IS THIS THE BEGINNINGS OF OUR END?

 

What Has Happened to Our Nation – And What Now?

IS THIS THE BEGINNINGS OF THE END?

Samson of the Bible, a man of great strength who fell through his own weakness may be reminiscent of what has taken place with our once Christian and once great United States of America.

The story of Samson is found in Judges 13–16. Samson’s life is one of the most remarkable and tragic stories in the Old Testament. He was chosen by God before his birth, endowed with extraordinary physical strength, and appointed to begin delivering Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. Yet, despite his calling and God-given abilities, Samson repeatedly allowed his personal desires, pride, and lack of self-control to lead him toward destruction. His story illustrates how a person or a nation can possess tremendous gifts from God yet fail to live faithfully according to God’s purposes and face a tragic end.

1. Samson – A child chosen by God (Judges 13): Israel had once again turned away from God and fallen into spiritual disobedience. As a result, God had allowed the Philistines to oppress Israel for forty years. During this time, an angel of the LORD appeared to a woman who had been unable to bear children and announced that she would give birth to a son.

The child was to be set apart as a Nazirite from birth. Among the requirements of his consecration was that no razor should ever cut his hair.

God declared that Samson would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Samson was therefore not simply a gifted individual; he was a man specifically appointed by God for a divine purpose.

2. Samson’s extraordinary strength (Judges 14–15). As Samson grew, the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him, giving him extraordinary strength. His exploits included killing a young lion with his bare hands, killing thirty Philistines after a dispute surrounding his wedding, escaping attempts to capture him by breaking the ropes binding him, killing 1,000 Philistine soldiers with the jawbone of a donkey.

On one occasion, Samson carried away the gates of the city of Gaza, including their posts and bar, demonstrating his extraordinary physical power. His strength repeatedly frustrated the Philistines, who desperately wanted to capture and eliminate him.

Yet, alongside these demonstrations of God’s power, Samson displayed a growing pattern of impulsiveness, personal indulgence, anger, and disregard for the consequences of his decisions. He was physically powerful but frequently spiritually undisciplined.

3. Samson falls in love with Delilah (Judges 16:4–17). Eventually, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Valley of Sorek.

The Philistine rulers recognized an opportunity. They approached Delilah and offered her a substantial financial reward if she would discover the secret of Samson’s extraordinary strength. Delilah repeatedly questioned Samson about the source of his strength. Three times Samson deceived her, giving her false explanations: He said that binding him with seven fresh bowstrings would make him powerless. He said that new ropes would render him helpless. He said that weaving the seven locks of his hair into a web would weaken him. Each time, Delilah attempted to restrain him while Philistine men waited nearby. Each time, Samson broke free.

But Delilah persisted, repeatedly accusing him of not truly loving her because he would not reveal his secret. Eventually, Samson gave in.

He told her that no razor had ever touched his head because he had been consecrated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If his hair were cut, he would become weak like any other man.

4. The cutting of Samson’s hair and his fall (Judges 16:18–21). Delilah realized that Samson had finally told her the truth. She arranged for the Philistine rulers to return with their payment and had Samson fall asleep with his head resting in her lap. While he slept, she called for a man to shave off his seven locks of hair. Then she cried out: “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Samson awoke, believing he could simply rise and escape as he had done before. But Scripture records one of the saddest statements in his entire story: “But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.” — Judges 16:20 (NASB).

His strength was gone. The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, bound him with bronze chains, and took him to Gaza, where he was forced to grind grain in prison. The man who had once terrified an entire army had become a helpless prisoner.

His physical strength had been extraordinary, but he had failed to recognize the seriousness of repeatedly compromising his relationship with God.

An important distinction: Samson’s hair itself was not a magical source of strength. His uncut hair was the outward sign of his Nazirite consecration. His strength ultimately came from God, and his failure reflected the deeper spiritual consequences of disregarding that consecration.

