May 20th, 2006
The Weakly Strongman
Recently, I had a friend share in an email about strength. Well, it wasn’t directly about strength, it was more about focus, and the mere question of “why me?” When I think of that of question, that question becomes a question of my own strength. It is a reflection of how I am doing spiritually, yes, and shows the phase of moon I may be in, per se (like a full moon, I would be strong – as an example, whereas a moon that is waning is getting weaker spiritually – just a poetic example or a metaphor). No one is strong every single moment except God himself. I most likely will resume the tongue study tomorrow or whenever, but I really wanted to study this out since it was itching in my mind.
Judges 16:17-22
So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I'll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Matthew 26:36-46
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
1st Corinthians 8:9-13
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
2nd Corinthians 12:7-10
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Judges 16:17 strength:
kôach kôach
ko'-akh, ko'-akh
From an unused root meaning to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large lizard: - ability, able, chameleon, force, fruits, might, power (-ful), strength, substance, wealth.
Judges 16:17 weak:
châlâh
khaw-law'
Properly to be rubbed or worn; hence (figuratively) to be weak, sick, afflicted; or (causatively) to grieve, make sick; also to stroke (in flattering), entreat: - beseech, (be) diseased, (put to) grief, be grieved, (be) grievous, infirmity, intreat, lay to, put to pain, X pray, make prayer, be (fall, make) sick, sore, be sorry, make suit (X supplication), woman in travail, be (become) weak, be wounded.
Matthew 26:41 and 1st Corinthians 8:10 weak:
asthenēs
as-then-ace'
Strengthless (in various applications, literally, or figuratively and morally): - more feeble, impotent, sick, without strength, weak (-er, -ness, thing).
(Additions made on May 21st, 2006)
1st Corinthians 8:9,11 & 12 & 2nd Corinthians 12:10 weak:
astheneō
as-then-eh'-o
From G772; to be feeble (in any sense): - be diseased, impotent folk (man), (be) sick, (be, be made) weak.
2nd Corinthians 12:10 strong:
dunatos
doo-nat-os'
From G1410; powerful or capable (literally or figuratively); neuter possible: - able, could, (that is) mighty (man), possible, power, strong.
OK, so my thoughts on all this. I have some crazy thoughts on these things, so bear with me, maybe it will make sense, maybe it won’t. I don’t know. First off, Samson, the dude wasn’t really the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I guess he got OK. I mean, Delilah betrayed his trust twice, and he continued to trust her. I don’t if it was written before Samson’s time that to love someone is to always to trust in them, as it is today… but that is the example of Samson (just a side there) but anyway, and Delilah cuts his hair and Samson looses his strength and becomes weak. And Samson becomes strong once more in one final blow to the Philistines… but he wasn’t strong every moment of his life. And strength in Hebrew is “the force.” So, as a Christian, I can use the force. I can be a Christian Jedi. And what is wrong with that? But when I become weak in Hebrew, I become afflicted, wounded or sick. And when I think about it, when I am doing well, it’s like “the force is with me” and when I am not doing so well, it is like I’m a “dog licking my wounds.” It makes sense. Maybe I shouldn’t cut my hair.
I’m going to skip the story of Christ and save that one for last…
So, how weak am I? Well, I’m still not going to win any arm wrestling matches these days. It is interesting the use of the word weak in the bible. Especially the word used by Christ. Paul was concerned for those with a weak conscience. It’s good to build others up and not tear them down. How discouraging for someone who struggles with a past religion of sacrifices of certain animals to see a friend eating prior sacrificial meat? I mean it wouldn’t make sense for me to go to a country that worships cows and serve steaks and hamburgers, you know? Well, it would be a good way be shot on site, I guess. But, should I do something like that, I take someone who is weak or sick, and I make him weaker or even sicker, according to the Greek. I take the person, and I actually make him worse. That doesn’t sound warm and fuzzy. I guess it is truly good on how I exercise my freedom.
Actually, I am going to combine the 2nd Corinthians and the Matthew story together, because, in mind, they really do fit. Paul has this thorn right, it’s in his side, and God won’t take it away. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Remember this, if you haven’t already. And then, remember this: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Strength and power, at least according to the bible, according to God and the writings of 1st Corinthians, are generated from weakness. And Jesus heads out to the garden to pray. He takes a couple of dudes, his buddies with him, and he wants them to pray with him, but close by. When he returns, the kicker of all kickers… he says “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Now, I’m not sure… but I’m thinking, it’s like this. He’s saying be watchful, watch me, pay attention, learn from me NOW. And if you pray earnestly like this, you will not fall into temptation later in life because you will know how to do it when your struggles come. Watch for troubling times and pray when they come so that you will not fall into temptation. “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” God is willing, but am I? How many times will I pray? It took Jesus three. He was weak… he was tempted, but he didn’t give in. He was weak, but he got strength from God. He was refreshed and then went on to the cross. How many prayers will it take for me to be refreshed? Am I weak, am I strong, am I helping others get stronger or weaker?
