Samson Lost Control of his Tongue (Judges 14:10-18)

2/16/2010 8:33 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                    Focus:  “Samson lost control of his tongue

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Judges 14:10-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “10 ¶  Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. 11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12  Then Samson said to them, "Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. 13  "But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes." And they said to him, "Propound your riddle, that we may hear it." 14  So he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet." But they could not tell the riddle in three days. 15  Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, "Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?" 16  Samson’s wife wept before him and said, "You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me." And he said to her, "Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?" 17  However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. 18  So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have found out my riddle.”

            It looks like the Philistines provided thirty men to be “friends of the groom” for Samson because he did not bring any friends with him.  Dr. Wiersbe thinks that perhaps these were Philistine guards to keep and eye on Samson, for his reputation must have preceded him.  If this were the case then it would have made this festive occasion somewhat tense for all who were there.

            Samson makes up a riddle to bring some happiness to the party, for after all they would all be there for seven days.  The riddle he makes up tells how he had gone against his Nazirite vow, and this meant that he was making light of it, which was a terrible thing to do for it was bad enough to disobey God, but to joke about it made things far worse. 

            I’m sure that thirty changes of clothes were very expensive then as they are now, so the men wanted to get the answer to the riddle so they decided to threaten Samson’s wife to get the answer and she used tears to finally get the answer on the seventh day of the wedding feast for that is when the consummation of the marriage would take place. Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “First the Philistine woman enticed him (Judges 14:1), then she controlled him (v-17), and then she betrayed him (v-17), which is the way the world always treats the compromising believer.  Samson could kill lions and break ropes, but he couldn’t overcome the power of a woman’s tears.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the reasons for studying the Bible is to learn how to live on this earth for the time that is allotted to me by the Lord, and there are times when I do something wrong, according to the Scriptures, and not find out about it until much latter and this makes me feel badly.  The good news is that once I learn it I can put it into practice and not make the same mistake again.  I have been enticed by the world’s system far too often, and now I am learning the folly of it and how to stop it, through the power of God’s Word and His Spirit.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Learn to control my tongue “We all make mistakes in all kinds of ways, but the man who can claim that he never says the wrong thing can consider himself perfect, for if he can control his tongue he can control every other part of his personality.”  This James 3:2 from the Phillips version of the Bible.
2. Not be fall prey to the world’s system.

 

2/16/2010 9:13 AM