Blog

by Katie Erickson

“Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.” (Judges 14:5-9)

Last week, we saw that Samson was determined to marry a Philistine woman from the city of Timnah in Israel. On this particular day, he and his parents were on their way to Timnah to discuss the marriage plans.

On the way there, a young lion comes toward Samson and he rips it apart with his bare hands! While this sounds pretty impressive, it’s actually not a good thing because of the Nazarite vow that was put on his life before he was born. Remember that the Nazarite vow requires that he not have contact with anything dead, and if he killed a lion then he must have had to touch it while it was dead. He also violated Jewish cleanliness laws by coming into contact with the lion’s bodily fluids.

Note that we see in the text how Samson’s parents didn’t see this encounter with the lion, and he didn’t tell them what he had done. More on that in a bit.

While in Timnah, Samson reaffirmed his desire to marry the Philistine woman. But on the way back home, he comes into contact with the dead lion again! He obviously had to touch the dead body in order to eat the honey from the swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass. This was still not allowed under his Nazarite vow, and his parents still didn’t know that he broke that vow in this way.

At this point we don’t see any immediate negative consequences for Samson’s disobedience and the breaking of his Nazarite vows, but he still should have known better. Samson thought he could get away with the sin when no one saw him do it.

What sins do you have in your life that are like that? If nobody sees me steal this item from the store, it’s ok, right? What if nobody hears that swear word you utter? Or what if no one else knows how you lusted over that cute other person while married to your spouse? Truth is, God knows. God knows every thought you think, every word you say, and every action you do (or don’t do). The requirement for something being a sin is not whether it’s observed by another person or not; the standard for determining sin is God’s law.

Do you think you can get away with sin when no one sees you do it? Pray for God to help you overcome temptation when it comes upon you, whether you’re with others or by yourself, so that you can maintain a life pleasing to God.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.