All of you have been on my mind recently. I realized that I don’t know a lot about folks who visit my blog.
I wanted to get to know all of you better.
Why? Well, I just thought it would be fun to get to know all of you better! I’ve always enjoyed meeting and interacting with new people, so, knowing more about you will help with interacting with you.
Do me a favor, would you?
Could you respond to these questions by leaving a comment?
What are your favorite movies & why?
If you had all the money to travel, where would you travel?
Mary’s Language Skills Could Help End the War in the Pacific Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.
Mary Wishram, an orphaned Yakima tribal member, aches for her brother who suffers in a POW camp in the Philippine Islands and her Japanese friends who languish in a relocation center. Determined to end the war by any means necessary, she employs her language skills to become a spy. Leaving Camp Pendleton for the South Pacific, she faces escalating threats of peril to help bring her loved ones home.
John Painted Horse, a proud Navajo, struggles with the loss of his father who died in WWI for a country that didn’t consider him a United States citizen. Though his home state doesn’t offer him the right to vote, he joins the Code Talker program at Camp Pendleton. Thrust into mounting danger in the South Pacific, he hopes to bring long overdue recognition and honor to his people, no matter the cost.
Will these two wounded souls find healing from their past traumas and a deeper relationship with God, before it’s too late? Or will they lose their chance at love, and everything they hold dear?
Samson was chosen by God before he was even born. His mom was told by one of God’s angels not to drink alcohol and not to eat anything unclean. Samson’s dedication to the Lord was openly displayed through his hair – he must never get his hair shaven since he was a Nazirite.
Folks usually associate Samson with Delilah. However, he was married before he even met Delilah. The woman whom he married was a Philistine – so she wasn’t one of his own people. Samson was attacked by a lion and he tore the lion apart, killing him, with his bare hands! Later, he passed the lion’s carcass and saw that some bees had built a hive in the carcass. He scooped out the honey and ate it, but he didn’t tell his parents about the incident with the lion. He shared the honey with his parents.
He told the Philistines a riddle, offering a prize if they came up with the correct answer. If they did not come up with the correct answer, then the Philistines had to give Samson a prize. The prize was thirty linen garments and 30 sets of clothes.
The Philistines threatened Samson’s wife and her dad. They told her to coax Samson into telling her the answer to the riddle, if she was not successful, then they said they’d burn her and her dad to death! She begged Samson until he finally told her the answer to the riddle.
When Samson realized he’d been tricked into revealing the answer, he became angry and through the power of God he struck down 30 of the Philistine men and stripped them of their clothing. He left the Philistines. His wife was given away to a companion who’d attended his wedding feast.
When he found out that his wife had been given away to somebody else, his wife’s father offered Samson one of his other daughters. Samson was angry about his wife being given away. So, to get revenge on the Philistines, he caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together and placed lit torches on the foxes tails. He let the foxes loose and as a result, the Philistines’ crops were burnt up and destroyed. When the Philistines discovered that Samson had burned their crops, they then burned Samson’s wife as well as her dad as revenge. When Samson discovered his wife and father-in-law had been burnt to death, he slaughters a lot of the Philistines. He leaves and hides in a cave.
When the people of Judah found him in the cave, they wanted to turn him over to the Philistines. But Samson escaped and using a donkey’s jawbone, he killed 1000 men. The Lord blessed him with a huge drink of water after his battle.
Later, Samson falls in love with Delilah. The Philistines bribed Delilah by offering her 1100 shekels of silver if she can get Samson to reveal the source of his strength. He lies to Delilah three times. Each time, Delilah bounds Samson with the material that’s supposed to rob him of his strength. And each time, the Philistines come to take him away, Samson escapes.
He finally tells Delilah that he gets his strength from his hair. His hair is cut and the Philistines capture him and gouge his eyes out. When he is taken prisoner, his hair starts to grow back. He is brought out to entertain the Philistines. He places his hands on the pillars of the temple and brings down the temple with his strength. He kills himself and all the people in the temple.
Welcome to this episode of Sunday Brunch. The Sunday Brunch blog posts are warm and inviting, encouraging discussion about the Bible.
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is at the end.
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
Judges Chapter 16
Do you remember learning about Samson in Sunday School? What do you remember about him?
