Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Tuesday - Judges 14 - Looking for a Fight

Judges 14:4 shows us that Samson and God were working in tandem (with God leading of course) to put the Philistines in their place. As always, God could see the plan more clearly than his human partner could and obviously had higher motives and purposes in every one of His actions.

Now, despite God working, we still see a problem with Samson showing up early in his ministry. He had a weakness for women and wasn't necessarily very picky about the kind of women that he pursued. Upon the framework of Samson's wedding we have several significant events. In Judges 14:6 we find that Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. More importantly, we see how he did it. God's Spirit came upon him. This supernatural baptism of strength would be repeated many times in his life. Whatever else might be said of Samson, it is surely remarkable how wonderfully God used him. Sadly, Samson turned a good experience into a bad one when he later touched the carcass of the lion to retrieve some honey that bees had stored there. Remember, he was a Nazarite (Numbers 6:6) and therefore was not permitted to touch dead bodies.

Just like many of us, Samson was evidently compelled to confess his fault, but he was unwilling to do it openly. So, in the form of a riddle (and for a gamble of sorts) he shared the story of the lion and the honey with his 30 groomsmen at his wedding. And, by threatening his wife (or his heifer if you want to use Samson's terminology) those men found out the meaning of Samson's riddle. But, in keeping with his purpose and calling, Samson killed 30 other Philistines and took THEIR valuables to make good on the gamble which he had made with 30 Philistine groomsmen. And, because his girl had betrayed him, he skipped out on the wedding and went home. So, his fiancé was given to his best man to be his wife instead of Samson's. That move would prove to give Samson another excuse to kill even more Philistines in agreement with the will of God. What a soap opera, eh?


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