Judges 13:1-7 – It is God who qualifies our call

The people of Israel not only faced the oppression of the Ammonites but they were also oppressed by the Philistines. Jephthah was able to deliver them from the Ammonites in the area west of Jordan, they still had the Philistines who were troubling them in the other areas. Verse 1 made it clear it was the Lord who had allowed the Philistines to trouble them. The nuisance they had from the Philistines was as long as forty years. That’s because God had to deal with their waywardness. Israel only had occasional reliefs from the oppression of the Philistines through the hand of Samson, who judged them for twenty years. Samson was unlike Gideon or Jephthah. He was not a military man, but he had great strength. It was through the unusual strength that he wreaked havoc in the camp of the enemy.

Samson was set apart for the work of a deliverer by God before he was born. His family came from the tribe of Dan. Hence, he was a Danite. He was the only deliverer of Israel that God took time to talk about his birth. His mother’s name was not given but we are told that his father was Manoah from Zorah. However, we know that his mother was barren and had no child. Hence her ability to conceive Samson was divinely ordained. It was the Lord who had opened his mother’s womb so that Samson could be conceived. Besides, his birth was also announced by the angel of the LORD. And in his mother’s womb, he was already consecrated for the service of the LORD. Samson was called to be a Nazirite who had to fulfil three vows. Firstly, he was not to drink any wine or strong drink. Secondly, he was not to touch any unclean thing. Thirdly, no razor should come upon his head. And Samson broke all three of them. For while he was a “he-man” unfortunately, he was a “she-weakness.” It was his weakness for women that spelt his downfall. He succumbed to his emotional desire for women far too easily. Very little is said about his closeness to the people of Israel. In fact, he socialized a lot more with the Philistines. The life of Samson tells us that God uses vessels in spite of their weakness. We should take courage, we need not be hindered by our past. For despite our pass, God can still use us. All we need is to consecrate ourselves to Him.

This was now close to one hundred years since the Lord appeared to Gideon. Samson’s mother had the privilege of an angelic visitation to announce Samson’s coming. While Samson’s father’s name was mentioned, his mother’s name was not given. This tells us that we need not be somebody great before God would use us. In fact, every person, no matter how ordinary he or she may be, that person is a potential candidate for God’s greatness. The ordinariness of Samson’s mother tells us that God can work through anonymity. In our weakness, He is our strength. The great news about serving God is that our calling is qualified by Him. It is God who qualifies our call and not our credential. And our most effective ministry is when we are totally yielded to Him.