Judges 13:1-25 Samson who was born to deliver Israel from oppression is a type and shadow of what was to come.

He was a type of him who would know no sin but was made sin for us.

Although Samson was a deliver of God’s people he was not the redeemer.

He was born to deliver, but something happened in his life that aborted his destiny in God.

I want to look at what happened to him and how many of us fall into the same pattern and actually abort our destiny in God without realizing it.

We think we are doing the will of God when it reality we are hindering God’s will in our life.

We pick up the story where Samson, under the extraordinary guidance of Providence, seeks an occasion to quarrel with the Philistines,

(Please read Judges 14:1-5)

A strange method, but the truth is Samson was himself a riddle, a paradox of a man.

He did that which was really great and good, by that which was seemingly weak and evil.

It seems like God will always do the opposite of what would come natural to the human mind. What may not seem correct to our human intellect; but because God is omnipotent and omniscience, He has the ability to move in different situations in ways that bring about His perfect will.

You must understand that Samson was designed not to be a pattern to us, but a type of him who, though he knew no sin, was made sin for us, and appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might condemn and destroy sin in the flesh,

Rom 8:3. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, NASU

Samson then was the type and shadow of one that would know no sin, so He could ultimately be not just a deliverer of God’s people, but their redeemer!

Samson, by a special providence, is encouraged to attack the Philistines.

That being the service for which he was designed. God, when he called him to it, prepared him for it by two occurrences:-

One of those occurrences was by enabling him, in one journey to Timnath, to kill a lion, v. 5, 6.

Too many Christians decline doing the service they might do because they know not their own strength.

God let Samson know what he could do in the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, that he might never be afraid to look the greatest difficulties in the face.

God does not want you to look at the difficulties you are facing and think you have to face them alone.

The bible says God will never forsake us, and that we can approach His throne with all confidence and find grace in our time of need.

It took faith and knowing who God was in him that would enable Samson to accomplish this great feat.

What happened in the natural in Samson’s life is true in your own life, but it is accomplished first in the spirit realm.

Zechariah 4:6 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. NAS

You must believe God is more than able to handle your problems. As you confess it with your mouth, and walk in it, this releases your faith. Your victory is accomplished by the releasing of your faith.

Samson's encounter with the lion was frightening to say the least.

It was a young lion, one of the fiercest sorts that set upon him, roaring for his prey, and setting his eye particularly upon him. He roared in meeting him, so the word says.

He was all alone in the vineyards, whither he had rambled from his father and mother (who kept the high road), probably to eat grapes.

He paid no mine to the warnings from His parents. God warns us of lions lurking. Many do not consider the danger of their sins, nor do young people consider what lions lurk in the vineyards of life

1 Peter 5:8   Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. NAS

Had Samson met with this lion in the way when his family was around him, he might have had more reason to expect help both from God and man, than here in the solitary vineyards, out of his road.

But there was a special providence in it, and the more hazardous the encounter was, the sweeter the victory

The way he gained his victory left no doubt it was providence and not in his own ability.

It was obtained without any difficulty:

He strangled the lion, and tore his throat as easily as he would have strangled a young goat, yet without any instrument, not only no sword nor bow, but not so much as a staff or knife; he had nothing in his hand.

Christ engaged the roaring lion, and conquered him in the beginning of his public work (Matt 4:1, etc.), and afterwards spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them in himself, without anything in his hand.

He was exalted in his own strength.

This victory was so you and I could walk in victory over life’s struggles and worries. It is in Jesus that we find rest and peace.

Psalms 55:22   Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. NAS

That which added much to the glory of Samson's triumph over the lion was that when he had done this great exploit he did not boast of it.

He did not so much as tell his father nor mother that which many a one would soon have published through the whole country.

Modesty and humility make up the brightest crown of great performances.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. NAS

Clothing him with the mercy of that great deliverance, we might follow his example and solemnly give thanks to God for it.

It is good to remind ourselves of God's former favors to us.

But a time came when Samson betrayed his own strength.

And through this betrayal he would hinder if not spoil his destiny in God.

We have here the fatal consequences of Samson's mistakes in betraying his own strength; and he soon paid dearly for it.

The first mistake was in going where he should not have been.

The man of God goes to see a prostitute. Ladies and Gentlemen; Satan is lurking and looking for the right opportunity to steal your anointing.

The bible says to walk as wise men;

Ephesians 5:15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, NAS

It is the anointing of God that will enable you to accomplish your mission for God. And what will release the anointing are the declarations that come out of your mouth. If they are declarations of faith, it comes in agreement with the will of God and not the will of the enemy.

