Judges Chapter 14 Verses 1 – 3

● Literally this phrase in the Hebrew, “She pleases me well,” is, “She is right in my eyes.” Or less literally and more understandably, “She looks good!” And this really becomes the ultimate downfall for Samson. Not her beauty, but that although he had great strength and although he was richly blessed by the Lord, he led with his eyes! Leading with your eyes, making decisions based upon what you see and what impulses those sights direct in your instincts and intellect (what’s called “system one thinking”) is to walk in foolishness and ultimately
● We gotta walk in wisdom, man. We have to see what is not seen. Understand that we WILL make moment to moment conclusions and judgments over what is seen immediately but don’t be a slave to your senses! Engage “system two.” System two is a thoughtful decision making process where truth, wisdom, and experience (in that order) are engaged to make not just a good decision, but the righteous
● For example, you can talk on your Bluetooth headset while driving down the road at 65 miles per hour. Deep in conversation talking about things that are making you laugh and you’re fully engaged in talking and listening and yet, you’ve gone the last three miles on auto-pilot. How? System one. Your brain can just do it…while you really do something else. But come up on a blockage in the road, an overturned car with fire and police and people even standing in the street and what do you do? “Hold on, something’s going on here.” (Some of y’all being alone even turn down the radio!) HA! Why? You’re engaging system two!
● The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we as Christians, ever conscious of the truth of God and the lie of this fallen world, that we walk by faith, and not by sight! So as situations come, difficult decisions and complex circumstances, we don’t act on impulse and instinct but we seek first the Kingdom of God knowing that all we think we need is not what is needed, but God’s will and guidance is our goal.
● Samson, as we will see and as we are seeing already here, walks mostly by sight and that leads him into a mess of a life. Broken relationships and wasted potential. You and I are no different. Look for God’s heart in the matter. Look for what’s really going on and train your heart and mind towards wisdom. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and my face typically shows exactly what I’m feeling and so I’ve really had to go after this in my own life…I’m so glad I did…

Judges Chapter 14 Verse 4

● Don’t let this verse trip you up. It certainly did me the first couple times I read it but notice that this verse says that it was of the Lord that he was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. What it does not say is that the method by which Samson has chosen is of the Lord. Do you see that? That part of our system one thinking is not there in the scriptures…
● Yes God had raised up Samson to be His deliverer. His judge. But what I don’t see here is Samson raising up the Lord in his life to be his Director. In fact we won’t see that until Samson is in so much trouble that he is blind and weak…There is no consultation with the Lord over this decision…no consultation with his parents…he sees, he wants, he takes…all system one weak thinking and so of course it was of the Lord for him to defeat the Philistines but I totally conclude that it was not of the Lord for Samson to dishonor his parents and for a young lady to be used and taken advantage of…
● And one more small piece of valuable information…his parents dissuade him from marrying a Philistine because as it is written in Deuteronomy 7 by doing so eventually this intermarrying would turn Israel away from God to serve idols and the piece of valuable information and guidance for us is the same. Christians should not marry someone who is not a Christian. Not because they aren’t wonderful and lovable and hot! They are sometimes way more lovable and wonderful and hot than any Christian out there…but that’s all system one stuff…
● That direction is wisdom simply because to be a Christian means Jesus Christ is the most important thing(k) in your life; and when a Christian and non-Christian get together, now you have two people who disagree on the most important things in life…and system one will always win the argument…And so even by association, a Christian really has no business dating a non-Christian because you’re playing with fire…
● Ultimately God uses Samson not in his sin, or because of his sin but in spite of his sin…the real question here is what would have become of Samson if he had walked by faith…followed the Lord…trusted God over the weakness of his flesh…we’ll never know and there’s tough tragedy in that statement…

Judges Chapter 14 Verse 5

● See him playing with fire? He was to have nothing to do with grape products of any kind…and yet where is he walking? This is just dumb really…go around! Whatever you know you should stay away from…go around! Don’t play with this stuff…temptation and such…you will fall…

Judges Chapter 14 Verses 6 – 9

● He’s is so far into compromise…look what he is doing… You know who hides? Cowards. Strong on the outside but gradually he is weakening…crossing line after line and those that love him unconditionally are unfortunately the first that he hides from…this is a serious and repetitive pattern in the lives of folks that are in the midst of idolatry…He has violated his Nazarite and yet he alone knows it…so what he has is consecration without communion or commitment and in the end, that can only be temporarily hidden from others…

Judges Chapter 14 Verses 10 – 18

● There is just so much wrong here and not the least is that statement in verse 18! I mean sheesh! Brand new wife! Honeymooner, and he calls her his heifer! But you know what? This is a symptom of a bigger issue. Samson first dishonors her by posing this riddle. He does this to exert his intellectual superiority over her father, her brothers and her people. He provokes them and insults them and she is them! If he loved her, he would have served her.
● Second, when she presses him to know the riddle herself, his response is repulsive! I haven’t even told my mother or father! You think I’m going to tell you? In terms of biblical marriage, she is now his immediate family. No longer his father or mother but his response reveals that he does not love her, he is not committed to her. And then finally he calls her not only a heifer but his
● These symptoms reveal the disease of self in Samson’s heart. Same when I hear a man, usually a young man, refer to a woman, usually a young woman, as a “chick.” Sets me off on the inside because that dishonors her and her parents and her people…If that’s you, stop and watch how you even think differently about her and other women.
● Now Samson isn’t the only mess here. His new wife doesn’t love him either. How do we know that? She doesn’t trust him. Thirty men are no match for Samson. He’s obviously clever as well so he wouldn’t even have to take them on at once but he could have protected her. She doesn’t even give him the option. See that? She goes right to system one This relationship is doomed because it is false in the first place and you can see that through all of this!

Judges Chapter 14 Verses 19 – 20

● The Spirit of the Lord did not come upon Samson so that his hurt feelings could be avenged. God was against the Philistines because the Philistines were against Israel. How convoluted and complex and difficult God’s direction and plan has become. Imagine if Samson would have just worshiped God and gone out to save his people. What a great story! How filled with worship and communion and joy and purpose Samson would have been! But Samson does it his (This is why discipleship is so important and everyone needs it!) God’s work must be met with God’s heart and God’s ways or we see crisis like this…system one is down!