I Don't See a Problem

This post is part two of the Samson story. You can read part one here.

Today (the day I am writing this), after breakfast my kids and I took our dog for a walk around the neighborhood. The kids are on vacation from school and I enjoy walking and talking with them in the morning. As we were making our way past some trees we noticed a tiny bird on the side of the driveway. At first, it was not clear if the bird was alive, then I noticed it was. The bird was not moving much and I wondered if it was sick. I held the dog on a leash and my kids approached the bird to examine it more closely. As my son reached out to pet it, the bird began to hop along, and we realized it was a baby bird that had yet to learn how to fly.

Once the bird began to hop the dog went crazy wanting to go towards the bird. As I was considering making a run to catch the baby bird the dog escaped from my hands and made a mad dash towards the baby bird. I set off chasing the dog. The dog made it to the bird before I could. I grabbed my dog and opened his mouth to rescue the bird but it was too late. The bird was not completely dead but was no longer very alive.

As I held the limp baby bird’s body in my hand my eyes filled with water. The mamma and papa birds watched the whole thing from a nearby tree, unable to help. I imagine the baby had fallen from the nest. Now I held its tiny soft body in my hands, unable to help. He had one tiny eye open, I felt like he was looking at me. My heart broke. I was sad, I was angry. Why did this happen? Why was I unable to keep my dog from hurting that helpless bird. Why did my dog hurt the bird so much, I believe he only wanted to play with the bird. Why were the mamma and papa birds unable to get their baby and bring him back to the safety of the nest? Why did my kids have to witness this? Why was I unable to restore the health of this baby bird?

During our walk around the neighborhood and especially after we finished our walk, I talked with my kids. As we discussed what had happened this morning we were reminded that this world is not the way God meant it to be, and it would not be perfect until Jesus came again to make all things new. (Revelation 21)

Although the experience was sad and unpleasant, I believe there is value to being reminded that this world as it is, is not our home. This causes us to long for Jesus to come again. These experiences help wake us up from feeling like things are pretty good and there’s no real hurry for Jesus’ return. If we are not careful, our comforts and even our ambitions can push eternal truths out of our minds. We can fall in love with this world and forget what God has in store for us, we can forget the mission God has for us, and we can lose sight of the most important things in life.

The Story of Samson

Judges 13 was all about the special circumstances surrounding the birth of Samson. The chapter ends on an exciting and promising note.

So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
- Judges 13:24-25 NKJV

What does chapter 14 have in store for us!? Let’s read and find out!

Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”
- Judges 14:1-2 NKJV

At first glance it may seem like Samson is completely ignoring his mission, but when you look at the story more carefully you notice that yes, there is little evidence that Samson has any interest in the special mission God has for him. His mother was barren, and the Angel of the Lord came to announce his birth, along with a mission and careful instructions (for more on this checkout Parenting and Potential) and the very first action we have a record of describes Samson wanting to marry a Philistine woman. Did Samson not realize that the Philistines were the enemies? (Judges 13:1-5) Instead of delivering Israel out of the hands of the Philistines, Samson is joining himself to a philistine woman through marriage!

Samson’s parents were not in favor of this union.

Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
-Judges 14:3 NKJV

What’s the big problem?

Moses had warned the Israelites about uniting in marriage with people who worshiped other gods. His words are recorded in Deuteronomy 7.

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
- Deuteronomy 7:1-5 NKJV (bold mine)

Samson would also have had the examples of Abraham sending his servant to find a bride for Isaac (check out my post Good Company and Genesis 24)

Exodus 34 also had the following warning:

Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
- Exodus:12-16 NKJV (Bold mine)

Even though I was unable to find a clear prohibition that mentions the Philistines by name I believe there are enough examples of warnings concerning marrying those who worship other gods.

I find it very surprising that Samson, this special child, who was born as a direct result of a miracle, is living his life as if God had never done anything for him and had no plans for his life.

Do we live like that?

How often, when considering a major life decision, a career, a major in college, a partner, a spouse, do we consider God’s plans for our life?

