Scripture: Judges 14:1-20 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”
His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”
But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
Sometime later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it, he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.
Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11 When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.
“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. ”Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.” He replied,
“Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For three days they could not give the answer.
On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”
Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer. ”I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
Samson said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.”
Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home. And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.
Devotional: We left off in yesterday’s devotions with the Spirit of the Lord stirring in Samson. Interestingly, we see the Lord use Samson’s coarse side to confront the Philistine rule over Israel. His impulsiveness, self-indulgence, and lack of regard for the vows he and his parents had taken before God, are a cautionary tale for you and me.
First Samson insists on marrying a foreigner – strictly forbidden by Jewish law. Then we see him eat something from a decaying carcass – again, an abomination to the Jewish people. And if that’s not enough, we see his temper and hot-headed nature on display, wreaking havoc and devastation. His actions bring to mind the psalmist’s warning: “An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.” (Proverbs 29:22) Indeed.
But we also see something else at work: the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord empowered Samson and gave him great strength; strength to tear a lion apart limb by limb, and strength to single-handedly defeat thirty men. Despite Samson’s transgressions, God continued to use him.
Reflect
- What do you make of the dichotomy between Samson’s strength from the Lord, and his weakness when it came to being faithful to his vow to God?
- Why do you think God continued to use Samson?