Pentecost (Shavuot): From Exodus to Acts. Lessons we can learn

Today (Sunday, May 31) is a very important day on the calendar. It the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem!

 

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4)

(*Please note, when the text mentions "one place" the disciples are not still in the upper room where there were in chapter one. "One place" is a nickname for the Holy Temple. Since it was Shavuot (Pentecost), the disciples were required to be at the Holy Temple on this day. Furthermore, in verse 41 of chapter 2, it says 3,000 people received the word and were baptized. Three thousand people could not fit in the upper room. The only place where this could have happened (and where there would have been mikvehs (water immersion tanks similar to a large bath tub needed for ritual purification before entering the Holy Temple)) would have been at the Holy Temple.)


Pentecost in the Old Testament
The Feast of Weeks (also known as Shavuot and Pentecost) will be celebrated this year from sundown on Saturday, May 30 to sundown on Sunday, May 31. Described in Leviticus 23, the Feast of Weeks is the second of the three pilgrim feasts which required all Jewish males to travel to Jerusalem to observe (Exodus 23:14-7, Exodus 34:22-23, and Deuteronomy 16:6). The Feast of Weeks derives its name from the fact that it starts seven full weeks (exactly 50 days) after the shabbat of Passover. Since the festival takes place exactly 50 days after the shabbat of Passover, it is also known as Pentecost, which means "fifty" in Greek.

Each of the three "solemn feasts" (Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks and Feast of Tabernacles) required all Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem to attend the festival and offer sacrifices. All three of these feasts required that a first fruit offering be made at the temple as a way of expressing thanks for God's abundance. The Feast of First Fruits (celebrated during the Feast of Unleavened Bread) included the first fruit offerings of the barley harvest. The Feast of Weeks was the celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest. The Feast of Tabernacles involved the first fruit offerings of the olive and grape harvests.

 Exodus
The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai happened on Pentecost.

"In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain." (Exodus 19:1-2)

"Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke to and God answered him with thunder." (Exodus 19:18-19)

"Then God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery..."(Exodus 20:1-2)

The similarities between the two accounts given in Acts and Exodus
Both accounts have a large gathering of a mixed multitude from many different cultures, nations and languages. A mixed multitude came up with the Israelites out of Egypt. A mixed multitude was with the disciples at the Holy Temple as they were celebrating Shavuot.

Both accounts have a loud noise described in Acts as a noise like rushing wind and in Exodus as a trumpet and thunder. (God's voice is described in Scripture as water falling, a great wind and thunder. These are all people's attempts at describing an indescribable noise.)

Both accounts have bright light. In Exodus it is as fire and lightning. Acts describes it as tongues of fire. (This Hebraic term is used to describe lightning.)

Both accounts have God revealing Himself to common people. Unlike pagan religions in which the deities only spoke to one person or a very selected priestly line, here God is making His ways known to all the world.


God's Word to all the world
After the revelation of God Word at Mount Sinai, God commands His people to recite the whole Torah before the entire nation of Israel.

"At the end of every seven years, in the Sabbatical year, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you shall read this law [Torah] before them in their hearing. Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law [Torah]. Their children, who do not know this law [Torah], must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." (Deuteronomy 31:10-13).

Again, God's word is being declared to ALL the people and not to an elite or special subset of people within it. This is similarly stated in Isaiah 54:13: "And all your children shall be learned of the LORD and great shall be the peace of your children." This remains one of the unique features of the Torah. It is a written constitution of the Jewish people. Everyone is expected not merely to keep the Torah but to know it!

There were two further key moments in the history of getting God's word to all the world. The first was when Ezra gathered the people, after the Babylonian exile, to the Water Gate in Jerusalem. This occurred on Rosh HaShanah (the first day of the seventh month often referred to as the "New Year"). The Torah was read to the people. Levites were dispersed through the crowd to teach and to explain to the folks what was being said. This was a defining moment in Jewish history. This was a mass adult education program to help the people learn and apply God's word to their lives. (Nehemiah 8). Ezra and Nehemiah realized the most significant battles for the Jewish people were cultural and not military. To keep God's word alive, they needed the people to know God's word and how to apply it to their lives.

The second key moment was the creation of the world's first system of universal compulsory education in the first century. The High Priest Joshua Ben Gamla created an education system which dispersed teachers into each district in Israel. Children starting at the age of six or seven attended and learned Torah and how to read. Josephus writes about the education system as follows: "Should any one of our nation be asked about our laws, he will repeat them as readily as his own name. The result of our thorough education in our laws from the very dawn of intelligence is that they are, as it were, engraved on our souls."


Lessons we can learn
If we are to do God's word, we need to know God's word. How often do we read God's word? How many times have we read the entire Bible? Do we teach the Bible to our children? Do we use the Bible as a basis for our education?

When I think about church services, how much time is devoted to reading Scripture? Is more time spent singing songs than hearing God's word?

The state of the church is in serious decay. There are many false teachers and blind parishioners. Many people have no idea the names of the books in the Bible much less the words written within them. Our ways and the world's ways are the same. There is no distinction except for an hour on Sunday mornings we gather to sing songs and hear a short sermon on a broad category such as showing compassion to the less fortunate or being nice to one another. We then leave the building feeling warm and fuzzy, but our knowledge of God's word has not increased.

