THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE

January 21, 2001 am
MF Blume

Judges 13:24-14:14  And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.  Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.  And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.   And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.  And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.  So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.  And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.  And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE

The Philistines were Israel’s enemies.

The name Zorah means “hornet”.
Eshtaol means “Entreaty”, or “an asking for help.”

And DAN means “a judge”.

Isn’t it interesting that between a “hornet” and “the asking of God for help,” stood someone who was of the tribe of Dan — someone who is a “judge.”

Timnath, where this woman dwelt, means APPOINTED.

We will come into situations where we stand between two choices.

PHILISTINES literally means "IMMIGRANTS" God moved upon Samson when he was in the midst of these choices. Samson wanted a daughter of the Philistines for his wife, which was contrary to custom to marry a fellow Hebrew, and was therefore discouraged by his parents. Samson looked for an occasion against the enemy! Samson saw the works of the enemy and wanted to do something about it. From a very young age, God moved upon him. V. 5 The Devil always come like roaring lion to confront you to scare you away. When Satan confronts you, and with nothing in your hand, you can defeat him. David was angry at the enemy.
1 Samuel 17:26  And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
Its not people who are your problems, but its the enemy, the devil. God has to find someone else if you disobey. Samson saw the lion and refused to let it tear him down. People and circumstances are instruments of the devil like a gun in his hand, and when a shooter threatens you, you shoot the holder of the gun — not the gun. Don’t get worried over people and don’t proceed to fighting people.

Don’t be ignorant of Satan’s devices.

V. 8 When you defeat the devil there is strength. The Bible refers to the promised land as a Land of milk and honey. Fears are likewise put within people by the devil to distract them from getting to where God wants them to be, and becoming a powerful Kingdom for God to bring the Jesus into the world through our lives.

We need not fear these enemies.

A minority of soldiers were in the midst of a battle, and one soldier said to the leader, “Captain, we’re surrounded.” God will make stepping-stones out of stumbling-stones.

“Why are you holding back on God and not coming to church any more?” a preacher asked a woman.

If ordinary people were your gods, and you stood on judgment day to give an account to people, then you would have a right to tell them that they caused you to stop serving them. All the trials in the wilderness were inserted by the enemy to get Israel away from getting to the goal of Canaan. While taking Driving lessons as a teenager, I veered towards the other oncoming lane. The Lord told Peter to walk on water, when he saw the Lord coming to him and walking on water. When he looked instead at the trouble around him, he began to sink into the trouble. The story proceeds and Samson held a feast and gave forth a riddle to some acquaintances.
“Out of the eater came forth meat.
Out of the strong came forth sweetness.”

The riddle was of the kind that urged the people to describe the picture that was hidden in this statement.

It was a lion that confronted him on his way to the goal that the Lord willed him to attain. The fact that a lion confronted and threatened Samson on his way to do God’s will speaks to us a message. Get the picture. Now the point of all of this is that the last thing anybody would ever guess as to what the source of Samson’s food and sweetness actually was, was the problem of a life-threatening lion that arose in Samson’s path. When God calls us to do His will, any problem that comes our way is going to be taken care somehow and some way, if we will have faith. Samson knew that not many people look at problems that threaten them as sources of food and strength. Only a certain kind of person could answer this kind of riddle. The last people who would ever figure out that the problems that face them can strengthen them are defeatists. The riddle that puzzles so many people is how do you get this particular kind of strength and joy? Its easy when you understand the ways of God. Every time you defeat the enemy in your life, you are that much stronger. Many cannot answer a riddle that speaks of sweetness from the strong, because they have never tried to trust in God when the enemy/eater comes. If you are not used to winning victories, then you could not know that defeating an enemy gives victory. When Satan comes, you think, “He is going to go down once again and I am going to get stronger.  I don’t know why he hasn’t learned that yet.”

We too often do not see trials as chances to get victory.

Not many know the answer to the riddle because not many live by faith.

But you can live by faith.

Its like saying a riddle similar to:

Abraham knew that when God told him he would father many nations, and then told him to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice, that God would simply have to raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill His word... Because GOD’S WORD IS THAT SURE AND SOLID, and He cannot lie. Another riddle: Moses’ mother had faith when she put Moses in a basket into the very Nile river where Pharaoh ordered the infants to be slain, to prevent a deliverer from arising from Israel. Another riddle: Rahab risked her neck when she accepted spies into her home and hid them. The best riddle: Such contrariness would lose a person in its riddle. It does not come to many people’s minds that they can get something out of this battle, because they only see themselves as being defeated. I challenge everyone here today to face any impossible situation that may come your way, and realize that God is a God of the impossible. This supernatural God has your lives in His sight, folks. Do we understand that it was God’s power and help that caused Samson to defeat that lion? What if Samson had looked at the lion and thought he could never do God’s will because of such obstacles? You do not ask God’s hand to be upon you and then walk into a situation and expect Him to strengthen you in that situation unless you have FAITH.

Hindrances to God’s will in your life are meant to be conquered through the power of God by your faith in Him to help, and not be considered as successful obstacles that you might as well give up even trying to overcome.

When God wants you to do His will, whether it is to live for Him or to work for Him after you are saved from sin, then He intends to give you victory over those hindrances to His will.

SERMONS