1. The birth of a deliverer (Judges 13)
a) The downward spiral continues. Israel felt God’s discipline from the east & west (10:7). The Philistine oppression lasted 40 years. I Samuel 1-7 give more background. Samuel was about 25 years older than Samson.
b) There was a barren couple (Manoah & wife) who did not migrate north with many of their tribe (Dan. 18), living near the Philistines. The angel/Lord appeared to the wife announcing she would bear a son. He was to be a Nazarite to God his whole life: Num. 6 total dedication (no wine/strong drink, not cut his hair). “shall begin to deliver Israel”- maybe why no Nazarite stipulation not to go near a dead body.
c) She told Manoah & he prayed that the man of God would be sent again for more instruction. When God answered, Manoah asked about “the boy’s mode/manner of life & his vocation/work.” The angel disregarded this question & emphasized the Nazarite dedication. God wants parents more concerned about dedication than vocation. They do not realize this is Angel/Lord until He vanishes into the flame that consumes their offering (“wonderful”- Isaiah 9:6 root). Manoah was convinced they would die, but his wife persuaded him that the Angel’s actions & words indicated otherwise.
d) She bore a son, Samson. The Lord blessed him. The Spirit/Lord (4X with Samson) began to stir him in the camp of Dan.
2. Weakness & Might (14:1-9)
a) Samson saw (no conversation) a Philistine woman “looks good/pleasing/right in his eyes (v3b) and insisted his parents get her for him in marriage in spite of their objections that she was not part of God’s people. Samson’s willfulness mirrored Israel’s willfulness during the times of the Judges.
b) v4 gives the Divine perspective: the Lord was seeking an occasion/opportunity against the evil Philistines who were oppressively ruling over Israel. The Lord providentially permit things to happen (including people’s sinfulness) to accomplish His purposes.
c) On a trip to Timnah to talk to the woman, a young lion attacked Samson. The Spirit/Lord “rushed upon” Samson (equal to the urgent challenge) enabling him to kill the lion with ease. His strength was not in his muscles but the Spirit’s enabling power. After talking to the girl, she still “looked good/right in his eyes”
d) Later he scraped honey out of the dried out carcass of the lion & gave it to his parents without informing them of the source (defiling contact with a carcass). Defilement did not bother Samson, but the Lord worked in spite of him.
3. Things begin to escalate (14:10-20)
a) For the week long wedding celebration, Samson had no companions or best man so Philistine young men were supplied. Riddles were common at such celebrations, but Samson provoked tension with an expensive bet (v12-13).
b) The Philistines thought they could solve any riddle in a week, but it had to do with Samson secret- killing the lion &
subsequent beehive honey in the carcass.
c) His wife probably pestered him all week about the riddle, but cranked up the nagging pressure when the Philistines threatened to burn her & her family. The happy occasion became a miserable week with his wife declaring he hates her/doesn’t love her & weeping (v16-17). She pressed/pressured him until he told her the riddle. Some mighty individuals are weak when it comes to nagging pressure.
d) Samson made a poem how they inappropriately solved the riddle by plowing with his heifer (wife). Then the Spirit/Lord rushed upon him. He traveled 23 miles to the Philistine port city of Ashkelon & killed 30 men to pay his debt. He was very angry & went home without consummating his marriage. The father gave his daughter in marriage to Samson’s best man.
4. More escalation (15:1-9)
a) Later (wheat harvest – early summer) when he got over his anger, he took a young goat as a gift & went to be with his wife only to find out she was given to another. The flabbergasted father offered her younger sister.
b) Samson caught 300 foxes (likely jackals), tied them tail-to-tail with a torch in between, and set them lose in the shock & standing grain of the Philistines. This was an immense economic loss.
c) The Philistines countered by burning his wife & father with fire (v14:15, showing their character).
d) Samson counted with a ruthless slaughter & withdrew to crag/Etam (2 Chron. 11:6 near Bethlehem ?).
5. More escalation (15:10-20)
a) The Philistines showed up in force intimidating Judah to turn over Samson. V17 indicates their passivity/ complacency. 3,000 could have joined forces with Samson. Instead, they accepted the Philistines rule over them. The promised they would not kill Samson, just bind him & turn him over to the Philistines.
b) The Spirit/Lord rushed upon Samson again. He easily snapped the ropes & used a fresh jawbone of a donkey to kill 1,000 Philistines (with Judah’s help the rout could have been greater).
c) Samson commemorated the event with a poem (“donkey/heaps” similar sound). Then he called on the Lord for water, which God (behind creation) provided in a hollow place. The Lord wants us to pray boldly where our need & His reputation meet.
d) Things settled some. Samson judged Israel for 20 years. The Philistines deserved justice and the Israelites complacent spiritual condition was worse than Samson was. The Lord empowered a man who had nagging weaknesses, which he would not address. How long until it caught up to him? How about you?