Judges Lesson 7 - Chapters 13-14

This week, we begin heading into perhaps the most colorful judge of all, Samson. In fact, his story covers Judges 13–16. Yep, he’s a doozy alright! He is also the last judge in the book of Judges. One of the pastors I listen to said “he was a he-man with a she-weakness”, and that he was! This section of the book of Judges also leads us into the last sin cycle in the book but certainly not the last sin cycle in Israel’s history.

1.Read Judges 13:1-4. Who was oppressing Israel at this time?

2.How long did this oppression last?

This is the last time you will see “And they did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. This is important, because if you go back and look at your chart from last week, you will see that this oppression was the longest period of time that Israel had backslidden into their evil ways. You can start filling in the next sin cycle and go back and finish it up next week.

6th Sin Cycle:

The Philistines are introduced here as the pests of the west and they will be a thorn in the side of Israel all the way into David’s reign. The Philistines were not Canaanites. They were from the West from the area of the Aegean Sea and around Greece and the Island of Crete. They were fierce warriors to contend with and they were seagoing people. Around 1200 BC, they left this region of the world because they were forced out by invaders and they went to Egypt and stirred up trouble there with the Egyptians, but that didn’t work out so well for them. Because they got booted out of Egypt, they moved up the coast and settled on the sea coast of Israel. They settled in 5 cities: Ashkelon (still a city), Ashdod (still a city), Gaza (still a city), Gath, and Ekron. You might remember that later on in Israel’s history when David was a boy, he killed a giant named Goliath. Goliath was from Gath. There were men in these cities who were known to be quite large and some even consider them to be offspring of the Nephilim. We don’t know for sure that was the case, but we do know that there is nobody who exists today who has the stature of Goliath. Goliath and his brothers all could have had a major pituitary problem causing them to have a condition known as giantism or else they did have some of the genetic markers of the Nephilim. I vote for the latter. 2 Sam. 21:20 speaks of a giant in David’s day who had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot and was said to be the son of “the giant”. He was likely the son of Goliath. He is described as a descendant of the Rapha. The plural of that word is Rephaim and they were giants and had the traits of the Nephilim. I also want to note here that there are children today who are born with this genetic malformation of fingers and toes. It is a congenital malformation that every 1 in 500 people will have. That certainly does not mean they are descended from the Nephilim.

The Philistines managed to slither into these 5 cities and maintain political relationships there for many years. They were skilled at metallurgy and because of this skill, they had advanced weapons for their day and they made blades that were good for plowing. So, if being big wasn’t enough to give them an “edge” in battle, they had better weapons than their enemies. We learn from history that in addition to being very large people, they were fair-skinned and Hellenistic looking (Greek looking).

In Scripture, we see this region of the world referred to as Philistia 10x. The Greek term for Philistia is Palestine. Later on in history, in 135 AD, a Roman emperor named Hadrian renamed southern Israel Palestine. He did this because he wanted desperately to insult the Jewish people because he knew that the Philistines were arch enemies of Israel. Naming the area after the arch enemies of Israel was a stab to the heart of the Jews. Those who live in this area today are still a stab to the heart of the Jews. It is important to note here that there are no more Philistines who are still alive today. They ceased to exist as a distinct people group more than 2,500 years ago. There are well-meaning preachers who will tell you that the Palestinians of today are the offspring of the ancient Philistines. That is not true. If you want to know who the modern day Palestinians are, look at my study of the book of Obadiah. We simply don’t have time to get into all the geographic and genetic variables in this study.

I want to share 2 maps with you. The first is the original tribal allotments of the 12 tribes of Israel. I want you to see just where the original allotment for the tribe of Dan was. It was right there where the Philistines ended up settling and because they couldn’t completely drive them out of the land, this tribe ended up migrating all the way to the tiptop north. So you will always see the tribe of Dan in 2 geographic locations. The second map is of the area called Philistia during the time of Judges where the Philistines settled. These maps are of the same exact area, but they highlight different things. If you put both of these maps together, the original allotment of land for the tribe of Dan bumps up to the land of Philistia where the Philistines lived.