In a time when the Bible is available on demand via the internet, we have no excuse for not studying God's word. We can read or listen to it anywhere. Would you take the challenge to read through the Bible in one year? If we want to be God's people, we must know what He expects from us. Every day is a test to show the world God's word. Every day we can pour out God's word to those around us by knowing and acting in ways which represent Him.

Judges Chapter 15 Part Three (Verses 9-20)

B. Samson slays one thousand Philistines

1. (Judges 15:9-13)

Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out in Lehi. The men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" And they said, "We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us." Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so I have done to them." They said to him, "We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not kill me." So they said to him, "No, but we will bind you fast and give you into their hands; yet surely we will not kill you." Then they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah: The Philistines figured they must do something about Samson. Despite being constantly defeated by this one man, they were ready to try again. In verse nine, some of the Philistine soldiers go to attack Judah. They make war on a town called Lehi. The rock of Etam, where Samson was living, was also in Judah and near the town of Lehi. The local Hebrew inhabitatns were puzzled over why the Philistines were attacking them. They had good relations with the Philsitines. When the residents of Lehi found out the Philsitines were after Samson, the men of Judah were more than happy to help the enemy capture Samson if it meant the Philistines would leave them alone.

Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock: The Israelites of Judah knew Samson. They respected his amazing strength. They sent a contingent of 3,000 men to try and persuade Samson to give himself up.

When the men of Judah found Samson, they were up front and told Samson they were going to turn him over the Philistines. Samson knows these people well. He requested that they not kill him. The irony of this is that instead of sending an army of 3,000 men against their Philistine oppressor, these Israelites went after one of their own in order to appease their oppressor. Fighting the enemy disrupted their otherwise comfortable lives. They were more interested in preserving a satanic peace with the Philistines than fighting a Holy War to rid the place of the enemy.

Then the bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock: Samson obtained their promise only to bind him and turn him over to the Philistines. The Israelites tied up Samson with new ropes. This means the strands of the ropes were still moist and thus were art their strongest.

2. (Judges 15:14-17) Samson uses the jawbone of a donkey to kill a thousand Philistines

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said,

"With the jawbone of a donkey,

Heaps upon heaps,

With the jawbone of a donkey,

I have killed a thousand men."

When he had finished speaking, he trew the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: When the Israelites delivered Samson to the village of Lehi, the Philistines were ecstatic. Samson was finally captures, and the Philistines got the Israelites to do it for them.

And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily: For the first time in a long while, suddenly the Spirit of the LORD comes upon Smason with an even greater strength than usual. Samson bursts the ropes as if they were thin, delicate strands of string. He looks around and finds a jawbone of a donkey lying nearby. He begins swinging it at the heads of hundreds of Philistine soldiers who had only moments before stood in relief that they would not have to face him. The jawbone was fresh. This means, the sun had not had time to dry it out, which will cause the bone to become brittle.

With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps: Samson's words as he kills the Philistine soldiers is a poem and is a play on two words: donkey and heap. As is common in Hebrew, the same word can often mean two entirely different things. Thus at times in the Bible, we will get some nonsensical English translations because the translator was unaware of the alternate meaning of a word. Both donkey and heap use the word chamor as their root.

Samson, after killing a large number of Philistines whose bodies were piled up in a heap, he chased down more of them and did the same to them, which created another heap of corpses. The way Hebrew words, it could have been several more than two heaps which Samson created. Thus, we find the place where the massacre occurred is place called Ramath-lehi, which means jawbone heightsd or jawbone hill.

3. (Judges 15:18-20) God provides for Samson miraculously

When he became very thirsty, and he called to the LORD and said, "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. So he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

When he became very thirsty: The battle ends, and Samson is exhausted and very thirsty. There had been no time to refresh himself. There also was apparently no water nearby. In a rare moment of proper spirituality, Samson acknowledges that it was the LORD who won this battle. It was the LORD who preserved Samson's life in what only seemed to be a one-man fight against staggering odds. Samson says to God that he is grateful that God has seen fit to accomplish such a great rescue through His servant.

Although Samson was quite aware of his calling as a Nazirite, and thus calling himself God's servant, as God's tool he was to begin to liberate Israel from the Philistines. He was by far the most unfaithful of all the Judges and paid but lip service to his God-ordained status as a Nazirite.

Samson was now weakened both by dehydration and sheer physical exhaustion from a fight which probably lasted for a day. He would not be able to withstand another attack if other Philistines decided to join in. As God had done in the days of old, long before Samson, the LORD sprung forth water from a rock and satiated Samson. Samson revived.

Judges Chapter 15 Part Two (Verses 4-8)

2. (Judges 15:4-5) Samson strikes out against the Philistines by burning their crops 

Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails. When he had set fire to the torches, he released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning up both the shocks and the standing grain along with the vineyards and groves.

Samson went and caught three hundred foxes: Samson decides to take rather inventive revenge on the Philistines. He captures 300 shu'al, binds their tails together in pairs and ties a lit torch to them. The animals race off in panic. In the process, the flaming torches which they are dragging behind them set the dry ripened wheat fields on fire.

A shu'al is not actually a fox. Rather, they are more akin to jackals. Foxes are solitary animals. It would be nearly impossible for one man to trap 300 of them. Jackals, on the other hand, travel in packs. So there is a possibility of capturing several of them at once. God prescribes man to be humane to all creatures. What Samson did was downright cruel. It is not hard to imagine many of the jackals being severely burned. Others were killed, and every last one of them were traumatized to the extreme. Samson used them as a tool of personal vengeance, caring little for their fate and suffering they endured. This is becoming a familiar trait of Samson.

