"Neither shalt thou make marriages with them, thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son, for they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly." Samson's father and mother knew it was sin on Samson's part to wish a wife of the Philistines, and begged him to give her up, but their son was acting in self-will, and untrue for the time and in this respect, to the separation which God had through the angel imposed on him.
From verse 4 we learn that God makes use of what He does not sanction; God's principles do not alter, but He looks beyond Samson to the discomfiture of the enemy. Samson was weak, morally, and what he did was more individual than any of the earlier judges. He represents to us the tendency of the church, or assembly of God, and of the individual Christian, to fall away from the standing given by God. This tendency does not always produce the same amount of evil fruit, but it leads the heart further and further away from God, into the world. God may and evidently He does still use those who neglect to maintain the position He has purposed for the assembly; He may glorify Himself through them, and doubtless He does, but there is great loss to the unfaithful ones. It cannot be otherwise, and the evil is progressive.
While then Samson is only measurably true to his calling as a separated man, the Spirit of God uses him in feats of strength; he kills a lion, and the riddle he propounds about it leads to his killing thirty of the Philistines.
Samson had strength from God while going on in a measure of faithfulness to Him. This is the "riddle", the secret of God's children. The lion has no strength, though he may roar at them, against those who belong to Christ, and by the Holy Spirit's power, victory is gained and honey is found. Unhappily, Samson did not keep himself apart for God, and he exposed his secret to his own loss.
God mercifully preserves Samson from this marriage, and he returns to his home. The will of God is done, but we do not see much to commend in the ways of the man whom God at this time raised up.
What of ourselves, who profess the name of Jesus?—are we each seeking to occupy the position of true separation from the world which God has given us? Alas! it is to be feared that the self-will of God's children today is relatively greater than Samson's self-seeking. But the remedy is ever available—the Word of God and prayer. May we seek His face!