4.What was the affliction of Manoah and his wife?

5.What did the angel of the Lord tell his wife (We’ll call her Mrs. Manoah)?

Being barren in those days was considered a curse and the women who could not bear children carried that stigma for the duration of their lives. Their worth in that culture was seen in the number of children they bore.

6.Read Numbers 6:1-21. Let’s look at the 5 features outlined in these verses as parts of the Nazarite vow:

1. Was the vow voluntary or divinely commanded?

2. Could both men and women participate or only men?

3. Did the vow usually have a beginning and an end?

4. 3 guidelines for the vow:

a. Abstain from ____________________________________________________. b. Do not cut your_________________________________________________. c. Do not go near a ________________________________________________.

5. What kind of procedure did the individual have to go through to complete the vow in Num. 6:13-20?

Taking a Nazarite vow was generally a temporary thing. It was a way of setting oneself aside for devotion and consecration to the Lord. It could last 30 days, 60 days or 100 days according to the Jewish Mishna (Jewish commentary on the Old Testament). Not coming into contact with anything meant animal or human.

In the Bible, there were only 3 people who made Nazarite vows for the duration of their lives, the prophet and judge, Samuel, John the Baptist, and Samson. Although for the most part, taking the Nazarite vow was voluntary, the 3 individuals listed above all had their parents choose to dedicate them to the Lord in this way. Therefore, Samuel, John the Baptist, and Samson were Nazarites from birth throughout their lives.

Today, if a woman is pregnant, doctors tell them not to drink any alcohol during pregnancy. The reason for this is that alcohol passes directly through the placenta into the baby’s bloodstream. A preborn baby has a tiny, developing liver that cannot break down and process alcohol the way an adult body can. The alcohol in a preborn’s body remains in the bloodstream for much longer than the mother’s and because of this, all kinds of damage can be done to the baby.

Here’s the thing in the ancient Near East, water was often contaminated and dangerous to drink. Because of this, fermented wine was mixed with water and this would have made it safe to drink. These ancient societies did not understand the biological connection of alcohol and pregnancy. In those days, infant mortality was high and the characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was generally attributed to other things because those cultures didn’t know a thing about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. God did not have Mrs. Manoah abstain from drinking during her pregnancy because of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He had her abstain as a means of consecrating herself and her child to Him. But I do think it is interesting that during those days, pregnant women did generally drink and didn’t think a thing about it. Mrs. Manoah would have also had to abstain from drinking anything fermented during the time that she was nursing.

7.These 3 men had something else in common. Read the following verses and note what is the affliction of the women the verse/s speaks about:

Judges 13:2-3 1 Sam. 1:1-2 Luke 1:5-7

Now, you understand why the parents of these 3 amazing men set them aside from birth, actually even conception to be a Nazarite for life. Have you ever prayed for God’s mercy upon you or a loved one for a length of time? Have you ever been so distressed in your spirit and could only hold onto a shred of hope? The depth of the pain makes the mercy of God when He answers those kinds of prayers so much more cherished. I have never prayed with the anguish in my heart like I’ve prayed for Gabe over the years, especially in the early days and weeks of his cancer diagnosis. I thought 3x that he was going to die and each time, God’s mercy in allowing him to live just overwhelmed me. It still does. Mrs. Manoah, Hannah, and Elizabeth all groaned in their spirits for years and years and years and when God answered their prayers, they too were overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness.

*Just a note here to clarify that people who were from Nazareth were not also called Nazarites, they were called Nazarenes.

All kinds of situations could occur that would cause an individual to voluntarily take a Nazarite vow. Perhaps they were giving thanks for the birth of a child or the recovery of an illness or marriage of a child. In the Mosaic Law, the vow of an unmarried woman could be rescinded by her father and the vow of a married woman could be rescinded by her husband if he so chose.

This vow is an Old Testament concept although the Apostle Paul likely had taken a temporary Nazarite vow in Acts 18:18. He also put forth a New Testament kind of vow for us as believers that even 2000 years later holds true.

8.What does he say to do in Romans 12:1-2?

