Honey Sweetened Lion Carcass

Sometimes you need a funny intro. And sometimes you need a young man tearing apart a lion with his bare hands. (Bear hands?)

One Hot Philistine

Judges 14:1–3 ESV

Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

Yeah she is. She was “all right” in Samson’s eyes. “She pleases me” would be more literal, but in our vernacular I think the closest is “She is smokin’ hot!”

Judges 14:4 ESV

His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

And that is the verse I got absolutely stuck on this week. More about that later.

but apparently Samson’s father and mother start putting the pieces together and soon it is time for Samson to meet this girl. And along the way he has a BIZARRE encounter.

The Honey-Sweetened Lion Carcass

Judges 14:5–7 ESV

Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson’s eyes.

Lion - think mountain lion, not Savannah lion.

Just as one tears a young goat??? You know, like you do with goats all the time. (What is this?)

But he didn’t tell his parents, maybe he was ashamed he had been near a dead body, even though his Nazarite vow is strictly about being near human bodies.

Regardless, he now is a secret bare-handed lion killer.

And the woman was what in his eyes? She was all-right.

Judges 14:8–9 ESV

After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

I’m going to go check out that lion I killed… with my bare hands (bear hands?). Oh, look, it seems something i buzzing around this dead lion. BEES! You know what sounds really good right now? He reaches into the dead lion (how long had it been there???). He “scrapes” (that’s a lovely word), he “scraped” some out of the carcass.

And he eats it. MMmmmmmm… it has a certain flavor to it. Wild honey with just a hint of organic sun-dried lion. Delicious.

Judges 14:10–11 ESV

His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Does Samson have no friends? Why are the Philistines providing his companions? They do and they have big wedding feast.

Judges 14:12–14 ESV

And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

Fun bachelor party game. Riddles! This is great. Kind of a clever riddle that sounds better in Hebrew. Six words, but the English here is great because they managed to make it rhyme. And what is at stake? A few sets of clothes. Light-hearted fun.

“Out of the eater came something to eat.

Out of the strong came something sweet.”

But I would super disappointed if someone gave me this riddle because it’s based on this random and bizarre experience Samson had. Tell me what weird thing I had for breakfast this morning! That’s not a riddle. And sure enough, the Philistines can’t guess it. So they go to Samson’s wife.

Judges 14:15 ESV

On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?”

Remember that Samson’s wife is a Philistine. These are her people, her brothers and cousins, her neighbors and friends. And she doesn’t know Samson at all. He is a guy who thought she looked fine and had a dad who could arrange the marriage. She doesn’t know him. So its understandable she would try to help out her peoples.

Judges 14:16–17 ESV

And Samson’s wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people.

Seven days she wept! What is Samson thinking? This girl is “all right” but she is whiny!!! Shutup about the riddle! “But you don’t love me, you don’t trust me with the riddle...” “Fine fine, I’ll tell you the stupid riddle”. And she tells her people.

This is fun, now they are going to win some clothes, a little gentle ribbing to the new guy, Samson.

Judges 14:18 ESV

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? 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.”

WHAT???

They answered his riddle, and sure enough, Samson knows they must have gotten the answer from his wife. But what he SAYS is “if you had not plowed with my heifer...” That sounds horrible, and it is, but it isn’t sexual innuendo. It is an idiom essentially meaning “if you had not intimidated my wife...” Samson knows they got to his woman and so he chuckles, says “you got me” and buys them 30 nice outfits. Right?

Nope.

Judges 14:19 ESV

And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house.

He goes to the big city, one of the five biggest Philistine cities, right on the coast, and he murders 30 random men of the town and robs the bodies. If breaking his Nazirite vow before was in doubt, it’s absolutely clear now. Was he near a dead body? Yes. 30 of them. And he made them dead by way of murder… and robbing the bodies… and that’s how he repays the bet. Here are your 30 outfits, stripped off the bodies of your fellow Phistines from the next town over

Oh, and what happened to the girl?

Judges 14:20 ESV

And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

That will play into next week.

All the wrong reasons. God saves anyway.