Let’s read and discuss Samson’s life as told in the Old Testament. We’ll continue with Chapter 16. When I share Chapter 16, I will read each verse, sharing my thoughts in between the verses, just as I’ve done in earlier chapters. If you are reading this, my thoughts are bolded in brackets.
Samson and Delilah
Chapter 16
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.” [It appears that the people of Gaza were angry at Samson, probably for reasons outlined in Chapter 15. The Gazans plot to kill him. Some quick research on Google indicates that the people of Gaza were part of the Philistine nation. There were 5 Philistine cities: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gath]
3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. [I noticed in this instance that the scripture does NOT mention that the spirit of the Lord came upon him when he used his strength. I guess we can assume that the spirit of the Lord came upon him – just as the spirit had behaved in previous verses.]
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. [I wonder about Samson falling in love with Delilah. How long did he know her before he knew he was in love? It would be great if we could see more details about Samson’s courtship with Delilah. Knowing more details might give us more perspective about what happens next.] 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.” [I honestly do not understand why Samson was not suspicious of Delilah? He lied to her, and when the Philistines tried to subdue him, his lie to her was exposed. Wouldn’t an ordinary man, even a man in love, realize that this woman could not be trusted? Samson was a physically strong judge – the spirit of the Lord was granted to him. In spite of his physical strength, the Lord did not seem to grant him wisdom.]
11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads. [Again, this is puzzling. Why wasn’t Samson suspicious? Shouldn’t he have thought it was odd that twice in a row, he’s revealed a lie to Delilah, and then, upon waking, finds himself bound with the offensive material? Also, Samson must’ve been a VERY HARD sleeper. He didn’t even wake up when he was tied with the bowstrings and the new ropes!]
13 Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”
He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin. [Again, this is so strange. Samson slept through this? He didn’t feel anything tugging on his head? I wonder if Delilah drugged him and he was unaware of it? Perhaps she slipped some kind of sleeping concoction into his wine?]
Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. [This reminds me of Samson’s wife in Chapter 14. His wife begged him to tell her the answer to his riddle.]
17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” [I suppose Samson losing his strength is symbolic of his breaking his vow to God. I believe we discussed having a covenant, or vow, with God in an earlier podcast. Samson wasn’t supposed to shave his head. Although his head was shaved against his will, I’m assuming God still considered this a broken vow. Life in Old Testament times was too hard and too unjust. Can you imagine being held accountable for something that was done against your will? Granted, Samson’s plight might not have happened if he’d had some wisdom and logic. Samson’s plight is just one example of the reasoning behind the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As humans we are flawed, even those of us who have a deep faith in God still have countless faults that we are unable to overcome. We just need to have deep faith and try to live the best lives that we can.]
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, [As already mentioned, I believe she drugged him. The verse states “after putting him to sleep”. This sounds like what a mother does to her child, rock him to sleep or something similar to that. I believe she probably sweet talked him, had sex with him, and then drugged him before moving forward.]
[Another thought – I find it puzzling that the Philistine rulers gave Delilah the silver! How do they know that Samson was telling the truth this time! It seems as if the rulers should’ve given Delilah the silver after Samson had been captured?] she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. [I’m puzzled about Samson gleaning strength through his hair. I feel that the power of God is what gives Samson strength, not his hair. Again, I’m reminded of superheroes. Remember Superman? His strength is robbed when he’s exposed to Kryptonite, just as Samson’s strength diminishes when his head is shaved. To have a vow with God to never cut your hair – a vow that was made before Samson was even born – and then to have great strength to do whatever he wanted to do, physically, through his hair, and through God’s power, sounds almost unreal. It sounds like a fairy tale.]
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. [I wonder why the Philistines gouged out his eyes? Was it simply pure malice and hatred which caused such an act of brutality?]
The Death of Samson
23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,
“Our god has delivered our enemy
into our hands,
the one who laid waste our land
and multiplied our slain.”
25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.
When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. [All I can say is wow, Samson got his revenge. I believe that the Philistines are not very intelligent. They knew that Samson’s strength was linked to his hair. It’s possible that they were so elated about his capture that they forgot about his hair growing back. If they’d paid attention, they would’ve shaved his head – preventing his final act of revenge. However, this happened according to God’s will, so, I suppose God simply did not want the Philistines to remember the source of Samson’s strength.]