There’s a lot I could say here about the tribe of Dan, but I’m going to save most of it until we get over to Judges 18. I will tell you that this tribe was a troubled one. It was the tribe of Dan who first brought idols into the Promised Land and who spread apostasy everywhere they went.

9.Go to the end of the Bible and read Rev. 7:4-8. Who is missing from this lineup?

If you recall from our study last year of the book of Revelation, these 144,000 Jewish men were sealed for a special purpose to be witnesses for Jesus Christ during the tribulation period. Why would this tribe be omitted from witnessing? Perhaps because they were and will continue to be spiritually disqualified. Apostasy disqualifies any man from the service of God and yet, there are many apostates out there who say they are men of God who are leading religious organizations or churches. And I can’t help but wonder if the tribe of Dan will continue to be an apostate tribe during the tribulation period. I am assuming that will be the case. But at the end of the tribulation period when Jesus comes back to earth with His army of saints at the battle of Armageddon, something happens to those remaining Jews.

10.What does Zech. 12:10-14 say?

11.Romans 11:25-26 teaches a similar thing. What do you learn from these verses?

This means that the tribe of Dan will also repent and after the Sheep and Goat Judgment, Christ will establish His kingdom on earth for 1000 years.

12.What do you learn in Ezekiel 48:1-2 about the tribal allotments for land in the millennial kingdom?

God will keep His promise to the tribe of Dan in the end or should I say the beginning. The end of time is the beginning of a new time. For purposes of our study this week, we just need to know that the tribe of Dan didn’t start out with a bang, but they did produce the most famous of all the judges, Samson.

13.In Judges 13:5, what did the angel of the Lord promise this child would do?

When you start to read about this rotten, over-sexed, over-indulged, conniving guy and you know that the hand of the Lord was upon him, you might ask yourself why. Why would God choose to place His hand upon an individual like this? Once again, our ways are not God’s ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts.

Read Judges 13:6-14. Can you just imagine the verbal exchange between Manoah and his wife?! I can. She tells him that she didn’t ask where the man was from. This reminds me of every visit I make to the doctor with Gabe. When I get home, Todd drills me. “Did you ask the doctor this or did you ask the doctor that.....?”. I generally tell him that I didn’t even think of asking those questions while I was there. Manoah had questions. He had lots of questions, and Mrs. Manoah was probably like me, she just didn’t think to ask.

14.What were his first 2 questions in vs. 11-12?

15.What was the angel’s response to Manoah in v. 13?

If someone walked up to me and prophesied something extraordinary that would come to pass in the future, I’d probably relegate them to the category of being spiritually nuts. There are tons of spiritual leaders out there who will say that they have been given a “word from the Lord” for those that follow them and that “word” often involves sending them money. But in the days of the Old Testament, people paid attention to such spiritual things. Manoah had to have great faith because he immediately assumed even without meeting this angel of the Lord that what was prophesied would come to pass.

16.Read Judges 13:15-24. It is looking like Manoah is starting to pester the angel of the Lord. What else did Manoah want to know?

Back in the 1980s, the National Enquirer Magazine popularized the slogan, “Inquiring minds want to know”. I think Manoah must have worked for National Enquirer Magazine!

17.What did Manoah and his wife do and what did the angel do?

18.Who did Manoah assume this angel was? 19.What was his fear if he had indeed seen God?

For all his questions, he seemed to lack the logic his wife possessed. She logically deciphered the reason they would not die and she was exactly right.

20.Do you think this “angel of the Lord” was indeed an angel or do you think he was an appearance of Christ prior to His incarnation? Why or why not?

(I would like to note here that when you see the definite article “the” mentioned in the Old Testament in connection with an angel, it is generally referring to a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. We refer to this as a Christophany.)

21.Manoa wanted to know the angel's name. What was the angel’s response?

22.Read Isaiah 9:6. What is one of the names that was given to Jesus in this Isaiah passage that corresponds to what you just read here in Judges 13:18?

This angel reveals Himself in v. 18 as the Lord.

