The Riddle of Samson - Part 1 (Judges 14:1-20)
INTRODUCTION:
Three weeks ago, we began the history of the final judge given to us in the book of Judges. I entitled my message this morning “The Riddle of Samson” not just because of the riddle that he gives at his wedding feast, but because Samson’s history could be called a riddle. There is no other judge in this book that matches Samson’s potential. Samson’s judgeship was announced by the LORD before he was even conceived, then as a youth coming into manhood the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him. As we will begin to see this morning, Samson is empowered with extraordinary gifts by the LORD and is granted exceptional opportunities for heroism by the LORD. Despite all these advantages and the extra attention, Samson accomplishes less on behalf of his people Israel than any of the judges who came before him. The author of Samson’s history focuses on Samson’s personal exploits. Though Samson is impressive as an individual, he is not a military leader, he never calls an army, he never leads the people on Israel into battle and he never experiences a military victory. All his accomplishments are personal, and all of his victories are private.
Samson’s history as it begins in chapter 13 is pleasant enough. There we met his parents and witness the joy they experience in the birth of a son, a child who was miraculously conceived by a barren woman and destined by God for a special place in history. We can only assume that since God’s blessing was on this child that the parents took great care to uphold the Nazirite vow divinely imposed upon the child and his mother while she carried him in her womb. After he was born, they would have been careful to teach him about this vow and help him to keep it as he grew up. We learned three weeks ago, that when he had grown the Spirit of the LORD began to stir this young man. The chapter ended with such hope and promise.
As we enter into chapter 14 this morning the author describes for us a self-centered and rebellious young man. Outwardly he appears respectful to his parents, but his heart is completely and utterly calloused and corrupted. The Spirit of the LORD stirs him inwardly, but outwardly he without thought brazenly violates his Nazirite vow, and he falls in with and makes friends with the enemy. He is born and buried as a hero in Israel, but in truth he is an outlaw and a trickster who makes up his own rules, and foolishly wastes his extraordinary calling and gifts. In the end, Samson does end up doing what the Angel of the LORD had promised his parents in chapter 13:5, by the time of his death Samson had begun the process of delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines. This morning we will begin to look at this riddle named Samson. Let’s pray and then get into chapter 14.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Judges 14:1-20 and we will see how far we get this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read
Judges 14:1-20,
“Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, ‘I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.’ Then 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?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she looks good to me.’ However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel. 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. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson. 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. So he scraped the honey into 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 scraped the honey out of the body of the lion. Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. Then Samson said to them, ‘Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.’ And they said to him, ‘Propound 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.’ But they could not tell the riddle in three days. 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?’ Samson’s wife wept before him and said, ‘You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded 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?’ However she wept before him 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. 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.’ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.” (Judges 14:1–20, NASB95)[1]
GOD’S PLAN / SAMSON’S CHOICES (Judges 13:25-14:4)
At the end of chapter 13 we are told that when Samson had grown but was still living with his parents that the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him. This is the author’s way of making it clear to us that Samson has been chosen by God to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. How the LORD began to stir him is not clearly evident, but it is a certain indication that God is beginning to work. This verse only becomes significant once we reach verse 4 in chapter 14. These two verses give us the information we need to know that even though what is going on in Samson’s life seems to come from his own choices, if truth be told, whether Samson recognized it or not, God was controlling the events of Samson’s life to fulfill God’s purposes.
As we come into the first verse of Judges 14 the picture that is painted for us by the author is anything but attractive. When we are introduced to this man that is to be the next judge in Israel, he is nothing like we think he would be. He’s independent and disrespectful in the sense that he gets what he wants, and he makes his own rules. He is unafraid to venture into the pagan world of the Philistines and to even socialize with them and does not seem to be concerned by potentially compromising situations. Timnah was a town on Judah’s northern border with Dan and was allotted to Dan, but as we see here it was inhabited by the Philistines. While Samson is in Timnah he sees a young Philistine woman and returns home to his parents and demands that they get her for him for a wife. The fact that the word “saw” is repeated several times in the first two verses show us that Samson is operating on appearance and personal interest, allowing his lust and sexual attraction to guide him, rather than relying on God’s guidance.
