Samson’s Addictive Nature Addressed by God Before Conception

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Judges 13:2-5

Steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12

Samson is one of the most interesting stories in the Bible. He was a man of exceptional physical strength and exceptionally poor moral strength. He had specific addictive traits, eating, alcohol, and women. There were times when he was right with God and there were many times he had a poor relationship with God. But God knew His son Samson and used him in special ways, one of which was to educate us about addictive qualities in the life and what needs to be done to protect ourselves from them. In Samson’s case God starts the instructive process by making Samson a Nazarite from birth. A Nazarite, think Nazarene as well, was a person who voluntarily chose to serve God in special ways to reveal their dedication to God. Numbers 6:1-21 gives the legal and spiritual details of being a Nazarite. In this educational process God warns Samson’s mother not to eat of any unclean thing or to drink wine during the pregnancy. This would help Samson with his future issues by giving him good health and a good start in life.

Prayer for Today: God, You have known about us before we were even born. You have known our future and what we would be like and what our characters would be like. Help us now to respond to Your plans for us even if we started out poorly. Thank You for Your love and care for us, then and now.