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turn in your Bibles to Judges 
chapter 14 as we continue our study in this book. Specifically, 
we're in the Samson cycle. Remember that God raises up men 
to deliver Israel from their oppressors. This is the main 
section of the book of Judges. It starts in chapter 3 at verse 
7 and continues to chapter 16, verse 31. So Samson is the last 
of the Judges referred to or written of. in this particular 
book. The last few chapters are appendices, 
basically to illustrate how wicked life was during the time of the 
judges. Remember here in Judges 14, or 
last week in Judges 13, we saw the birth of Samson, his supernatural 
birth. The angel of the Lord comes to 
his mother, who was barren, and promises a son. And then she 
does bring forth a son They call his name Samson. According to 
chapter 13, verse 24, the child grew and the Lord blessed him. 
And the spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahana Dan, 
between Zorah and Eshter. And then in chapters 14 and 15, 
the narrative takes place, or the activity takes place in Timna. And then in chapter 16, it takes 
place in Gaza. Remember that the pressing agent 
is the Philistines. And tonight, as we study chapter 
14, we'll see the beginning of God's deliverance from the oppression 
of the Philistines. So beginning in chapter 14 at 
verse 1. Now Samson went down to Timnah 
and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 
So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, I have seen 
a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore, 
get her for me as a wife. Then his father and mother said 
to him, is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, 
or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from 
the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, 
get her for me, for she pleases me well. But his father and mother 
did not know that it was of the Lord, that he was seeking an 
occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time, 
the Philistines had dominion over Israel. So Samson went down 
to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards 
of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young 
lion came roaring against him, and the spirit of the Lord came 
mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have 
torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But 
he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. 
Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased 
Samson well. After some time, when he returned 
to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. 
And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of 
the lion. He took some of it in his hands and went along eating. 
When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, 
and they also ate. But he did not tell them that 
he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. So his 
father went down to the woman, and Samson gave a feast there, 
for young men used to do so. And it happened, when they saw 
him, that they brought 30 companions to be with him. Then Samson said 
to them, let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly 
solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, 
then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing. But if you cannot explain it 
to me, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes 
of clothing. And they said to him, pose your 
riddle that we may hear it. So he said to them, out of the 
eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something 
sweet. Now for three days they could 
not explain the riddle. But it came to pass on the seventh 
day that they said to Samson's wife, entice your husband that 
he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you 
and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us in 
order to take what is ours? Is that not so? Then Samson's 
wife wept on him and said, you only hate me. You do not love 
me. You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you 
have not explained it to me. And he said to her, look, I have 
not explained it to my father or my mother. So should I explain 
it to you? Now she had wept on him the seven 
days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh 
day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then 
she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. So the men 
of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went 
down, what is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? 
And he said to them, if you had not plowed with my heifer, you 
would not have solved my riddle. Then the spirit of the Lord came 
upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 
of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing 
to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, 
and he went back up to his father's house. And Samson's wife was 
given to his companion who had been his best man. Amen. I just love this guy. Samson's great. So basically 
what we have in this particular section, as I said, it's set 
in Timnah. We have first the divine design 
behind Samson's marriage, verses 1 to 4. Secondly, the spiritual 
empowerment of God's deliverer in verses 5 to 9. And then the 
small beginnings of God's deliverance in verses 10 to 20. So the main 
plot, of course, is Samson's marriage to the Timnite. Subplot, 
or a secondary plot, is this incident with the lion. Of course, 
the lion incident provides much, or provides explanation for the 
riddle and the things that go on in the actual marriage, or 
time of his marriage. to this particular woman. So 
we'll look at this under those three headings and try and make 
some observations or some practical lessons along the way. Note first, 
with reference to the divine design behind Samson's marriage, 
verses 1 to 4, Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in 
Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines." This is common 
in this particular chapter. He went down. Verses 1, 5, 7, 
10, and 19. The very end it says, then he 
went up to his father's house. And so the narrative seems to 
have this sort of a structure to it. It's his movement, it's 
his action, it's what he thinks, it's what he says. Notice that 
he sees a woman. He has a desire for a particular 
woman. He saw one woman of Timnah of 
the daughters of the Philistines. So he went up and told his father 
and mother, saying, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters 
of the Philistines. Now, therefore, get her for me 
as a wife. Now, the prohibition in Exodus 
34 and Deuteronomy 7 was against marriage specifically to the 
Canaanites. But the principal reason was 
because when they married the Canaanites, they would be led 
astray to worship the Canaanites' gods. And so the same principle 
is at play here. The Philistines worship Dagon, 
and so what he is doing here is outside of the boundary. He 
ought not to be pursuing this wife, at least in terms of his 
parents' concern for him. Now we know, as we read through 
specifically in verse 4, that this is of the Lord. Notice in 
chapter 13, verse 25, the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon 
him. And then in chapter 14, 4, but 
his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord. 
