Day 95/365- Judges 14:2, 3

"Judging Judges"

When he returned home, he told his father and mother, "A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me."
His father and mother objected. "Isn't there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?" they asked. "Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?"
But Samson told his father, "Get her for me! She looks good to me." (Judges 14:2, 3 NLT)

The book of Judges spends more time on the life of Samson than any other judge. His leadership is very inconsistent & not like that of Moses & Joshua. Samson is demonstration of the fact that there was no King in Israel & everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:5). Samson seems to have a bad temper, a weakness for pagan women, a vengeful heart, & inconsistent leadership. God uses him to do great things in spite of himself but he also makes a mess of his life.

I'm reminded in Samson of how none of us deserve to be used by God. It is a wonder & privilege that he would ever use us. We don't deserve to be in the family of God much less be used for His kingdom purposes. God uses us even in our imperfections & I'm grateful that he does. This shouldn't be an excuse for inconsistent, godless living. Instead, it should cause us to wonder at the grace of God.

In addition to these truths, we also see how God used these judges to deliver his people. He used them to temporarily deliver them but not permanently save them. Before long they were ensnared with sin & oppressed by their enemies.

God used Abraham to begin a nation but not save the nation. God used Moses to deliver the people from bondage but not save them from their sins. God used the priests to intercede for the people's sins but not remove them entirely. God used the judges to rescue his people temporarily but not permanently. Only Jesus could accomplish all of this! Only Jesus redeems, delivers, saves, atones, & rescues perfectly. The book of Judges reminds us that we ultimately need a rescuer that would would save us from sin, self, our enemies once & for all!