Burning up both the shocks and the standing grain along with the vineyards and groves: Just like any ancient society, these fields of grain were the livelihood of the common folk. While these people were indeed Philistines, who God ultimately wanted removed from the Promised Land, they were not monsters. In addition, it was common to plant wheat among olive trees. So many of the olive groves were also burned down.

Unlike some of Samson's earlier adventures, we do not find any reference of Samson being given divine strength and influence to set these fields on fire. We also do not find any reference to the Holy Spirit coming upon Samson in this case. It would be reasonable to assume that this was nothing more than Samson obeying his own evil inclinations. Were the results something God would use for His purposes? Absolutely. The LORD'S primary purpose for Samson was to undo the ungodly peace and syncretism between His people and His enemies. Did the LORD approve of wanton cruelty and indiscriminate destruction? Not a chance.

3. (Judges 15:6-7) The Philistines retaliate by killing Samson' wife and family

Then the Philistines said, "Who did this?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion." So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. Samson said to them, "Since you act like this, I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will quit."

Then the Philistines said, "Who did this?": In verse six, the Philistine farmers begin to ask one another if they knew who might have caused all this destruction. Some must have witnessed it because, without hesitation, Samson was pointed out as the culprit. 

So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire: The farmers were also informed that this happened because Samson's almost father-in-law had denied Samson's bride to him and had given her to another. It was this which drove Samson to burn down their crops. The Philistine farmers went as a mob to the man's house and burned it down with him and his daughter inside.

Since you act like this, I will surely take revenge: When Samson finds out about this atrocity, he decides he would reciprocate by killing some more Philistines. (And the cycle continues.)

The Philistine farmers had no interest in taking on Samson, whom their army could not deal with. They blamed their misery on someone who they determined upset Samson. (The person the Philistines cast the blame on was also more convenient to extract revenge upon.)

This exact same mentality is still at play in the Middle East. We have a worldwide consensus that the homicide bombings of public buses, the constant rocket attacks into purely civilian neighborhoods coming from Gaza and the desire of a dozen Muslim nations to annihilate Israel is because Israel has done something to offend them. It is Israel's fault that their neighbors are constantly attacking them. The only reason (other than underlying anti-Semitism) that this irrational attitude persists throughout the world is from the vast fear the world has of Islam. The world prefers to shift the blame to the victim because to deal with the perpetrator is fraught with difficulty and great danger.

4. (Judges 15:8) Samson repays the Philistines for the murder of his wife

He struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

He struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter: Samson went on another random killing spree. He killed any Philistine who came across his path. Then, Samson left Philistia and went to a cave called the rock of Etam. Samson did just as he stated he would do in verse seven. He killed a certain number of Philistines until he had exacted revenge. Then he stopped and retired to the rock of Etam. 

History is circular. What we see happening between Samson and the Philistines is once again happening between Israel and the modern day Philistines--the Palestinians. One thing to keep in mind, the LORD does not want peace in the Middle East, at least not yet. The kind of peace men want and are striving for is man-made. It involves compromising God's principles. It means Israel has to essentially give up on the covenants God made with them. Id the Palestinians were not harassing Israel, someone else would be. Before there were the Palestinians, Jordan was Israel's archenemy. Before them, it was Egypt, Iran and Iraq. If the leaders of Israel were not so willing to give up much of the Holy Land, God would not be allowing the never-ending murders. Israel is constantly being stirred up so that the roadmap to peace cannot possibly happen.

The same seemingly unsolvable dilemma is the Middle East today was very much the same way in Samson's day. It is the instability and constant violence from the enemy, and Israel's disobedient response to it all (instead of repenting of their ways and returning to the LORD) that is the hallmark of the days of the Judges. It is the same way again in our time and for the same reasons.

Judges Chapter 15 Part One (Verses 1-3)

Introduction
In chapter 14, Samson spotted a Philistine girl who he wanted to marry. He disrespectfully demanded his parents to negotiate a marriage contract for her. Samson's parents objected to this because the girl was not Hebrew. No Hebrew (let alone a Nazirite) should ever consider marrying a pagan Philistine. Samson's father gave in and did as Samson demanded.


A seven-day long Philistine-style wedding ceremony ensued. The events occurred around a banquet. Thirty Philistine men were invited as "companions: of the groom. This was likely due to no Israelite would accompany Samson into Philistine territory in order for him to marry a Philistine girl. At the ceremony, it was Samson's duty to entertain the guest. One of the popular means of entertainment was to challenge the guests to a riddle. Samson spiced up the game by attaching a wager and a handsome prize to those who guessed the answer correctly. But this game also came with a hook: if the guests lost the wager, they would owe Samson a large sum of very valuable clothing.

The riddle concerned the lion which Samson had secretly killed on the journey to Timnah when his parents first met Samson's future bride. Then, on the next trip for the actual occasion for the wedding, Samson stopped out of curiosity to view his handiwork. He found to his delight that some bees has set up a hive and had produced honey inside the carcass of the dead lion.