5. Samson’s final act of strength and redemption (Judges 16:22–31).

While Samson was imprisoned, something significant began to happen:

“However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.” — Judges 16:22. The Philistines organized a great celebration in honor of their god Dagon, believing their god had delivered Samson into their hands. They brought Samson into the temple to entertain the assembled crowd. Blind and humiliated, Samson asked the servant leading him to place his hands against the two central pillars supporting the building.

Then Samson prayed: “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” — Judges 16:28 (NASB). Samson pushed against the pillars with all his strength. The temple collapsed, killing the Philistine rulers and the people gathered there. Scripture tells us that Samson killed more Philistines in his death than he had killed during his lifetime. His family subsequently recovered his body and buried him.

6. The spiritual lessons from Samson’s life: Samson’s story is more than an account of extraordinary physical strength. It is a warning about the dangers of spiritual compromise and the importance of remaining faithful to God’s calling. God’s calling is a responsibility. Being chosen or gifted by God does not eliminate our responsibility to walk faithfully. Physical strength is not spiritual strength.

A person or a nation may be powerful, talented, and successful while remaining spiritually vulnerable. Repeated compromise has consequences.

Samson repeatedly ignored warning signs until he lost what he had taken for granted. Temptation often exploits personal weakness and Delilah used Samson’s emotional attachment and desire to manipulate him.

God’s gifts should not be abused. Our abilities are entrusted to us for God’s purposes, not merely our own gratification.

However, failure does not necessarily mean the absolute end. Samson’s final prayer demonstrates that he still turned to God in his desperate hour.

7. The greater biblical message: Perhaps the most sobering lesson in Samson’s story is found in Judges 16:20:

“He did not know that the LORD had departed from him.”

Samson had become so accustomed to his extraordinary strength that he apparently assumed it would always be there. He failed to recognize that his strength was a gift from God, not something he independently possessed.

There is also an important distinction between Samson’s outward appearance and his inward spiritual condition. He looked powerful, but his character was increasingly compromised. Yet his story does not end entirely in defeat. Hebrews 11:32 includes Samson among those remembered for their faith. Despite his failures, his final appeal to God demonstrated that his life was not without faith.

A concluding thought: Samson’s life illustrates a timeless spiritual principle: God’s gifts, abilities, opportunities, and calling should never be mistaken for personal strength or independence from God.

A person or a nation can rise to extraordinary heights through God’s provision and yet fall through pride, temptation, disobedience, and a failure to exercise self-control.

Samson lost his sight, his freedom, and ultimately his life. But his final prayer reminds us that even after serious failure, a nation and a person can still turn to God.

His story is a powerful reminder that greatness in God’s eyes is not measured by physical strength, personal accomplishments, or outward success, but by faithfulness to Him.

A CONSEQUENTIAL PROCLAMATION

On June 28, 2006, President Barak Hussein Obama stated that the United States was no longer “just” a Christian nation during a speech where he emphasized the country’s diversity of faiths. He acknowledged that the U.S. is also a nation of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and nonbelievers. This remark announced something that had already occurred – the beginning of the end of the United States of America.

A nation is the reflection of her people. I see and hear the excuses Christian people make when they adopt and practice things that are forbidden or discouraged in the Bible. I have done the same thing on occasion. But there is a remedy for those ‘slipup behaviors’: repent, seek forgiveness, make restitution when necessary. Then, as best you can, avoid such behavior going forward. And that’s that.

But what I want to address consequences for the mindsets and behaviors of “professing Christians” who go beyond the momentary ‘slip’. The mindsets and behaviors that they invent excuses and ‘workarounds’ for so they can embrace such behaviors without disturbing their consciences. I am speaking of things that Jesus specifically warned against and even prohibited. (For example, the “thou shalt not” behaviors and the “but I say unto you” warnings and prohibitions).

