January 21, 2024
Passage Read: Judges 14-17
Meditation Verse: 14:4
Thought
Samson is no paragon of virtue, yet he is chosen by God to plague the Philistines, who rule over His people. He is no model of godliness. Instead, he is ruled by his passions. What were his parents thinking, to raise him to be so unruly? He was supposed to be a Nazirite, set apart to the Lord, but the only part he seemed to have was the hair and avoiding wine and grapes. There was nothing else about him that would mark him as dedicated to God. Perhaps that was more to blame on the general lack of godliness and God-awareness in Israel at the time. They seem to know nothing other than His name. Yet God used Samson to punish the Philistines and to give the Israelites some relief from their oppression. He didn't cast off their yoke, but harassed them for a season.
Application
Samson is a tragic person, knowing little of the Lord, being ruled by his passions and having his bad choices lead to Philistine attacks. A cycle of revenge and bad choices. Being plagued by his overconfidence and an inability to see when people are taking advantage of him rather than truly caring about him. Two women he supposedly loved accused him of not loving them because he wouldn't tell his secrets, then they immediately used the knowledge against him. This is not how I want to be used by the Lord to advance His agenda. I would much rather know the Lord's heart and live in obedience to fulfill His purposes, rather than be a blunt instrument in His hand to punish His enemies, yet ignorant of His heart. Samson, like his neighbors, seems to have known little if anything about the Lord, and he accomplished God's will by his uncontrolled passions, remaining ignorant of God. How sad. God was to him little more than an idol, little more than the false gods of the Philistines, just something that was there, that hopefully did good to him, but being nothing he could know and understand. He was on his own, hoping God would back him up, more superstitious than believing, but fully confident in his strength. How like so many Christians today, hoping God's there but unaware that they can truly have a relationship with Him, that they can know Him and understand His will and walk by it.