Thursday 24th July Judges 16.23-31

Qn. 1

…, “Our god has given us Samson our enemy into our hand” (23): After the Philistines had gouged out Samson’s eyes, they belittled him and sacrificed for their god Dagon, and they kept on mocking him until he was called out of prison to entertain them (25-27). The enemies of the God of Israel could be deceived several times that they had defeated him, yet he could always render them ridiculous by nullifying their gods (1 Sam. 5.3-5). …, O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once,…(28): Could be that Samson remembered that God never has any pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez. 18.23). King Hezekiah also cried out to God, asking him to show that he is God alone (2 Kings 19.16-19). Whenever we hear a lot of voices tending to discourage us, let’s remember that Christ died so that we may live. After his prayer, his usual strength was given back to him and he destroyed the house, killing more people than those he had ever killed previously. Consider: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6.23).