Judges 14 -- Samson Strays

"Samson was a man of faith, according to Hebrews 11:32, but he certainly wasn't a faithful man," my commentary began today.  He wasn't faithful to his parents' teaching, his Nazirite vow, or the laws of the Lord."

He lost his respect for his parents:  "When Samson fell in love, he wouldn't listen to his parents."  He decided to marry a Philistine woman, contrary to God's law.  "He was controlled by the lust of his eyes rather than by the law of the Lord ... The important thing to Samson was not pleasing the Lord, or even pleasing his parents, but pleasing himself."

"Samson should have been going to a war instead of to a wedding, but God used this event to give Samson occasion to attack the enemy ... Samson hadn't planned these things, but God worked them out just the same."

He lost his Nazirite separation:  "He detoured into a vineyard on his way to his wedding -- a dangerous place for a man who was not supposed to have anything to do with grapes.  The Holy Spirit gave Samson power to defeat the lion, but Samson persisted on his path of disobedience into enemy territory and an unlawful wedding."

Samson returned to claim his bride some weeks later and returned to the vineyard to look at his trophy and perhaps gloat over his victory, my commentary said.  "His sin began with the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and now it included the pride of life.  When Samson ate the honey from the lion's carcass, he was defiled by a dead body, and that part of his Nazirite dedication was destroyed."

He lost control of his tongue:  Samson posed a riddle to the 30 men the Philistines had rounded up to be his groomsmen.  "Sad to say, he constructed the riddle out of the experience of his sin ... It's bad enough to disobey God, but when you make a joke of it, you've sunk to new depths of spiritual insensitivity."

Fearing for her life, his Philistine bride enticed him, then controlled him with her tears, then betrayed him [to get the answer to the riddle] which is the way the world always treats the compromising believer."

Samson lost his temper:  "His anger at his bride's betrayal and his loss of the wager caused him to kill 30 men to pay off the bet.  He didn't even consummate the marriage!  "The Lord used this turn of events to motivate Samson to decide to fight the Philistines..."

"If we're looking by faith into the face of the Lord, He can guide us with His eyes the way parents guide their children.  But if we turn our backs on Him, He has to treat us like animals and harness us."

Father, please get my attention sooner if You see me straying away from Your path.  Soften my heart to make it ever responsive to Your call.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford