Proclamation
“And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, ‘I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines; Now therefore get her for me to wife.’ Then his father and his mother said unto him, ‘Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?’ …” Judges 14:2-3 (KJV)
Explanation
These are the words of God which were
written by the prophet Samuel under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God. The
Lord God blessed Samson and he grew. (Judges 13:24) When he was grown he went to the town of
Timnah and saw a Philistine woman who caught his attention and he wanted her
for his wife. He told his parents to get
her for him but they were reluctant to do so because she was not one of them.
(Judges 14:1-3) Samson prevailed upon
his parents and they went with him to Timnah.
As they neared the vineyards of Timnah a young lion attacked
Samson. The Spirit of The Lord came
mightily upon him and Samson tore the lion apart with his bare hands. (Judges
14:5-6) Some time later he went back to
marry the woman. On the way he came
across the carcass of the lion and noticed a swarm of bees on the carcass and
it was full of honey. He scooped some of
the honey out with his hands and ate it as he went along his journey. He also gave some of the honey to his parents
but he did not tell them where it came from. (Judges 14:8-9) When he arrived in Timnah he held a marriage feast
as was the custom for young men. The
people chose thirty young men to be his wedding companions. Samson presented a riddle to the men and
wagered thirty sets of clothing. They
could not solve the riddle so they threatened Samson’s wife to get him to
explain the riddle to her so she could tell them, or they would burn down her
father’s house. (Judges 14:10-15) She
cried and pleaded with him until he explained the riddle to her. She in turn went and explained it to her
people. When they came to Samson with
the answer to the riddle he knew that they had pried the answer out of his wife
but he kept his end of the wager. The Spirit
of The Lord came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon. There he slew thirty men, stripped them of
their clothing, and gave them to the men who had explained the riddle. While he was gone, Samson’s wife was given to
one of his companions who had attended the wedding feast. (Judges 14:16-20)
Application
The Bible teaches us that as believers we should not be
“… unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” (2 Corinthians 6:14) Those who have different beliefs may also
have different loyalties. They may
attempt to persuade you to violate your beliefs and do unrighteous behaviors,
or just be unkind and disrespectful to you.
Fellowship with like-minded individuals.
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