We see God's sovereignty working through this man's desires for 
a particular woman in Timnah. We need to understand that God's 
sovereignty overrules every aspect of life. And in fact, in this 
particular chapter, it's almost like a soap opera in Timnah, 
if it wasn't the fact that God the Lord was present and overruling 
all these things. We have marriage, we have a nagging 
wife, We have a bitter father-in-law. We have a lion. We have all kinds 
of things that make for a very intriguing story about life in 
Timna if we didn't have the reality that a sovereign God is working 
through all of these events to orchestrate his particular plan 
to bring deliverance to the children of Israel from the oppression 
that is brought to them via the Philistines. So he sees the woman, 
he wants the woman, and he's reproved then by his parents 
in verse 3. Then his father and mother said 
to him, is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren? 
Isn't there a nice Hebrew girl that you'd like to settle down 
with? Isn't there somebody a little bit closer to home that you'd 
like to marry and raise children with? We want to make sure that 
our grandchildren are not half uncircumcised Philistines. We 
want to make sure that they have the seal and the approval of 
the God of heaven and earth, the God of Israel. That is essentially 
what they are saying here. Is there no woman among the daughters 
of your brethren or among all my people that you must go and 
get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines." So they're pleading 
with him. They reprove him. They're rebuking 
him. They want him to keep within 
the Hebrew nation or the Israelite nation and marry one of those 
particular girls. But he was determined to have 
this particular woman. Notice 3b. Samson said to his 
father, get her for me, for she pleases me well. As we pointed 
out last week, look at your marginal reading if you've got the New 
King James. She is right in my eyes. That will come up later 
twice in the Book of Judges. Everyone did what was right in 
their own eyes. They did what was pleasing to 
them. And so Samson does not listen 
to his parents at this particular juncture, But what we find in 
verse 4 is the reality that this situation was of the Lord. Again, I think there's comfort 
here. I'll read a quote in just a moment. 
Sometimes our children may do things that we have not told 
them to do. Sometimes they may depart from 
the way that is well-pleasing in our sight. Sometimes they 
make decisions that we would consider to be very ignorant, 
very foolish, and very wrong. Samson's parents were not wrong 
to intervene in this particular juncture. They were not wrong 
to suggest to Samson that he find a girl among the people 
of Israel. But we see that there is a larger 
scheme going on. There is a larger plan behind 
all of this. Remember that Israel was content 
with Philistine oppression. Israel had gotten to the place 
where they didn't cry out about the oppression of the Philistines. 
We see in chapter 15 that the people from Judah themselves 
are willing to deliver the deliverer over into the hands of the Philistines 
because they don't want to rock the boat. They don't want to 
mess with the status quo. And so what God does is he tries, 
or he doesn't try, he purposes to bring friction between Israel 
and the Philistines. And that's what verse 4 tells 
us. It says, but his father and mother did not know that it was 
of the Lord. This whole idea that Samson wanted 
this woman from Timnah. And note specifically that he, 
God, was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. 
