Thursday, we noted the feast Samson held at his wedding time and the riddle he put to his thirty Philistine companions. Yesterday, we took note of the underhanded way in which the companions threatened Samson's wife, the way in which she wheedled the answer out of him, and the way in which this demonstrated how everyone involved did not have

As we saw yesterday, the Philistine companions have seven days in which to answer Samson's riddle. If they cannot, they will each have to provide him with a linen garment and change of clothes. After three days, they have been unable to solve the riddle. So, on the fourth day, they threaten Samson's bride, saying they will burn down her

As Samson prepares for his wedding, he holds a feast, as was customary for the young men of that time to do. The kind of feast in question involved the drinking of wine, and so the Scripture at least implies, though it does not tell us for certain, that Samson violated another point of his Nazirite vow by drinking alcohol.As

Last week, we saw that Samson was to be a Nazirite for life. That is, he was dedicated to a special service for the Lord. For the time of Nazirite service, which for Samson was from before he was born, he was not to touch an unclean thing, drink alcohol, or cut his hair. Samson will systematically violate at least

When I was a child, I sometimes watched a cartoon called "Samson and Goliath." In this television show, Samson was a superhero with amazing strength, and Goliath was a lion who aided him in his battle against evil. When we read of the real Samson in the Bible, we find that he did not have such a pleasant relationship with

Between Samson's hometown of Zorah and the nearby town of Eshtaol there was a place that would later become known as Mahaneh-dan (meaning, "camp of Dan," due to events about which we will read in chapter 18). As Samson is in this place, sometime after he grows up, the Spirit of the LORD begins to stir him to do the

What we have been able to piece together from the evidences in Judges 13 - that the Angel of the Lord who visited Manoah and his wife was God Himself - was not lost on this godly couple. Like Isaiah, in Isaiah 6:5, Manoah expresses great fear at being in the presence of God, saying "We shall surely die, for

If we were ever uncertain that the Angel of the Lord in this passage is the Lord God, Himself, today's reading should put our uncertainty to rest. Three things in particular stand out as proof that this is the Lord: First, when Manoah wants to cook a young goat for this Guest, the Angel says He will not eat, but

At first, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife, and, as we read yesterday, she told her husband about her encounter and the Angel's promise and commandments concerning the son she was to bear. We read today that Manoah prays to the Lord that the man (whom he does not yet know is God Himself), may return and

We meet a man named Manoah and his wife, who are of the tribe of Dan and live in the town of Zorah. These two long to have children, but have so far been unable. Then the Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah's wife. Remember, the Angel of the Lord who appears four times in the Book of Judges