Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay. I enjoy talking about bible study more than writing them out...here goes, the second installment of an 'x' part series in Samson. I realize now how long it takes to write out a BS, foolish me thinking I could put Chp 14 and 15 into one post. :P
A look into chapter 14:
Samson sees a Philistine woman in Timnah and he tells her parents he wants her as a wife. (Side note: Wouldn't that be awesome if we could do that today? It would save me plenty of girl issues.) The parents disprove, the reason? That she was part of the "uncircumcised Philistines", indicating that it was more likely an issue of the Jews being promised the land of Canaan through the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17) rather than a character flaw or mixed marriage issue.
A question I would have is what stopped his parents from preventing him from taking this woman as a wife? v4 suggests that this was the Lord's doing. So were the parents influenced in prayer by the Lord? Or did they allow Samson to make his own decisions. I would think it more of the latter. But, it's a thought.
So the three of them went down to Timnah. A lion attacks! He kills the lion when "the Spirit of the Lord" comes upon him. It is important to note that whenever Samson uses his incredible strength it comes through the Spirit of the Lord. He does not tell his parents that this happens, indicating that his parents were not there at this particular incident. He talks to the woman, then likes her. (Perhaps his attraction to her was purely based of physical attraction? Or this could be a second instance of conversation, just the first instance is not mentioned? Who knows?)
Anyways, Samson revisits Timnah to marry the woman. The lion carcass is still there, and a bee hive has taken nest inside of the dead lion. Samson scoops out some of the honey and eats it himself, as well as giving some to his parents. He again does not tell his parents where he got the honey from.
I think it's a good time to look at the relationship between Samson and his parents. He wasn't afraid to tell his parents that he wanted to marry an uncircumcised woman. Yet these two instances, one where the Lord allows him to kill a lion with his bare hands, and honey out of the dead lion....he will not tell his parents. I think there is different reasoning behind each instance. (It does not say why he didn't tell...so I can only provide guesswork based off of reason.)
The killing of the lion with bare hands was the first recorded instance of Samson being able to use the powerful strength provided through God. This is a demonstration of the power that Samson has through the Spirit of the Lord (which he'll eventually use on the Philistines). Should this not be a time of rejoicing and praise to the Lord? Could this be reluctance on his part to engage in the calling that has been set for him - deliverer from the Philistines? (Kind of a stretch) Or is this just a prelude to the riddle that he'll be asking later in the chapter?
The honey out of the lion was a breaking of part of the Nazirite vow. As a Nazirite, he wasn't supposed to touch dead bodies (Nbr 6:6). So out of the high position that Samson was called to, he was willing to break part of the requirements for some honey.
Samson made a feast as was their custom for the wedding. The wedding feast was a seven day event, I haven't done much historical background digging...but I think there are two important points to note about the wedding feast.
The first is... it is customary to drink at such wedding feasts. Furthermore, I would surmise that since it is a pagan feast (Philistines), they wouldn't worry too much about abstaining from the booze. I am taking a guess that Samson wasn't too concerned with keeping up the Nazirite rules (Num 6:4).
The second is... you see part of the worldly nature of Samson. Alongside disregarding the Nazirite vow, he is into material possessions. He proposes a riddle about the lion he killed earlier in the chapter. The bet of 30 changes of clothing and linen wraps was accepted by his wedding companions. Why make this bet for 30 changes of clothing other than for material gain?
The wedding companions put pressure on Samson's wife to reveal the answer. Samson's wife nags Samson and he eventually relents and tells her the answer. She reveals the secret of the riddle to the wedding companions. Samson, enraged, goes off and kills 30 Philistines and taking their clothes to provide his end of the bet. It's important to note that the Spirit of the Lord again came upon him as he killed the Philistines at Ashkelon (v.19).
Samson is so angry that he leaves without claiming his wife (who is given to a friend). However, his anger is misguided...it is aimed towards his wife and not the Philistines (as seen later in chapter 15).
So what applications can we make so far? Samson is struggling against the calling that God has elected him to. Rather than a deliverer of the Israelites, he allies himself with the Philistines (through marriage)? He breaks part of the Nazirite vow with touching of the dead, and drinking. It doesn't look good so far. Even so, God uses Samson to start the removal of the Philistines. Despite it being motivated by selfish wants, Samson began to fulfill the role he was meant for.
More to come!
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