For at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel. And 
again, we have to marvel at the mysterious ways and the purposes 
of our God. He doesn't just send Samson in 
against the Philistines with guns blazing. He sends Samson 
in there and gives him a hankering for this particular woman to 
marry her and then to start this series of events. What we find 
here in chapter 14 culminates in chapter 15 at verses 19 and 
20. The first down payment is only 
30 men at the end of chapter 14 from Ashkelon, but then the 
destruction of Philistines extends out from that. So you see, God 
starts with very small beginnings. as a marriage to a Philistine 
woman ends with Samson being the deliverer over Israel, crushing 
Philistine oppression and opposition. So his father and mother did 
not know that it was of the Lord that God was seeking an occasion 
to move against the Philistines. The children of Israel were at 
peace with the Philistines. The Lord would stir things up 
to break that oppression. The marriage of Samson to the 
Timnite woman was the occasion for God to move against the Philistines. And we see, of course, the Lord's 
sovereignty working through things that, at least on a surface level, 
appear to be very mundane, things that appear to be very garden 
variety. Here we see a Samson, and he 
desires this woman. And Samson gets a great deal 
of bad press. I think he gets close to some 
situations, but I'm not sure that we can condemn him with 
all the sorts of things that commentators have heaped upon 
him over the years. He really isn't that bad of a 
guy. He is an imperfect man because 
there's only one perfect deliverer, and Samson points forward to 
him. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. 
But it says his father and mother did not know that it was of the 
Lord. doesn't say that Samson didn't know that it was of the 
Lord. Samson is God's man doing God's 
bidding for God's purpose to stir up friction and tension 
with the Philistines so that God the Lord can bring these 
people under subjection to the Israelites. But just based on 
what the parents are observing. As I mentioned, there's a wonderful 
lesson here, and I think Davis captures this well. He says, 
many Christian parents have stood in the sandals of Manoah and 
his wife. Sure, we could say all Christian 
parents. We've all told our kids good things that they should 
do. You should do this. And then they go out and do just 
the opposite. You shouldn't do this. And they 
go out and do precisely that. We've all given a laundry list 
of counsel to all of our children, and many times they have just 
thrown it to the wind and done what was right in their own eyes, 
right? Similar to what Samson's doing 
in this instance. Again, from the vantage point 
of Minoa and Missus. So he says, many Christian parents 
have stood in the sandals of Manoah and his wife. They have, 
though realizing their own sinful inadequacies, faithfully taught, 
prayed for, disciplined, and loved a son or daughter only 
to see that child willfully turn from the way of the Lord. He 
says no one can deny it is anything but devastating, yet no one should 
forget verse four. But his father and his mother 
did not realize it was from Yahweh. Davis then says what we don't 
know may yet prove to be our deepest comfort. While there's 
breath, there's hope. We ought never to give up. On 
a child, we ought never to say, I've done all I can do. Now he's 
going off into hell. We pray. We're faithful. We continue to implore, beseech. But who knows if we don't have 
a 14-4 incident in our lives. But his father and mother did 
not know that it was of the Lord, that the Lord was seeking an 
occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time, 
the Philistines had dominion over Israel. So Manoah and his 
wife try and tell Samson not to take a woman from the uncircumcised 
Philistines. Samson says, get her for me, 
for she is right in my eyes. Probably this broke their heart. 
Probably this discouraged them. Probably they thought, where 
have we gone wrong? What have we done? How did this 
turn out in such a bad way and in such a bad manner? But we 
have the blessed prerogative of verse 4 to realize that God 
is sovereign, even over the whims of a young man who wants a Timnite 
woman. And the Lord is going to use 
this as an occasion to bring salvation and deliverance to 
his battered down people, Israel. Truly is the divine design behind 
Samson's marriage. Now note, secondly, the spiritual 
empowerment of God's deliverer, verses 5 to 9. So Samson went 
down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards 
of Timnah. Again, there's all kinds of hints 
in the narrative that Samson is doing wrong things, but the 
narrator never tells us that he's actually doing wrong things. 
If you're a Nazirite, the very last place that you want to be 
is in a vineyard. You're not supposed to eat anything 
that comes off a vine. Why Samson is meandering about 
in a vineyard, I will never know, but this is kind of an interesting 
scenario. So Samson went down to Timna 
with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timna. 