I am surprised at Samson’s life choices, but God has also saved my life on more than one occasion. Do I come to Him asking what His plans are for me? Do I dedicate my life to him or do I just do what seems right in my own eyes?

Paying Close Attention

There are subtle hints in this story that are worth noticing. As you read Judges 14 keep track of how often you read a reference to Samson going down, and how often Samson sees something. For example:

Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
- Judges 14:1 NKJV Bold mine

You will notice hints that Samson’s life is on a downward path that what he sees often gets him in trouble.

Right in My Eyes

“And Samson says to his father, “Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”
- Judges 14:3b Literal Standard Version

Samson looked at the Philistine woman and did not see a problem with marrying her. She looked right in his eyes.

I know what God says, and I know what my parents think, but I don’t see a problem. It looks right in my eyes. Do we ever behave in this manner?

Do we really care what God has to say regarding our choices? Or do we simply care how it looks from our perspective? Do we always think that our case is the exception? How do we relate to the revealed word of God and to the principles for life it lays out?

Where is God?

But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
- Judges 14:4 NKJV

This is quite a challenging verse. The way I interpret it is that God can even use our rebelliousness as an opportunity to bring about our salvation and blessings for His children. Samson freely chose to disregard God’s plans for his life, but this did not mean that God would give up on His plan to begin to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Philistines.

Should Samson willingly seek God’s will, his life would have been radically different and God could have done even more incredible things through Samson. However, Samson’s selfish behavior was not going to completely frustrate God’s plans for His people. God is able to use even flawed and selfish individuals in the process to bring about good for His children.

Vineyards and Lions

So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
- Judges 14:5-6 NKJV (bold mine)

Remember what I mentioned earlier about Samson going down? He is going down again and we should wonder why a Nazarite would be going to a vineyard since he was supposed to avoid not only wine but even fresh grapes, or raisins, or anything that comes from a vine (Judges 13:4, 13-14; Numbers 6:3-4).

While Samson is there something unexpected takes place a young lion attacks Samson! Now, I want to make it very clear that this is my personal interpretation, but I believe that this was Satan trying to take away the life of the man God was going to use to begin to deliver Israel. I imagine that since Samson was somewhere where he did not belong, in other words, he was being disobedient, that Satan thought maybe God would not protect him. However, God had not abandoned Samson, even though Samson was not making any effort to fulfill the incredible calling God had for him. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson and he tore the lion apart as he would have torn a kid (a young goat, not a human child).

God in his mercy, saved Samson by giving Samson supernatural strength. I wonder if God’s mercy towards Samson emboldened Samson in his selfish path of disobedience.

Going Down

Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
- Judges 14:7-9 NKJV (bold mine)

Samson is still on his downward path. Remember also how what he sees gets him into trouble? The carcass of an unclean animal (or even a clean animal that had died) would make anyone who touched it ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 11: 24-27, 39). As a Nazarite, Samson should have made a special effort to void a dead body (Numbers 6:6-7). Samson does not seem to be too concerned with the details of his Nazarite vow. I wonder if he is even aware that his superhuman strength comes from God. But don’t we often likewise think that our great achievements are due to our innate abilities?

Samson took the honey and gave it to his parents but he did not tell them where he got it. I believe that if his parents had known they would not have accepted the honey, since it would make them unclean due to its source being the carcass of a lion. It is interesting to note how Samson’s parents had consecrated him to God, and now he had desecrated his parents.

The Feast

So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
- Judges 14:10-11 NKJV (bold mine)

The story continues its downward path, and something interesting happens. This wedding feast seems to be more along the lines of Philistine culture and customs than Hebrew which makes some of the events a bit challenging to understand. For example, it is not clear why 30 companions were brought to Samson. Some believe it was just the Philistines being hospitable and surrounding Samson with friends, except the word used is not the word used for friends. The word used is better translated as “choice young men.” We see this word used in Judges 20:15-16 to refer to warriors (see also references to David’s 30 military men 2 Samuel 23:13 and 1 Chronicles 11:15). So these young men were either there as Samson’s friends or as his guards. (Block, Daniel Isaac. Judges, Ruth. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p 431)

Riddle me this!

Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

So he said to them:

“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”

Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.
- Judges 14:12-14 NKJV

Samson’s riddle is short and cryptic, consisting of six words arranged in two parallel lines of three words each. So in Hebrew, it read something like this:

“From-the-eater out-came eat[s]
and-from-the-strong out-came sweet[s]”

Not surprisingly the 30 men are frustrated. Unless they had been at the vineyard when Samson killed the lion it would be impossible for them to solve this enigma. Since the men are unable to solve the riddle by the fourth day (some translations say 7 but this poses a problem with the timeline) they decide to blackmail Samson’s bride.

But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?”
- Judges 14:15 NKJV

The men threaten to burn Samson’s bride and her father’s family [literality “house”]. Now Samson’s bride has two options. One is she could come to Samson and tell him everything and trust in him and his God to protect them. Sadly, chances are that she is not aware of Samson’s God and of Samson’s special mission. So she begins to weep and nag Samson.

Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”

And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?” Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people.
- Judges 14:16-17 NKJV

So far we have witnessed Samson kill a lion with his bare hands. We have an idea that he is a very strong man. However, his choice to marry this Philistine woman exposed him to a bad environment. The wedding feast in the Philistine culture meant a seven-day drinking bout at the home of the bride’s parents. Among the most common types of pottery found by archeologists in Philistine settlements is the strainer-spout “beer jug.” (Block, Daniel Isaac. Judges, Ruth. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p 431) Here we witness Samson being defeated. Samson, after being nagged by his wife for many days, gives up a piece of information he did not wish to reveal and late will regret revealing.

Once again, this is my interpretation, but I see this as Samson giving Satan ideas of how to defeat him. Samson placed himself in a situation he had no business being in. Chances are he was drinking with his 30 friends or guards and his wife was nagging him and he gave in. If he gave in once, Satan was observing and taking notes, learning how to take down God’s chosen man. At least this is how I see it.

Samson’s bride wastes no time and tells the information to the sons of her people. I find this description interesting. Samson’s bride has more in common with these men who are threatening her than with Samson who is marrying her. Samson is an Israelite, yet these men are described as the sons of her people. She chooses to side with the sons of her people over her husband-to-be. She chose to respond based on fear rather than love, trust, and faith. Do we behave likewise?

Do we find out that God loves us, that Jesus died for us, but when someone from our old life, someone who does not know God, threatens us, we reject God? Do we fear our boss more than we love God?

This may seem unclear to you, but hear me out. I am not saying that Samson is God, but I am saying that a similar scenario plays out in our lives. Samson could easily have protected his Philistine wife and her family. Samson’s mission was to stop exactly that type of Philistine oppression. But his wife is not aware of Samson’s power and mission. I don’t fully blame her, Samson is far from being a perfect role model. But in our case, we know that God is powerful and able to save and provide. We know that God loves us. Yet, when someone threatens us, how often do we turn our back on God? How often do we make choices in life based on fear rather than based on faith and love?

You should not plow with Samson’s heifer

So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down:

“What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?”

And he said to them:

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have solved my riddle!”
- Judges 14:18 NKJV

Commentators seem to agree that referring to his wife as a “heifer” was as offensive at the time as it seems to us today. The men must have been feeling pretty good about themselves. Little did they know the chain of events that they had just set into motion. We all know that one friend that you just should not mess with, the one that takes things a bit too far. Samson does not really have anyone who is able to stop him, so he tends to go to extremes.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.
- Judges 14:19-20 NKJV (bold mine)

So… that escalated quickly. Samson had no intention of losing. The riddle was an impossible one, and he was sure to win. When he lost, he had no intention of buying 30 changes of clothing. I imagine his 30 “friends” or more likely soldiers receiving their gifts, perhaps still smelling of sweat and wet with blood. I imagine the newspaper the next day with the headline about 30 random men found dead and naked, I imagine the 30 men who had been at the wedding feeling their knees go weak as they realize how close they came to being killed by Samson.