The history of every single judge we’ve studied about begins when the judge is either called by God or appointed by man under the guidance of God. Samson’s history begins at conception. Before Samson was a Nazarite, his mother voluntarily entered into the Nazarite vow until his birth and she would have abstained from wine until he was no longer breast feeding. The name Samson is derived from the Hebrew word shemesh (the sun). I can’t help but wonder if he was named in honor of the glistening angel of the Lord Mrs. Manoah encountered. Today, we would call him Sunny (not Sonny).

In my mind, I picture Samson as looking kinda like the guy who plays Superman, Henry Cavill. If that was the case, I can understand why women were drawn to him like flies. But he is not described in these “buff and muscle-bound” terms. Otherwise, people would have looked at him and they would have known that he was a real he-man. It seems that people were always amazed and surprised by his supernatural strength. If you were a friend or sibling of someone like Samson, he’d be handy to keep by your side. My youngest son, Colton, is built like a tank and he’s strong as an ox. His muscles are so big that most shirts don’t fit him and his shoulders are so wide that he has to have his suit jackets for work specially altered. When he was in high school, he was a brute. I remember him coming home one day from football practice and telling me about some of the upperclassmen in the locker room taunting and making fun of a little freshman fella. Colton literally grabbed them each by the collar and threatened bodily harm to them if they didn’t leave this kid alone. Guess what, they left the kid alone. At a later point in our story this week and next, Samson’s reputation for being supernaturally strong preceded him. If the enemy wanted him, they’d have to bring an army. He became pretty secure in his strength after a few feats.

We will discover that Samson was not like the Little Rascal’s who had their “He-man Woman-Haters Club”. He was 1 He-man with a whole woman club!

23.What do you learn in Judges 13:24-25 about Samson?

24.What do you think Scripture means in v. 25 when it says, “the Lord began to stir him in Mananeh-dan”?

Obviously Samson didn’t begin his time as a judge straight out of the womb. He had to grow up. I’m not sure how old he was when he was ready to go into the service of the Lord, but suffice to say, I would imagine he’d at least have been in his late teens or early 20s. Jewish tradition says that he died in his early 40s. We don’t know if this is true, but if it is, Samson would have been in his early 20s when he began his life as a Nazarite judge. God stirring him up is an indication that the Spirit of the Lord had to spiritually wake him up so that he could begin his life’s mission. This moment in Judges 13:25 is a pivotal point in Samson’s life because it marks the beginning of the Holy Spirit preparing him and giving him supernatural strength to save Israel from its enemies. I love the theologian Matthew Henry. In his commentary on the book of Judges, he said, “Where God gives His blessing, He gives His Spirit to qualify for the blessing”.

Leaving Judges 13, it looks as if the Holy Spirit is just all over Samson and his parents are faithful followers of God. Not sure any of us would have suspected the rest of his story that begins in Judges 14. There is about a 20 year gap between Judges 13 and 14. I think you are going to discover that he might have been just a wee little bit spoiled and overindulged. This is something as a pediatric counselor that I frequently caution parents not to do. Overindulged children begin to expect a lot and that starts to be like taking a narcotic. You know how narcotics work, the longer you take them, the less effective they are, so you have to take more of them. The more you give children, the more they expect and the time between being satisfied with the toy of the day becomes less and less. That’s why you have to give them more at a faster rate of speed to satisfy their desire for stuff. Overindulged children all too often become brats. I think you are going to discover that Samson became a brat.

God used this overindulgence to Israel’s benefit. God can take any situation be it good or bad, scarcity or overindulgence, etc. to accomplish His plans. And for all of his shortcomings (just like Jephthah) he made it into the Hebrews 11 Hall of Fame.

25.Read Judges 14:1-9. What did Samson beg of his parents?

We must remember that marriages in those days and in this part of the world were arranged. This is why he begs his parents to do this for him.

These people are the arch enemies of the Israelites. What is he thinking?!!! The Philistines had 3 major gods:

1. Dagon - the chief national god. He was thought to be the god of the harvest and of battle victories.

2. Baal-Zebub - the god of healing and oracles

3. Ashtoreth - goddess of fertility and war and was often associated with

   Dagon

When the Philistines settled in the area known as Philistia, they also adopted the Canaanite gods and blended their own pagan practices with that of the Canaanites. They believed that Dagon was Baal’s father and their major temple was located in Gaza. That place still has some bad mojo surrounding it.