Now the father and mother are no longer with him. We know this 
because of the way the narrative plays out. But note what happens 
in verse 5b. Now to his surprise, a young 
lion came roaring against him. Of course that would be to his 
surprise. This is fantastic storytelling as well, by the way. Judges has 
got a thrill. I mean, as you read through this, 
it's so vivid. The pictures are so glorious 
of what God is doing. So now to his surprise, a young 
lion came roaring against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came 
mightily upon him. The ESV captures the Hebrew better. The Spirit of the Lord rushed 
upon him. The Spirit of God empowers him. The Spirit of God enables him. 
The Spirit of God equips him. And this is the continuing theme 
throughout this particular chapter. It is the Spirit of the Lord 
that empowers his servant in order to bring deliverance from 
the oppressing Philistines. This is the point. As colorful 
as the story is, as exciting as it may be, the bottom line 
is that God's Spirit is empowering this man for service to Yahweh 
to bring destruction to the Philistines. So the Spirit of the Lord comes 
mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have 
torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But 
he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Davis again said this, the mangled 
lion is meant as Yahweh's sign to Samson. When you read that, 
you say, wow, that's kind of interesting, Samson killed a 
lion. Well, what's the point? What is God telling Samson? I 
will be with you. I will strengthen you. When it 
comes time to deal with Philistine oppression, you will be able 
to render destruction to them." This is a down payment, if you 
will, similar to what King David got as a shepherd. Remember, 
David's preparation for battle against Goliath was not his ability 
to don Saul's armor. but it was because he spent time 
watching over sheep. And when lions or bears or other 
predatory animals came to attack those sheep, David realized something 
of the power of God when he ripped those beasts into two. God's 
down payment. He's going to equip David so 
that he can take down Goliath. He's going to equip Samson in 
this trial run against the lion in order to confirm and affirm 
to Samson that when strength is needed to battle against Philistines, 
strength will be present for him. Davis again, the mangled 
lion is meant as Yahweh's sign to Samson. It shows him what 
God can and will do through him. It should show him that the God 
who makes him able to tear up lions can also empower him to 
terrorize Philistines. Here is a preview of what God 
can do through Samson. And then Davis draws out a very 
practical application for us. Very often it's in the small 
things where God affirms and confirms to us that gives us 
the basis upon which we proceed to the bigger things. We realize 
that if God delivers us from the mouth of the lion, He's going 
to deliver us from the attack of the Philistines. If God is 
going to keep us in the mundane, God is going to preserve us in 
the threatening. If God is going to promise His 
fidelity to us through trial, through storm, He will be there 
in persecution as well. Again, Davis says, no, you needn't 
expect lions to come roaring out of vineyards. but you should 
notice this pattern in God's ways. He will, by some smaller 
episode of deliverance or provision, show you how adequate He is so 
that you will be encouraged to rely on Him in upcoming and possibly 
more demanding circumstances. In other words, Samson now functions 
as a man who has tried and proven his God. When it comes to killing 
Philistines, he knows what the power of the Spirit of the Lord 
is, and he knows how it can enable. And so when Samson takes on these 
Philistines, he doesn't do so in fear. He doesn't do so with 
cowardice. He doesn't do so with any hesitation. He realizes that the Spirit of 
the Lord that gave him the ability to rip apart a lion. Note what 
the text says. He didn't have anything in his 
hand. I mean, that's pretty amazing. I've never wrestled with a lion, 
and I hope, under God, I never have to wrestle with a lion. 
But if I'm called upon to do so, I hope I have a hardy butcher 
knife or some other means by which I can have some advantage 
against that beast. But the text is very specific. 
He tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young 
goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell 
his father or his mother what he had done. Now, if Sampson 
was a proud man, wouldn't he have told them? I mean, did he 
know there was going to be this honey? Did he know there was 
going to be this riddle? No. I mean, that's kind of a 
sign of humility. I've got to tell you, if I ripped 
apart a lion, I would blog about that. I would open a Facebook 
account just so I could put that as a status. I would certainly 
Twitter it. I would tell everybody here at 
Bible Study. I would probably make sure I got it into a sermon. 
