Out of all the things that Samson did, why was losing his hair the one thing that caused him to lose his strength?
It was because he had made light of and treated in a condescending fashion the one thing that SYMBOLIZED his set-apart relationship with the Lord.
When he allowed the enemy (Delilah) to play around with his hair by tying it into braids…
When he allowed his hair to be woven into that loom…
And the final insult to God…
When he allowed his hair to be cut, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Notice I used the word “symbolized”.
That’s right.
Samson’s hair was nothing but a symbol.
In and of itself, it held no magical power…
Nor did it carry some kind of mystical connection to the Lord.
Rather it was obedience (or disobedience) to God that was the issue.
The same could be said of the Levitical sacrifices that were offered up to the Lord.
The blood of bulls and goats didn’t carry any magical power in and of themselves.
It was OBEDIENCE to God’s instructions that was the issue.
The same principle applied to Samson’s hair.
It was a matter of obedience to God that he honor this symbol by not having it cut.
Again, the same went for the Levitical rituals.
When a man committed an unintentional sin, he was to confess that sin to God and bring his sacrifice to the altar with a sincere heart.
It wasn’t the ritual itself that atoned for the man’s sin.
It was the man’s sincere obedience reflected in his doing the ritual that brought forgiveness.
Are you catching this nuanced difference?
It’s important.
When God ordained a man to become a NAZIR, there were certain commands he was obligated to uphold.
They were:
-No consuming of grape products of any kind
-No touching human dead bodies
-No cutting your hair
If these commands weren’t observed, then the Nazarite covenant was broken.
Or to put it another way, if a NAZIR broke the terms of his vow, he wasn’t considered a Nazarite anymore.
Just like an Israelite who gave up following the commands of the Torah was no longer considered one of God’s chosen.
I’m serious man…
The Lord even had harsh words to describe those Israelites who committed idolatry like what happened at Sinai with the Golden Calf.
He used the phrase LO AMMI or “not my people”.
The takeaway for today is when you make light of those God-ordained things that SYMBOLIZE your faith, whatever authority or special anointing that came from them are revoked.
Which leads to the question, what are the God-ordained symbols of are faith today?
We’ll talk about that the next time we meet.
Greetings once again!
As I reread the instructions from the Angel of the Lord to Samsons parents…there is no mention to either one about not touching a dead body! Yes, the restriction on wine, or anything from the vineyard, and not to eat anything unclean, as well as the instructions about never allowing a razor to come upon his head, are there. It makes sense that there is no mention of not touching a dead body for Samson, or he could never fulfill his Divine purpose of destroying Philistines! How would he have killed 30 men and undressed them at Timnah if he couldn’t touch their dead body…much less slay 1,000 soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey without coming into contact with dead bodies? So, the carcass of the dead lion wasn’t really a big deal at all in the overall scheme of things. Just making an observation!
Interesting point you bring up. However, I think the Torah does prohibit a Nazir from touching a dead body. Maybe consider that while Samson is in the PROCESS of killing a Philistine, the Philistine was still alive DURING that process of being killed. Hmmm…kind of speculating here. Anyways, thanks for sharing your thoughts.