Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Judges 14:1 says, And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.  After Samson was grown, he went to Timnath and saw a woman who was the daughter of a Philistine.  This does not seem to be what one who was to be the deliverer of Israel and one whoso was set aside to be a Nazarite before he was even born would do.  Samson would have seemed to be following worldly temptations instead of Godly guidance, and too often today those who are God's people can be led astray by the temptations of the world.  Still we cannot know how God may be working in the lives of other believers.  Verse two states, And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.  Samson did not seek God's guidance, but sought his earthly fathers help in making the woman his wife.  Our first step in anything, especially after we are grown, if we are a follower of Christ should be to seek God's guidance in everything we do.  Verse three says, Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.  Samson's parents asked him if there wasn't a woman among the Israelites who would make him a good wife, and he said that he only wanted the woman of the Philistines, who were an ungodly people.  We should never allow the things of this world that may look appealing to us to lead us away from God.  Verse four declares, But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.  Now, though we are not told that God had led Samson to this decision, we are told that God was working through it.  Samson was making himself a part of the Philistines by marriage.  Matthew Henry says that the sin was not so much as marrying outside the Jewish faith, but being led to worship false gods by that marriage, and Samson was not tempted to do that.  Matthew Henry also says that the Philistines had not defeated Israel by a great military conquest, but clandestine excursions into Israel.  Verse five declares, Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.  On their way to Timnath with his mother and father, a young lion attacked Samson.  Verse six adds, And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.  We are told that the Spirit of the LORD came on Samson mightily, and he killed the lion with his hands as easily as he would have killed a young goat.  He did not tell his parents what the had done.  Samson was not bragging on himself, possibly because he recognized that God was behind his success.  Verse seven says, And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.  Then, Samson went and talked to the woman, and she pleased him well.  There may be things in this word that please us well, but that does not mean that they are always what are best for us.  In this case, we are told that God was behind Samson's actions, and we must make sure that He is always behind ours.  Verse eight states, And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.  Some time later, Samson returned to take the woman as his wife, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and it was full of honey bees and honey.  Evidently at least some time had passed since he killed the lion.  Verse nine adds, And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.  Samson took some of the honey and ate it and gave some to his parents, but the did not tell them where it came from.  Verse eleven states, So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.  Samson's father then went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast for them, which was what the young men of that day did.  Samson still really had not done very much to distinguish himself as a great man of God, except kill a lion under the power of the Spirit of God, and he had told no one about that.  We may not always see the way that God is working in the lives of our fellow Christians, but that does not mean that  He isn't working in their lives.

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