Yeah, it was like the other day when I was walking home through 
the vineyards. I ripped apart a lion. I mean, come on, why 
else rip apart a lion if you don't get to brag about it? But 
Samson is conspicuously silent about it. He did not tell his 
father or his mother what he had done. Now notice, this may 
again be a hint of the imperfections of our deliverer. I think the 
narrator wants us to see. Not that Samson is the biggest 
wretch in the world, but we also ought to appreciate that he's 
not without sin. Notice in verses 7 to 9. And 
again, seems like he comes very close, but most of the times 
we will understand that he actually violated the Nazirite vow. Then 
he went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson 
well. It's the first time he's talked to her. Notice we don't 
hear from her until she starts nagging him to tell the riddle. 
She's a silent spectator up until the point when she's useful to 
the men of Timna when they want the answer to Samson's riddle. 
But at this point, Samson talks with the woman, and she pleased 
Samson well. After some time, verse 8, when 
he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the 
lion. Apparently, Very hot climates, the lion carcass would have been 
dried out very effectively and very quickly. The idea that it 
was still wet or bloody certainly would not bespeak of a hospitable 
environment to bees. But according to the commentator 
scholars, it dried quickly, and so this is what happens. He turns 
aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of 
bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of 
it in his hands and went along eating. When he came to his father 
and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did 
not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass 
of the lion. There's supposed to be no contact with a dead 
thing. That's part and parcel of a Nazirite 
vow. You can't have anything that 
comes from the vine, you can't shave your head, and you certainly 
can't have contact with a dead thing. You certainly aren't supposed 
to scoop your hand in and pull the honey out and eat it and 
gobble it down. Now, the fact that he doesn't 
tell his parents seems to intimate that he did violate that Nazirite 
vow. He wanted to protect their conscience. 
He hands them some honey. They lap it up. They don't say, 
where did it come from? Because it was not only a Nazirite 
vow, but no child of Israel was supposed to touch a carcass. 
you are not supposed to touch a dead thing. Leviticus chapter 
11 deals with this in some degree of detail. So this may be an 
indication that Samson was not consistent with his Nazirite 
vow. Most of the commentators take 
it that way. So anyways, this then provides 
the fodder for the riddle that he will tell to these people 
in Timnah. And that brings us finally to 
the small beginnings of God's deliverance in verses 10 to 20. Note the feast. This was probably a drinking 
feast. Again, that Samson throws this 
as a Nazirite doesn't necessarily mean that he participated in 
drinking himself, but that is essentially what people did at 
the seven-day feast. They drank a lot. They partied. It was a time of feasting. That's 
why it says Samson gave a feast there for the young men, or for 
young men used to do so. Verse 11 says, and it happened 
when they saw him, they probably the family of the Timnite woman, 
that they brought 30 companions to be with him. This is probably 
bodyguards. They were probably a bit afraid 
of Samson. They didn't know all the ins 
and outs. They certainly didn't know the prerogative of Yahweh. 
But Samson probably looked like he could rip lions apart. Samson 
probably wasn't 90 pounds soaking wet. Samson probably was something 
of a formidable man. And this man comes to take one 
of their women, so they say, why don't we send 30 companions 
there to keep an eye on things, just to make sure that everything 
soars along the way it ought to go. That's probably what these 
companions are in verse 11. Now notice the riddle, verses 
12 to 18. Samson challenges them. He's 
such a colorful guy. I mean, I wouldn't think of this. 
Hey, let's have a contest. Look at what he says. Samson 
said to them, let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly 
solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, 
then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing. 
This is a good thing. This is a lot of money. This 
is something that's very expensive. This is a big prize for this 
particular contest. And again, we look at the text 
and what's happening. Marriage to a Tim Knight woman. 
a riddle, a nagging wife, a bitter father-in-law. This is God's 
plan to overthrow the Philistines. See, we would think God uses 
world wars. God uses the big events. God uses massive movements of 
men to accomplish his will. God uses one deliverer named 
Samson, who in all of his colorfulness goes into Timnah, says, I want 
that particular woman. Get her for me. 30 guys are now 
his companions. And he says, let's have a bet. Let's have a contest. Let's engage 
in some fun. Let me pose a riddle to you. 
