A foolish generation mocks the man of God. They mock because they do not
recognize
God's holiness as expressed by the man of God any more than they
recognize God Himself. Samson is a questionable figure as far as
holiness goes, but he was holy unto the Lord, a Nazarite from
his birth. Because Samson's holiness is a little less than
sterling, let us look quickly at two prophets whose holiness is
indisputable, and then get back to mocking Samson.First, Elisha. Let's look at what happened to some little children when they mocked him: "And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them." 2 Kings 2:23-24.
Not likely to hear that story in Sunday school! The effete churchgoer cannot stomach such fare. They are used to the dainties served by the friends of the world (Psalm 141:4, Proverbs 23:3).
Second, Elijah the Tishbite: "And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty." 2 Kings 1:12.
It is true that Jesus our Lord did not come into the world to judge the world but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:17). For instance, when his disciples James and John saw the cruel inhospitality of a Samaritan village they said, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?" But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went to another village. (Luke 9:54-56).
Nonetheless, prophets are not mocked without penalty. When Jesus came, he was mocked and beaten and crucified and did not call down fire, but rather forgave them. However, there is coming a Day when all of that will come into account. Then vengeance will come from the same Jesus the Lord, who as a consuming fire will burn up his enemies with wrath and indignation (2 Thessalonians 1:8, Hebrews 12:29).
Back to Samson: Before he was born, his mom never drank wine or liquor, nor did she ever eat anything non-kosher. This meant that Samson was separated to the Lord even before he was born. He never cut his hair as far as we know. He was very religious when it came to that. However, in sexual matters, he was not so dedicated to Yahweh. Whereas the Lord said to take no daughters of foreigners, he really, really, really wanted a Philistine lady whose name we never found out. His mom and dad were displeased but agreed to do the customary arrangements to have him married.
The story is short and sad. He never got to have his wife, because the marriage was destroyed by her betrayal of his trust. Samson tried to contend with the Philistines by posing a riddle, but his wife pulled the rug out from under him. At the marriage feast, she wept seven days trying to get the secret out of him, because her people had threatened to burn her and her father's house if she didn't persuade Samson to give up the answer to the riddle. Instead of trusting in her husband, she feared and obeyed her friends and family to the ruin of all. When the Philistines came up with the answer, he knew his wife had betrayed him. His "anger was kindled."
We should take note of what he said to them: "If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle." (Judges 14:18).
This is pretty graphic language. They had used his wife for their own purposes, and she had acquiesced in fear. They took away Samson's rightful use of his own wife, and he is acknowledging that his beloved heifer has been turned into little more than the enemy's draft animal as a result. This is the way it is in many marriages.
"Husbands, love your wives", we hear the manipulators say, but they are using our wives against us. There is no love, but fear of reprisal from the church. The feminist movement has flooded the churches and we hear weeping for seven days, tears flowing not from repentance due to rightful fear of God and reverence towards husbands, but from fear of man and reverence towards other men (and women).
These wives are not submissive to
their husbands. They feel, because of their pastors' teaching,
that the husbands must be rid of self-interest and
vainglory. They feel it is their duty to reveal this (nag them
with tears if necessary) because the children of their people
have convinced them that this is the Christian thing to do. They
have been assured by their people bad things will happen to them
if they do not turn on their husbands: "lest we burn thee and
thy father's house with fire" or worse, they will be shunned by
the women's social club.
This ought not to be.
Modern society, including the modern churches, mock the man of
God. They use
many devices, the best being reserved to destroy the man's
authority in his own household. As a result, the children turn
out to be twice the child of hell as their parents. As Isaiah
the prophet says, "As for my people, children are their
oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which
lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."
Isaiah 3:12 . When people mock the man of God, they mock God
himself, who created them.
What does God do about this? In the story of Samson, He uses the
evil situation of Samson to show his wrath against the
Philistines. As the Bible puts it, "But his father and his
mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an
occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the
Philistines had dominion over Israel." Judges 14:4. As we read
on in the story, Samson wreaks vengeance on them and they burn
his wife anyway. Instead of being honored as a hero, he is bound
and given to the Philistines by his own brethren, another
mockery. This does not go well for the Philistines. God, mocking
them, has Samson beat down one thousand of them with the jawbone
of an ass.
We know the story of Samson and Delilah, mainly because
Hollywood loves stories
about fornication and adultery. However, even though Delilah
mocks Samson with
her tears, and he loses his eyes and is put to the grindstone,
he has the last victory. He kills more people in his death than
he did during the rest of his life (Judges 16:30). The
Philistines were rejoicing that their god was more powerful than
the Israelite's God, and they were making a show of it by
displaying Samson in a shameful manner. Of course, this is a
type of Christ. And, as a type of Christ, he destroys the house
of their god and them with it. That's what happens when we mock
the man of God.
Our ministry as ambassadors of Christ precludes that we curse
men, but rather
that we bless them. (Romans 12:14). Samson was a man who was
persecuted for
righteousness' sake, just as are the servants of God today.
Although he was
a Judge of Israel and not an ambassador for Christ, this makes
no difference to
the wicked, who will try to thwart God's purposes because they
know that one
of his purposes is to rid the earth of them, because Jesus said,
"The meek
shall inherit the earth." In order to be meek, we must be like
Jesus Christ,
not like the effeminate churchmen of modern society. They
deliver us over to
the world for judgment because they are scared of their own
shadows. They fear
man, not God. No, they mock the man of God and turn against him
as necessary to
maintain their friendship with the world.
Does God sit in heaven and do nothing about this? No, rather, he
has his ambassadors preach the everlasting gospel that warns men
of the coming judgment, and he delivers men if they repent. The
gospel becomes the only tool for providing the power of
salvation to the world. Those who mock the Gospel and say it is
secondary to their gods of religious observance will be surely
put to death.
God, on His part, calls men to
repent of their wickedness and their idolatry. He has the men of
God preach the gospel so other men can decide their eternal
condition: Life, or death.
Much has been done to mock God in these last days. But, the
shame that Jesus
bore on the cross shows us that we too must bear the shame. If
we suffer with
him, we will also reign with him (Romans 8:17). Let us not be
ashamed of the
gospel, even if it is foolishness to the world, because God is
our judge.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows,
that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of
the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall
of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in
well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Galatians 6:7-9.
- Chris Simonson
We encourage you to email the author to prove or disprove, from the Scriptures, the intent, meaning, purpose or doctrine of this piece. email Chris