Judges 14 Commentary
His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” Indeed, isn’t there an acceptable man or woman among the brethren? Must you go to the nightclub to get a spouse?
In Deuteronomy 7 verse 3, the LORD forbade Israel from marrying daughters of the Canaanites. Here we see this godly couple provide godly counsel to Samson based on the word of the LORD. But Samson doesn’t take the counsel. He is a grown man. He can make decisions by himself but that won’t absolve his parents of their duty to communicate the counsel of the LORD.
We are also impressed with the fact that the counsel of the LORD is communicated by both parents. The two needed to be on the same page. That is the will of the LORD.
The LORD seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines is very interesting. Could it be that Samson had become too comfortable and didn’t see anything wrong with the status quo? Would we be wrong to conclude that only a personal loss would compel Samson to act? This is for those anointed for specific missions: must the LORD disturb our comfort zones for us to act? Shouldn’t the presence of oppression be sufficient reason to stir us to action?
You can draw parallels with the story of David. The LORD provided two practice battles with the Lion and the Bear. David’s real battle was with the LORD’S enemies. Samson didn’t just get it. Instead, we have battles comparable with today’s drinking brawls which often arise because of arguments over girls and gambling. This is exactly Samson’s situation here. A Gambler often commits a crime to fund their loss. The only difference is that the LORD uses this sin-to-sin situation to deliver Israel.
With the story of Samson, we are looking at the Sovereign working out everything to serve His purposes. But from where we stand, how we wish Samson’s anger was stirred by a noble theme. How impressed and encouraged we are when we see David’s anger flare up because of Goliath’s insult against the LORD! But Samson is Samson. So the stories would always revolve around his women and his desire to get even with his perceived aggressors.
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