Honey from a Carcass (Judges 14:2-3, 8-9)

Judges 14:2-3, 8-9

 

2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” …

8 After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9 He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

 

Samson wanted a Philistine wife. God, of course, had forbidden such an intermarriage. Yet, to Samson, it looked and felt right. It was what he wanted.

 

In the same chapter, Samson killed a lion. Later, he looked and found that bees had made honey in the carcass of the lion. Samson chose to eat that honey and to give it to his parents who were unaware of what was going on. Eating honey from a dead animal carcass would have clearly violated God’s laws relating to clean and unclean foods.

 

What do we see here? God has clear rules that he commands that we follow. In two instances, we see Samson disregard the rules of God simply because he wants to. Not only does Samson break the laws of God, he also drags his parents into his mess with him, corrupting those around him with his selfish sin.

 

Truly, this is a picture of our own sinfulness. When we sin against God, is it not because what we do seems right in our eyes at the time? We want what we want. What we want seems sweet and satisfying. We do not like that God would forbid anything from us. So, we break the law of God. Then, in order to satisfy ourselves more, we often drag others into our mess in order to feel better about our own failings.

 

The word of God is perfect. His law is worth far more than gold and his standards are sweeter than honey (cf. Psalm 19:10-11). Never is breaking the law of God OK. Never does it lead to satisfaction and joy. Never does it benefit us in the long run. Never can we strive against God and win.

 

Lord, the truth is, we are sinful people. It is so easy for me to decide that I want what I want and I will disobey your commands. I pray that you will work in my heart a love for your word so that I will not break it. I pray that you will put obstacles in my path when I would run to sin. I pray that you will convict me of sin and help me toward holiness. I ask for friends who will confront me when I fail and whose wisdom I will hear. Please do not let me get honey from a carcass and think it good. Thank you for your Holy Spirit to convict me and for the finished work of Jesus by which I am forgiven.