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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Judg. 13-14
Though Samson was dedicated to God from his miraculous birth, He was not a righteous and God fearing man. He defied God’s ways by uniting by marriage with his enemies. He chose his wife, “because she seemed right to [him].” (Jud. 14:7b). Neither is there any evidence of concern regarding the uncleanliness associated with the dead lion’s carcass. Furthermore, he didn’t hesitate to take vengeance into his own hands when the Philistines wronged him. Nope – definitely not seeing any Godly fruits in this man!
Yet Samson was God’s chosen instrument for delivering His people from the Philistines. Technically, God said that Samson would only begin the deliverance. In any case, God miraculously formed him in a once barren womb for a very specific purpose. More than that, I see God using Samson’s sinful nature to bring about that purpose. That’s all kind of mind-blowing to me, and it raises a lot of questions. I need to remember God’s answer to Job, though, and realize that His ways are far beyond my understanding. So the only thing I really need to see here is that God doesn’t need righteous men to accomplish His plan. He uses even the faithless and the wicked in this world for His good purposes. Which tells me there is nothing that can stand in His way.
Judg. 15
From what I can tell, everything Samson did to the Philistines was for his own vengeance rather than for God’s glory. Samson was the twelfth judge. He was at the bottom of a descending spiral, moving the Israelites farther and farther away from God. To me, it is an indication that we don’t need to worry about God giving up on us. His lovingkindness is indeed everlasting and His mercies are new every morning (see Lam. 3:22-23). The thing we need to worry about is doing what the Israelites did. Their hearts became so calloused that they stopped responding to God’s lovingkindness and mercy.