26.How did Samson’s parents respond to his request?

My dad tried his best to keep me from dating a certain boy in high school. It was not until later that he absolutely forbade me to date him and believe me, he had good reason. Samson’s parents had good reason for questioning Samson. It seemed totally unreasonable that he couldn’t find a bride amongst his own people. I could hear my dad’s voice in these verses, “There’s a lot of fish in the sea, Cindy. You don’t have to catch this one. Wait til a better one comes along!”. (Btw, I did wait for a better one to come along and I’m so glad I did.) Here is the “Revised Cindy Version” of Samson’s response to his parents. “Dad, she’s hot! I have to have her! I can’t live without her!”. Oh what a stinker he is! Samson, a Nazarite from birth, dedicated and committed to the Lord, wanted to become one in marriage with a woman who was a worshiper of Dagon.

I love Pastor Gary Hamrick. He once said that we sometimes allow ourselves to get into relationships that we know we shouldn’t be in and we condone it by saying, “we flirt to convert”. Missionary dating doesn’t generally work. He encourages us to “put up a wall so we don’t fall.”

27.What does Scripture say in the following verses about marrying a nonbeliever?

Deut. 7:3-4

2 Cor. 6:14

1 Cor. 7:39

We still cannot get past the fact that this was in God’s plan for Samson to be with this Philistine woman. God also told the Prophet Hosea to marry the prostitute Gomer. In both Samson and Hosea’s circumstances, we absolutely can’t look at these verses and reason that this is a biblical principle. It is a unique circumstance that requires a unique plan.

As crazy as this union between Samson and the Philistine woman may seem, this was in the divine providence of God. What is divine providence anyway? It is the manner in which God governs all things in the universe with His wisdom and how He directs all things. The very opposite of providence is fate. There are many people who do not believe in divine providence. They believe that everything that happens in the universe just happened by chance.

It is through God’s divine providence that He accomplishes His will. So although we will witness Samson exercising his free will to get what his greedy heart wants, we will discover that God can and will govern the affairs of the nation of Israel (and all of us for that matter) regardless of the evil deeds of Samson or anyone else. God hates sin, but He does allow a measure of sin to take place for a reason. That is often a hard pill for us to swallow.

There are really 2 major stories in the Bible where the divine providence of God played out regardless of the sin involved in the story line. The first is the story of Joseph. After Joseph’s brothers kidnaped him and sold him into slavery and then broke their father’s heart by telling him that Joseph was dead, a series of events eventually led him to being 2nd in charge in Egypt.

28.When the brothers discovered who Joseph was years later and what his role was in Egypt, how did they respond in Gen. 50:15-21?

Ya can’t get more providential than that. Reading his story seems like a series of unfortunate events, and yet God used every unfortunate event to accomplish His will.

The 2nd and most poignant story in the Bible of God’s providence is the story of Judas Iscariot. This man who was selected by Jesus Himself to be one of His 12 disciples ended up being a lying, cheating, deceiving and betraying man. He ratted out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver which was the turning point that led Jesus to the cross. As horrific as this was, this was God’s plan all along to get Jesus to the cross to die for our salvation.

29.Although God providentially allowed Judas to follow through on his wicked plan, what did Jesus say about this in Luke 22:22?

30.Romans 8:28 is a verse that is often quoted by Christians when bad things happen in our lives. How does this verse demonstrate the divine providence of God?

Friends, we have to know that even when the world is going crazy and seems to be spiraling out of control, God is never out of control. He is always sovereign and His divine providence will ALWAYS play out! We might not be able to see it at the time, but we do need to trust it. This concept helps us to understand the story of Samson and how and why God allowed such sin in the life of Samson to be the thing that delivered Israel from the enemy and back into a covenant relationship with Himself.

31.In Judges 14:4, what exactly did Samson’s parents NOT know?

32.The Philistines are first recorded in Scripture in Gen. 10:14. What do you discover about them?

