WHERE HAS THE STRENGTH OF MEN GONE?

1. Murder (hatred, jealousy, abortion, anger, resentment rage)

Gen 4:9 and Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?
Gen 4:10 And He said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to Me from the ground.
Gen 4:11 And now you are cursed more than the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
Gen 4:12 When you till the ground, it will not again give its strength to you. And you shall be a vagabond and a fugitive in the earth.

The grounds strength was taken away from Cain
The reason was because of the sin of shedding innocent blood
Cain’s judgment was to be a vagabond and a fugitive upon the earth

2. Incest (defiling the fathers bed)

Gen 49:3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the
excellence of dignity and the excellence of power.
Gen 49:4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father's bed; then
You defiled it. He went up to my couch.

Reuben lost excellence, might, dignity and strength because he defiled his Fathers bed
He also lost his heritage as the first born.

3. (breaking the nazarite vow; sexual immorality, drunkenness, defilement)


Jdg 16:17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Jdg 16:18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
Jdg 16:19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
Jdg 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
Jdg 16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

Samson was a nazarite, a man dedicated from birth to the service of God by a vow. He was supposed to be taught the way of a nazarite by his parents. (Numbers 6)
A nazarite was separated to God, he was to remain Holy, he was never to take strong wine, he was never to allow a razor near his head, he was never to go near dead person or animal…. He was not to defile himself in any way.)
However Samson defiled himself in all the above ways, he slept with prostitutes, he married a philistine, he drank of the grape vine, he went near dead bodies, and he allowed his hair to be shaved…. The bible states “his strength went from him” and he “knew not that the Lord had departed from him”


4. (despising discipline, and scorning the altar of Jehovah)


Sa 2:27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus the LORD has said, 'Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh?
1Sa 2:28 did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.
1Sa 2:29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?'
1Sa 2:30 Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
1Sa 2:31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
1Sa 2:32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

Eli’ s house lost its strength because He was not diligent in disciplining his children.they desecrated the offerings made before God, and despised the laws of the levite, for this reason, God “cut of..” their strength, so that they had no old man in their fathers house, from then on Eli was the last man in that house to live to old age, the rest died in their youth”


5. Rebellion arrogance and disobedience.

1Sa 28:16 And Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy?
1Sa 28:17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.
1Sa 28:18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day.
1Sa 28:19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines."
1Sa 28:20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.




The cardinal problem with saul was he did not “obey the voice of the LORD and he did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek”
Samuel in his life had told Saul that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and arrogance like the sin of idolatry…” and because of this Sauls strength was taken away, and he lost the battle of the philistines the next day.




6. Sin

Psa 31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.
Psa 31:11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
Psa 31:12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
Psa 31:13 For I hear the whispering of many-- terror on every side!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
Psa 31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
Psa 31:15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

The writer of the psalms declares that”… his strength has failed because of his sin.”
His bones are wasting away and his adversaries have become his reproach; probably because of David’s sin with Bathsheba, adultery and murder which caused the sword to be sent against him was the occasion of this psalm.
David says that he has become a reproach because of his enemies. The scriptures declare that “the enemies of God showed utter contempt” because of the sin of David
This probably is what caused David’s strength to fail.
Remember David singlehandedly killed a philistine giant,
David singlehandedly killed 200 philistines. He had Gods strength with him…. And under his anointing mighty men were raised, one raised his spear against 800 men, and another killed a mighty Egyptian, and another killed a lion. Yet the scriptures’ state that “his strength failed because of his sin.”



7. Un- confessed and un- repented sin


Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Psa 32:3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
Psa 32:4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

He who does not admit that he has sinned, or that there is a problem, or who hides his iniquity, or who ignores the fact that he is in wrong terms with God and man, “wastes away” both physically, through, stress related illnesses, such as hypertension, high blood pressure, and others, and spiritually. He has no peace, David said he “groaned all day long” and when he confessed his sin God “forgave him” and he stopped wasting away. He who hides his sin looses strength, and many men in this day and age hide their sins from others. They waste away and they wonder why they are doing it. And they end up blaming others for their own sin.


Men are the strength of a nation, they are its Providers protectors and its priests, they are the ones who have allowe the enemy to come in and take away their strength...ther is however alot of hope....it is written...

"But they that wait upon the lord...
He shall renew their strength...
they shall mount up with wings as eagles
they shall run and not be weary....
they shall walk and not faint.." Isaiah 40:31

GADAR