Since Samson was alone on both occasions with the lion, the riddle he offered (with the lion being the answer) was unsolvable, meaning it was quite unfair and insulting to his guests. The wager, which involved expensive clothing, made the matter all the more delicate. The guests sensing they had been duped went to Samson's bride and demanded she use her womanly wiles to get the answer to the riddle from Samson and then divulge it to them. (The men, being her fellow country men, felt entitled to the information. Moreover, they threatened to kill Samson's bride and her father.) After several days of crying and whining to Samson, Samson finally caves in. He tells her the answer to the riddle. She immediately goes to the wedding guests and tells them the solution.

Samson felt betrayed. Before the seven-day wedding ceremony was concluded, he stormed off. He walked about 30 miles to the Philistine city of Ashkelon. There, he murdered thirty men for their clothing in order to pay off the wager for the riddle. These thirty Philistine men were killed at random. They had no part in the wedding. They were innocent victims.

Since Samson did not complete the marriage ceremony, he was never actually married. We find the humiliated father of the girl giving her to Samson's best man (a Philistine) since Samson had never returned to claim his bride.


SAMSON AGAINST THE PHILISTINES

A. Retaliation back and forth
1. (Judges 15:1-3) Samson's rage at discovering his wife is given to another man
But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, "I will go in to my wife in her room." But her father did not let him enter. Her father said, "I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her youngest sister more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours instead. Samson then said to them, "This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm."

But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest: Some undefined amount of time passed, and the wheat season arrived. This means, it was around late May or early June, a holy time in which Shavuot (Pentecost) was celebrated. Samson's anger had finally subsided enough. He decided to go back to Timnah to see his wife. The word used for wife in Hebrew is ishsheh, which can mean woman or wife depending on the context. It is hard to know the exact relationship Samson had with this girl. Was he married or not? He must have felt some ownership claim over the girl otherwise he would not have expected to visit this girl in her personal chambers. The girl's father explained the situation to Samson. They had no idea what to make of Samson abruptly leaving the wedding ceremony, but since he did not come back, and so much time had elapsed, they could only assume Samson did not want her anymore. The father gave the girl to another man.

Samson visited his wife with a young goat: The answer to what was actually happening here might be in the young goat Samson was bringing with him. Why would he be bringing a gift? And why would it have been considered important enough to include the gifting of the goat in the narrative? It is usually taught the young goat was a present of reconciliation. While it is possible, it is hard to imagine that such a common and rather inexpensive item would have been suitable to apologize for the tremendous insult and boorish behavior Samson had displayed some time earlier at his own wedding.

Instead, there is another, and much more likely possibility. There is an ancient Middle Eastern custom (still practiced today in some Middle Eastern culture) called sadika. It was (and still is) followed by men who have no permanent habitation. Thus, their wife is allowed to remain with her parents on a more or less indefinite basis. It is also recognized as a marriage of lesser status than the more typical one in which a husband and wife set up their own household together. Sadika is probably an evolution of the concubine relationship whereby a man takes a woman to live in his household, but she is not given a marriage certificate or married under the chuppah (i.e., she is not given a wedding ceremony). Yet, she does have many rights of a wife.

In modern times, the husband in this kind of marriage is called a joz musarrib which means a visiting husband. In this system, it is the husband's duty to bring the wife a gift each time he comes to visit her. It does not have to be a valuable gift, but it cannot be so small as to be insulting. A kid goat would fit this bill just about right for their period in time. Thus, in our case with Samson, he says in verse one, "I will go in to my ishsheh in her room." No man would be allowed to enter a single woman's private chambers, nor could a married woman have a male visitor other than her father of husband in her own room. Such a thing just was not done. It could easily bring the death penalty for parties involved. Samson seems as though he thought he had some kind of marital relationship with this girl (probably of the sadika kind), but the father thought otherwise.

Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she: Seeing Samson was surprised and upset, the father offered the girl's younger sister to him. The father tells Samson, the younger sister is even prettier. Why not take such a nice trade? While that may seem uncivilized to us, it was usual in those days for such a transaction to occur. The father was making a sincere attempt to make things as right as he could under the circumstances. Samson did not want the girl's younger sister. Another rage overcame Samson.

This time I should be blameless in regard to the Philistines: Samson determines he is going to take revenge for this perceived offense against him. It was going to be against the Philistines in general. It is self evident Samson seems to lump all Philistines together. If one Philistine insults him, then all Philistines are open to blame and are fair game. This is so strange. Samson seemed to hang out regularly in Philistine territory and had a hunger for Philistine women. Yet, he seems to have some deep-seated burning hatred towards the Philistines as a group.

I think it might be fair to say he was rather bigoted towards them. After all, you could take any race of people and decide the actions of one equal the actions of them all. It is hard to not see this as a kind of bigotry. Of course, the Philistines ruled over Israel at this time. So the Philistines were hardly the good guys. But, any soldier who has fought on foreign soil will tell you that it is a dilemma to mentally separate the innocent civilians from the military troops who are trying to kill you. Yet, most soldiers instinctively know there is a difference, and they must conduct themselves in that knowledge.

It can be also argued that since God was in the middle of all this with Samson, perhaps Samson was responding to a righteous kind of impulse within him to destroy the Philistines. But Samson's other actions indicate Samson did not seem to care much about what God thought or what God's laws and ordinances entailed. Samson operated primarily in a self-centered manner, by doing what was right in his own eyes. He had very little self-control or wisdom.

Judges 14 Part Three (Verses 15-20)

3. (Judges 14:15-18) Samson's Philistine wife extracts the answer to the riddle from Samson and tells it to the Philistines
Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?" Samson's wife wept before him and said, "You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me." And he said to her, "Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?" However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,
"What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?"
And he said to them, 
"If you had not plowed with my heifer, 
You would hot have found out my riddle."  

