In Judges 13 and 14 the Israelites sin again and God allows the Philistines to rule them for forty years. An angel of the Lord visits the wife, who is barren, of a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan. He tells her that she will have a son who will be a nazirite for his entire life. Nazirites are chosen by God to make a special vow; they have a special diet and do not cut their hair. They are chosen for a special task which often is only for a short period of time, but in this case God is claiming this child for life. They have a son and name him Samson.

When Samson becomes a man he sees a Philistine woman and wants to marry her. Manoah and his wife try to dissuade him from this decision but this was God’s plan in order to defeat the Philistines.

Samson kills a young lion. After a while he passes by the lion and finds that a swarm of bees has made a hive in it. He takes some of the honey and gives it to his parents. Samson has a weeklong feast for his impending marriage. He tells the guests a riddle regarding the lion and the honey and says he will give them fine garments if they can figure it out.

They pressure his wife to give them the answer. She nags Samson until he tells her the answer to the riddle. The guests answer the riddle. Samson knows that his wife gave them the answer and becomes angry. He kills men from a neighboring town, but gives the guests their garments. Samson gives his wife to his best man.

This is an odd story. It does point out the fact that Samson is vulnerable when it comes to women. He also has done some things that are considered wrong, not only with regard to the vows of the nazirites, but also with the Israelites in general. He has touched a dead body this is considered unclean. Samson has also shown us that he may be hotheaded. We will see if any of these plays a role in a future account.

As Mark 4 opens we find Jesus by the sea. There are so many people gathered around him that he gets into a boat to teach. Jesus begins to teach through parables, which are stories that have a hidden meaning that can only be understood by the faithful.

Jesus tells a story about a sower who sows seed in different places and gets a variety of results. The disciples do not understand the parable and ask for an explanation. Jesus is surprised that they do not have understanding since they have been chosen. Jesus explains that the seed is the word of salvation. Some will hear but will be influenced things that will keep them from letting it take root in their lives. Still there are those who will hear the word and will grow in faith. Jesus tells other similar parables and explains them to his disciples.