GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
JUDGES 14:7-11
7 Then he went down and talked to the woman, and he was pleased with her.
The wooing of the Philistine girl from Timnah is presented in several stages. He met her, he talked with her, he planned the wedding, he went through with the first 6 days and 23 hours of the seven-day-wedding (more or less), and then he stormed off after she betrayed him—and he was the only one who thought that he was still married to her after that.
First, of course, Samson saw her and was thunderstruck. Many people would dismiss this as childishness on Samson’s part, and question whether love at first sight is ever truly possible. If it had not happened to me, personally, I might have joined their ranks. But when I was directing a college production of King Lear a young woman turned up for the tryouts who seemed far too qualified for our little production, but after she finished the tryout and had gone, I turned to my assistant director and said, “I think I just met my wife.” My friend said, “Kath is way out of your league.” But we were both right.
Now in the second phase of their courtship, Samson went to speak with her, and he found that he liked her even more. He left some of the marriage details to his parents and others, although he prepared the banquet himself (verse 10). He seems like a man who was concerned with getting his way more than working for what he wanted. But God knew Samson’s strengths as well as his strength. God had a plan.
8 After some time, when he went back to marry her, he left the road to look at the lion’s carcass, and there was a swarm of bees and some honey in the carcass. 9 He scooped out some of the honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the carcass of the lion.
Samson continued to keep the lion a secret, even from his parents. We don’t know what his true reason for this was, but in the narrative his attitude tells us that no one at all knew his secret, and therefore only his fiancé would be to blame when the secret was told.
Beekeepers say that it takes about a year for a swarm of bees to produce a viable honeycomb that will produce enough honey for some to be harvested. But that’s only if you want the swarm to survive. It’s doubtful that Samson cared what happened to this swarm of bees after he scooped out a section of their honeycomb to taste. It could have been as soon as six or eight weeks after the lion’s death for a queen to settle with her little army and produce Samson’s snack.
10 His father went down to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as the young men did. 11 When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty groomsmen to accompany him.
How shall we understand verse 10? It was customary in the Near East for the groom to give a large banquet to celebrate his marriage. This was the wedding feast. The wedding practice in ancient times had no walk down the aisle as we do today. There was an agreement with witnesses, a week-long celebration feast, and then the marriage was consummated. We see this in Genesis with the marriages of Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24), Jacob and Rachel (Genesis 29), and Jacob and Leah (also Genesis 29), although there is no mention of the banquet in Isaac and Rebekah’s story. In the New Testament, the wedding feast (or bridesmaids waiting for the groom to appear) is a common theme. The process of a wedding lasted seven days, from contract to consummation (Judges 14:17, “the whole seven days of the feast”). We will see events in this chapter on this first day, the fourth day (verse 15) and the seventh day (verse 18-19).
The word translated “groomsmen” is meyreyim, “companions of a groom.” Their role may only have been symbolic, but it’s possible that they might provide some kind of security force during the proceedings if necessary: “The king told the attendants (Greek deacons), ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 22:13). Samson didn’t choose his attendants; the Philistines supplied them. Perhaps this was because Samson brought no one with him from his tribe except his parents. It’s another hint that God “was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines” (Judges 14:4). Samson didn’t know what was going to happen, his fiancé didn’t know, nor did his parents, or any of the Philistines. But God knew. And God knows what his plans are for you, too. “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD.’” (Jeremiah 29:11). His plan is all about your faith in him, and the spread of his gospel throughout the world. Keep that in mind as you make your plans for the day, and serve him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota