Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1907 — THE DEATH OF [ARTICLE]

THE DEATH OF

Sunday School Lesson lor Dec. 1.1907 SpactsUy Frepsred for This Paper

LESSON TEXT —Judges 16:21-31. Memory verses 28-30. ... GOLDEN TEXT.—“Be strong In the Lord, and the power of His might.”— Eph. 6;10. TIME —B. C. 1116-1096. During the last part of the period o( Judges, the 40 years of the Philistine oppression of West Israel. 1134-1094; and contemporary with the first 30 years of Samuel. PLACE.—H we make Jerusalem and HebMR centers from which to measure. Zorah. the birthplace of Samson, will be u miles west of Jerusalem;— thevalley ofSorek, two milts farther west; Timnath,. four miles south of Zorah; and Ashdod. 30 miles further west near the sea. ' Hebron is 20 miles south of Jerusalem, and Gaza 36 miles directly west. See colored map. The tribe of Dan bordered on the north of Judah and west of Benjamin, the line running through Je-rusah-m east and west.

Comment and Suggestive Thought. The Samson Stories. —It seems strange, at first sight, that three chapters of the Bible should be given to the story of such a man as Samsongreat. strong. Jovial, good-natured, ready to fight, equally ready to play rough Jokes and utter witty sayings, with an animal nature overshadowing the spiritual. It is still more strange that in the roll-call of heroes of the faith in the eleventh chapter of HeJffOWB, Samson sliouTd be iiauied Abraham, Gideon, and David, among those "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob-" tained promises, stopped the mouths nf linns ” —-~

- Samson and His Characteristics.— 1. The name Samson Is derived from the Hebrew word for and means “sunny” or “sun-hero.” He was born at Zorah In the more southern of the two settlements of the tribe of Dan, on the borders of Judah, 14 miles west of Jerusalem. His father’s name was Manoah. 2. Even before his birth his mission was announced. He was to be one who should “begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines,” and to this end was to be consecrated -tn Gnri f Tnrtyaa 13) It 4s-a great thing for any person to be so endowed and so trained as to have a definite mission in this world. Only partially did Samson fulfill his Ideal, but the presence of It Influenced his whole life. 3. The consecration of Samson was through the Nazirite vow L which required (N’um.6: 2-6)total abstinence from grapes, wine, and all intoxicating liquors; that the hair should go uncut; and that all contamination with dead bodies be avoided. It was usually a temporary vow, but Samson and John the Baptist were perpetual Nazirltes. The meaning of the vow

was probably “entire consecration to God.” It is to be noted that, according to the record, Samson, with all his other failings, yet kept sacred the eonof the vow his strength and prowess depended. 4. The first and most effective of -the-jgndggmeatfl- of - SaamaaEfot-Ads-"mission was his . great strength, which, in general, he used to deliver his nation from the power of the oppressor, although not always In the wisest way. 5. A second special endowment of Samson was his sense of humor, his tmpuisfve practical joking, puns, and riddies. These were an advantage to him even in his - efforts to the Philistine oppressors. “He was a born fighter. He knew his strength and loved to use i it. Nothing stirred him like the joy of a battle, unless, indeed, the sweet rewards of victory, its 1 ' spoils and pleasures. Sueh men commonly degenerate into mercenary brutes, fighting here and there, on whichever aide

Inclinktion may be strongest or personal advantage-greatest.”—Rev. Ira S. Dodd. . *—— .Bui u wajbL-imi—ao Ui thu Laau. uT~ Samson. ?. His weakness was very great. His spiritual nature was not highly developed. He was not a leader or organizer—of—men." He did his work alone, and not by massing the nation against the oppressor. He was Infected with the loose morals of his heathen neighbors. These were a hindrance to his mission, and brought him to blindness, slavery, and an untimely death. —■—l-- '

8. But in the main he was firmly on the.side of God's people and the fulfillment of his mission. He never broke his Nazlrite vows. He was a total abstinence man to the end. “To appreciate the faith of Samson it Is necessary to understandthetemptatiriwa and difficulties In face of which the performed his task. ... If Samson had cared only for the satisfaction of his course and selfish Impulses, the road to that infamous fame would have been wide open. But read his story- You will see that he always fought on one side, —the unpopular, the dangerQUß. the ently hopeless side. Practical Points. Strength, even physical strength, ; has a real use in the kingdom of God. The jollity and frolicsomeness of youth, even the tendency to pranks and hazing, becomes a means of usefulness. Samson was a temperance man and never broke his vow. Samson’s failure in his work was the result of his moral failure, and Great strength Invites attack. The devil does not like gigantic leadership when it has a sacred talisman of 1 power and purity on its forehead."