( don’t abandon that which brought you victory )

Judges 15:15-19 (KJV)
15 And he found a new #jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.17 And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

When the Philistines closed in on Samson, he had no weapon in his hand, and in other to curb their excesses; he found the jawbone of an ass.
There was never a place where the jawbone of a dead ass was used in the bible a weapon but in that scenario, that which was not naturally a weapon as compared to a sword now became a weapon by necessity. Anything can become a weapon in your hand by necessity and after slaughtering over a thousand Philistines in one swoop, Samson elatedly testified; “With this jawbone, I slew a thousand “

Verse 16… With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

This further confirms God’s testimony how he uses weak things to confound the things that are mighty:

1 Corinthians 1:27 (KJV)
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

God once used a shepherd rod in Moses’ hand to cripple a whole nation and brought it to her knees; He caused a rod made of an almond tree to blossom and bud in the hands of Aaron, He used a young lad ‘s five loaves of bread and two fishes to feed five thousand hungry adults. He used the shadow of Peter to bring healing to the sick in the street of Jerusalem; He used Jesus moist clay to open the eyes of one born blind from the womb, He did a special miracle through Aprons and handkerchiefs that were taken from Paul’s body. God can use anything at any time!

The rod, the clay, the five loaves of bread and Peter’s shadow were weak things in themselves, yet he is a God who uses weak things to confound the things that are mighty.
When Samson was done with this jawbone of an ass in his hand, we were told that he cast it away :

Verse 17…..And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

Please note, he didn’t throw it away but he cast it away. Throwing it away would amount to ignorance but casting it away speak of an act of rejection. Samson was literally saying by that action to the jawbone weapon, “my need of you is over ” but Samson never knew he would need the rejected or the abandoned jawbone of an ass to win the next battle over thirst and death :

Verse 18…And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

Samson who cast away the jawbone of an ass never knew he would need it once again to save his life!

The lesson to take away in this story is, If you reject that which raised you, and if you do away with that which made you, you will find yourself in the same way or the same situation Samson found himself!

There are people who think they have gotten all they need from you so they cast you away. In the imagination of their mind, they never thought they will never need you again.

When Samson became thirsty, he cried to God but God reminded him of the old jawbone which he cast away after using it to slay a thousand Philistine soldiers ;
God said to him; Samson, what you cast away was not only meant to destroy your enemy, it was also meant to win to keep you alive also!
It was for a dual purpose. First, to slay your enemies and secondly, to refresh your soul by supplying fresh tap like water for you to drink in the desert in the days of your thirst!
Samson only used it to achieve one of its purposes but ignorantly cast it away.

The jawbone of an ass in this context could represent many things to us :

The church you left, the relationship you abandoned, the mentor or the spiritual father you despised after riding on their shoulder; the skill, the gifts of the Spirit or the anointing that brought you much impact in the ministry but you set aside for something else. The list is endless.

In case you have thrown away the jawbone of an ass( the weapon or the method that brought you victory in the past) please find it again in 2019.
First appeared here..https://www.ministryexploit.com/the-jawbone-of-an-ass/