It is suspected that they might have come from the island of Crete and the Aegean region. In Gen. 21:32, 34, and Gen. 26:1, we learn that both Abraham and Isaac had contact with the Philistines. The Philistines were never friends of Israel. In fact, they were bitter enemies from the beginning.

33.Was the tribe of Dan living next door to them independent of Philistine rule or did the Philistines have some kind of dominion over the Israelites?

The Philistines had dominance over the entire nation of Israel, not just the tribe of Dan. The subjugation was worse for the tribe of Dan than it was for other tribes because of their close proximity. We can wonder why Israel didn’t fight against the wild west bullies called the Philistines, but too many times in their history, it appears that they are satisfied with living in semi-peace even if it means they have to live in subjugation to another people group. Even today we find Israel in its recent history always being willing to give up land for peace. The Israelites were having to pay tribute taxes to the Philistines at this time. Historical accounts tell us that Philistine governors would be present throughout Israel forcing them to give a portion of their money in taxes and also restricting the use of metalworking. This forced the Jewish people to go to the Philistines for all their tools.

That Samson didn’t care about this woman being a Philistine and an enemy revealed that he was very selfish and wasn’t exactly thinking with his brain if you know what I mean.

34.In Judges 14:2, do you think he was still under the auspices of his parent’s rule? Why or why not?

The fact that he “asked/told” them to “go get her” was an indication that he was still subject to their parental oversight. Of course, he didn’t listen to their wise counsel. But here’s another thing to throw into this equation, look at the last verse of chapter 13.

35.Do you think Samson realized that the Spirit of God was moving him at certain times?

Judges 14:4 tells us that Samson’s parents did not know that this Philistine woman was in God’s plan not only for their son, but for the entire nation of Israel. So perhaps Samson did sense the Spirit of God move him when he decided that he had to have this Philistine woman to be his wife. The only way that Samson would have been able to infiltrate the Philistine camp was by marrying one of the Philistine women. Samson was getting ready to be the thorn in their sides that God in His providence and through His sovereignty willed.

36.What did Samson do on his way to Timnath?

Okay I know what you’re thinking. He was a Nazarite, so what was he thinking about wandering around in the vineyards? He should not have anything to do with grapes or any grape product like grape juice, raisins or even grape skins. He was also not supposed to come into contact with anything dead and here he was doing the killing himself. Boy did he ever have bragging rights! But he couldn’t brag or even tell what happened because he was somewhere he shouldn’t have been and this ended up causing him to violate his Nazarite vow 2x in the same incident.

Had he not killed that young lion, he might never have known what spectacular feats he could accomplish through the power and strength afforded him by the Spirit of God.

37.Before young David ever faced Goliath of Gath, he did something else. Read 1 Sam. 17:34-36. What else did David kill?

Perhaps David needed to know what he was capable of with God’s help before he faced that giant. Perhaps Samson needed to know what he was capable of with God’s help before he took down all the Philistines. Let me ask you a question to ponder. Do you have any clue what you are capable of doing with God’s help? Most Christians don’t ever consider doing something beyond their scope of capabilities. But I believe that God has placed His Spirit within His people so that we can accomplish incredible things through Him. I dare say that most don’t even try.

38.Who was Samson with when he came to the vineyards?

I can’t help but wonder if others had been on this little journey with him what his actions would have been. But here he was all by his lonesome little self and he was forced to kill that lion or be eaten by him. While older adult lions can be more lethal than young lions, it is the young ones who are more reckless and aggressive. I did a little research on lions and here’s what I discovered; young lions are expelled from the pride when they reach maturity between the ages of 2-4. They are forced into a nomadic lifestyle and when they get out on their own, they are often starving and desperate which I’m sure leads them to be more aggressive. This was the situation Samson found himself in. This encounter was indeed a hazardous one and the more hazardous the encounter, the more sweet the victory seems.

39.Did he come home and tell his mom and dad and all the townsfolk about this incredible feat?

