“Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!” Isaiah 52:2
There came a day in the life of Samson, a judge that God raised up in Israel, to begin to deliver His people from the Philistines, that he awoke from sleep, after telling the treacherous Delilah the secret of his great strength. In rising, Samson said to himself, ” I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” (Judges 16:20) However, Samson did not realize that, because he had broken his Nazarite vow before God, “…the Lord had departed from him,” and his strength was like that of any other man. The sole, and unique difference between Samson having the strength, and power necessary to be “free” or being a slave to his enemies, was the Lord’s blessing given to him in response to obedient faith. By God’s strength received, he could conquer any foe. Without it, he was a prisoner who became a slave of the enemies of God. But there would come a day, a moment in time, when his singular devotion to God returned to his heart. In that day, he would shake off the past with its failures and defeats, its suffering and guilt, to embrace the faithful God who hears the cry of those who seek Him. In that moment, the power returned, and he was able to overcome his enemies, destroying more by his death than during his life.
What does this story have to do with the Gospel’s power to liberate the soul, setting the captive free? The answer resides first of all in the working of God in the heart to bring the soul to living faith in Christ, a faith which carries with it the reward of enablement, His power to choose freedom, liberty, and the ability to cast off the unfruitful works of darkness, and to shake oneself free of the bonds of sin and unbelief. As long as Samson was in a right relationship with God, and he honored his Nazarite vow, the power of God was available to him. It was a power that not only would eventually deal with his enemies, but which enabled him to accomplish great feats of strength, from the slaying of a lion with his bare hands, the destroying of hundreds of his enemies by himself, and even the pulling down of the gates of a city, then transporting them to the top of a hill facing the city. All these things were done because of God’s strength given to him for the accomplishing of His will, and the manifestation of His glory, so that men would believe in Him, and be saved.
For the seeking soul, at the very moment when by the grace of God, and His mercy, there arises the cry of the lost soul reaching the heart of God, there is an intervention on His part, an individual dealing with the soul concerning his need. With the knowledge that there is but one true and living God, and that, Christ, the Son of God, came to die on the cross of Calvary to pay the penalty, and debt, for every man’s sins, there comes an appeal by God: “Repent,” turning from all unbelief and self-oriented sinfulness, to turn towards Christ alone as one’s source of power to be saved, to be born again, and to have eternal life. The God of Samson, who met him in a very real way, will today meet the seeking soul, giving him the power to come to Christ, receive forgiveness of sins, and embrace this new life given to him by the Spirit. However, though the believer is a new creation in Christ, he or she may remain bound by the “graveclothes” of the old life, similar to those which bound Lazarus. It was when Christ spoke authoritative words that freedom would come: “Loose him and let him go.”
For Israel, God’s words were: “Shake yourself from the dust, …loose yourself from the bonds of your neck.”
Dear Father, Set us free today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.