DCLM Daily Manna Monday 23 October 2023
TOPIC: The Birth of a Deliverer
KEY VERSE
“And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him”
(Judges 13:24).
TEXT: JUDGES 13:15-25
15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
16 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
21 But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
DCLM Daily Manna Monday 23 October 2023 MESSAGE
John Wesley wrote the following letter from his deathbed to William Wilberforce to encourage him in his prolonged fight against slavery in England: “Unless the divine power has raised you up… I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that abominable practice of slavery, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might”. Samson was the last of the judges of Israel. He was a leader with prodigious strength derived from divine anointing placed on him by God.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 22 October 2023 – Watch What You Eat
From our text, Samson was commissioned to deliver Israel from the domination of the Philistines. His conception was announced by an angel, and he was born at a time when Israel’s reproach was at its peak. As part of preparations for his birth, the angel restricted his mother from consuming grapes or anything intoxicating. The child was to be dedicated as a Nazarite from his birth. His hair was not to be cut; and he was to be set apart for the exclusive use of God.
That things did not go well with Samson as planned was not the fault of God, but his. Whenever things go wrong, we should not blame God but man, for God is faultless. Samson was to deliver his nation from the Philistine dominion through the enormous strength given him by God; but he was carried away by his own lusts and intemperate actions and lost his hair and the power of God. When he repented as his hair grew again, God restored his power to do exploits.
Gift without purity is dangerous. Strength should be combined with wisdom. A holy call cannot deliver an unholy person. We fulfil our purpose on earth through obedience to God and His word.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Power without purity is dangerous.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JEREMIAH 5 – 6
