel no further than the shorelines that He set as their boundaries (Proverbs 8:29).
- To this day gravity has not been repealed and the laws of physical science remain intact because God has decreed that it be so.
- To this day God extends His loving mercy toward humankind in the Person of Jesus Christ that we might be reconciled to God and destroy the curse of sin through grace and faith.
May I encourage you to call on the name of the Lord today for whatever issue, situation, or technical difficulty you may be experiencing? God's response to your cry may ultimately provide relief for countless others.
DSR
5/10/04