Then it came about on the fourth day: The thirty men continued to try various methods to answer the riddle. Unsuccessful, they were beginning to realize not only had Samson made a fool out of them, but they were going to leave the wedding feast poorer than when they had arrived. This infuriated them. So they confronted Samson's bride and demanded she pry the solution out of her husband.      

The fourth day: Depending on your Bible translation, it may say, "It came about on the fourth day" or "it came about on the seventh day." The English translators are trying to make sense of this story for us Greek-minded folks. The actual Hebrew states, "It came about on the seventh day." Yes, the Hebrew text actually makes this story a little bit confusing.

It is quite time consuming to go into depth about how everything plays out on a timeline. I will summarize. It says the 30 men could not solve the riddle after three days. Then the Hebrew says on the seventh day, the men went to Samson's bride. Next, we see Samson's bride ask Samson for the information, Samson refuses, and then he gives in because it says she cried for the entire seven days. By the seventh day, Samson was worn down and tells his bride the answer to the riddle. We see a few timing conflicts. For instance, it says after the third day of a seven day feast the 30 men approached the bride. Yet, it says she cried for all seven days (presumably to get Samson to tell her the answer). Then we are told before the seven days ended, the Philistine men received the answer from Samson's bride and delivered the answer to Samson.

The timing issue can be solved if one understands we most likely have a contextual mixing of the same term meaning two different things. The term is "seven days". Seven days was the length of the wedding feast, but we have no idea what day of the week the festival began. Seven days is also how long the girl cried. And the "seventh day" is also a common biblical term which means the Sabbath. (The Sabbath is the seventh and final day of the week.) Thus, it was very likely not on the seventh day of the wedding banquet in which the men came to the girl to convince her to help them solve the riddle. Rather, it was referring to the seventh day of a standard week (the Shabbat). You can continue this theme for the rest of the timing issues to resolve anything which may appear as a timing conflict.

Samson's wife wept before him: Moving along, Samson did not want to tell the girl his riddle. He knew she may divulge his answer to the 30 men. After all, despite the fact they were in the marriage process, her family was Philistine, and her culture was Philistine. Also, all her friends were Philistines. The pressure would have been too much for her not to help out those who she had been closest to all of her life. In fact, Samson says not even his own parents knew the answer to the riddle.

(There was good reason for this. Remember, Samson's parents were not present when Samson discovered the honey inside the lion. Samson gave his parents honey from an unclean lion carcass. If they ever found out, they would be furious with Samson because they would have to go through a long and costly process of ritual purification. Moreover, the mere thought of them eating something unclean would have probably made them sick.) But this also was an important tool for the LORD to use in His determination to undermine the peace process between the Philistines and the Israelites.

The tears from Samson's bride finally have their desired effect. Samson tells her the answer to the riddle. I think most men can identify with this situation. When a woman cries even for a few minutes, most men are ready to do almost anything to stop her tears. Most men have no idea what to do with a crying woman...and most woman know this. I cannot imagine how heart-breaking it must have been for Samson's bride to be crying during the wedding feast.

She then told the riddle to the sons of her people: Unfortunately, the girl instantly goes to her 30 men and tells them the riddle's answer. Just moments before the end of the seventh day, when the time would have ended for the men to declare the answer or owe Samson the clothing, they go to Samson and give him the solution.

If you would not have plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle: Samson may have had character flaws, but he was no dummy. He knew immediately his wife had betrayed him. Thus, he told the men in a kind of riddle form that he knew what they did.

A short detour
All throughout this story, this girl has been called Samson's wife. But that is not correct. The Hebrew term being translated is ishsheh; it can mean girl, woman or wife. The meaning is derived from the context. The problem in this story is that the whole wedding process was interrupted before the end of the seventh day. But more importantly, this rift between Samson and his bride seems to have happened BEFORE they had sexually consummated their marriage. This is key. By Hebrew standards, the marriage ceremony consisted of a gathering of friends and family, a brief ceremony officiated by the parents and then everyone watched as the couple went into their home to consummate their union. In the morning, a marriage cloth was used as proof of the consummation. The cloth was given to the mother of the bride for safekeeping; this was in effect the equivalent to a signed marriage certificate.


The point is this: by everything in the Scriptures, there was no consummation of this marriage. Thus, Samson and his bride were never officially married. Thus, to translate the word ishsheh as wife is a misnomer. So why do we find it in the text this way? The answer is the rabbis (especially those who helped create the Greek Septuagint) wanted to make Samson out as a great and near perfect man, rather then the seriously flawed man that he was. Thus, they concocted all kinds of fanciful and unsubstantiated excuses and scenarios which changed the plain meaning of the holy texts. For instance, they claim that before Samson married thus girl, she converted to Judaism. Then they claim Samson and this girl were legally married in correct Torah fashion. Thus, this girl was his wife. The next chapter (chapter 15) will bring up this issue in more detail. So we will examine it a little more at that time.


4. (Judges 14:19-20) Samson's anger and revenge
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Askelon and killed thirty men of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily: Verse 19 states the Spirit of the LORD came over Samson as he went to Ashkelon. The Spirit gave Samson the burst of supernatural strength which allowed him to go through the city and kill these random Philistine men in order to take their clothing from them. This reminds us that the LORD was behind this all. Yes, Samson's own evil inclinations made him the bully with anger management issues, but the LORD used this for His purposes.

