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