The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/judges/14.htm

This chapter begins the story of Samson and his wife. Now, if you remember correctly, God instructed the children of Israel to not intermarry with any of the inhabitants of Canaan, and Samson’s parents were Godly people. Samson found a woman he wanted to marry, but she was a Phililstine woman, and his parents objected, asking him if he couldn’t find a woman from the children of Israel. But what no one knew, the Bible says, is that this was God’s plan to work Samson into the Philistines so he could defeat them and bring Israel out from under their rule.

Now, do not allow yourself to use that as an excuse to sin! You may think, I know this is a sin, but it must be God’s Will, He must have a plan for me. You should resist the temptation, like Samson’s parents did, and if it is still God’s Will, it will happen no matter what you do.

So they went to get the woman as a wife. Along the way, Samson was attacked my a lion, and God gave him the strength to kill the lion with his bare hands. That, is how much strength Samson had, and it came from God, and it came from him vows as a Nazarite. And, scripture says, Samson’s parents didn’t know about the lion attack.

Now as a Nazarite, Samson was to stay away from vineyards, but he didn’t. It was still God’s Will happening.

When returning home, Samson noticed that a swarm of bees had settled in the carcass of the lion and were producing honey. So Samson took some of the honey and ate it, and also gave some to his parents to eat. Notice how scripture says that he did not tell them the honey came from the carcass of the lion.

Why is this verse in the Bible? Seems to be kind of inconsequential, doesn’t it? The reason it is in the Bible is because a lion is an unclean beast, and it is even unclean to touch it. Now according to Mosaic Law, Samson would have been “unclean” until evening because he fought the lion, which he didn’t not have a choice in doing. But he did have a choice is taking the honey from the lion, which was unclean because it was in the lion carcass, so Samson likely knew the honey was considered “unclean”, and that is why he didn’t tell his parents where he got it.

Notice how this chapter is teaching us a lesson about God Will and God’s Plan to deliver Israel fromt he Philistines, but it also has little “sub-stories” if you will that are very important to us.. There is likely meaning in every word of the Bible if we study it long enough.

So Samson married the Philistine woman, and he threw a wedding feast. I assume that because of his experience with the lion and the honey, that it was fresh in his mind, and Samson decided to make a riddle out of it. So he made a bet with the Philistine men at the feast about the riddle, to see if they could solve it. But they could not.

So they threatened Samson’s wife, that if she would not get the answer to the riddle out of Samson, that they would burn her and her father’s house. So she begged and pleaded with Samson for the answer, and he finally gave in and told her, and she told the Philistine men the answer tot he riddle.

When the time was up and Samson asked if they had solved the riddle, they told him the correct answer. and Samson became angry, knowing that his wife had indulged them. He lost the bet, in which he had to give them 30 articles of clothing. Clothing was a very precious item in those days, almost as good as silver or gold.

So Samson went and killed 30 Philistine men, robbed them of their clothing, and returned to the feast and paid his debt.

If you think about this, Samson committed murder. He violated the Sixth Commandment. Imagine killed someone to rob them of their wares so you could pay off a debt. But notice the scripture, “The Spirit of the Lord came over him”. This was all in God’s Plan to set the stage for Samson to deliver Israel.

Does this mean that God was a murderer, causing Samson to kill? I don’t think so, that is not how Jesus would have handled things, and you know the scripture, “If you’ve seen Me…..”

The Philistines were pagans, just like the rest of Canaan. They didn’t worship God, they worshipped idols. And while scripture doesn’t say (or maybe I’ve just missed it), I assume the Philistines sacrificed children as well. They were evil.

So I don’t think the “Spirit of God” told Samson to kill, I simply think the Spirit gave Samson the strength needed…the decision to kill was Samson’s, and Samson’s only.

God didn’t try to make the Bible difficult to understand, but if you read it literally, you can easily get the wrong impression of Him. As you read the Word, keep in mind that God is loving, and forgiving, and only wants what is best for us.

Samson was chosen, we know that by the mere fact that his mother was barren, but was visited by Jesus. Samson was intentionally, all a part of God’s plan for His children. Samson still had free choice whether or not to sin, just like us, and yes, he made some bad decisions, just like we do. but that doesn’t mean God isn’t loving and caring.