Samson was beside himself in anger. His betrothed had betrayed him. And now he had to come up with thirty sets of clothing for his guests as their prize for "solving" his riddle. Rather than just tell the men their method of getting the answer negated what he owed them, he determined he would meet his obligation.

So boiling with rage, he went to Ashkelon (about 30 miles away). He proceeded to kill 30 male citizens of Ashkelon in order to take their clothes from them and give them to his wedding guests. These men Samson killed had no connection to the weeding. By all accounts, these were random killings, but undoubtedly, Samson picked men who possessed the special kind of clothing the bet required. He took the clothes and gave them to the men he owed them to. He then went to his father's house in Zorah.

But Samson's wife was given to his companion: Back in Timnah, his wife and her family would have waited and waited for Samson to return. But Samson never did. What a terrible insult to her family and what a dilemma. Was this girl married or not? Would Samson return and complete the marriage process or was this girl to remain in limbo? After some time passed (we do not know how many days, weeks or months may have elapsed), the girl's father gives her in marriage to Samson's best man.

In summary, Samson's rash decision to marry the Philistine girl, the girl's decision to betray her fiance to the 30 wedding guests, and then her father's decision to give her to another man after Samson took off now made reconciliation impossible. Samson's war against the Philsitines was about to begin in earnest. By the way, the Rabbis handle all this (and what is about to come) by explaining that Samson's co-called "wife" now gave up her Judaism and returned to the religion of her Philistine family.

Judges Chapter 14 Part Two (Verses 5-14)

3. (Judges 14:5-9) Samson slays a lion and eats some wild honey
Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson. When he returned to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. 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 scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.  

Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah: Samson's parents caved in to Samson's demands. The three of them journey to Timnah so marriage arrangements could be made. On the outskirts of the Philistine village was a vineyard. Samson and his parents separate. Going through the vineyard would have been the direct route to Timnah. However, since Samson was a Nazirite, he had to avoid contact with grapes. Thus, he took the long way around.

Behold, a young lion came roaring toward him: Suddenly, Samson stumbles upon a lion. The startled lion roars at Samson. Samson leaps into action.

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily: We see God using this situation for His purposes. When the Spirit comes upon Samson, it overwhelmed him with supernatural strength and courage. With bare hands (i.e., using no weapon), Samson tore the lion apart and killed it.

Who can imagine fighting a lion under any circumstances let alone without any kind of weapon? But let us also not make it out to be more than what it is. The Hebrew word used here for lion is kephir. There are five Hebrew words for lion, and they are NOT synonyms. Rather, each Hebrew word for lion sets up a hierarchy of the lion's maturity.

The word gur means a baby lion or a small cub. At the other end of the scale is the oldest and most mature lion called a layish. In between gur and layish are three other Hebrew words denoting the different stages of the lion's development. Kephir is the second youngest stage. What Samson fought was a mature lion cub, but it was still small. It was not yet considered a young adult lion. (The typical illustrations of a large male lion with a flowing mane is a little over the top for what Samson actually killed.)

He did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion: Since Samson went a different route than his parents, his mom and dad did not know about the adventure Samson had with the lion. Samson did not bring this topic up. This of itself is going to play a role in what comes a little later in the story.

So he went down and talked to the woman: When they arrived in Timnah, all three went to the family home of this unnamed Philistine girl. Samson took some time to speak with her. Up until now, he had only been struck by her lovely appearance. After getting to know the woman, he became pleased with her countenance. 

When he returned to take her: The next verse skips ahead quite a bit. Some amount of time has passed. Samson's parents had apparently met their Philistine counterparts. Marriage terms were agreed upon and the betrothal period began. How long this is we do not know. Undoubtedly, it was some compromise between the Hebrew and the Philistine's customs of the day.

Verse eight has Samson returning to Timnah to claim his bride. (Again, it appears Samson's parents took a different route as they approached Timnah's vineyards.) Along the way, Samson remembers the lion and went over to the same spot to see if the remains of it were still around. Samson saw the lion carcass.

The image we need to get in our mind is that this was not a sun-bleached lion skeleton lying there. Rather, it was more of a mummy. It was summer in Canaan--it is hot and dry. During summer, when an animal died, it was quite usual for scavengers to do their jobs to empty the dead animal of its internal organs. But, at the same time, the sun and lack of humidity had the effect of rapidly dehydrating the remaining skin and flesh. Meat and fish are often preserved this way. They are flayed and laid open to the sun to become dried and preserved for use later.

It was inside the cavity of the lion where the skin was still stretched over the skeleton that a colony of bees had established a hive. Honey was a prized food. There was not a great deal of it. (Bees were not cultivated in hive farms like they are now.) Honey offered a wonderful and rare flavor. So Samson took full advantage of this novel treat. He scraped out of the carcass as much honey as he could with his hands. He ate some and then later offered some to his parents when he met up with them again. We are told that Samson withheld the matter of where he got the honey from.

