How To Recapture your Spiritual OohRah

I. The Blessings of Samson:

1. Blessed with (Judges 13)

2. Blessed with (Judges. 13:5)

3. Blessed with the Presence of (Judges 13:25, Judges. 14:6)

4. Blessed with (Judges 14:5-9, Judges 14:19-20, Judges 16:1-3)

5. Later….

II. Samson’s Biggest Battle:

He failed to fully live inside blessings of God.

• Delilah’s name is a riddle. It means to flirt. It’s also a pun. Her name means, “Of the night.” She’s a woman of the night. Not a prostitute who takes money from Samson, but who will take money to sell him out. She’s clouded in darkness.
• Judges. 16:5, she is offered what amounts to a national treasure.
• The Philistines were an alliance of five cities. (Ashdod, Gaza, Ekron, Gath, Ashkelon.) They occupied the southern coast that is today called the Gaza Strip. When the Romans took the land, they named it “Palaistina” Latin for “Philistia.” This was to insult the Jews. (Source: The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar)
• Judges 16:6, the Philistines can’t figure out why he’s so strong
• Judges 16:19, he lay on her knees. Why is he not afraid? Because he does not think his strength comes from the Lord.
• Judges 16:19, “she began to torment him.” Torment is Hebrew word ANAH. It means to “afflict, “oppress” “humble” “humiliate.”
• Anah: “It’s a single Hebrew Word. So in this passage, it means doing violence to him in a way that takes his honor.” (Jonathan McCormick, Head Librarian at Gateway Seminary)
• Why did he tell her his secret? Because he didn’t believe the story his parents told him about his strength coming from the Lord. Over time, he violated the Nazerite vow; but his strength did not leave him. And he violated the Torah law, and his strength did not leave him. So he began to believe his strength was mystical; or from himself.

What did his sin cost him? (Judges 16:20-21)

• It cost him his
• It cost him his
• It cost him his

George Orwell, The Severed Wasp: “[A wasp] was sucking jam on my plate, and I cut him in half. He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him.”

Blessing #5:

God made a means for Samson (and us) to return.

Dagon:

• A storm god and a sea god. He is also a grain god.
• He is half fish and half man.
• He was said to be the father of Baal.
• He was also worshipped in Nineveh.

Judges 16:28-30:

• Judges 16:38, he prays the Lord return his strength. His hair growth did not return his strength. The Lord did.
• He put his spiritual eyes on the Lord.
• Judges 19:30, all the Philistine government was brought down at once.

God will give me my spiritual strength back when

How did God make that provision for us?