The Honey, The Lion, and Samson

Judges 14:9

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.

The story of the honey and the lion is found in Judges 14:5-20. This is where Samson was going to marry a woman and challenged his companions with a riddle. “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” The payoff for getting the riddle right was thirty sets of clothes.

When they couldn’t figure out the riddle, they went to the bride and asked her to get the answer from Samson so they could tell him they figured it out. When they went to Samson and said, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?”, he knew what had happened.

Samson wasn’t stupid. He knew his companions had persuaded her to use their relationship against him. But I’m not sure he knew why. Verse 15 tells us, “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?’”

She was afraid for her life. What she didn’t realize was that she was the bride of the strongest man around. She should have told Samson that she and her family had been threatened. He might have taken care of her and her family because of her loyalty to him. Instead, she did what she was told by those who threatened her life.

If you look at this as if Jesus is our husband (instead of Samson) and the evildoers of the world are portrayed by Samson’s companions, we see a picture of how Jesus could get displeased with us because of our disloyalty. When we don’t go to Jesus, but instead we follow the instructions of those threatening us on the Earth today, we’re not giving Jesus a chance to defend us and rescue us. It looks like we don’t think he can.  

Are we being bold and going to Jesus when we’re being threatened? Or do we fear those who hate us enough to threaten our lives? Shouldn’t we go to Jesus who has the ability and the willingness to protect and defend those who are his? Are we his? Then we should act like it. Go to him today.