A rose by any other name…is STILL a rose.

In England, a man came to the dentist for emergency treatment for what he claimed was an excruciating toothache. Demanding a general anesthetic, due to the overwhelming pain, he became very impatient when the dentist demanded x-rays first. The dentist returned with the x-rays and demanded the man leave his office. The potential patient had false teeth!

Humans can convince themselves of almost anything, if it serves their purpose. I want to deal with one here.

As we begin the story of Samson, I want us to see that when we take the time to read the Scriptures carefully we will discover truths that may not be obvious at first glance. 

Judges 13:1-7 Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. “Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 

“For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. “But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

This appears to be the record about the beginning of the life of Samson and how the Angel of the Lord told his mother. It is…but there is also something very interesting that addresses one of the greatest catastrophes of the modern age. One of the strongest drives in this world is motherhood. Women desire it greatly from an early age and are tenaciously protective of their babies. Even in the wild, most animals show this instinct.

In the last 100 years though a great change has taken place. Human mothers have moved to ending their babies’ life in the womb in numbers that make most wars seem tame. Let me make this clear from the beginning, I have nothing but compassion on a woman that has ended her pregnancy by choice, because I believe the vast majority have been lied too by a few very evil people. An unexpected or unwanted pregnancy is a life changer, so if I can be convinced that the “thing” growing in my womb is just a “thing”, not a human being, I can convince myself that getting rid of it is not worse than having a wart removed. I know quite a few women that have had abortions, without exception they all were convinced it was not a living person yet, and were very uneducated concerning the reality of human conception. They knew how to make it happen but did not really know the realities, medically and Biblically, of what had happened.  

I will not spend the time discussing the proof that the moment a “human” egg is fertilized, it has everything it needs to be a human being and only a human being. It is really interesting that none of the most hostile proponents of abortion deny that a pregnant whale has another whale living in it, or that an eagle’s egg is an eagle. Yet, because these folks have an agenda, they change the name from “baby” to “fetus” and withhold all kinds of information. They also do everything they can to hide what the abortion mills are doing and how ugly it is, they even stop pictures and films being offered so at least expectant mothers can make an educated decision concerning their pregnancy. Like the Germans that smelled the smoke and saw the ashes, they could hide from the horrible truth, until it was forced on them. However, when they had to face it, most did not celebrate it or treat it as nothing; they went into mourning and shame for years. Only their leaders tried to justify these things. I believe many women would find themselves changing their position, if they could see the whole picture.

I want to share just two thoughts from the Bible, which for me carries more authority than medical science. Since human beings were created by God, I find His thoughts more important.

Psalm 51:5 (NASB95) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Psalm 51:5 (NLT) For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

First, I wanted you to see this verse in two translations. Notice David makes the point he was a sinner from the moment of conception. Conception is that moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. At that moment a “sinner” exists. An “it” cannot be a sinner, only a human being fits that description. Medical science can discuss many things about human beings, but not when the soul begins. Only the Author of the human soul can speak to that…here we see the beginning of a sinner, at conception, so whatever else is present, or not present, the human soul exists the moment a sperm fertilizes an egg.

Second, I find it incredible that God let’s us in on a secret in this passage, even though this passage is not about when a human being begins. Notice what the Angel states:

“Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb"

The Angel warned Samson’s mother not to drink alcohol or eat any unclean thing…why? If what was in her was an “it” what difference would it make what she did? This warning is before she conceived. God had decided this son would be completely dedicated to Him, and therefore no alcohol or unclean thing would be a part of his life. Notice when that began, before he was even conceived. Samson’s mother was to be pure, because anything she drank or ate would effect her son’s call as a Nazirite, which did not begin at his birth, but at his conception, in the womb. Samson was Samson, the minute he was conceived! This is why I love the Word of God; it brings answers to questions only God knows.

Meditation: If you know someone struggling with this decision, show them love, pray for them and if they will let you, share from God’s Word how God treasures every soul, even their unborn child. If you know someone that made this choice, love them! Pray for them, do not judge, that is the Lord’s arena. It is past now, so you must be the one to show them that God is willing to forgive, heal, and restore. Remember, every one of us can make terrible mistakes if we are ignorant concerning what God desires. God is always willing to forgive anyone that comes to Him in truth.     

Wisdom to live by...or die by.

Probing Proverbs 11:3-6 Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death. The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin. The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.

Here are some incredible principles that if put to memory can take us through each day, while at the same time reinforcing truths about our life. Consider:

·      Honesty guides

So many seek purpose and direction in life. When we are honest – which means facing the realities of life…the good, the bad and the ugly…our steps will be guided by that truth. This is what makes individuals do the hard things, even the unpleasant things in life, because they are honest about the circumstances and behave accordingly, whether it be returning that money you found or leaving a note on the car you bumped in the parking lot so the owner can know how to contact you.

* Notice when we do this we are seeing in our life that we are “good.”

·      Dishonesty destroys  

What does it destroy? Reality! When you live in denial of truth you will never experience the real world. This is like athletes that win through cheating, or when you lie on an application to get a job – they are not really that talented! They have deceived themselves and some day it will catch up to them!

* Notice when we do this we are seeing in our life that we are “treacherous.”

·      Riches won’t help

Riches are great for comfort and aid, yet in the eternal things they really cannot help. God will never care about how much we had, He will care about how we got it and what we did with it.

* Notice when we count on temporal things, it exposes our ignorance concerning the Judgment Day.

·      Right living can save

This is simple to understand, but difficult to do. Many try to make it “complicated” to understand, which I consider a ploy to make excuses on why they fail. The Scripture makes it simple and clear what “right” living is, the problem is our fallen nature has it’s own desires. When we live the way God designed life to be, we will “deliver” (save) ourselves from many troubles…including eternal ones.

 * Notice when we choose to live God’s way it exposes our understanding that sinful living “separates” (death} from everything…joy, fulfillment and even God.

·      The godly are directed

Those that live God’s way receive direction from the Producer of all things! This opens an incredible door of opportunity to all options in life. God knows the beginning from the end and every intimate detail about who you are. Who better to get direction from?

 * Notice if we are living God’s way it shows we travel in “truth.” (Honesty)

·      The wicked fall

Those that choose a path of sin will not finish the race of life successfully, even if they exist on this earth for 100 years, at their appointment with their Maker they will fall short of living forever with Him.

 * Notice if we live in sin it exposes our ignorance of the “cost” (load of sin) that we will have to pay.

The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.

This is a great summation of all we just read; simply put, living God’s way rescues a person from the evils of this world, the driven hunger for sin will entrap those that live that way. It really comes down to – whose pleasure do we seek; His or ours? By the way, when we choose His pleasure, we will find in retrospect, it was the best way to go and the pleasure we will experience loving Him will far outweigh any pleasure our flesh can offer.