 Princess Diana and Mother Teresa died within days of each other. Mother Teresa is a hero we could learn from, but the outpouring of grief towards Diana far eclipsed that for Teresa. Some attributed this to people’s shallowness, but others found Diana to be more relatable and vulnerable. Some worship heroes and others distrust them. Let’s learn from Samson, a hero, in Judges 15:9-20.
Israel was at a dangerous time. Philistines were assimilating them (v11), and many Israelites liked to be ruled by them. God used Samson to create a conflict with the Philistines. Samson killed a number of Philistines, doing to them what they did to him. Three thousand Jews went to confront him because they didn’t want Samson to disrupt their peace. Samson made them agree not to kill him, but to hand him to the Philistines. Then, using the jawbone of an ass, he killed a thousand Philistines and made a joke out of it (v16). Through one man, God saved Israel from losing their faith and culture. Samson led Israel for 20 years as a judge—not judicially, but as a hero-warrior. As a Nazarene, Samson couldn’t cut his hair. When pressed by Delilah, he let her do it. Samson thought his strength guaranteed his success, but he didn’t know the Lord had left him (Judges 16:20). Then the Philistines seized Samson, gouged out his eyes, and humiliated him. Later, Samson trusted in God’s sovereignty again. With his death, Samson killed more Philistines than in his lifetime because he wanted to “get revenge on the Philistines for [his] two eyes” (Judges 16:28). One main purpose of Samson’s life was to get even. In a similar way, the Jews also rejected Christ and handed Him to the Romans. But unlike Samson, Christ follows God the Father. Christ didn’t leave heaps of dead bodies. Instead, Christ forgave them, and many later became His followers. Through His death, Christ destroyed the power of sin and brought salvation. Learn from Christ. Don’t trust your abilities but depend on what Christ has done for us. Summarized from a Tim Keller’s sermon: https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/the-strength-of-samson-6516/ 观察参孙。向基督学习。 戴安娜王妃和特蕾莎修女相继在几天内死亡。特蕾莎修女是我们可以学习的英雄。但哀悼戴安娜的人却远远超过特蕾莎的那些人。有些人将此归于人类的浅薄，但许多人认为戴安娜的脆弱使人们觉得和他们相似和更接近。 有些人崇拜英雄，而有些人则不信任他们。让我们从士师记 15：9-20中的英雄参孙那里学习。 那时以色列处于危险时刻。非利士人正在同化他们（士师记 15：11），许多以色列人也喜欢被非利士人统治。 上帝使用参孙与非利士人发生冲突。 参孙杀死了一些非利士人，因为他想以牙还牙来对付非利士人。三千名犹太人去找他，因为他们不想参孙破坏他们現有的平安！参孙让他们同意不杀死自己，而是将他交给非利士人。接着，参孙使用驴子的颚骨杀死了一千多名非利士人，并用这个事件开了个玩笑 （士师记 15：16）。 通过这个人，上帝使以色列免于失去他们的信仰和文化。参孙领导以色列20年，不是一位司法者，而是一个英雄战士。 作为拿撒勒人，参孙是不能剪头发的。当大 利 拉多次施压后，参孙让她剪了他的头发。参孙认为他的力量可以处理任何事情，但他不知道主已经离开了他 （士师记16：20）。然后非利士人抓住了参孙，挖出他的眼睛，并羞辱他。 后来，参孙再次相信上帝的主权。参孙去世时杀死非利士人的人数比他一生杀死非利士的人更多，因为他想为他的两只眼睛报复 （士师记16：28）。参孙一生主要的推动力是复仇扯平。 以类似的方式，犹太人也拒绝基督并将他交给了罗马人。与参孙不同的是基督一生跟随父神。基督没有留下大堆尸体。相反地，基督原谅了他们，后来他们也成为基督的追随者。通过祂的死，基督摧毁了罪的能力，拯救了我们。 向基督学习。依靠基督为我们所做的事。不要相信我们的能力。反而，要跟从基督。 Comments are closed.
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