Samson, more than almost any other character is Scripture is setup to be a super-hero in the hands of God.

Impossible child of prophecy, born to a barren woman, his birth announced by an angel who went up in a burst of sacrificial fire: awesome. And his name was “wonderful”.

The Spirit of God was upon him, and gave him miraculous strength. Tearing apart a lion with his bare hands. Able to, again, empowered by the holy spirit, he struck down thirty men of the town. He is He-Man, he is Super-man. He is defeating the Philistines the enemies and oppressors of God’s people!

But what is this man’s inner life?

Does Samson follow the quiet inner leading of the Holy Spirit to the battle? No. He follows the lust of his eyes. He spots a girl that he thinks is “all right..” or “pleasing to his eye”. And he won’t take no for an answer. He is lustful and proud, stubborn and obstinate, and spoiled by his parents who give in and setup the marriage.

They have to hold the party in her home, probably because all their friends and family disapprove of marrying outside the tribes of Israel.

And when they guess his riddle, what does Samson do? Blind murderous rage… except it’s not quite blind rage. It’s 23 miles between the two! So even if he runs, it’s a Marathon between the two (though it is downhill). He gets a ways a way, this is premeditated and kind of scary psychopathic territory. Then he returns… carrying at least 30 outfits. Probably days for this round trip.

So we have lust and we have murderous rage. That is what is inside Samson.

All the wrong reasons.

But what else is inside Samson? The Spirit of God empowering him. And Scripture is so clear in verse 4:

Judges 14:4 ESV

His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

It was from the LORD. God was doing something here, creating an opportunity for conflict with the Philistines. We will talk more about why he would even want to do that in a couple weeks. There’s a difficult tension here between Samson’s uncalled for murderous rampage and “this is God doing a good thing.”

Stained Glass and Stained Motives

When I was 16-19, basically the same age we picture Samson in this story (and probably about the same physique and strength) I was in th emiddle of an awesome ministry opportunity called Stained Glass. As many of you know, we drove around all summer in a van putting on concerts and sharing our testimonies at churches, camps, sometimes at parks, a few times on local tv. We sang about Jesus and his love and forgiveness and some of the best times were talking with people young and old after and seeing God work in them through our songs or our testimonies and we would pray with them and it was glorious.

It was glorious.

And though I would swear up and down at the time that it was “all for His glory”… I recognize that I basked as well in that glory. There was pride in me, there was arrogance in me, there was greed in me for more. There was drama and divisiveness among us in the band, petty jealousies and feuds and envy. There was mixed motives and ignorance on fire and sin of every kind...

and yet… not only despite that… but even working through our sinfulness, my sinfulness… there was God speaking His love, His gospel, His truth, working His to save and restore and heal his people.

God didn’t wait until my motives were pure to use me. He didn’t wait until I was holy enough, righteous enough. If He did, guess what? He would still be waiting.

There is the lion carcass. Rotting and foul.

And yet within, the honey is sweet and good.

There is me. Full of mixed motives, the good and the ugly, but the foulness pervades. I stinketh. I am foul. This is not to pretend that I am worthless or that I’m helpless, none of that. But as I grow in righteousness and holiness I see how deep my sinful nature goes. As C.S. Lewis says, it isn’t until you try to resist sin that you experience its power.

Sin pervades.

And yet… like the sweetest honey… God works in me and through me to speak his love and show his mercies. God works in you and through you to love his people, to save his people, to encourage and equip his people to take next bold steps into belief in Him, ministry with Him, mature life with Him.

God is Using You

God uses Samuel's lust for a Philistine and murderous anger with her relatives to create "an occasion" for his victory. All the wrong reasons. God saves anyway. Even our very best motivations and impulses are corrupted by sin.

God doesn't wait for us to get perfect before He uses us.

He is already working in us and through us, not only despite our sinful desires, but even through them.

Knowing this, we can walk humbly, knowing our motivations are mixed, but also boldly, knowing that He saves anyway.

God isn’t waiting for you to be perfect before He uses you. He already is.