UG 14-16{M. In this chapter we read that Samson went clown to the Philistines, and he saw a woman there who pleased him, so he asked his father to get her for a wife for him; but his father and mother were not pleased, for they knew that it would be very wrong for a child of Israel to marry a Philistine, and it was still more wrong for a Nazarite to do so. But though it was wrong of Samson to wish it, the Lord had a purpose in it, as you will hear. One day when he was going to visit this woman, a young lion roared against him, but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he killed it, as if it had been a kid, and he had nothing in his hands. Another day when he was going there again, he turned to look at the dead body of the lion, and he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the dead body of the lion, and he took some in his hand, and went on eating it; and he gave his father and mother some to taste, but he did not tell them where he got it. Now he went to fetch his wife, and he made great feast, and they invited thirty young men of the Philistines, for companions to Samson; so he said to them, I will give you a riddle, and if you tell me the meaning of it before the end of the feast, I will give you thirty sheets and thirty dresses; but if you cannot tell me, then you must give me thirty sheets, and thirty dresses. His riddle was this, Out of the eater came meat, and out of the strong, sweetness.
S. I can guess what that was He was thinking of the sweet honey that he found in the dead body of the lion.
M. Yes. He found sweet food in the body of the strong lion that might have eaten him. But the Philistines could not find it out, so they came to Samson's wife and said, We will burn you and your father's house if you do not find out the answer for us. Then she wept before Samson, and said he did not love her, because he would not tell her; and at last she teased him so, that he told her the riddle, and she told the Philistines., And they said to Samson, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle; for he knew that they had made his wife find it out for them.
S. Did Samson give them what he premised?
M. Yes. But where do you think he got the thirty, dresses? He went down to the camp of the Philistines; and killed thirty of them, and gave their things to the men who answered the riddle! And Samson was very angry and he went back to his father's house, and his wife was given away to his companion. So the Lord did not let Samson marry her. But Samson did not know this, and one day he went to see her, and her father would not let him see her, and he told Samson that she had married his companion. Then Samson was more angry than before, and he went out and caught three hundred foxes and he tied their tails together, by two and two, and he put a blazing stick between their tails, and then he let go the frightened creatures, into the corn fields and vineyards; and they rushed about, burning everything that they came near. The Philistines said, Who has done this? And when they heard about Samson they went up and burned the woman and her father to death. So the Lord allowed the very thing to happen to her that she feared. And Samson fought against the Philistines and killed a great many of them. And he went and lived in a high rock where no one could get near him. But none of the children of Israel helped him, they did not even like him to vex the Philistines, and some of the tribe of Judah went to take him prisoner, that they might give him up to the Philistines; three thousand men of Judah came up to the rock to take Samson, and he would not give himself up to them, till they promised that they would not kill him. And when he gave himself up, they bound him with two new cords, and brought him down from the rock. And the Philistines shouted against but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he broke the cords as if they were only thread. And he picked up a bone of a dead ass and he killed a thousand men with it! And he went on, singing as he went, and saying, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. And he threw away the bone. And by-and-by he was very thirsty and he called on the Lord and said, Thou hast given me a great deliverance, and now shall I die of thirst? But God made a hole in the bone and water came out of it, and when Samson drank some of the water he revived, and he called the place, Enhakkore, which means, The well of him that called; because he called on God, and God gave him water there.
Samson judged Israel for twenty years.
S. Did Samson do anything else but fight against the Philistines?
M. We are not told of any other great act of his. His one desire seems to have been to destroy these enemies of the Lord. The next chapter relates a very sad story about him: he went down to a city of the Philistines, and when the people of the city heard that he was there, they shut the gates and said they would kill him in the morning; but in the middle of the night Samson got up and carried off the gates of the city on his shoulders, posts and all! and he carried them up to the top of the hill in Hebron.
S. What a strong man he must have been!
M. Samson was remarkable for his strength while he walked as a Nazarite, because God was with him; he went forth alone, without even a sword in his hand, and he did more magnificent things than any other man we read of. There was not one single thing to help him—his own people were against him—but he never lost an opportunity of destroying a Philistine. He knew that God was near him, and would give him strength at the moment; and God never disappointed him. We read, The Spirit of the Lord came upon him. God gave him power at the moment. But I said it was a sad story, and, like every story of man, it teaches us that man's heart is not to be trusted, because the best of men are weak, and there is no power to do good but the power of God. Samson loved, a woman whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came to her, and they told her that they would give her a great deal of money if she would find out the secret of why Samson was so strong.
S. Was the secret that he was a Nazarite?
M. Yes. Separation is the secret of strength; but it is a secret that the world never can find out. It was a secret between Samson's own heart, and God—he had never told it to anybody. And he tried hard not to tell it to Delilah; for he said, If they bind me with green rods, I shall be weak like any other man. And she did so, and she had men hiding in her room; then she said to Samson, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson! But he broke the rods as if they were only thread; so his secret was not found out this time. But Delilah begged him still, and he told her to bind him with new ropes; but as soon as she called out, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson! he broke them off his arms like a thread. Then Delilah entreated him again, and he told her to weave his beautiful long hair in a weaver's machine, and she did so, and this time he awoke, and carried away machine and all!
S. Was Delilah very angry?
M. Yes. She said, You are only mocking Me, and why do you pretend to love me, when you will not tell me what makes you so strong; and day after day she pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death; and he told her all his heart.
He said, I have been a Nazarite to God from the moment I was, born; and if my hair is cut off, I shall be weak, and like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent for the lords of the Philistines again, and they came with money in their hands. And when Samson was asleep she made a man shave off his hair; then she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson! and he awoke and said, I will go out and shake myself as at other times; but Samson did not know that the Lord was gone away from him. Poor Samson! how terrible his condition! alone, without strength, and the Philistines upon him. He told his secret and he lost it! Now God was leaving him alone; and the Philistines took him, and they put out his eyes, so that he was quite blind, and they made him grind corn in the prison.
S. Did God give him up?
M. No. Samson's hair began to grow again. And one day the Philistines made a great sacrifice to their idol, because the foolish people said that it had given Samson into their hands. And they brought Samson in to amuse them; and he came, with a boy holding his hand, because he was blind. And he said to the boy, Let me lean against the pillars, for the house stood upon pillars, and it was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And Samson leaned against the pillars and called unto the Lord and said, Oh Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And the Lord remembered Samson and answered his prayer, and gave him greater strength than ever; and he put his right arm round one pillar and his left arm round another pillar, and said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he bowed down with all his might and pulled down the whole house; and many people that were on the roof and all that were inside were killed, thousands and thousands of Philistines; so that he killed more at his death than he did in his life. And his family came and took up his body, and buried it in his father's burying-place.
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WHEN God looked down from heaven,
and saw
That all had sinned and strayed,
That none were loving, serving Him,
Of all the men He made;
When God looked down from heaven,
and saw
That all were filled with sin,
That men and women, children too,
Had wicked hearts within;
What did that God so holy say?
That Just and Righteous One?
“I have one Son, my Well-beloved,
And I will send my Son.
“My Son shall die for wicked men,
Shall bring them back to God,
And I will wash their sins away
In His most precious blood.”
The tender Shepherd seeks His lambs,
How far se'er they be;
My Son shall seek those wandering
ones,
And bring them back to Me.
So Christ, the Lord, is seeking still,
Says, " Little children, come,
And I will bear you in my arms
To God, my Father's home.”