Samson is so angry he does not even want to see his wife. Technically though, she was his wife, the festivities were over, they were now married. However, Samson’s father-in-law gives Samson’s wife to one of his companions, perhaps one of those 30 men he didn’t even know. Samson had just killed 30 men because he didn’t like to lose because he didn’t want to go shopping for garments. What was his father-in-law thinking? Well, to find out you will have to wait for my next post (or you could read Judges 15)

Lessons Learned and Practical Application

What have we learned about our hero, the man God chose to begin to deliver Israel?

Samson is disrespectful of his parents, callous towards his Nazarite calling, without any loyalty to his own people, compromising in his ethic, rude to his wife, flippant with his tongue, and driven by lust, eroticism, and appetite.
- Block, Daniel Isaac. Judges, Ruth. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p 437

Theologically speaking, Samson can be said to represent all of Israel, uniquely set apart, called, and gifted for divine service. But instead of living out its mission decides to not only fraternize with the enemy but also remain among them. They lacked a sense of mission. How about us?

Is not the Christian faith a modern representation of what ancient Israel was? Are we not called by God for a special mission?

When Jesus calls us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), do we feel like it’s not really necessary, like it would just be better for everyone to just do what feels right to them?

There is so much to be said about our mission as believers in God. We are called to make a difference, to proclaim the gospel, to be salt and light, and so much more. I go into more details in the following posts Being God’s Remnant, The Remnant and Tradition, Revelation and the Everlasting Gospel (click on audio), Babylon is Fallen?, Worship in the Apocalypse.

My friends, the more I study the story of Samson, the more I become convinced that I am Samson, that you are Samson. We are called by God, not necessarily to let our hair grow and not eat grapes, but to make difference for His kingdom. But just like Samson, we busy ourselves following our own whims and desires. We don’t have time for God because we are so busy chasing after the desire of our eyes. We want money, power, influence, pleasure, an easy life, while God is calling us to love, care, help, rescue, inspire, teach and forgive.

Before we condemn Samson from our position of moral and spiritual superiority, let us analyze our own hearts and our faithfulness to what God has called us to do. I am not saying to go out and pick fights, but to make a difference for the kingdom of God wherever we go.

Closing thoughts

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
- Matthew 24:14 NKJV

Remember the story about the baby bird I shared at the beginning of this post. Holding that dying baby bird in my hand, my eyes filled with tears as I prayed for Jesus to come back soon. I am done with this old world of sin and suffering. But I also have a role to play in hastening the coming of Jesus. I am to go and share the gospel with others.

This week a pastor friend of mine asked his followers on social media to share with him personal stories about witnessing, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There were all kinds of stories that he shared publicly (with their permission but without revealing their names). As I clicked through the screenshots he had shared with the names scribbled out one story stuck out to me. I have no idea who it was from or how old the person was, but the gist of the story is as follows:

The person was watching a little girl and the little girl said she missed Jesus. The person replied she too missed Jesus, and that Jesus would come back soon, and that He was waiting for everyone in the world to hear about His love for them, and then He would come. The little girl then stood up and said let’s go tell my neighbors and the people who live on my street. At this point, the person began to feel her heart tight with anxiety. She was glad the mother arrived soon after that. She said the little girl and her mom went out to pick wildflowers to give to the neighbors as she told them about Jesus’ love for them.

It’s so simple, right? Children get it. Why do we struggle so much?

So, you think Samson wasted his potential? I think you’re right. The evidence points in that direction.

My question for you is,

What are you doing with your potential?

How will you make a difference in the lives of those around you this week?

How will you encourage those in your sphere of influence to take one more step in the direction of Jesus?

Ps. For a bonus and to motivate yourself, leave a comment below describing the effort you will make towards making disciples for Jesus this week.