If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven 
days of the feast, then I will give you 30 linen garments and 
30 changes of clothing. But if you cannot explain it 
to me, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes 
of clothing. I am quite confident that Samson 
knew he was going to win. They didn't have the benefit 
of seven to nine. They didn't know he scooped this 
honey out of this lion. They didn't know all the ins 
and outs of the previous exploits that he had undergone. Not even 
his parents did. That's why he's able to tell 
his nagging wife, not even my mother and father know the answer 
to this riddle. It was between him and God. And 
because we're in on this, it's between him, God, and us. We 
know what's going on. The narrators let us in on Samson's 
secret. We know the riddle. We know what's 
up. So they accept this particular challenge. And they said to him, 
pose your riddle, that we may hear it. So he said to them, 
out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong 
came something sweet. Now having the answer, it's simple, 
isn't it? But if you didn't have the answer 
and you didn't have the background of 7 to 9, is there any one of 
us who would figure that out? Please do not begin to say, oh 
yes, I think I would have gotten that. No, you wouldn't have. 
This is a very difficult riddle. Samson knows he's going to become 
the winner. He's going to get 30 garments, 
he's going to get 30 linens, he's going to be the richer for 
this. Now notice at the end of verse 
14, now for three days they could not explain the riddle. Verse 
15, it came to pass on the seventh day. There's a variant that reads 
the fourth day. Some of your Bibles might have 
four. They say it couldn't be the seventh because we have the 
seventh and then the seventh. Well, probably each of the seven 
days, Samson's wife, in an informal way, was trying to ply him, was 
trying to get the answer out of him. But notice in verse 15, 
it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's 
wife, entice your husband that he may explain the riddle to 
us or else we will burn you and your father's house with fire." 
Now, lest you forget what kind of people the Philistines are, 
here you go. Here's what you're dealing with. 
They're going to murder this woman, they're going to murder 
her father, and they're going to burn the house down. Now, 
unfortunately, that actually transpires. The bitter father-in-law 
gives Samson's wife to another. Samson goes out and takes vengeance. These men come back and burn 
her and her father with fire. So unfortunately, what she is 
threatened with actually does transpire. They say, entice your 
husband that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will 
burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us 
in order to take what is ours? Is that not so? They're applying 
pressure to her. Are you really in cahoots with 
him? Are you working now with the Israelites? Are you trying 
to destroy us from within? Are you trying to sabotage your 
people? Are you trying to make it such 
that we lose a grip on these people? Notice what happens, 
verse 16. Then Samson's wife wept on him 
and said, you only hate me. You do not love me. You have 
posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained 
it to me. She is weeping on him. She is plying him. She is pressuring 
him. She manipulates him with tears 
and rhetoric. He resists her by saying, not 
even my parents know. Now notice what it says in verse 
17. She had wept on him the seven 
days while their feast lasted, and it happened on the seventh 
day that he told her because she pressed him so much. This 
is where his weakness lies. He couldn't deal with nagging 
women. He couldn't deal with the pressure of a woman. The 
same thing is Delilah in 1616. This man filled with the spirit 
of the Lord, this man mighty to rip open a lion, this man 
able to go in and walk down to Ashkelon and kill 30 men and 
take their garments and bring it to pay his debt, this man 
who's going to go head to head with these Philistines, not with 
an army, but by himself. Locke says, from the narrator's 
perspective, despite Samson's great physical strength and the 
force of his Nazirite vow, he is completely helpless when confronted 
with the love of women. From Yahweh's perspective, the 
amorous or love desires of this man provide the occasions for 
the beginning of conflicts between Samson and the Philistines. So she is on him. She is pressuring 
him. He says, look, verse 16, I have 
not explained it to my father or my mother, so should I explain 
it to you? Now she had wept on him the seven 
days while their feast lasted, and it happened on the seventh 
day that he told her because she pressed him so much, then 
she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. Verse 18, so the men of the city 
said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what 
is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion? They 
got it, right? Look at Samson's response. And 
he said to them, if you had not plowed with my heifer, you would 
not have solved my riddle. In other words, you cheated. 
