The story of Samson is one of the most unusual stories in
the Bible. He does things that are
almost fairy-tale or mythical. Here,
after the incident with his wife telling her people the secret to the riddle,
her father has given her away to another man in the belief that he surely now
hates her. Samson's anger causes him to
catch 300 foxes, tie torches to their tails and send them into the crops of the
Philistines to destroy the crops. Their
revenge is not against him directly but against her and her father. This further enrages him against them,
getting his own revenge. The Israelites
have submitted themselves to Philistine rule and come against Samson rather
than following him. The cycle repeats
and yet, in the end, Samson becomes judge for twenty years during the time of
the Philistines. They weren't completely
independent but they accepted Samson's leadership over them.
Why does Jesus say, " Unless you (y'all) see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The man clearly believed, he had sought Jesus
out to heal his son. Again, I believe it
goes back to the statements that He knew what was in men's hearts. He wasn't doubting the faith of this official
but the people who were there. Why else
would He have sent the man away as He did?
Jesus knew the man's faith was strong enough to go at His word of
assurance concerning the healing. This
man, likely a Gentile since he was a royal official, displayed the faith His
own people did not. Twice since He
departed Jerusalem He has found outsiders to be more willing to believe than
those to whom He was sent.
Stephen makes clear that the people about
whom he is speaking are his own people.
He calls them "our fathers" and "our race." His history is one of the redemption of God's
people. Is this history only important
knowledge if you are a Jew? Too many
leave off study of the Old Testament when we should be familiar with it, if for
no other reason than to heed the warning of the saying, "Those who ignore
history are doomed to repeat it." We
have been grafted into the vine and we do well to know and study the
interaction of God with His chosen people so that we may know more fully what
He expects of us and how He deals with those who go astray. We might also know the snares the enemy sets
for us that we may be wary and prepared.
We have failed in my lifetime to know these things.
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