Judges 14:3-93Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 4But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 5Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 6And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. 7And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 9And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. (Judges 14:3‑9)
If there should be some young believer reading these lines, and you are going “down” to some worldly place, as Samson did, may this be a voice from the Lord to you. You are in great danger, as Samson was, and your next step may be like his — you may see some nice boy or girl there in that worldly place and fall in love with him or her. Dear young reader, let us warn you now to retrace your steps before it is too late, before your heart has been taken up with some enemy of the Lord. Think of the prophet’s solemn rebuke to Jehoshaphat, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.” 2 Chron. 19:22And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. (2 Chronicles 19:2). Samson’s course brought sorrow to him, as did Jehoshaphat’s, and many others—and yours will too, if you continue in it.
The young limp that roared against Samson when he went down to Timnath, ought to have shown him that the course he was pursuing was wrong; but when we are away ‘from the Lord we are slow to listen to God’s warnings. And yet God is patient with us, and does not allow us to be overcome all at once. He is faithful and helps us, as He delivered Samson from the lion here, so that we recognize His goodness in delivering us, and glorify Him. And yet how often we go on, “not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth ... to repentance.” Romans 2:44Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Romans 2:4). Yes, we are often like Samson who, even after the lion had roared against him (typical of Satan’s power, 1 Peter 5:88Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)), still went on down to see ‘this woman of the Philistines, and “she pleased Samson well.”
After a while he returned, intending to marry her, and as he passed the carcass of the lion he had killed, he turned aside and found there was a hive of bees with honey in it. He therefore took some of the honey in his hands and began to eat it, giving some to his father and his mother also. Again we learn a precious lesson here of how God would feed the wayward soul, so that the remembrance of His wondrous love and grace might cause the heart to go out to Him. In this way He seeks to draw us from paths of sin, and constrain us to follow Him. And yet how terribly willful we can be! We will not listen to warnings, or to love, when we have chosen our own way. This has happened over and over again with young people whom we know! God’s warnings have passed unheeded, and then they have gone to some Bible conference or Christian gathering, and their hearts have been warmed with the sweetness of the love of Christ. They have even spoken of it to others, giving us a fresh ray of hope, but alas they have not been exercised about our own way. We are slow to let it constrain us. We believe, therefore, that Samson’s killing the lion, typifies to us the Lord Jesus, the true Nazarite, who in going to the cross to bear our sins, met all Satan’s power and utterly defeated him. Now out of the their willful ways. And so here, Samson did not tell his parents where he got the honey — it would have necessitated a confession! God’s love that is greater than all the power of Satan ought ever to constrain our hearts after Christ, and yet how often, though we are thankful for that love, we still want eater (the devil who had the power of death) has come forth sweetness, and we can rejoice in the triumphs of Christ’s finished work at Calvary.
ML 11/22/1953