The Weakly Strongman
Recently, I had a friend share in an email about strength. Well, it wasn’t directly about strength, it was more about focus, and the mere question of “why me?” When I think of that of question, that question becomes a question of my own strength. It is a reflection of how I am doing spiritually, yes, and shows the phase of moon I may be in, per se (like a full moon, I would be strong – as an example, whereas a moon that is waning is getting weaker spiritually – just a poetic example or a metaphor). No one is strong every single moment except God himself. I most likely will resume the tongue study tomorrow or whenever, but I really wanted to study this out since it was itching in my mind.
Judges 16:17-22
So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I'll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Matthew 26:36-46
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
1st Corinthians 8:9-13
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
2nd Corinthians 12:7-10
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Judges 16:17 strength:
kôach kôach
ko'-akh, ko'-akh
From an unused root meaning to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large lizard: - ability, able, chameleon, force, fruits, might, power (-ful), strength, substance, wealth.
Judges 16:17 weak:
châlâh
khaw-law'
Properly to be rubbed or worn; hence (figuratively) to be weak, sick, afflicted; or (causatively) to grieve, make sick; also to stroke (in flattering), entreat: - beseech, (be) diseased, (put to) grief, be grieved, (be) grievous, infirmity, intreat, lay to, put to pain, X pray, make prayer, be (fall, make) sick, sore, be sorry, make suit (X supplication), woman in travail, be (become) weak, be wounded.
Matthew 26:41 and 1st Corinthians 8:10 weak:
asthenēs
as-then-ace'
Strengthless (in various applications, literally, or figuratively and morally): - more feeble, impotent, sick, without strength, weak (-er, -ness, thing).
(Additions made on May 21st, 2006)
1st Corinthians 8:9,11 & 12 & 2nd Corinthians 12:10 weak:
astheneō
as-then-eh'-o
From G772; to be feeble (in any sense): - be diseased, impotent folk (man), (be) sick, (be, be made) weak.
2nd Corinthians 12:10 strong:
dunatos
doo-nat-os'
From G1410; powerful or capable (literally or figuratively); neuter possible: - able, could, (that is) mighty (man), possible, power, strong.
OK, so my thoughts on all this. I have some crazy thoughts on these things, so bear with me, maybe it will make sense, maybe it won’t. I don’t know. First off, Samson, the dude wasn’t really the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I guess he got OK. I mean, Delilah betrayed his trust twice, and he continued to trust her. I don’t if it was written before Samson’s time that to love someone is to always to trust in them, as it is today… but that is the example of Samson (just a side there) but anyway, and Delilah cuts his hair and Samson looses his strength and becomes weak. And Samson becomes strong once more in one final blow to the Philistines… but he wasn’t strong every moment of his life. And strength in Hebrew is “the force.” So, as a Christian, I can use the force. I can be a Christian Jedi. And what is wrong with that? But when I become weak in Hebrew, I become afflicted, wounded or sick. And when I think about it, when I am doing well, it’s like “the force is with me” and when I am not doing so well, it is like I’m a “dog licking my wounds.” It makes sense. Maybe I shouldn’t cut my hair.
I’m going to skip the story of Christ and save that one for last…
So, how weak am I? Well, I’m still not going to win any arm wrestling matches these days. It is interesting the use of the word weak in the bible. Especially the word used by Christ. Paul was concerned for those with a weak conscience. It’s good to build others up and not tear them down. How discouraging for someone who struggles with a past religion of sacrifices of certain animals to see a friend eating prior sacrificial meat? I mean it wouldn’t make sense for me to go to a country that worships cows and serve steaks and hamburgers, you know? Well, it would be a good way be shot on site, I guess. But, should I do something like that, I take someone who is weak or sick, and I make him weaker or even sicker, according to the Greek. I take the person, and I actually make him worse. That doesn’t sound warm and fuzzy. I guess it is truly good on how I exercise my freedom.
Actually, I am going to combine the 2nd Corinthians and the Matthew story together, because, in mind, they really do fit. Paul has this thorn right, it’s in his side, and God won’t take it away. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Remember this, if you haven’t already. And then, remember this: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Strength and power, at least according to the bible, according to God and the writings of 1st Corinthians, are generated from weakness. And Jesus heads out to the garden to pray. He takes a couple of dudes, his buddies with him, and he wants them to pray with him, but close by. When he returns, the kicker of all kickers… he says “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Now, I’m not sure… but I’m thinking, it’s like this. He’s saying be watchful, watch me, pay attention, learn from me NOW. And if you pray earnestly like this, you will not fall into temptation later in life because you will know how to do it when your struggles come. Watch for troubling times and pray when they come so that you will not fall into temptation. “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” God is willing, but am I? How many times will I pray? It took Jesus three. He was weak… he was tempted, but he didn’t give in. He was weak, but he got strength from God. He was refreshed and then went on to the cross. How many prayers will it take for me to be refreshed? Am I weak, am I strong, am I helping others get stronger or weaker?
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