Ensign: Making The Greatest Sense

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3


AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                       27 May 2016


Wednesday was the last day of school here for my kids.


I won't lie -- I welcome the opportunity to sleep in a little! (And they'd better.)




This week in my personal Bible reading I've pored through Samson's story in Judges 13-16. Remember him? Probably the only one of the Hebrew judges non- and even regular Bible readers remember, the one who was the strongest man alive ... that is, as long as he didn't get his hair cut. Unlike others who voluntarily took the vow of a Nazarite -- that's from a Hebrew word meaning "to be set apart" and in this context means to be set apart for God in a way to show greater devotion to Him than your average man or woman -- Samson was pledged to be one from birth.


For full details on the Nazarite vow, check out the sixth chapter of Numbers.


It boils down to can't eat or drink wine or any grape products (which throws those of us who take communion out, for what's offered to drink as an alternative to wine? Grape juice), can't cut your hair, and can't go near a dead body. Dang. I thought it was just physical contact myself, but verse seven reads you can't go near one either -- so forget attending or officiating at any funerals if you want to be a Nazarite! Throws nigh all pastors and preachers under the bus too, doesn't it, if they hadn't take communion already?


And Samson got CHOSEN for this.


He didn't volunteer, as opposed to the other Nazarites we see in Scripture. (For further details, see the thirteenth chapter of Judges.) And there ARE other Nazarites, which surprised me when I was studying! Samuel's one, John called the Baptist's one, I've read speculation Jesus was one -- though in one way this makes some of Jesus' miracles where He's raising the dead make no sense. But in another way, as people are dying around us all the time, not that you and I seek them out, it makes the greatest sense.


You and I and all who stand on God and His promises are alive in Christ, but what does that mean?


It means that all the oaths you take and all the vows you swear (or in the alternative of the United States Constitution, affirm) do not change who you are. YOU have to do that. Samson, despite being called to serve the LORD as a judge for the Israelites for twenty years, despite his Nazarite vows and his incredible strength, was still a man with profound flaws. (Note I don't say "profound sins" for a sin is a sin is a sin. Adultery is weighed on God's scales the same as theft, theft the same as worshiping other gods, worshiping other gods the same as murder.) Samson, Samuel, John, you, and I


are all sinners. Sinners saved by grace.


To make it into a lineup the likes of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews (the chapter starting "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.") which Samson, despite himself, does takes our faith. Not God's faith -- He already believes in us His children -- but OUR faith in Him to do through us what He says, nay, what He alone can do. To do all things through Christ Who strengthens us will never take us out of childhood in relation to Our Father in heaven, but it will prepare us, even when we screw up and screw up big, to handle a far more abundant life.


David

P.S. I write this weekly devotion to keep in touch, and I hope it's encouraging too! If it's not or you'd like me to get lost, please let me know. Thank you!


Thank You, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that we can count on You to provide for our needs, even when we're not clear what they are. And let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of that fence and all over the world.


Thank You as well, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You also for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You by Your Son Our Brother, Jesus Christ.


And I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.