The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-27
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 The Tragedy of Samson the Strong
Judges 13:S-16, 24, 25-Jan. 31.

beware, pray thee, ana uTll1k nOl wine nor strong drink.'-Judges 1894.
 All Jews who took a certain VOW were styled Nazarites No one should con found these people with the residents of a certain city called Nazareth. Jesus was resident of Nazareth, but He was not under the VOW of the Nazarite The VOW of a Nazarite was that he would avoid spirituous liquor in every form, and that his hair would not be cut. Samson from his birth was under this VOW, which, by the direction of an angel of the Lord, was adopted for him by his parents. In some sense the VOW seems to have signihed complete conservation to God and His service.
 Twice before Samsons birth the angel Of the Lord communicated with his par ents to the intent that the mind of the mother, especially, should be impressed with the importance of abstemousness; and that thus her child should be born under a favorable endowment Undoubt- edly his parents realized to what extent parents may give mental and physical strength to their children; and they would be alert to endow their offspring fav- orably.
 While the life, the virility, comes from the father, the mother has greatly to do with the stamping of the character. In the mothers weakened condition prior to the birth of her child, the father should realize the situation, and appreciate his privilege of surrounding the mother with fine intellectual and spiritual influences. Tl,,,. Sl,a f,t tIar Il., z the mother and leads them in profitable directions, while the mother in turn stamps those high, noble aspirations upon her child, that he may be well born-an honor to his family name, a blessing to his community and, above all, qualified to be servant of God.
 According to divine promise Samson was to be one of the judges of Israel; that is to say, one of the delverers of Israeli The need of deliverance is evident from the context. The Philistines (other- wise the strangers) resided to the south west of Palestine They were warike people, and evidently very intelligent as respects manufactures. Their cunning is shown in the fact that they not only dis armed the Israelites, but prohibited their making any iron implements or doing any kind of blacksmithing work. In this man. ner they held down the Israeltes in a species of peonage, exacting tribute Of them.
 Samsons work must not be censured by merely the damage which he did to the Philistines in various ways as a warrior and as a strategist-setting fire to their wheat fields by ingeniously using foxes for the purpose, etc. Doubtless his chief work was one of reviving the spirit of his ,.l- x..t-- l.-1 l. jected, hopeless under the oppression of their enemies. The lesson of what one man could do when he devoted his life to serving his people and to delivering them from their enemies must have been a great stimulous to patriotism, and an en- couragement to return to the Lord and to expect favor and prosperity as a re- suit.
 Points to be Remembered
 We must not forget that the Jews were not Christians, nor that the rules laid down by Jesus and the apostles for Chris. tians were not applicable to the Jews. Moses and the nation of Israel, according to the scriptures, were a house of serv- ants O1ebrews 35. 6.) They were prom ised divine blessings in proportion as they would serve faithfully, obediently, the di- vine law, which did not call upon them to be saints in the Christian sense of that
 
 Another difference between the Jew and the Christian is that the former was promised temporal blessings as a reward for faithfulness. while the latter is prom ised spiritual blessings with temporal ad- versailles and trials of faith, patience, love and loyalty. Unless this distinction be- tween the two ages and the two laws be borne in mind, we shall continually be in difficulty.
 According to the law. Samson was very faithful servant of God His faith fitness consisted of his loyalty to the di- vine requirements and to Israel the cove nanted people of God. His faith was con tinually manifested in all that he did, and his whole life was used in serving his people. Hence he is rated amongst the ancient worthies by St. Paul in Hebrews Il 32.
 Samson was neither a Christian nor an example to Christians. In many respects he lived after the flesh, nothwithstanding his noble self-sacrifice in the Lords serv- ice. We should remember. however, that h. was never begotten of the Holy Spirit, Only since Pentecost have any been be- gotten of the Spirit of the Lord as ''new creatures in Christi True, we read that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Samson. and upon other ancient worthies. But such a mechanical operation of the Holy Spirit is wholly different from that which applies to the Christian. begotten of the Spirit during this gospel age.
 woman was Samsons undoing. He confided to her, and she betrayed him. He informed her that he was under a VOW which included not only his absti- hence from the use of Intoxicating liquors, but also that his hair should