Romans 1:18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, verse 19, because that which is known about God is evident within them [in other words, The evidence is open and accessible, confronting humanity through the order, beauty, provision, and majesty of creation. Human beings, made in God’s image, possess the capacity to recognize that they are accountable to the One who made them. God Himself has revealed enough of His character to leave no one innocent in unbelief. General revelation does not save sinners, but it establishes humanity’s responsibility before God and points to the need for the fuller revelation of grace given in Jesus Christ.]; for God made it evident to them. Verse 20. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Verse 21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Verse 22. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, verse 23, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.

Verse 24. Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. Verse 25. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Verse 26. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, verse 27, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

Verse 28. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, verse 29, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, verse 30, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, verse 31, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; verse 32,  and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

THE CONSEQUENCE

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, Those who do not obey the gospel will face eternal destruction as punishment.

Galatians 5:21, Things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who (‘prasso’ – make an ongoing) practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Jeremiah 2:19, Forsaking the Lord leads to bitterness and suffering, highlighting the consequences of rebellion.

Ezekiel 20:13, God expresses His wrath against those who rebel against His laws and ordinances.

Psalm 107:10-11, Those who defy God’s words become prisoners of their own rebellion and face dire consequences.

AMERICA: A NATION SHAPED BY CHRISTIANITY

America’s founding citizens and her leaders drew upon Christian principles to form a magnificent federal constitution that served our nation well, honored the moral law, and set the conditions for our nation to flourish for centuries to come. The Christian underpinnings were evident at every stage of our nation’s formation: the Colonial period, the Revolution, and the Constitutional Era. This was evidenced in early colonial laws and constitutions of the United States which were filled with sacred language, recognizing that God alone can endow legitimacy on a nation.

However, few debates cause more division than that of America’s religious roots. An increasing number of American citizens view our founding as purely secular and without Christian underpinning. But an objective and rigorous study of the Founding Era supports this conclusion: America’s founding and our freedoms were made possible by a thorough-going Christian theological framework.

First, the Founders believed that humans are created in the image of God. This belief caused them to view humans as reasonable beings who can discuss and debate social and political issues. It also informed the conscience of early opponents to slavery.

Second, they believed that human beings are inherently sinful (Federalist 51). This belief informed their view that humans will never arrive at a governmental utopia, and thus will always need laws, law enforcement, and a system of checks and balances.

Third, they believed that God is the source of moral standards and that legislation should be in agreement with moral law. True freedom could be exercised only within the bounds of the moral law; any other type of freedom was, ironically, enslaving. Thus, nearly every Supreme Court justice before John Marshall argued that the Court would strike down any law that conflicted with the moral law.

Fourth, they believed that religious liberty is a God-given right and must be protected. As Christians, they believed that the gospel is freely given and freely received, and thus God is opposed to governmental religious coercion. God, alone, is lord of the conscience—not the state.

It is clear that not every Founder was a Christian (though nearly all were professing, Trinitarian believers), and that America was not founded as an exclusively Christian nation. However, it is abundantly clear that Christianity played a formative role in shaping our nation’s founding. It is impossible to conclude that America was founded as a purely secular state.

Thus, we must reject claims that religion should have no place in the public square. Instead, let us recognize the Christian theological framework that fostered our principled pluralism, understanding that the Christian faith flourishes best without government support, on one hand, or government hostility, on the other hand. America was never meant to be theocratic, but its freedoms are the happy consequence of a profoundly Christian theological framework applied by its founding citizens and leaders to foundational documents and law. (Excerpted from an article on the Institute for Faith and Culture website, written by Dr. Robert J. Pacienza, Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Fort Lauderdale, Florida.)

So, have we, the United States of America, followed a similar and tragic path as Samson. Our streets are filled with anti-American, anti-Christian atheistic Communism and Marxism. Our beloved nations is being invaded by Islam. (Please see The Muslim Invasion and Takeover of America and You Might Be A Muslim If). Have we now succumbed to the consequences of our rebellion toward God? It appears that judgement is now on our doorstep and is entering our house. (see Is it too late to humble ourselves, say one last prayer of repentance and return to the ways of our God?

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

PS: More to Come about how to turn this around – and it isn’t about politics (please see “Politics Won’t Save You”).