His parents’ response clearly shows the pain and disappointment that they have because Samson’s choice for a wife. They would prefer he chose a wife from among his own tribe or from among the women of Israel. His choice seems to them as if his own people are not good enough for him. This woman that he desires is from among the uncircumcised Philistines, which his parents disapprove of because it was not culturally acceptable. More interesting than what Samson’s parents say is what they don’t say. They do not say, “Intermarriage with a non-Israelite is forbidden by the LORD.” Nor do they say, “The LORD has called you to be a Nazirite for life, and His plan for you is to deliver us from the Philistines, not to marry them.” All this remains unsaid. To Samson’s parents his proposition is simply a cultural and ethnic issue. How does Samson respond to his parents’ disapproval? By demanding that they get this woman for him, and his rationale for this, is literally because she is right in his eyes. Samson is insensitive and disrespectful toward his parents and their feelings and does not seem to care about the theological implications or how this might affect the mission that God has given him as his life work, Israel’s deliverance from the Philistines.
Like the Israelites of his day, Samson operates exclusively on the basis of His senses. This will be clearly noted in chapters 17 and 21 where the author will say that during this time in Israel’s history there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes. In other words, each man did what was right in his mind or opinion according to his standards, rather than according to God’s standards.
Verse 4 is the key to the entire history of Samson, because in this verse the author gives us a basis for what Samson is doing, and it is from God’s perspective. Even though it seems that Samson is operating out of his own self-interest and lust, the author tells us that even though Samson’s parents knew about their son’s miraculous birth and the divine calling on his life, they did not know that this was all of the LORD. The author intervenes here to remind us that God was at work in spite of Samson’s bad choices. The Philistines had been oppressing Israel for forty years and this marriage that Samson desires arises out of and reflects Israel’s willingness to coexist peacefully with the Philistines and allow them to rule over them. But the LORD is about to shatter the status quo, and Samson is God’s chosen instrument to rile up the Philistines and so God uses this woman that seems right in Samson’s eyes to make this happen. God is at work and this comfortable relationship between Israel and the Philistines must come to an end. If Israel does not have the heart to act against this Philistine oppression, then God will cause the Philistines to act against Israel, and He will use this marriage between Samson and this Philistine woman to do it.
The author has written this account in such a way that it creates tension in the mind of his readers. On the surface, we are fascinated by Samson’s choices and the actions those cause, but on a deeper level we must see the hand of God in these events. The riddle of Samson is seen in the brilliant irony of the author who describes for us a free spirit, a rebel driven by selfish interests, doing whatever he pleases with no respect for his parents or for the claim of God on his life, but in the process, he ends up doing the will of God.
GOD’S EMPOWERING / SAMSON’S DEFILING (Judges 14:5-9)
As we come into verse five it is obvious that Samson has convinced his parents to make the arrangements for him to marry the Philistine woman from Timnah because we find them on the road to Timnah in this verse. They are headed to this Philistine held town to make arrangements with the woman’s parents for her to be wedded to Samson. At some point Samson is separated from his parents either hurrying ahead of them or coming behind them and we know this because what occurs next took place without any witnesses. At first reading and if we had not read the whole chapter this next event in the history of Samson would seem to us completely irrelevant to the history of this judge. But because we read ahead, we know that this will later play into the history of this judge. As Samson approached Timnah he came to the vineyards that grew outside the boundaries of the city and we are told that a lion came roaring out of the vineyards to attack Samson.
Verse six tells us two significant things about this lion attack. First, we are told that the Spirit of the LORD came upon Samson mightily, the literal Hebrew says that the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon Samson. In other words, Samson was immediately infused by the Spirt with superhuman strength enabling him to kill the lion by tearing him apart as one would tear apart a young kid goat even though he had nothing in his hand. What we are not told is if Samson realized where his source of power to kill this lion came from. Second, we are told that when he rejoined his parents, he did not tell them what he had done. What is his reason for keeping this a secret? It seems in the verses following that Samson was actually in the vineyard when he killed the lion. What was he doing in the vineyard? As a Nazirite he was not to have anything to do with grapes, possibly he kept it a secret so that he would not have to explain why he was in the vineyard.
