Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-01-27
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR JAN. 81
SECURED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE
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READERS
ACCORDING TO The
INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Commentary Prepared IN An Inter-
esting Way by Rev. ID. NJ.
Stearns

stiument. strong physically. but very
weak spiritually: one who might have
been very great man for God II he
had kept himself wholly for God. yet
honorable mention is made OF him In
Heb. 81. - The story of Samson GOV
ers four chapters. xiii To xvi. OF which
our lesson chapter tells of the an
nOuncement of his coming his birth
and growth To manhood The other
three chapters tell OF his doings. and
whatever was worth while was by the
Spirit of the Lord. who is mentioned
four times xiii -; xiv. q. 10: XIV. IA.
II was during the longest period OF
lsraels oppression that Samson was
born and when he came 10 manhood
began To deliver Israel. They did evil
again in the sight of the Lord and
were oppressed by the Philistines for.
~ years verse H. The messenger
from heaven. who appeared first 10
Manoahs wife and later 10 Manoah,
is mentioned fourteen times and is
called the angel Of the Lord ten times,
the angel of God twice and the man Of
God twice. When asked his name by
Manoah he replied it is Wonderful"
(verse Is. margin and H. ", text
which is the same name as in lisa. TX.
g. so that we recognize the Son OF God.
whose goings forth have been from OF
old. from the days of eternity (AIic.
v, p. who appeared To Gideon. TO
Moses. To Joshua and others.
AS here He appeared first TO Ma
noah's wife. it il at least most inter
esting 10 note that He is first called
THE angel of the Lord" in His up
pearing 10 Hagar, and il is written
that ''she called the name OF the Lord
who spake unto her. Thou God seest
me" Gen. xvi. 7l3D This was also
in connection with a child TO be born.
who was the first named before his
birth. and there were just six others
so named 1t is worthy of note that
as Manoah and his wife had no child.
so IL was aso with Zacharias and
Elizabeth. and in some respects the
verses 4. , and Luke |. l5-17D.
There is more in these Bible records
than any OF us have yet seen. and
some day in the kingdom we will be
surprised at their significance We
may not be able Ia tell why this man
and his wife of the tribe OF Dan
were chosen To he thus honOred
but possibly they were devout. like
the father and mother of John the
Baptist We may judge from lesson
verse s that Manuah knew the Lord
and knew how To pray ana obtain an
answer. The lesson is called temper.
ance lesson becau his wife was for.
hidden 10 drink wine or strong drink
oversees 4. IA or TO eat anything that
cometh of the vine or anything un.
clean. The child was TO be Naz.
arite unto God all his life oversees 8. y
5, y.
The essential thought of such conse-
Grafton was separation unto the Lord.
and the full requirement Is given In
Mum. vi. where it is seen that either
man or woman might take such a
VOW. but If they became defiled the
days of their defilement were lost
Verse ~. 1t was Il VOW only for Il
time. and when fulfilled the NaZarite
might drink wine oversees 10. POI. In
the case OF Samson he was to be a
NaZarite from birth To death. but he
became de6ed through his fellowship
with Delilah chapter xvi. 1920
There were few Nazarites, and our
Lord Jesus was the only perfect one
In the sense of being wholly and al
ways separated unto God.
Because II is so costly to be "A disci-
pie luke xiv. 20. %. SO, there are few
disciples. Ii seems so much easier to
be In some measure conformed 10 this
present evil age than to be wholly sep
arated from II. Yet the Lord is ever
looking for any willing ones that He
may show Himself strong in their be-
half Oil Chron. xvi. 81. The Holy
Spirit. the same who came upon Sam.
son from time TO time and who dwells
In every true believer, has greater
desire to Oil us than any of us can
desire to be filed. for it is written.
THE Spirit whom He made to dwell
In us yearneth for us even unto jealous
envy JAS ". 8. X. ". margin). but
the previous verse shows us that the
great hindrance is the friendship OF
this world
1t is the valley of Sorek or the lap
Of Delllah or some such phase OF
worldliness that binders us from be-
Ing what He would like us to be. Sam.
son was not In appearance a strong
man, for had he been such the Philis-
tines would not have wondered at his
strength nor inquired the secret OF II
chapter xvi. 81 AS his birth was a
special gift from God to his parents.
as In the case OF Isaac aud John the
Baptist SO was his great physical
strength We must first be born of
God. born from above aud then if we
are willing to be wholly separated
unto Him He will work In us nightly
both TO will and TO do
II Is the privilege Of every true be