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Judges 13-16 – Samson and Eve #1
They say young men marry women that remind them of their mothers. For me I know that was true, except younger! The story of Samson can be told by contrasting his mother to his women. In Judges 13, while unnamed, the wife of Manoah and Samson’s mother is the main character. It is she who is said to be unable to have children, and nothing is said about her husband. The Angel of God appears to her first and second. And when Manoah gets afraid after realizing in that seeing the Angel of the LORD, they had seen God (13:22); it is his wife who calms him down with some fairly sound logical thinking (23). She is a spiritually strong woman who is able to be a helper (Genesis 2:18) to her husband. Manoah was the weaker of the two.
In studying Samson it is apparent he is a man of weak character. All is not lost because many a weak man can be made stronger through a godly helper. Sadly, and much to his detriment, Samson who was weak like his father did not marry someone strong in the Lord like his mother. He married a strong woman in the flesh who did not help but instead manipulated and ruled over him. Samson was like his father. Delilah was like his mother in that she was strong; but unlike his mother in being strong in a way that helps. The lesson for us today is we must be willing to do a strong and honest self-examination if we want to be faithful. Everyone benefits from marrying someone strong in the faith. In my experience, men need this more than women because women seem to be more naturally spiritually minded. And while all men benefit from a spiritually strong woman; for some men it is essential for their own spiritual safety.
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