Had God sent this lion as a warning to Samson that he was walking on the wrong path? The Holy Spirit gave Samson the power to defeat this enemy, but Samson persisted on his path of disobedience into enemy territory and an unlawful marriage to a foreigner. God must continue to over-rule in this man’s life. Samson and his parents entered into talks with this woman and her parents. This is the first time that Samson has talked to the woman, before he had just seen her. The conversation gives us no reason to believe that there were any red flags for the participants, for Samson it confirmed that this woman was right by his standards. But we are not told what the woman thinks of Samson.
Verse 8 records for us the return of Samson and his parents to Timnah for the actual wedding and the feast. As they are going Samson turns aside again into the vineyard to see what had become of the carcass of the lion he had killed and perhaps gloat over his victory. To his surprise a swarm of bees have taken up residence in the carcass of the lion and they have begun to produce honey. This bit of information is significant for three reasons.
First, this is definitely an act of God. Bees do not inhabit cadavers, flies and maggots do. This carcass must have miraculously dehydrated quickly, bypassing the rotting stage thus producing a hospitable environment for bees not only to live but also to produce their honey. This can be none other than the work of God.
Second, this image is completely ironic. In a world of decay and decomposition Samson discovers a community of bees, the Hebrew uses the word community instead of the normal Hebrew word that would be translated a swarm, this community of bees is not only existing but producing sweetness to the world around them. This term that translates as community elsewhere in Scripture always refers to a company of people, usually the Israelites as a faith community, called to be agents of grace and light in a decaying and decadent world.
Third, like so many circumstances in Samson’s history, this sight provided a test of Samson’s character. Would Samson keep his Nazirite vow? This was a spiritual test, would he remain true to the Lord and set apart to Him. We read that he reached inside the corpse of the lion and scrapped out some honey and begins to eat it as he goes to rejoin his parents. Samson’s response to this test is triply sinful. First, contact with a corpse renders any object or person unclean, as an ordinary Israelite Samson should have left the honey alone. Second, contact with a cadaver was particularly defiling for a Nazirite, it renders your vow null and void, and you must be cleansed and begin your vow over again. Third, Samson with out thought or concern implicates his parents in the defilement, offering them some honey without telling them where it came from, thus rendering them unclean as well. Samson’s disregard for his Nazirite status knows no bounds. His parents had sanctified him (set him apart) by following the instructions of the Angel of the LORD, and now he desecrates them. Unaware of his defilement, Samson’s father continues the journey down to Timnah to finalize the wedding arrangements and to settle the business side of this “arranged” marriage.
CONCLUSION:
I am going to stop here this morning, the next section of this chapter is the wedding feast, and it is long, so we will save it for next week. What can we learn from what we have looked at today? According to Hebrews 11:32, Samson was a man of faith, but he certainly wasn’t a faithful man. He showed his unfaithfulness in his disregard for his upbringing and his parent’s teaching, his disregard for his Nazirite vow and his disregard for the Laws of the LORD. It didn’t take long for Samson to lose almost everything that the Lord had given him, except his great strength, and he finally lost that as well. Samson made his own rules and lived by his own standards, contrary to the way he had been raised. He was living his life by sight and not by faith. He was controlled by the lust of the flesh rather than the law of the Lord. The important thing to Samson was not pleasing the Lord, or pleasing his parents, but most important to him was pleasing himself.
When we refuse to allow God to rule our lives, He overrules and works out His will in spite of our decisions. When this happens, we are the losers, for God will work out His purposes with us or in spite of us. Samson should have been going to war with the Philistines instead of a wedding, so God took the decision that Samson had made and used it to accomplish His purpose and we will see that God’s promise to use Samson to begin Israel’s deliverance from the hands of the Philistines is fulfilled in spite of Samson’s unfaithfulness and disregard for all that was right according to God’s standards. When you determine what is right for your life, do not be like Samson and determine it by your standards. You must determine it by God’s standards if you want what is truly right for your life.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.