One Moment In Time.

I have an old photograph that was taken when I was at primary (junior) school. It was taken around 1969 and I would have only been very young in it. It shows me with all of my other classmates at a summer camp. And we were all so very young and very ill equipped for our lives ahead.
 
I look at the photograph from time to time and wonder about some of the people in it and how their lives have fared. I have managed to keep in contact with one or two of them but for the most part all have moved on to their own life stories.
 
Some went to other countries to live, never to be heard from again. One or two are now deceased. But that little scraggy band of school kids would represent a selection of society which would go on to become teachers, tradesmen, police officers, soldiers, nurses, business owners. And on leaving that school off we went on our various life-journeys.
 
But while I remember some of the individuals in that photo I can’t help but remember that those little children do not exist anymore. They have all grown up to become adults and have all gone on to become mature members of their own particular families and friendship circles.
 
If we were to meet together now we would have very little to say to each other, save to recap on old school staff and teachers who have quite possible all died by now.
 
While I was reading up on some random bible thoughts this week I came across something which startled me. I read of two men who, although the Bible tells us that they lived very different lives they both lived at the same time. There was only a few years of age difference between them and the dates of their births. They were Samson and Samuel.
 
Both Samson and Samuel were born to mothers who had no children. Therefore they were the eldest if their families. Both were born into godly vows and vocations.

Samson was brought up to learn the traditions of a Nazarite…

Judges Ch13 (5) For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

 …and Samuel was brought up in the Temple under Eli’s care and in the traditions of a Levite.

1st Samuel Ch1 (26) And she said, "O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD.(27) For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. (28) Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD." So they worshiped the LORD there.

Both men were born less than 15 miles apart from each other. Samson was born just 15 miles west of Jerusalem in a village called Zorah (known as Tsor’a today). And Samuel born just 5 miles north west of Jerusalem in a village generally believed to be around the area of Har Shmu’El. It is believed, and generally accepted, that both men are buried close to their respective birthplaces.

Yet these two men were never to meet. And their lives were to be very, very different.

Samson decided that he wanted to go and see the lifestyle of other cultures. And despite his Nazarite vows and upbringing he went to live among the Philistine people in an area now known as the city of Gaza. And, for the most part, he led a pretty wreckless and Godless lifestyle. Hence the reason that he was in so much trouble with The Philistines. You can read of the accounts of Samson’s life in Judges Ch13-16.

Samuel, however, led a godly life among the most godless of company – Eli, the Priest and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas. Hophni and Phinehas led a dissobedient lifestyle in their roles as priests by interfering the The Lord’s Offerings and they were fornicating with the female temple servants at the same time. Eli, although he was informed of these wrongdoings, never did anything about it. And so he was judged accordingly….

1st Samuel Ch2 (34) Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.

And so Samuel was brought up to work within this environment of sin and corruption. You can read of his life’s journey in 1st Samuel Ch2-25.

Samson’s life was a life of violence and destruction. He witnessed and caused the deaths of many of the Philistines. Samuel’s life was one of obedience and devotion. He witnessed the slaying of the giant Goliath and the coronation of Israel’s first three Kings – Saul, Ish-Bosheth and David.

Yet, despite these differences they are both recognised equally in the “Hebrews Hall Of Faith”…

Hebrews Ch11 (32) And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

And so, from these examples, we know that God also has plans for all of our lives. Jeremiah Ch29 v11 reads…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

And the Book of Proverbs ch16 v9 tells us….

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

I have personally discovered that “God’s will” has its own outworking through our own daily decisions and lives. It’s up to us if we decide to live our life recklessly or obediently.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word,
What a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will, he abides with us still.
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Email - TheseLivelyOracles@hotmail.com
Internet - www.theselivelyoracles.co.uk
Facebook - These Lively Oracles
Twitter(X) - @LivelyOracles58

Sources used:- http://timeline.biblehistory.com/period/the-judges
http://timeline.biblehistory.com/period/united-kingdom
https://biblehub.com/timeline/

Location: H3W9+VX Belfast, UK

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