And Bloch tells us, his reference to his wife as his heifer is 
as disparaging in the Hebrew as it is in the English. My cow, 
you had not plowed with her. Samson is just bringing it. He's 
a very earthy, very down-to-earth guy. Davis says, Samson is no 
dummy. He knows sweet honey and strong 
lions come from talking heifers. But this is the occasion upon 
which God is going to use him to bring judgment upon the Philistines. And that brings us to the beginning 
of deliverance in verses 19 and 20. Notice. Then the spirit of 
the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon. 
This was about 20 miles southwest of Timna. It was one of the cities 
of the Philistines. So he goes down to Ashkelon. 
He kills 30 of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes 
of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his 
anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father's house. Now, we might be inclined to 
say, well, wait a minute. What do these Ashkelonites do? 
I mean, they're just minding their own business. They weren't 
involved in this wedding ceremony. They don't live in Timna. They 
weren't part of those who had the riddle. They were Philistines. 
What does God the Lord promise through his servant? He shall 
begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. 
There's only 30 of these men. This is a beginning of Samson's 
beginning to deliver Israel out of the oppression of the Philistines. This is the Spirit of the Lord 
moving him and directing him in order to do this. Again, Davis 
is very perceptive when he says this. The text then is clear. What we are dealing with is not 
Samson's temper, but the Spirit's power. You see, it's easy for 
us to look at this narrative and say, here is Samson, a man 
who can't govern his passions. He goes to Timnah. He wants this 
wife. He's going to do whatever it 
takes to get her. He goes, and he kills this lion, 
and he has this riddle, and he takes advantage of these men. 
And we have this view of Samson that he's just meandering about 
as a man who can't govern his own passions. Now certainly there's 
a hint of that. He certainly can't withstand 
the plying of a wife that's weeping on him and all that sort of thing. 
But this is not an occasion where he's not governing his passions. 
This is spirit-directed combat. David says what we're dealing 
with is not Samson's temper, but the Spirit's power. If this 
seems brutal, we must simply live with it. We have already 
seen that when Yahweh delivers his people, he does not always 
dip his saving acts in Clorox and sprinkle them with perfume. 
To be delivered from evil will frequently be messy. And that's 
what's going on in verses 19 and 20. The Spirit of the Lord 
comes upon him, he goes over to Ashkelon, he kills 30 of those 
men, he takes their garments, and he faithfully pays his debt 
to those ones that he entered the riddle contest with. But 
this is of God, this is the beginning of the judgment upon the Philistines 
that the Lord has orchestrated and that he's raised Samson up 
to bring this deliverance to pass. So his anger, Samson's, 
was aroused and he went up to his father's house. And then 
notice, verse 20. And Samson's wife was given to 
his companion, who had been his best man. So this sets the stage 
for further exploits against the Philistines. Enter 15.1. 
Samson goes back to his wife's house, not with flowers in his 
hand, but with a young goat under his arm. This is the way you 
went to courting in those days. This is the way you paid a visit 
to your wife. What happens? Daddy says, oh, 
by the way. I gave her to another man. What does Samson do? Well, that's 
just cool and fine and dandy. No, Samson brings the judgment 
of God to bear upon these Philistines. We have to appreciate that God 
is navigating through all of these mundane details. As I said 
at the outset, if we didn't have any mention of Yahweh in chapter 
14, this would look like a soap opera. It would look like a reality 
show. It would look like life in Timna 
on a given day where there's a lot of weird things happening. 
But God is behind the scenes orchestrating all of this so 
that the oppression of the Philistines can be broken and so that God's 
people will be liberated. Samson is the deliverer that 
the Lord raised up to bring about his particular plan in this particular 
situation. So we see, I hope it's been clear, 
the hidden purpose of God. Things that we probably wouldn't 
have designed. I mean, if you were God, you'd 
say, I want you to send in an airstrike and deal with those 
Philistines. Just take them out once and for all. It certainly 
wouldn't be through a marriage, through a lion attack. through 
a riddle, through a nagging wife, and through a bitter father-in-law. 
