The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than
we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; Pour
down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our
conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy
to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our
Lord. Amen
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.
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. 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. 4 Now
therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not
any unclean thing: 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. (Judges 13:1-5)
32. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David
also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of
lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens.(Heb 11:32-34)
Samson was a man of great strength while in his role of being `separated and
anointed' by God. He was a champion and a deliverer for His people,
Israel. Courageous and mighty in strength, Samson is both typical, and
atypical, in character and likeness to Christ. There are many parallels which
suggest, in Samson, his likeness to Christ even though, like all men of flesh,
Samson fell far short of that ideal Plumb Line which describes Christ. (Amos
7:7-8) Why not challenge your own understanding by reading the account of
Samson beginning in Judges 13? As you read, consider the ways in which Samson
is like unto our Lord Jesus Christ. It would be most gratifying to do so prior
to reading the remainder of this devotion. You may be amazed and will doubtless
find many more parallels than I am able to cover, other than the salient
points, in this devotion. In writing these devotions on Types of Christ, at
each subject, I am faced with the dilemma of finding a large cache of precious
gems, and not being able to claim more of them than I can carry on my back.
Observe the many in which Samson's mother discovered that she would bear a
child despite her barreness: 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. Samson came
for a particular purpose, at a particular time, and with particular gifts and
powers. He was anointed by God for a purpose. By the way, Reader and Elect of
God, please know that God has called you, too, and set you apart for His
particular purpose at this time. Have you discovered that purpose yet, or do
you still seek to know it? See how similar the announcement of the birth of
Samson was to that of Jesus to Mary: And in the sixth month the
angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a
virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the
virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail,
thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among
women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in
her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
JESUS. (Luke 1:26-31) There is at least some respects in which the
angels of the Lord must joy in their duties given them by God. How blessed it
must be to bear the news to a woman, barren over many years, that she shall
bear a son; or even to a young virgin that she shall bear a son who would be
the very Son of God!
Samson was born at a time when Israel was being persecuted by a pagan enemy –
the Philistines. Christ came at a time when Israel was occupied by a pagan
enemy – Rome. Samson was born as a `savior' of his people from
oppression. Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their
enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto
thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies
thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. But
after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou
them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet
when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and
many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies (Nehemiah
9:27-28) Christ came as a Savior of His people (all who believe): For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord. (Luke 2:11)
Samson
killed a lion with his bare hands. Then went Samson down, and his father
and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of 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 (Judges 14:5-6) Jesus defeated that roaring lion that seeks to
destroy our souls: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1
Peter 5:8)
Samson was a teller of parables as was Christ. (Judges 14:14) Christ was a
teller of parables: (Matthew 13:3, and all of Matthew 13). Samson's very name
means, in Hebrew, the sun, or sunlight. Christ is called the Sun of righteousness.
(Malachi 4:2).
Samson was betrayed into the hands of his enemies by one who was close to him
for a bribe of silver. (Judges 16:5) Christ was betrayed into the hands of His
enemies by a bribe to a close companion (Judas). Then one of the
twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto
them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they
covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought
opportunity to betray him. (Matt 26:14-16 )
Due
to his transgression, Samson fell into the hands of his enemies. (Judges
16:6-21) Due to His righteousness, Christ fell into the hands of His enemies.
Samson endured the pains of ridicule and torture as prisoner of the Philistines,
but repented there and was received of God. Christ bore the humiliation and
ridicule of the Romans and Jews in scourgings, beatings, and the death of the
cross. Samson died to save and avenge his people, Israel. Christ died to atone
and redeem His people – true Israel. Samson slew many of his enemies by his
death. Christ destroyed our enemies through His death and resurrection – sin,
death, Satan, and Hell.
Did
you, Reader, discover more ways in which Samson was a Type of Christ? Are you?
You must be if you are called Christian!
