The Living Water – Christ Apostolic Church Daily Devotional Guide
Date: Friday, August 14, 2020 – World Lizard Day
Topic: It May Be The Bait
Read: Judges 16:1-21
Judges 16:1-21 Then Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.
The Gazites were told, Samson has come here. So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, In the morning, when it is light, we will kill him.
But Samson lay until midnight, and [then] he arose and took hold of the doors of the city’s gate and the two posts, and pulling them up, bar and all, he put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron.
After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
And the lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, Entice him and see in what his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him that we may bind him to subdue him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound to subdue you.
And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh, strong gutstrings, still moist, then shall I be weak and be like any other man.
Then the Philistine lords brought to her seven fresh, strong bowstrings, still moist, and she bound him with them.
Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he broke the bowstrings as a string of tow breaks when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies; now tell me, I pray you, how you might be bound.
And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.
So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And the men lying in wait were in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like [sewing] thread.
And Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies; tell me with what you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven braids of [the hair of] my head with the web.
And she did so and fastened it with the pin and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the [weaver’s] beam and with the web.
And she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me in what your great strength lies.
And when she pressed him day after day with her words and urged him, he was vexed to death.
Then he told her all his mind and said to her, A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my birth. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.
And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his mind, she went and called for the Philistine lords, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all he knows. Then the Philistine lords came up to her and brought the money in their hands.
And she made Samson sleep upon her knees, and she called a man and caused him to shave off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to torment [Samson], and his strength went from him.
She said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free. For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
But the Philistines laid hold of him, bored out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with [two] bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison.
MEMORISE:
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound to subdue you. (Judges 16:6)
EXPOSITION
Bait is any substance, especially food used in catching fish, or other animals by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap or net. It is an enticements or temptation to destroy. It is usually appealing because it contains some irresistible substance. It’s giver does not give it for the fun of it; it is to lure, to deceive, and to destroy. Watch it well. Lizards have a way of setting traps for their unsuspecting preys. This is World Lizard Day.
One of the potent instrument Satan uses today to get at Christians is his sinful allurements—bait. They include baits of lucrative jobs, positions, fame, etc. that allow one not to have ample time for his family and spiritual life. He makes Christians see it as something normal and harmless. When the Philistines wanted to catch the powerful Samson, Deliah was the bait. He accepted the poisonous ravaging beauty of the godless harlot and his glorious destiny was truncated and life terminated (Prov. 23:27-25). Love for gift was the bait used to truncate the glorious future of the ‘to be prophet’ Gahazi.
Paul said in 2 Tim. 4:10 that Damas deserted him and the gospel which he once embraced for the bait of the pleasure of this present age — modernisation, materialism, etc. He loved worldly values and pleasures. The same is the condition of many Christians, today. The beauty of the present age — fashion, music, riches, etc. is baits the devil is using to sweep many away from their Lord. Our love for the world should be Christ’s type of love for it.
Satan once presented the bait of food, power, and fame to Christ our Lord, but Christ was able to recognize and reject him by the Word that richly dwelled in Him (cf. Col. 3:16). The young slave boy and servant of Potiphar, Joseph, was at a time presented with the bait of fornication by her Master’s wife. His destiny would have been shattered, if he had fallen for it. His knowledge of the Lord God of Israel enable him reject the ungodly advance of her madam.
A singer sang, “Whatever I love will not harm me, whatever will harm me I will not love, for not all that glitters is gold.” The killing and destructive power of bait is not physical. It may be difficult to recognise. Only the Spirit-filled Christians would recognize it — those that have knowledge of the Word.
PRAYER POINTS
- I refuse to fall into the enemy’s trap, no matter how subtle they are, in the name of Jesus.
- Every effort of the devil to derail me shall fail, in Jesus name.
- Lord, destroy all the baits set against Church leaders to make them lose focus and plunge the Church against God’s purpose.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Psalms 30-33; Revelation 6
