Setting – Samson almost gets married to a Philistine.
Content – From the beginning Samson bucket the system. He first looks to marry a Philistine women, even though the Philistines weren’t a forbidden nation, the choice shows his lack of righteous judgment. We also see that Samson’s father lacked backbone. We see that the wife is mentioned in all interactions with Manoah. Samson ignored the Eastern custom of not talking with his wife, should be the father to father, (v. 7 NLT), “When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.”
A Nazarite wasn’t suppose to touch any dead thing, but Samson did in order to get honey (v. 8-9a), “Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way.”
During the party that Samson gave for his wife, he gave a riddle to the attending young men. If they figured it out Samson would provide them with 30 linen robes and 30 fancy robes, if not, they were to provide Samson the same amount. The young men convinced Samson’s wife to have him tell her. Her ploy was to cry every time she saw him. Finally, he told her and she told them.
Samson paid his debt by (v. 19 NLT), “Then the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had answered his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother.”
The result of all of this was (v. 20 NLT), “So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson's best man at the wedding.”
Application – Even though God appoints someone for His work, it doesn’t mean that that person is obligated to follow God. God called out Moses, Joshua, John the Baptist, Apostle Paul, etc. but God doesn’t control them. Here we see that Samson took things into his own hands, but God still followed through on His commitment to deliver Israel.
Later we see Samson’s consequences of his decisions catch up with him. This is an example of how God isn’t limited by man’s sin or bad choices. God can still fulfill His goal in spite of man’s choices.
I could totally see if God dumped Samson and found someone else. But God doesn’t work with only the righteous; otherwise He’d have no one to work with. We see that God still worked through David (sin with Bathsheba), Peter (denying Jesus three times), etc. We see that God works with failures;
its amazing thing to see God work with broken clay pots.
Content – From the beginning Samson bucket the system. He first looks to marry a Philistine women, even though the Philistines weren’t a forbidden nation, the choice shows his lack of righteous judgment. We also see that Samson’s father lacked backbone. We see that the wife is mentioned in all interactions with Manoah. Samson ignored the Eastern custom of not talking with his wife, should be the father to father, (v. 7 NLT), “When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.”
A Nazarite wasn’t suppose to touch any dead thing, but Samson did in order to get honey (v. 8-9a), “Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way.”
During the party that Samson gave for his wife, he gave a riddle to the attending young men. If they figured it out Samson would provide them with 30 linen robes and 30 fancy robes, if not, they were to provide Samson the same amount. The young men convinced Samson’s wife to have him tell her. Her ploy was to cry every time she saw him. Finally, he told her and she told them.
Samson paid his debt by (v. 19 NLT), “Then the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had answered his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother.”
The result of all of this was (v. 20 NLT), “So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson's best man at the wedding.”
Application – Even though God appoints someone for His work, it doesn’t mean that that person is obligated to follow God. God called out Moses, Joshua, John the Baptist, Apostle Paul, etc. but God doesn’t control them. Here we see that Samson took things into his own hands, but God still followed through on His commitment to deliver Israel.
Later we see Samson’s consequences of his decisions catch up with him. This is an example of how God isn’t limited by man’s sin or bad choices. God can still fulfill His goal in spite of man’s choices.
I could totally see if God dumped Samson and found someone else. But God doesn’t work with only the righteous; otherwise He’d have no one to work with. We see that God still worked through David (sin with Bathsheba), Peter (denying Jesus three times), etc. We see that God works with failures;
its amazing thing to see God work with broken clay pots.
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