The body of a lion: A lion was an unclean animal. Worse, this was a dead unclean animal. So while Samson did not seem to be bothered by the prospect of either contact with this ritually impure object northat  eating food taken from it, his parents would not have eaten the honey had they known the source. Technically, a Nazirite was not supposed to touch a dead body under any circumstance. He could not ever bury his own parents if they passed away. However, tradition had developed a Nazirite was not to contact any dead thing including an animal. (One distinction was made: a Nazirite could eat and touch a clean dead animal, otherwise eating meat would have been out of the question. There is no record of requiring a Nazirite to become a vegetarian or to abstain from sacrificial offerings.)

It is unimaginable that Samson's parents would have eaten honey taken from the corpse of a dead unclean animal such as a lion. This shows once again how Samson paid little attention to the Laws of Moses or even Hebrew traditions if it did not suit him. He really did not care too much about the feelings and concerns of others. This included even his own parents.


B. The feast and the riddle

1. (Judges 14:10-11) Samson hosts a "bachelor party" for Philistine friends
Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Then his father went down to the woman: In verse ten, we are told that the marriage ceremony began as Samson's father went down to greet Samson's bride-to-be. There is no hint which indicates the situation was tense or even uncomfortable for the two families. In many ways, this is just another subtle example of how familiar and at ease God's people had become with God's enemies. This helps us understand why the LORD was going to do something about this ridiculous state of coziness between the two sides which ought not to exist.

Samson made a feast there: We are told a banquet was served. This was the way young men used to go about a marriage ceremony. The young men are referring to Philistine young men. This banquet was a Philistine tradition, not Hebrew. Since Samson was in Philistia, marrying a Philistine girl, there were not any of Samson's Isrealite friends with him. So, out of hospitality, the bride's family provided 30 Philistine men as "companions" for the groom. I suspect Samson had at least some familiarity with many of these men, especially the best man. It seems as though a Philistine wedding ceremony was much like our modern bachelor parties in the USA. Only this party was a seven-day long affair!


2. (Judges 14:12-14) Samson poses a riddle concerning the lion and the honey 
Then Samson said to them, "Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes." And they said to him, "Propound your riddle, that we may hear it. So he said to them,
"Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet." 
But they could not tell the riddle in three days.  

Then Samson said to them: As you can imagine, without television or a DJ, a long seven-day event could get a little bit boring. So, some kind of entertainment was called for. The nearest larger-sized city to Timnah was Askelon, which was about 30 miles away. It is not feasible the guests traveled this distance every day for entertainment. Rather, the wedding guests would have stayed in Timnah during the entire wedding events.

In those day (and for hundreds of years into the future), a favorite party activity was telling riddles. Along with the riddles came drinking copious amounts of alcohol. There is not statement which indicates Samson drank. But if he had not, it would have been a serious breech of hospitality and protocol. Additionally, strictly speaking, a Nazirite was only supposed to stay away from grape-based alcohol (even though tradition stated Nazirites should not drink any alcohol). There were many kinds of alcohol made from grain. In any case, there are some scholars and many Rabbis who try to make the case Samson avoided drinking alcohol. This ideology would have gone against everything we are told about Samson's character if Samson did not partake in at least a little bit of alcohol.

Thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes: The bridegroom does his duty to entertain the guests. Samson offers a riddle. And to go along with it, he offers a wager: if the thirty male guests can decipher the answer, Samson promises to buy them thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.

Various Bible versions offer different translations about what Samson wagered. The linen wraps are written in Hebrew as sedinim; these are rectangular pieces of fine linen which was often used as soft undergarments. This would have been immensely helpful since most outer garments were made from coarse materials which tended to be very scratchy to the touch. The changes of clothes is written in the Hebrew as chalipha; it means a festive garment. It is a garment reserved for a special occasion. 

The main point about these pieces of clothing is that they were expensive garments. By Samson offering this wager, he was really sticking his neck out. If Samson lost, one could wonder where he would have acquired the funds to buy so many costly items. Naturally, part of the bargain was that if the thirty men could not guess the answer to the riddle by the end of the seven-day marriage feast, they would then each owe Samson a sedinim and chalipha. Samson was not planning on losing because in reality, the riddle was not a fair one. But the guests accepted it and the wagers were set.

The riddle: Out of the eater came something to eat. And out of the strong can something sweet: This riddle is referring to the lion Samson killed, and the honey the bees formed inside it. But who could have ever guessed such a thing? This is nothing in which logic, deductive reasoning or cleverness could ever solve. One had to be there at the lion incident to have any idea what Samson was talking about. Solving such a so-called riddle is impossible. Here again, Samson's character flaws show themselves. He has organized a scheme which will take advantage of his own guests, but of course, this is more or less what the LORD had planned all along as a mean to stoke the fires of unrest between the Philistines and the Israelites.

But they could not tell the riddle in three days: Verse 14 tells us that after three days, all 30 men working together to solve this great mystery had no solution.

Judges Chapter 14 Part One (Verses 1-4)

SAMSON'S FIRST FAILED MARRIAGE

Introduction
In chapter 13, we examined Samson's God-announced miraculous birth by a mysterious manifestation of the Angel of the LORD. Samson's mother was barren and most likely was beyond her child-bearing years. Samson's mother was told Samson would be a Nazirite all his life, and this included the time Samson spent growing in her womb.

Samson was of the tribe of Dan whose allotted territory was located adjacent to the coastal region which was dominated by the Philistines. (The Philistines were also known as the Sea Peoples.) Samson was part of only a small remnant of Danites who had elected to remain in central Canaan as the bulk of their tribe migrated north to the Lebanon border area. In this remote northern location, the Danites re-established themselves. The Philistines had proved to be too formidable for them to carry out God's instructions to drive the Philistines out of the Promised Land. So now, the descendants of Dan lived either in the far north or in small enclaves in some of the other Israelite tribal territories. Judah was one of the primary locations as it was the nearest to them and was among the larger territories.

