It Was of the Lord

I’ve heard plenty of sermons based on Judges 14:3. That’s the verse where Samson argues with his parents. You see, Samson had seen a Philistine girl who pleased him and he was asking his parents to get her for him. His parents obviously were upset. God had told them that Samson was supposed to kill the Philistines, not marry them. So they asked him why he wasn’t willing to marry someone from their own people. His only response was that this girl pleased him. Now, as I said, I’ve heard plenty of sermons on that verse. But I was reading this chapter the other day and discovered the next verse. It’s one that I honestly don’t remember and one that I’ve never heard talked about. It goes like this: “But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel” (Judges 14:4).

What? That verse really makes no sense. Why would God be in favor of Samson marrying a Philistine? Well, I definitely don’t think that it was God’s plan A. I’m sure that if Samson had followed God’s original plan for his life, it would have turned out much differently and he wouldn’t have died blind and chained to a couple of pillars. But the author of Judges is very clear that God was working in this and his parents just didn’t understand. It turns out that the wedding was a disaster and a lot of Philistines ended up dead in the aftermath, so it proved to be an occasion for God to move against the Philistines after all. Here’s the thing that really jumped out at me: how often do we, like Samson’s parents, put God into a box, assuming that He works in the way we expect Him to work, and limit His power to accomplish His will in spite of the mess we humans make? And if God could work through someone as reckless as Samson, isn’t there hope for Him to work through you and me?