31 Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years. [This is the first I’ve read about Samson’s brothers. I don’t recall them being mentioned before. I wonder what kind of relationship he had with his brothers growing up and afterwards? Did his brothers envy Samson’s strength? Were they jealous because, possibly, Samson was their parents’ favorite child? The verse also mentions his father’s whole family. I wonder what other relatives Samson had? Sisters? His mother was barren before he was born, so, not sure if she had other children after Samson had been born?]
So, do you remember learning about Samson in Sunday School? What do you remember about him?
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is at the end.
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
Welcome to this episode of Sunday Brunch. The Sunday Brunch blog posts are warm and inviting, encouraging discussion about the Bible.
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is at the end.
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
Judges Chapter 15
Do you remember learning about Samson in Sunday School? What do you remember about him?
Let’s read and discuss Samson’s life as told in the Old Testament. We continue with Chapter 15 – moving forward with other chapters in later podcasts. When I share Chapter 15, I will read each verse, sharing my thoughts in between the verses. If you are reading this, my thoughts are bolded in brackets.
Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines
Chapter 15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in.
2 “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.” [I find it strange that his wife’s father can just take Samson’s wife and give her to someone else. What gives him the liberty to do that? Let’s veer off of the subject for a little bit. Verse 2 reminds me of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel; Genesis Chapter 19. Rachel was beautiful and Jacob slaved for 7 years for Rachel’s dad, Laban, just so that he could marry her. But he was tricked by Laban and unknowingly married Leah! As mentioned, Rachel was beautiful. But Leah was unattractive. I also wondered about Jacob. Did he have sexual relations with someone while he was slaving for Rachel? This is the Old Testament, so, they were not necessarily bound by the same rules as the New Testament.]
3 Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves. [This is horrible! Even though Samson had been chosen by God, he had a lot of faults. He was brutal! I’ve never heard of tying foxtails together, until I read this verse. Is this even possible or plausible? Wouldn’t the foxes have tried to escape? Wouldn’t they have tried to bite Samson? I know this is the Bible but, it just seems strange to me. If you have any insight about this verse, then please share!]
6 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.” [See, this proves that the actions of Samson’s father-in-law were unjustified. He should not have given Samson’s wife away to his companion.]
So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. [So brutal! Just reading this makes me feel sorrowful. Old Testament scriptures can be so depressing. Can you imagine what it would have been like to live back then? Back before Christ came?]
9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”
“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”
11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”
He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”
12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”
Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. [Although this is brutal, Samson is doing this with the Lord’s blessing. As mentioned in another podcast, I wonder if Samson was a huge, muscular man, or, if he looked just like any ordinary man. His strength came from the Lord, not from his muscles. At least, that’s the way it appears to me. Using a jawbone as a weapon seems highly strange. But, since the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, this gave him the strength he needed to use the jawbone to his advantage. Samson reminds me of the superheroes that you read about it comic books. He has extraordinary, almost non-believable strength.]
16 Then Samson said,
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”
[Samson seems to be implying that these men were fools. I suppose this is one of the riddles for which he is known.]
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.
18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. [This reminds me of the verse where Moses strikes his walking stick against a rock and water comes out of it. Numbers 20:9-11] When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.
20 Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. [I wonder about this 20-year leadership. This verse seems so final. Yet, in Chapter 16, he meets Delilah. I assume he met Delilah, as well as the prostitute in Gaza, after this 20-year time-frame? I ask because, the Bible isn’t necessarily in chronological order. Any insight you may have about this is greatly appreciated!]
So, do you remember learning about Samson in Sunday School? What do you remember about him?
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! The purchase link for Loving Luke is at the end.
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
Welcome to this episode of Sunday Brunch. The Sunday Brunch blog posts are warm and inviting, encouraging discussion about the Bible.
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today by clicking on the link at the end! Tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
I will be reading from Judges Chapter 14. My thoughts are bolded and in brackets. Share your own thoughts, questions and insight by leaving a comment!
Samson’s Marriage
Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”
3 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?”
