April 4: Judges 13-15

April 4, Judges 13-15

Judges 13 Today we learn about another famous Old Testament narrative, the story of Samson. And Israel again did was what evil in the sight of the Lord… At this point, the Israelites had been in the hands of the Philistines for forty years. We learn about a man named Manoah and his wife, and she couldn't have kids. An angel of the Lord appeared to the wife and told her that she was going to have a son. She was not to have any alcohol or eat any unclean foods, because her son was to be a Nazarite from his birth to his death - set apart for God. Please remember, that the Nazarite vow was usually voluntary and for a period of time, usually three years. What was the Nazarite vows? No cutting your hair, drinking alcohol, and not allowed to be in contact with a dead body. Instead of this vow being for 3 years. We see that this baby, was to make a lifestyle of it, as a gift and obedience to the Lord. Manoah, the husband, wanted confirmation of what the angel told his wife, and so God honored it and sent the angel again. When the angel visited the wife, she ran after her husband so that he could be a part of it, most likely confirming his doubts. The angel of the Lord confirmed it to both of them. Manoah wanted to make a meal for the angel to honor the angel and the angel said that he wouldn't eat it, but to offer it up to the Lord as a sacrifice. Manoah did, and the Lord accepted the offering and the offering went up in flames on the altar, and the angel ascended towards heaven. Samson was born and the Spirit of the Lord began to work in Samson as he grew up.

Judges 14 Samson was in Timnah, a Philistine city, and he saw a daughter of the Philistines and told his parents to get her for him as his wife. Just so you know, this was not the custom back then - the parents picked the spouses and it was an Israelite law that they were to marry only their own other Israelites. But Samson demanded that she be his wife. Little did the parents know, God had already set this up, even though it went against Israelite law to marry an unbelieving foreigner. The verse states, “His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.” So even though it seemed ungodly, it actually was exactly what God wanted Samson to do. Don’t be quick to judge someone else as you don’t know if God is the one who is orchestrating it for some bigger plan and purpose that He has… So, Samson and his parents were traveling to Timnah again, and Samson came upon a young lion that attacked him. What did he have as a tool? Nothing, so he tore it to pieces and killed it - because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and gave him great strength. He did not tell his parents about it. My best guess is that it it because he just broke one of the Nazarite vows or because of the riddle that is coming (either way, God was setting the stage). Then he went and talked with the woman, and it seemed right to him. 

After a while, he came back to Timnah to see her and take her as his wife, and he saw the dead lion. In its carcass was a beehive, so he went inside and grabbed a bunch of honey to give to his parents, again not telling them where he got it. As soon as Samson arrived to start the wedding feast, they gave him 30 companions to accompany him. Out of nowhere, Samson makes a deal with them that if they could guess his riddle, he would get all 30 of them new clothes, but if they couldn't guess it, they would give him 30 new outfits. His riddle was about his experience with the lion, that nobody knew about. They couldn't figure it out, so the 30 men went to Samson’s betrothed wife and threatened to kill her and her father if she didn't figure it out and tell them the secret riddle answer. She pleaded with Samson to tell her and he finally caved in and told her. The men answered the riddle by manipulating his wife, not on their own doing. So what did Samson do? He went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 men and stole their clothes to give to them. After that, he was furious so he went back to his mom and dads house. While he was gone, since the wedding week wasn't over and Samson never finished the events of the ceremony, for her to legally be his wife, his wife was given in marriage to Samson’s best man by her father.  

Judges 15 During wheat harvest, Samson went back to Timnah to be with his wife only to find that she was somebody else’s wife. The hint, is that Samson, stated that he wanted to go into the wedding chamber with her, which means that they hadn’t consummated yet. But upon his arrival to finish the wedding week, with his wife. He found out that she was given to someone else. Samson was furious and went and grabbed 300 foxes, which scholars state that it was probably jackals. Even so, jackals would still be hard to catch, but he did. And then he tied their tails together and light torches between all of them. Then he sent them running through the grain areas of the Philistines and it all burned up, as well as the olive orchards. You could see that this wouldn't turn out very good, as this was their food supply! Then a bunch of the Philistines wanted to kill Samson. But this time the Philistines came into Israeli territory to find him. On the Philistine way, they raided an Israeli town. When the men of Judah heard about it, they gathered 3000 men and went to go find Samson, to give him over to the Philistines so that they would leave their towns alone. Remember that the Philistines ruled over the Israelites, especially the land to the tribe of Judah. When Samson heard this, he agreed to the men of Judah and was handed over to the Philistines, who were probably still raiding Lehi, as they were still there. But when Samson was being handed over to the Philistines, as they were shouting at Samson, something happened. Just then, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him again, the ropes snapped like a toothpick, and he killed 1,000 of them with a machine gun… just kidding, he killed them with the jawbone of a donkey. He made an ass out of them:) When he was done killing them, he was thirsty and cries out to the Lord, admitting that God gave him the great victory, but now he was going to die for no water. God graciously splits a rock open and water pours out for him to drink. He ruled over Israel forty years. And the story continues… 

To sum it all up:

• God is always preparing us for what is next. As Samson’s mom was to take on partial Nazarite vows to prepare for her sons life, we are also being prepared for what is coming.  
• Chapter 13 is a stark reminder that we are to give glory where it is due… Like the angel, who not no glory, not even mentioning his name. Instead, all Gory must go to God - none to be received for ourselves. 
• Don’t be quick to judge someone else as you don’t know if God is the one who is orchestrating it for some bigger plan and purpose that He has…