Perhaps it may turn out a sang,
Perhaps turn out a sermon.

-- R. Burns Epistle to a Young Friend

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Don't Know My Own Strength


Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”  And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.  And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.  Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.  – Judges 16:28-31

Samson’s strength came from keeping his Nazirite vow by not cutting his hair.  In other words, his power came from his adherence to the law.  Samson is entirely a man of the flesh.  The carnal nature can be somewhat controlled by law, and, so long as it adheres to the “shalt not”, it can be blessed and empowered.  Where there is no transforming grace, the victories of the law are limited.  As we noted before, though Samson judged Israel for twenty years, he did not defeat the Philistines and break their oppressive yoke from the neck of the nation, unlike Gideon and the other judges.  As far as Samson was concerned, it was all about him.  In the end, he wanted only to be avenged for his eyes. 

All the old man can ever understand about religion is what is in it for him – whether in terms of this life or the next.  Some will focus on the material benefits that come from keeping the law, and these are not imaginary.  The law of sowing and reaping applies to all.  One who sows kindness, charity, and temperance or who is willing to give financially to help others -- even with wrong motives, will be repaid in kind.  I find myself grumbling at times because God is so good to people who don’t deserve it.  Then I remember that would include me – but that’s another topic.

The law can bless us and strengthen us, but it cannot turn us into new men.  Metamorphosis is the result of grace acting through faith.  Like the caterpillar, the old man has his destiny built into him, though he does not know it.  Samson makes the “faith hall of fame” in Hebrews 11 not because of his strength but because, in the end, he found the path to transformation and his true destiny.  And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.”  It will always look like death from the perspective typified by Samson.  For a person who is “stronger” in terms of natural willpower or determination, it may often be the case that the transformation will be more difficult, painful, dramatic, or extreme.

Some of us take more killin’ than others.  It is, perhaps, one of the reasons I tend to be sympathetic toward those who believe in universal salvation.  I can imagine that there are those who will only “die” in the ninth circle of hell – and maybe not there.  Samson fought on for twenty years.  It takes a lot of us a long time.  I suppose it could take some an eternity.  I'd rather not find out the hard way.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29)  

13 comments:

Rick said...

Thought provoking post, Mush.
Welcome back by the way.
The passage from Judges up there, so many parts, seem pregnant with symbolism. As a whole, it reminds of Noah. Or maybe just at the end. It also seems to prefigure Christ's death on the cross (his arms stretched out to each pillar and his head bowed). There is geometry, symmetry (the pair of pillars and buried between Zorah and Eshtaol). Vertical pillars = perhaps, the Law.
Maybe it's the translation, but the "let me die with [them]" reminds of the disciples wish to die with Lazarus. Maybe that is what is meant by "so the dead were 'more than'" in terms of quality rather than quantity. Takes a lot to kill some men, as you say. But you gotta start somewhen.

mushroom said...

Pregnant, yes, in fact I considered just posting the passage without comment.

It's good to be back home. As we left Friday night, my wife was flipping across the radio dial (not a dial any more) and caught the Beach Boys. We started singing along to "The Sloop John B." -- "I wanna go home".

mushroom said...

Weird incoming. I'm going to turn word veri back on for a while. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Rick said...

The passage became new in my eyes due to your reflection upon it.

robinstarfish said...

Nice to have you back. The world seems level again somehow.

John Lien said...

Thanks for your teachings on Samson, Mush. In previous times I would read a story like that and not understand how it was "Biblical" other than being in the Bible. Your commentaries are very helpful.

Rick, having a science background I had taught myself to filter out all but what is literally being said. Now I know I need to be able to switch this filtering off at times so I can absorb all the symbolisms, foreshadowings, and signals from the holy spirit.

(I had to interrupt this comment because there was distress in the pasture. It appears one of a pair of twin lambs was missing. I had to stop everything, run outside and make sure all was ok. It was.)

Funny, I heard "The Sloop John B." just a couple of nights ago on the radio. It had been years. I too had to sing along.

mushroom said...

It's like the 99 and the one.

John Lien said...

You betcha! One upside to having a flock of sheep is that it makes the Biblical references more meaningful.

Rick said...

Funny, John. I actually have the opposite "problem." I went to art school and now assist in running a small marine engineering company. So I must place the filter back on for the day job.
Here's another secret: the engineers are very by-the-book of course as they should be. "The figures don't lie," etc. But I tend to notice how often they spend time commenting on this or that one's ugly boat design or poor-looking "design" decision. They spend a lot of time drawing things that will be built. I told one of them the other day how I thought they don't give themselves nearly enough credit for how creative their jobs really are.
No one wants to be captain of an ugly tug boat.

mushroom said...

That's true. After decades (another reminder of how old I am) of writing software, I know there are multiple ways of solving most problems. We try to pick the one that is "cleanest", easiest to maintain, most transparent, etc. "Elegant" is a compliment. "Kluge" is an ancient term of derision.

mushroom said...

Also, an observation on the difference between men and women, not worthy of a separate post.

Apparently the Queen knighted Tom Jones in 2006, and, because of her anniversary, some news show as going to show the ceremony. My wife came running into my office and said, "The Queen is about to do that thing [indicated by a double-tap motion of the arm] to TOM JONES!!!!!. You should see him. He's really old."

I replied, "Knight him?"

"That's it."

"That's nice. Go watch. You can tell me about it."

"You really should come and see this."

For those under 50, Tom Jones is/was a Welsh singer who was very popular (with the ladies) back in the '60s. He had his own television show at one time. He did a decent version of "She's a Lady" that Kim Komando used as the bumper music for her radio show.

I would have gotten up and gone back in the house to see Kim.

Rick said...

I've seen Tom Jones twice. Fun performer. Remarkably powerful voice at his age.

mushroom said...

He really is good. He always had a good sense of humor, never took himself too seriously.

y wife said afterward that she liked him "better than Elvis" -- and, not being a big Elvis fan myself, I can understand that. Obviously Jones wasn't the catalyst that Elvis was, but his voice and stage presence is certainly comparable.