I woke up the other day hearing these words from the Lord:
"My Church is to be full of My Spirit!"
Then, I heard further:
"My Church is to be full of My Spirit! Tell My people My Church cannot be crippled, and My Church cannot be weakened! Learn from the mistakes of Samson!"
Why Samson? And what does Samson have to do with the Church?
Here's a little background on Samson. Judges 13:1-5 says, 'Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."'
The name 'Samson' is 'Shimshown' in Hebrew, literally meaning 'sunlight', from the word 'shemesh' which means 'sun, light (or ray) of the sun', and the word 'Nazirite' is 'Naziyr' in Hebrew, meaning 'consecrated, set apart', from the word 'nazar', which means 'to separate (from impurities)'.
And here's the prophetic meaning of 'Samson' and 'Nazirite' relating to the Church in this end-time: 'Samson' and 'Nazirite' speak of 'the Church today', called as 'the light to the world' (Matthew 5:14-16), and 'consecrated, set apart' from the ways of this world! (1 Peter 2:9-10)
The Church (i.e. the people of God) doing great exploits!
Regarding the Church, Jesus says, "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock (i.e. the confession and revelation of who Jesus is), I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)
Now, you can see the similarities with Samson, who moved with great power and strength of the Lord, and did great exploits for the Lord as well. Judges 14:6 says, 'And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat...', and Judges 15:14-15 says, 'Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it'.
Note: Of course in the New Covenant today, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, the rulers of darkness of this age, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12).
See the words 'the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him' here? Similarly, the Church in the New Covenant have also been endued with the power from on high to do great exploits for the Lord! Acts 1:8 says, 'But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth'.
Learning from the mistakes of Samson
Judges 16:1 says, 'Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her'.
Judges 16:4-5 says, 'Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."'
Judges 16:16-17 says, 'And it came to pass, when she (Delilah) pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was drained (distressed, vexed) to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."'
And Judges 16:19 says, 'Then she (Delilah) lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him'.
In Bible-study, we can learn both from the victories and mistakes of those who have gone before us. Here are the lessons that the Church in the end time should learn from, so that we will not be crippled and weakened like Samson:
1. The importance of walking in the holiness of the Lord (see 1 Corinthians 6:15-20)
2. Never give in to the pestering or pressures of the people (or things) of this world!
What do the seven locks represent?
Have you ever wondered why there were seven locks on Samson's head? I mean, why not a pony tail, two locks, three locks, six locks, or nine locks? Why seven locks? There is no insignificant details in the Bible. Before I answer this question, let's read Numbers 6:5, 'All the days of the vow of a Nazirite's separation, no razor shall come upon his head... Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow'.
The Old Testament is the 'shadow', and the New Testament is the 'substance'. Let Scripture interpret Scripture now. Revelation 4:5 says, 'And from the throne (of God) proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God'.
These 'seven locks' are therefore 'symbolic' and a 'picture' of the 'seven Spirits (or seven fold Spirits) of the Lord' mentioned in Revelation 4:5!
In other words, if these 'seven' are being 'cut away' from the Body of Christ (i.e. the Church), the Church is crippled and weakened, just as happened to Samson!
What are these 'seven Spirits'?
Let Scripture interpret Scripture again. These seven Spirits can be found in Isaiah 11:1-2 that spoke about Jesus Himself, 'There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord'.
By the way, 'seven' is the number in Hebrew for 'perfection, purification, consecration, and sovereignty (i.e. supreme power)', and it is also the number for 'the Holy Spirit'.
Seven aspects of the One Spirit (according to Isaiah 11:2):
1. The Spirit of the Lord (YHWH, Self-Existent, Eternal)
2. The Spirit of wisdom ('chokmah' = wisdom)
3. The Spirit of understanding ('biynah' = discerning)
4. The Spirit of counsel ('etsah' = advice, purpose)
5. The Spirit of might ('gibbor' = power, strength)
6. The Spirit of knowledge ('dahath' = knowledge)
7. The Spirit of the fear of the Lord ('yirah' = reverence)
People of God, receive all these in your life and in your church today! And that explains why the Lord has spoken so vividly the other day: "My Church is to be full of My Spirit!" Let it be so! Amen!
