We had company over Christmas and up until Thursday morning. I woke up this morning, after having struggled with what we think might be bronchitis, with no voice. Well it is Christmas. Luke 1 came to mind. So I took a card and printed HIS NAME IS JOHN on it. And voila`! Oops. Still no voice. I guess Zacharias had better handwriting than I.(verse 63)
One thing for sure, I will not be on a certain TV show anytime soon. (If ever there was a chance of that.) I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and wish for you a prosperous and happy New Year.
Mark 12 records some interactions between the religious rulers and Jesus. They are asking “difficult” questions and are being completely and satisfactorily rebuffed by His erudite answers. Then Jesus turns the tables.
In the “heat of the argument” I have missed, until today, one very interesting assertion. Look at verse 36.
For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Jesus goes on to stump them with “two Lords” question. But notice His assumption. “David...said by the Holy Ghost....” Is there a clearer statement that Jesus believed the Old Testament to be completely God breathed? This is from the mouth of Jesus, Himself. We probably all know 2 Timothy 3:16, where Paul says that all Scripture is inspired. What better confirmation than to have taken that Idea from the Lord, Himself. Good going, Paul.
People who deny the validity of any, and especially the Old Testament, Scripture are arguing with Jesus. They should read Mark 12 and, as Dr. Phil says, “How’s that working for you?”
One more thing. Samson was a Nazirite. (Numbers 6) Most of the restrictions are pretty well known: No alcohol or even any fruit from the vine; do not cut your hair; be dedicated completely to the Lord; and no contact with a dead body.
The story of Samson begins in Judges 13 and continues through 16. Just from the Nazirite perspective, Samson was pretty fast and loose. The “dedicated” completely to the Lord portion of his vow seems to have fallen first. He not only courted a Philistine woman, he participated in their wedding festivities wholeheartedly. Whether this included the “demon rum” is not clear, but we do know that wine was part of Jewish weddings, so it is not too far fetched to imagine that Samson may have “slipped” in adherence to his vow.
He had already ignored the prohibition on dealing with dead bodies. One of the restrictions in Numbers 6 says that if someone (or thing) dies around a Nazirite, he is to immediately shave his head, purify himself, and then reinitiate his vow observance. He killed a lion on the way to “court” her, then ate honey that bees had accumulated in the corpse of the dead lion. He even used the incident to produce a riddle for the party goers.
These are not marks of respect for one’s solemn commitments. That was not all. We will ignore Samson’s “revenge” for someone “stealing” his wife. But the rest of his life is hardly the prototype of a committed, godly man. He was involved with a prostitute in Gaza.
And not considering the background of Delilah, Samson was pretty cavalier about his vow to not cut his hair. He teased her with the secret of his strength, and even on the next to last tease, pointed to his hair. Then he told her, evidently knowing that she would “work on that.” Every hint before had been followed by an exact replica of the incapacitating prescription that he had detailed.
Did he not think that she would cut his “hair?” (“Not think,” is the key phrase.”) Or did he think that he would be “okay?” Either way, he was wrong. And even in his final faux pas he violated his vow. I do not know that the Nazirite vow was secret, but the “violation” was in not using the excised hair in a sacrifice. It was to be burnt on the altar by the priest.
Samson pretty well trampled every part of his commitment. The remarkable thing, to me, is that the Lord was patient with him through every transgression. We are not wrong in seeing that the Lord is “long suffering.” But we are wrong to presume on that grace and continue in rebellion.
Samson is the poster boy for presumption. Even though restored and redeemed, it cost him his life.
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