But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
5 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. 6 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. [I’m somewhat confused by verses 5-6. The verse begins as if Samson and his mother and father are walking/traveling together. But, then it appears as if his father and mother are no longer with him when he’s attacked by the lion? Can you imagine, tearing a lion apart with your bare hands? I can only wonder how that may have looked. It appears that Samson was not afraid since the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and gave him strength. I also wonder why Samson did not tell his mother and father about his tearing the lion apart. Did he think that his parents would not believe him? Please share any insight you might have about verses 5 & 6] 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
8 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. 9 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. [I again wonder about Samson’s secrecy. Why does not he not tell his parents about the lion’s attack, his killing the lion, and about the honey in the carcass? I also wonder, was honey something that they didn’t have very often? Was it hard to obtain? Was the honey like a treat for them to enjoy since they could not have it every day? I assume that they may not have had beekeepers during the Old Testament. I did a little research online and found that there were honey collectors in ancient times. They would burn smoke to startle the bees and collect the honey from the beehives. I used Wikipedia for quick research.]
10 Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11 When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.
12 “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13 If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.” [I found it interesting that Samson was telling a riddle. To me, it was fascinating that riddles were told in ancient times.]
“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”
14 He replied,
“Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet.”
For three days they could not give the answer.
15 On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?” [All, I can say is, this is utterly horrifying. At times, I find that reading the Old Testament can be very horrifying!]
16 Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”
“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” 17 She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
Samson said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.”
19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast. [It appears that Samson is angry because his wife has told her people the answer to the riddle. It’s puzzling about his giving the clothes from the stricken men to those who had explained the riddle? Since he’d been tricked, I’d imagine that he would have reneged on his agreement regarding the prize? Perhaps his giving his wife to one of his companions symbolizes his divorcing his wife due to her dishonesty.]
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today by clicking on the link at the end! Tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Welcome to this episode of Sunday Brunch. The Sunday Brunch blog posts are warm and inviting, encouraging discussion about the Bible.
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like stories about faith and Christianity then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
Judges Chapter 13
Do you remember learning about Samson in Sunday School? What do you remember about him?
Let’s read and discuss Samson’s life as told in the Old Testament. We will start with Chapter 13 – moving forward with other chapters in later podcasts. When I share Chapter 13, I will read each verse, sharing my thoughts in between the verses. If you are reading this, my thoughts are bolded in brackets.
The Birth of Samson
Chapter 13
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. [I find it interesting as to how stubborn the Israelites were. They breaking God’s law and the Lord would punish them many times in the Old Testament.]
2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. [Reading about Manoah’s childless wife reminds me of Sarah and Rachel in the Old Testament. Both of these women had fertility issues. Rachel even bargained for her sister, Leah’s, mandrakes. Mandrakes were a fertility stimulant and it’s hinted that Rachel was hoping that eating these would assist in her getting pregnant by her husband Jacob.] 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. [Verse #4 reminds me about the advice that is given to pregnant women nowadays. Pregnant women are told not to drink alcohol and not to smoke.] 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” [From my research, the Nazarite vow is usually taken voluntarily by an individual. In Samson’s case, he’s taking the vow via a command made to his parents. Those taking the Nazarite vow one was to abstain from alcohol, as well as grapes! The vowers were not even allowed to eat grape seeds or skins! I wonder why? What would be wrong with eating unfermented grapes, or, grape juice? Read Numbers 6:3-7 to find out more about this.]
6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. [I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see an angel while still on this earth. I’ve read of those who’ve claimed to see angels, and it sounds like a mesmerizing, awesome experience! I’ve also noticed in the Bible that when angels are mentioned, they are usually male.] I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”
9 God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day!”
11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”
“I am,” he said.
12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”
13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.”
16 The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.) [It’s interesting that the angel did not eat Manoah’s food – since he said he was being detained, that might be why he refused their hospitality. I only remember one reference in the Bible where angels eat food. Read Genesis 19:1-3. Two angels visit Lot and he prepares a meal for them and the angels eat the food. Lot had to convince the angels to stay at his house – they initially refused.]
17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”
18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord. [Wow, just reading about this gives me shivers! It must have been so cool and amazing to see the angel ascend toward heaven in the flame from the fire!]
22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” [I’m unclear as to why Manoah says this? They had seen an angel, not God!]
23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”
24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
[I think it’s interesting that Samson’s mother is not given a name. She is just referred to as the woman, or, Manoah’s wife.]
So, do you remember learning about Samson in Sunday School? What do you remember about him?
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