It was Samson's God-ordained purpose to begin to address the strong influence of the Philistines and their pagan culture upon Israel. Samson would not deliver Israel from the enemy. (This was not his assignment.) He was only to begin the process by stirring up trouble between the Philistines and Israelites who had constructed a peaceful co-existence which was precisely against anything the LORD wanted for His people.

Samson's job was merely a continuation of the Holy War begun by Joshua. Samson's actions were in a sense God-sanctioned. While Samson's motives and methods were often questionable (and perhaps even criminal), the LORD influenced him. At certain critical moments, God anointed Samson with superhuman strength. Those critical moments often came after Samson went astray from Hebrew cultural norms and from the Law of Moses in such a way as to precipitate another crisis. Samson and his relationship with God and the manner in which God worked through Samson is quite unique among the Judges. It is also something we ought not to seek for ourselves.


A. Samson seeks a Philistine wife

1. (Judges 14:1-3) Samson demands a Philistine wife
Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife." Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."

Then Samson went down to Timnah: Samson was around 18 or 19 when the Spirit of God came upon him back in chapter 13. As we enter chapter 14, Samson is about 20 years old when he spies out a girl.

Samson's home was in Zorah which was located in the foothills of Judah. Zorah was at an elevation of approximately 800 feet. Timnah was mostly a Philistine city at this time and was located on the coastal plain called the Shephalah.

For the last three centuries, the 12 tribes of Israel have been living in a land called Canaan. Israel was a named nation only in the sense in which it consisted of a people group which stemmed from a common ancestor, Jacob. They were not a country. The 12 tribes were fairly well united during Joshua's day, but when Joshua and the leadership passed away, they reverted back to a typical tribal society in which each tribe was its own entity. The only other allegiance each tribe held was to whatever treaty-based relationships they formed. There was no sovereign nation of Israel with a central government. It is the eventual formation of a central government which is the historical marker which ends the era of the Judges and begins the time of the Kings. The formation of the central government led by a king is also when Israel was finally called Israel. In short, during the time of the Judges, there were 12 Hebrew tribes plus the Levites who inhabited the land of Canaan. But it was not called the nation of Israel (yet).

Saw a woman in Timnah: Samson was in Timnah (for some undisclosed reason) and a Philistine girl catches his eye. He instantly fell in love with her. When the text says, "saw a woman", this means more than to notice her existence. It means he saw her unveiled face, meaning from the typical Middle Eastern cultural norms, this was an immodest girl. Samson goes to his parents and asks them to get her for him. This may sound a bit strange, but this is the usual custom of parents negotiating the marriage among each other.

Get her for me, for she looks good to me: Samson's parents were horrified. Samson was a Nazirite. he was set apart for God when he was still an embryo. A Nazirite was expected to be especially observant of Torah. For him to want a Philistine girl (and an immodest one at that) had to take his parents' breath away. For one thing, it was against Hebrew law for Samson to marry a Philistine. Naturally, his parents want to know why he can't pick a woman from among their own people. Samson's rash and disrespectful reply is: "get her, I want her."

Most versions say something along the lines of "get her, she pleases me well". What the Hebrew literally says is, "get her, she is right in my sight". This is an incredible insight into Samson's underlying character. The contrast is that each time a new Judge cycle begins, we have the LORD saying, "Israel was evil in My sight." Now here is Samson saying that in his sight this pagan girl is the right choice for him. Samson is declaring his judgment is beyond reproach and if something is right in his eyes (if it is good in his mind), then there is no point in discussing the matter any farther.


2. (Judges 14:4) God's will behind the scenes of Samson's desire to marry a Philistine woman
However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

His father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD: In verse four, we are given an important piece of information. Samson's parents' shock came from not knowing this came about from the LORD, "for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines." There is a lot of disagreement over whether it was Samson or the LORD who is the one who was seeking the means to start the fight. (If the word "he" is capitalized in your Bible, it is strictly commentary. There are no capital letters in the Hebrew language.) I do not think it matters all that much. We are told that the impulse in Samson to want this attractive heathen female as a wife came from God. So either way, Samson was just following through with what was divinely destined to be. God had arranged this connection and is going to use this situation to move against His enemy, the Philistines.

This is a side of God most theologians and modern Christians would like to believe is gone. The side where justice has been replaced by love and mercy. The side where the sin of a Believer, no matter how egregious, brings no consequences with it. The side of God where obedience is a thing of the past. Now all we have to do is "feel" love towards Him and one another. Here in Judges, we have the LORD picking a fight with someone who is not looking for one. He is using Samson as a surrogate. The LORD does not like the peace and calm between His people and the Philistines.

The Philistines do not belong in the land of Canaan. God gave direct instructions to Moses and Joshua to drive out and destroy all who oppose Him in the land of Canaan. But instead, God's people have decided they would rather switch to paganism than fight. One point which needs to be clear: the decree to utterly eradicate the land from the inhabitants only applied to the land of Canaan. All other foreigners, Israel was supposed to defend itself against, but they were to try to make peace with them if at all possible. Israel was not commanded to have a worldwide crusade. They were only to completely wipe out the people living in the land of Canaan.