relationships (Judges 14:1-20) Continuing On

(Judges 14:1-20)  Then Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, get her for me as a wife.” 3 But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is right for me.” 4 However, his father and mother did not know that this was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. And at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 7 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked pleasing to Samson. 8 When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. 9 So he took out the honey on his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had took the honey out of the body of the lion.

10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson held a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. 11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me now propose a riddle for you; if you actually tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes. 13 But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propose your riddle, so that we may hear it.” 14 So he said to them,

     “Out of the eater came something to eat,

     And out of the strong came something sweet.”

But they could not tell the answer to the riddle in three days.

15 Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” 16 So Samson’s wife wept in front of him and said, “You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have proposed a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” 17 However she wept before him for seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 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 found out my riddle.”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of them and took what they were wearing and gave the outfits of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. 20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

I see Samson's riddle not just being about the lion and the honey, but also as being prophetic.  Samson was the "strong", who would eventually be captured and would sacrifice his life.  His actions in that moment would reap the "sweet" for Israel as they would be rid of a few more enemies.  But it is also prophetic in that Jesus (the "strong) would die on the cross and rise again, making salvation and a personal relationship with Him possible (the "sweet")!!!  Extra sweet is that we are saved for eternity, and because of His mercy and grace, we cannot lose our salvation.

God knows that we are going to sin, but this isn't an excuse to just go ahead.  When we disobey God's will, because He loves us, He will lovingly discipline us by allowing consequences.  Therefore, for example, in marriage, if a spouse chooses to be selfish, the marriage will experience trouble.  Even more so, a marriage that is unequally yoked will never be what it could be.

We know that the Bible clearly says that a believer should marry another believer.  If someone marries an unbeliever, even if that spouse eventually does become a believer (which is God's will), to date and/or marry them in the first place should never be considered "God's will".  With that, lets now take a closer look at verse 4.

It says that it was "of the Lord" that Samson wanted the Philistine as his wife.  Nowhere do we see God tell Samson to do this.  What we do know is that God, being omniscient, knew this would happen and He allowed it to happen.  The Lord is still able to accomplish His will - despite our lapses in judgment.  He is even able to use our mistakes to accomplish His will, as He did with Samson's mistakes.

Also in verse 4, it is pointed out that Samson's parents didn't know that it "was of the Lord."  If they had been given this information, they might have then believed it was okay for a believer to marry an unbeliever.  So, not knowing was a good thing in that moment, because the parents tried to reason with Samson.  But for us to know now - that God knew - and that God would still use that to carry out His will - should be a great comfort and peace to us.  

We can have confidence in the Lord, knowing that even though we will drop the ball, we cannot unravel any of God's plans!   Doing wrong, no matter what the reason, is never right.  It is never in God's will that we sin.  Ever.  It is always in God's will that we keep confessing our sins as we realize them, and then just continue going to Him for help and guidance, while moving forward.

relationships (Judges 13:2-25) Giving of Ourselves

(Judges 13:2-25)  And there was a man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. 3 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are infertile and have not given birth; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 And now, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again so that he may teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words are fulfilled, what shall be the boy’s way of life and his vocation?” 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “The woman shall pay attention to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words are fulfilled, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is wonderful?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat along with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him when he was in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The angel of the Lord - God - (the Lord Jesus pre-incarnate) - accepted the offering of Manoah and his wife.  It was not because there was a physical, literal offering, it was because they gave honor to Him in faith, with a desire to learn and to willingly trust and obey.  This is why they did not die while in His presence.

No sacrifice or offering is great enough to save us - except for Jesus' sacrificial love and His work on the cross!  As soon as we "see" and "hear", accept and believe, and put our faith in Him, God not only accepts us, but protects us from His wrath.  Therefore, we will not die.  We are guaranteed eternal life with Him in heaven.  

Our sacrifice and offering, which is pleasing to God, is the giving of ourselves - our whole selves - in exchange for new life in Christ.  Then, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, we can boldly come before Him and have a personal relationship with Him.  We can boldly ask Him to come, stay and teach us His will for our lives.  Because He is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, we are not bugging or nagging Him as we continually ask Him for His wisdom and for His help in all things - He desires this!

relationships (Judges 12:1-15) Being Reasonable

(Judges 12:1-15) Now the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed to Zaphon; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you!” 2 So Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were in a major dispute with the sons of Ammon; and I did call you, but you did not save me from their hand. 3 When I saw that you were no deliverer, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You are survivors of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” 5 And the Gileadites took control of the crossing places of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened whenever any of the survivors of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” that the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Just say, ‘Shibboleth.’” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he was not prepared to pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the crossing places of the Jordan. So at that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.

7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8 Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel for seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

11 Now Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel after him; he judged Israel for ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 Now Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel for eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Joshua 13:1)  Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

It is obvious that people need strong leaders with integrity and authority to enforce the law.  But even those people need measures of accountability.  Not only are people weak, in efforts to seek power, people will try to get away with whatever they can.  It is also interesting how people will try to justify their reasons for wanting what they want, or doing what they do, whether it makes sense or not.  People can be very unreasonable.

Ultimately (and fortunately), God has the final say, so it is more than beneficial to choose to be on His side and do things His way.  God is not a tyrant, though.  His way is fair and just.  His way brings peace, joy and hope.  His way provides strength, truth, wisdom, understanding and confidence.  His way is loving, patient and kind.  The Lord Jesus provides the way and is the way, so that we can have a personal relationship with Him.

Therefore, in our relationships with others, when we apply God's commandments of loving God first with all our heart, soul and mind, and then loving people as ourselves, things will go smoother.  Especially in our relationships with other believers!  As we are all applying God's advice, the world should notice a huge difference in how we get along.  I know that we don't always, so this is why we have to keep going back to God and His word!  The Author of love is more than reasonable!  His way and His word makes perfect sense and works!