Woman in Timnah

Everything written in the Bible doesn’t necessarily serve as our model. Moreover, the actions of the Bible characters aren’t all considered good. The Bible contains both the things to follow and the things that are better to avoid. Samson’s desire mentioned in today’s passage falls into the latter category. Samson went down to Timnah and saw a Philistine woman there, whom he desired. The town where Samson lived was Zorah, a hill country town. Timnah, on the other hand, was a town in the coastal plain. The Philistines conquered the coastal regions using chariots, yet were unable to penetrate the mountain cities. (1) Samson merely wanted to marry the woman because he liked her appearance. (2) This is clearly a violation of the Law of Moses. The Philistines were not circumcised, and they worshipped an idol named Dagon. Moreover, Samson, as a Nazirite set apart, wasn’t just an ordinary Israelite. (3) His parents opposed this marriage, and rightfully so. They questioned him, “Is there no a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” (4) However, Samson did not withdraw his desire. He wished to marry the woman purely based on his liking of her appearance.

It was of the Lord

Clearly, Samson was about to make a mistake. However, the Lord intended to bring about His own plan through this mistake. In other words, He intended to use Samson to bring judgment upon the Philistines. This can be called “permissive will.” God is capable of using even people’s stubbornness and self-centered attitudes to fulfill His plans. However, this shouldn’t be taken as a reason to test God’s patience and grace. Those who have experienced failure in the past should praise the name of the Lord, for He can turn even the failures into something good, and therefore, aspire to faithfully follow the Lord. Let us praise the Lord our God, who can use even human failures for a greater purpose.