I’m not sure he did this because he was modest or because he didn’t want them to know that he, a Nazarite by birth, had killed a lion with his bare hands. Can you imagine Mrs. Manoah’s reaction had he come home sharing this story? I can hear her now, “That’s it son! You are not going anywhere without a whole army with you! You are my only child and I’m not going to risk it!”. And then she’d probably stay awake for nights on end just thinking about it. Colton was attacked in college by an addict at a gas station one night. Todd and the boys waited months to tell me because they knew what my reaction would be and they were exactly right. Colton ended up sending that fella to the hospital in an ambulance before it was all said and done, but had I known at the time, it would have unnerved me to my core!

40.What else do you learn about this lion carcass in Judges 14:8-9?

On his way back to Philistine territory to solidify the nuptials between himself and this Philistine woman, he goes through the same route and looks towards the vineyard and decides to just mosey on over there. When he gets there, he finds the carcass of the lion. No doubt that the birds of prey had already eaten the flesh off the dead lion and within its skeletal system there was a large amount of honey. Honey was a staple in that part of the world. Repeatedly in the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as the land “flowing with milk and honey”. Honey in this regard means that there would have been lots of plants from which the honey bees could draw their nectar from.

Can’t you just see this young man with a handful of honey dripping off the tips of his fingertips while he’s licking them and a fistful of honey in the other hand for his parents? Nobody asked him where the honey came from. A lion was considered an unclean animal. But yuck, grabbing it out of a dead carcass makes me a little queasy! Chances are that his parents wouldn’t have eaten that honey had they known where it came from. We will find that Samson has a bad habit of mixing the holy with the profane. The word profane comes from 2 Latin words: pro, meaning before or outside andfanum meaning temple. In other words, that which is outside the temple is profane. But, when we live our lives inside our temple for the glory of God, we live in sanctity and holiness. When we treat what is sacred like its common, we profane our temple. Consecration happens inside the temple. Ordinary, secular things happen outside the temple. This is one reason why we are entreated to understand the holiness of our bodies.

41.What do you learn in 1 Cor. 6:19 regarding this?

I want to make it perfectly clear here that God did not sanction or condone Samson’s behavior and his choices. That said, God used these choices for the benefit of His people. He knew Samson’s shortcomings and He knew what Samson was going to do.

42.Read Judges 14:10-20. 43.What did Samson do in v. 10?

This is not just any party. This is a bridal feast and in those days, bridal feasts lasted 7 days and the consummation of the marriage would have been on the 7th day. We learn in these verses that 30 men (all Philistines) were provided for Samson. This would have been considered part of the bridal entourage. They would have acted as security for the wedding and would also have kept an eye on Samson. In the ancient Near East at that time, the bride’s family provided a group of men who were called “the children of the bride chamber” to entertain those at this week-long bridal feast. By providing 30 men, the Philistine elders ensured that he would be under high surveillance the whole time. They did not trust him nor did he trust them. Had they known about the lion, they might have posted 100 men to stand guard over him.

This party is getting ready to be a doozy of a party! In my mind, I keep seeing Frank Gorshin as the Riddler in the old Batman tv shows saying, “Riddle me this Batman....”. It was not uncommon at wedding feasts for people to do some kind of entertainment. Samson’s riddles were certainly entertaining.

44.What was his riddle?

The 30 “companions” (I use that term loosely) were desperate to know the answer to the riddle.

45.What did they threaten to do to Samson’s new bride if she didn’t find out the answer to the riddle?

Hmmm, that seems a little out of proportion to the occasion! And she was one of them, a Philistine! Because of the threats of death to her and her family, Samson’s bride begs and cries that if the big, bad wolves don’t get an answer, they’ll huff and puff and burn her house down! She pesters and nags Samson to tell her the answer to the riddle and he eventually does. The answer obviously had something to do with the lion’s carcass and the honey inside it. Talk about putting a damper on the festivities! Sheez!

After he shares the answer with his new bride, she tells the men. The dirty 30 end up winning the bet, but only because Samson’s wife spilled the beans and he told them as much.

46.What does Samson equate his wife with in Judges 14:18?

This right here is why I have issues shopping at Dress Barn! I don’t want to be compared to a farm animal! Samson was going to make good on the bet, but not in the way they anticipated.

