Today, I am reading and commenting on  Judges 14-16.

When Samson asked his parents to arrange a marriage for him with a Philistine woman, the writer tells us that this was from the Lord.  God sought to create a confrontation between Samson and the Philistines.  In previous years I have written about how this passage shows that Samson had poor judgement when it came to the women with whom he chose to have relations.  I still believe that holds true, but this passage shows how God used Samson’s weakness to accomplish His purposes.  For twenty years, Samson led Israel to follow God, and kept them free from Philistine rule, despite his weakness, despite the fact that he was unable to overcome his lust for Philistine women.  Yet, in the end, Samson’s poor judgement when it came to women, his inability/unwillingness to follow God’s commands regarding expressing his sexuality, led to his downfall.  Even then, when God’s enemies gave credit to another for Samson’s defeat, God used Samson to once more demonstrate His power.  In the same way, God will use us, flawed as we are.  Nevertheless, Samson also serves as an object lesson that, even though God may use us despite our flaws, we will pay a price if we fail to allow His Spirit to transform us to overcome them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.