February 22, 2022 - Judges 13-16

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (13:1). Again!! But an angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, and though she was barren, the angel told her that she would have a son and that he would be a Nazirite (Numbers 6 – one set aside for special service/commitment to the Lord). And so, Samson was born. A timeline of his life:

• He grew and the Lord blessed him.

• He went down to Timnah and met a Philistine girl.

• At Timnah, a lion came upon him and his parents and he slew it with his hands.

• Later, he returned to Timnah to marry the girl, and he ate honey out of the lion’s carcass.

• He did the riddle thing with the Timnahites, killed 30 men, and his wife was given to another.

• Samson returned to Timnah to discover his wife was given to another (his best man!), and using foxes and torches, he burned the Philistines’ crops.

• With the jawbone of a donkey, he slew one thousand Philistines.

• He judged Israel for 20 years.

• And, then, the whole thing with Delilah. What a mess!

Though, in the end, Samson found redemption, oh, that his lifelong plea (and ours) would be:

I am weak but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I'll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. --Anonymous