And this is how Samson lost his anointing; Judges 16:15

Samson betrayed his strength by releasing the contents of his heart to the devil. Delilah now perceived, by the manner of his speaking, that he had told her all his heart,

The wages of unrighteousness are accordingly produced by our declarations, Unknown to Samson that by his own declarations, he had empowered the devil. What declarations have you been making over your life, your family, your job, etc?

Are you empowering the devil and actually handing over the anointing God has blessed you with?

It would have grieved one's heart to have seen one of the bravest men then in the world sold and bought, as a sheep for the slaughter;

Let’s see what a treacherous method she took (v. 19): She made him sleep upon her knees. Some commentaries say she gave him some intoxicating liquor, which laid him to sleep.

We cannot suppose that he knowingly drank wine or strong drink, for that would have been a forfeiture of his Nazariteship as much as the cutting off of his hair.

She pretended the greatest kindness even when she designed the greatest mischief, which yet she could not have done if she had not made him sleep.

See the fatal consequences of a false security. Folks, satan has ruined the greatest of men by rocking them asleep,

I’m talking about a spiritually asleep. Fast asleep to the schemes and tactics of your enemy. Flattering them into thinking they are safe, and so bringing them to fear nothing and to think they are safe. And then he robs them of their strength and honor and leads them captive at his will.

When we sleep spiritually our spiritual enemies do not.

When he was asleep she had a person ready to cut off his hair, which he did so silently and so quickly that it did not awake him, but plainly afflicted him;

Even in his sleep, his spirit sunk.

I believe that this was allowed because he was accessory to this great injustice. It would not have had this strange effect upon him; but it was his own wickedness that allowed it. It was the sin in Samson’s heart that allowed the enemy to enter in.

It was his iniquity, operating that gave the enemy an open door.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. NASU

Don’t release the contents of your heart to the enemy by making declarations that are not of God. Many have lost the favorable presence of God and are not aware of it; they have provoked God to withdraw from them, but are not sensible of their loss, nor ever complain of it.

Their souls languish and grow weak, their gifts wither, every thing goes cross with them; and yet they blame everyone else and not the right cause:

They are not aware that God has departed from them, nor are they in any care to reconcile them to him or to recover his favor. Ladies and Gentlemen; when God has departed we cannot do as at other times.

In Vs. 21 says the Philistines took him when God had departed from him.

Those that have thrown themselves out of God's protection become an easy prey to their enemies. This is why we are encouraged to not forsake the assembling of the saints. If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines.

It is probable they had promised Delilah not to kill him, but they took an effectual course to disable him.

The first thing they did, when they had him in their hands and found they could manage him, was to put out his eyes,

The first thing the devil wants to do to you is blind you to the truth.

They considered that without his eyes he was defeated.

They knew his hair which was a sign of covenant with God would come back, but the strongest arms could do little without eyes to guide him

You are saved but if you are blind thru your own ungodly confessions about yourself and others you are defeated.

The devil does to sinners, blinds the minds of those who do not believe, and so enslaves them, and secures them in his interests.

Though the last stage of Samson's life was not glorious, and one could wish,

There was honor in his death. His repentance of His sins allowed an honorable death.

God wants you to pour out your heart to him and not to your enemy

Lamentations 2:19   Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.

Start by making declarations of faith, declarations that produce life.

God is aware of your struggles but it is thru those declarations of faith over your circumstances that release your faith.

Luke 6:45    A good man produces good deeds from a good heart. And an evil man produces evil deeds from his hidden wickedness. Whatever is in the heart overflows into speech. TLB

So I ask you, what are you saying about yourself?

Does it line up with what God says about you, or has the enemy blinded you thru your own words?

I would encourage you to start by repenting of anything you may have said that does not line up with the word of God. Many times we wonder why this happening to me is. Could it be by your own negative confessions of yourself and your circumstances? God has made a way for you to live in victory, under His grace. This is in Jesus Christ. Of course the first confession we make is confessing the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives. Will you do this with me? Let make some Godly declarations in Jesus Name!

Let’s pray out loud; Father in Jesus Name I declare that Jesus is my LORD and SAVIOR. I believe in my heart that He died for my sins and you raised Him from the grave and is now seated at your right hand. I receive you Jesus as my LORD and SAVIOR. I renounce the world and ask forgiveness for all my sins. I renounce all I have spoken out of the will of God and put those words under the blood of Jesus. I make a decision that from this day forward I will live for you Jesus. Thank you for my salvation by grace. In Jesus Name I pray! AMEN!

May God richly bless you!!!!!!