Those would not be the means that you and I would employ. 
Do you understand how that makes Bible reading enjoyable? Do you 
not want to read the book of Judges when you see these sorts 
of things? Do you not appreciate the government 
of God when He takes such mundane things and works His will out 
through them? Isn't this what is exciting about 
biblical revelation? It's not just God sent an airstrike 
upon this people and upon that people. Some of the narrative 
reads that way. When Joshua and the children 
of Israel are going in and conquering in the southern campaign and 
the northern campaign, oftentimes it's just summarized and told 
what land has been taken, what parcel has been separated, what 
people have been dashed to pieces. But here, God the Lord, through 
this man, the author of Judges, is weaving a tale so glorious 
because it speaks of such a wondrous and a sovereign God who's able 
to take a Samson and his parents and a bunch of people in Timnah 
and orchestrate the deliverance of his people. Secondly, we see 
the imperfection of God's people. Samson is a rollicking character. Samson jumps off the pages of 
scripture. He's bouncing from place to place. 
He's doing his thing. He's posing his riddles. He's 
saying things like, if you had not plowed with my heifer, you 
would not have solved my riddle. That's funny. That is really 
funny stuff. It's hard not to appreciate the 
wit of a Samson. But what we find in the rest 
of the Bible is positive affirmation that this was in fact God's man 
for God's purpose. Hebrews 11.32, and what more 
shall I say? For the time would fail me to 
tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah. Also of 
David and Samuel and the prophets. Each of these men that we have 
considered in the book of Judges, Gideon, Barrett, Samson, Jephthah, 
if we, God willing, continue on from Judges, we're going to 
skip Ruth, I think, and get right into 1 Samuel. We are going to 
see David. Was David without sin? Was David 
without blemish? Was David without imperfection? 
No, each of these men had their blemish. Each of these men had 
their issues. Each of these men had their struggles, 
but God the Lord used them nevertheless. If there is a place in God's 
plan for a Samson, a Japheth, a Gideon, and a Barak, Certainly, 
the Lord can do something through us in whatever sphere of influence 
we find ourselves in if we seek to faithfully honor and obey 
and serve him. And then the final lesson that 
we ought to appreciate is the faithfulness of God to his word. We've already mentioned this 
in 13.5, 13.5, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, 
and no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall 
be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver 
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. We get to 14.19, 
excuse me, we say, wait a minute, there's only 30 people there. 
Yeah, there's a beginning to the beginning. Small steps lead 
to large victories. 30 here, 1,000 here, 3,000 there. You see how God the Lord works. He doesn't just make these massive 
impositions, but rather he takes Samson and leads him by the hand 
to do his bidding, to do his will. So God is faithful to his 
word, even though Israel did not see how bad it was to be 
oppressed under the Philistines, God uses Samson to bring this 
friction, to bring this tension, to bring this out, so that God 
can bring deliverance to his people because he loves them, 
because he's kind to them, and because he has covenanted to 
them that he would be their God, he would fight their battles, 
he would defend them, and he would bring them peace and harmony 
in the land. So that's Judges 14. Why don't 
we pray, and if there are any questions, we can talk about 
that. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this 
exciting portion of scripture. who is such an exciting man, 
but even more than that, we see such a glorious God behind the 
scenes, orchestrating His will through His servants. We ask 
that You would just help us to see Your faithfulness to Your 
Word. Help us to see Your sovereign purposes in all things. Help 
us to see, God, that You do cause all things to work for good, 
to those who love You, to those who are the called according 
to Your purpose. We bless you and we thank you for this time 
together. We thank you for the presence 
of your spirit. We ask that you would take these 
lessons and write them on our hearts and encourage us, God. 
Encourage us as parents. Encourage us as those who witness 
to others, as those who have influence in other people's lives. 
We see people doing things that are not consistent with what 
your word says. Help us nevertheless to realize 
that you can take the crooked and make straight things from 
it. God, go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.