Judges 14:5-7 – The power of the Holy Spirit and effective living

In Judges 14, we are told that Samson took several trips to the territory of the Philistines. In his first trip, he saw a Philistine beauty and fell in love with her at first sight, well sort of. Despite his parents’ dissuasion, he insisted on marrying her. He insisted that his parents should arrange for him to marry her. The parents then acceded and pandered to his unfettered desire. So, in verses 5-7, we see them taking a trip with Samson to the Philistine territory. This would be the second time Samson went to Timnah.  While we thank God for loving parents, but as parents, we need to discern what’s best for our children and bravely deny them from walking in the wrong path. Loving our children is one thing but loving doesn’t mean we must pander to all their desires, especially the wrong ones. Our children, when they are young, need to be taught and grounded in the godly foundation. To do so, we may need to restrict and not accede to their request even when they insist. Here perhaps is where Manoah and his wife had faltered. So, they went with Samson on his second trip to Timnah to negotiate his marriage.    

While on this trip, there was a moment where he and his parents separated. And verse 5 tells us that during this time, he encountered a young lion which attacked him. Samson found unusual power and killed the lion with his bare hands. The author made it clear that it was because the Spirit of the LORD came upon Him. In the Old Testament, the Spirit would only come upon a vessel to enable him to do a certain task. But in the New Testament, we thank God that Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to be in and with us. Praise God that on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent and since then all of us, the followers of Christ, have excess to the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This same Spirit will empower us to do the work of God.

With the enabling of the Spirit, Samson was able to tear up the lion with little effort. Just imagine what we, the people of God, will be capable of too when we learn to rely on the power of the Spirit of God. However, this incident, we shall see, had set him up to break the Nazirite vows later. Having killed the lion, Samson kept what he had done a secret and did not even tell his parents about it. So, they proceeded with the marriage negotiation and verse 7 indicates that Samson was truly besotted with that Philistine beauty.  

We thank God that unlike Samson, the Holy Spirit of God is available to all of us today, the followers of Christ. Jesus said that He would be with us and will guide us into all truth. We need this Holy Spirit today more than ever. If we want to lay hold of the purpose of God in our life, we need Him. He will certainly help us to make a difference in our ministry. As Paul had exhorted the early Christians in Ephesians 5:18, let us also seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit daily. We need Him!