47.What did he do?

Once again, he violated the Nazarite vow his parents had taken on his behalf prior to his conception. The 30 companions got their garments, but they got the garments of dead fellas and not new garments. Ashkelon was southwest of where he was in Timnah.

48.Was God guiding him to kill those 30 men in Ashkelon?

He leaves 30 innocent men in Ashkelon naked and dead, but hey, he did get the job done in regards to the 30 garments! As we’ve been studying about from the beginning of this story, God providentially arranged all these details. He was planning for an occasion to deal harshly with the Philistines and He used this marriage to a Philistine woman to do that.

49.What happened to his bride?

Betrayal is perhaps the coldest of all rejections. Jesus knows exactly how that feels. You cannot be betrayed by someone you care nothing about. A spouse is the closest person you can have a relationship with other than God.

Samson’s wife betrayed him. I’m not sure I blame her given the circumstances, but he sure did. He left the marriage feast in anger and returned back to his parent’s home leaving his wife behind in Timnah.

Did he consummate the marriage with his wife? Scholars are divided on that one. In some traditions, the consummation occurs the first night of the feast and in others, it occurs the last night of the feast. My guess is that the marriage was not consummated because even in pagan cultures, consummating a marriage and then having the groom stomp off angrily would have been horribly shameful for the woman and it would have left her in a state of dishonor. We have no idea how long Samson was gone, but all of this did not happen in 1 night.

50.Read Judges 15:1. When did Samson go back for his wife?

This would have been late May or early June in the coastal areas. This leads us to believe that a considerable amount of time had passed before he returned. Therefore, her father must have thought that Samson was not returning and in order to save his daughter from shame, he married her off to one of the 30 men who served as a companion at the wedding. In such an honor/shame kind of culture, to leave a bride in such a public way not only brought shame upon her, but upon the entire family. As a result, such things had to be dealt with swiftly to avoid further shame and humiliation. In early texts from that area of the world, we learn that the bride’s father retained legal authority over his daughter until the marriage was consummated. The father retained the right to annul the marriage and arrange a remarriage to the Aramaic wordshoshbin (used heavily in the Talmud) or best man. Strong’s Concordance also uses the Hebrew word merea which means the same thing as shoshbin. Re-bethrothing a jilted daughter quickly restored the entire family’s honor.

If you recall all the way back in lesson 1 when we talked about the protection of a dowry for a woman, this would have been one of those occasions that a dowry would have benefited the woman.

51.What happened to Samson’s wife?

Remember, this is one of the 30 men who served as companions for this wedding. This means that the man she married had to be one of the men who threatened to burn her and her family if she refused to tell the answer to the riddle.
As we end this week’s lesson, I want to say something about small compromises. They might seem harmless and minor, but when a person goes against his or her moral and spiritual convictions and trades that in for comfort or momentary pleasure, the result is never good. It is the small choices of compromise we make that end up eroding one’s character and leading to much larger failures.

The wisest man in the world at one time, King Solomon, fell prey to small compromises. He went against the commands of God when he multiplied horses, wives, silver and gold. With all of his foreign wives and concubines, the worship of Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech entered into the kingdom that was to be set apart from other peoples and their gods. The worship of Molech involved human baby sacrifices. The same Solomon who was taught about the Lord from his father, David (who was a man after God’s own heart), fell prey to compromise and in essence, this led to the destruction of the kingdom of Israel and its eventual captivity in Assyria and Babylon. The Solomon at the beginning of his reign is a very different person by the end of his reign.

Friends, we can’t extract something good from something that is off limits for us. Samson’s life is an example for all of us to stay within the boundaries and precepts of God. His story will continue next week and this is one of the greatest stories in all of Scripture! The movie Top Gun and its sequel had a song called Danger Zone, by Kenny Loggins. Although this song in no way is a spiritual tune, it does express some of what we are witness to in viewing the life of Samson:

Out along the edges Always where I burn to be The further on the edge The hotter the intensity

Highway to the danger zone Ride into the danger zone

Friends, stay away from the danger zone or you will get burned! Next week, we will see just how burned Samson gets and how this story ends.