The Sweet Folly of God's Providence Text: Judges 14:10-14
Introduction: God's Crooked Lines
We come now to a passage in the life of Samson that is, to put it mildly, a tangled mess. It is a story of carnal desires, foolish wagers, and compromised loyalties. On the surface, it appears to be a train wreck of poor decisions, a cautionary tale about a man driven by his appetites rather than by his Nazirite vow. And it is certainly all of that. We must not sanitize Samson. He is a bull in a china shop, a man-child with supernatural strength and a profound weakness for women who are not for him.
But if that is all we see, we have missed the central point of the story, and indeed, the central point of the entire book of Judges. The refrain of this book is that "every man did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). And yet, behind all this chaotic, sinful, self-directed human activity, God is writing His own story. He is drawing straight with crooked lines. The apostle Paul tells us that God "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11). This does not mean that God is the author of sin, but it does mean that He is the author of the story in which men sin. He is sovereign over the foolishness of Samson, the treachery of the Philistines, and the tears of a manipulative woman. He weaves it all together to accomplish His redemptive purpose, which in this case was to pick a fight with the Philistines who were oppressing Israel.
Samson thinks he is pursuing a woman. His parents think they are placating a stubborn son. The Philistines think they are attending a wedding feast. But God is setting a trap. He is baiting the hook. And the bait is Samson's own folly. This is a profound mystery. God does not approve of Samson's sin, but He absolutely ordains the circumstances in which that sin will serve His ultimate, holy ends. This should be a great comfort to us. Not because it gives us a license to sin, God forbid, but because it assures us that even our blunders, our messes, and our most spectacular failures cannot derail the sovereign plan of God. He is such a great chess master that He can win the game even when His own pieces are trying to move in the wrong direction.
In this passage, we see Samson, in a moment of arrogant bravado, propose a riddle at his own wedding feast. This is not just a party game. It is a challenge, a taunt, and it will become the very catalyst for the conflict God intended to provoke all along. It is a riddle wrapped in a carnal decision, inside a divine providence.
The Text
Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. Now it happened that when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him. Then Samson said to them, “Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.” So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” But they could not tell the riddle in three days.
(Judges 14:10-14 LSB)
The Compromised Feast (v. 10-11)
We begin with the feast itself, which is the setting for this covenantal breakdown.
"Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. Now it happened that when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him." (Judges 14:10-11)
Samson is proceeding with his disastrous marriage plans. He is yoking himself to an unbeliever, a direct violation of the covenant principle God had established for His people. This is not just a matter of personal preference; it is an act of spiritual treason. And where there is one compromise, others are sure to follow. He throws a feast, a "mishteh" in the Hebrew, which comes from the word for "to drink." This was a week-long drinking party, a customary pagan celebration. Samson, the Nazirite, who was to be separated unto God from the womb and was forbidden to touch wine or strong drink, is now the host of a Philistine bachelor party.
Notice the subtle but telling detail: "when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him." Who are "they"? It is the Philistines, the family of the bride. They see this hulking Israelite, this outsider, and they assign him thirty "companions." These are not friends; they are minders. They are guards. There is an immediate air of suspicion and hostility. This is not a joyful union of two families; it is a tense standoff. Samson is a man set apart by God, and even in his sin, he cannot quite fit in. The world can sense it. They see his strength, his otherness, and they are wary. They surround him. This is a picture of every believer who tries to make a home in the enemy's camp. You will never truly be one of them. They may feast with you, but they are watching you.
Samson is isolated. He is the only Israelite there, surrounded by thirty Philistines who are more like wardens than wedding guests. This is the fruit of his compromise. When you disobey God to find fellowship with the world, you end up with a counterfeit fellowship that is really just a well-appointed prison.
The Arrogant Wager (v. 12-13)
In this atmosphere of tension, Samson decides to assert his dominance through a game of wits. He is strong, and he knows it, but he wants to prove that he is clever as well.
"Then Samson said to them, 'Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.' And they said to him, 'Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.'" (Judges 14:12-13 LSB)
This is not a friendly icebreaker. This is a challenge, a taunt thrown down in the midst of his enemies. The stakes are high. Thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes was a considerable fortune. This was not a trivial bet. Samson is full of bravado, fueled by his secret knowledge. He has a story that only he knows, the story of the lion and the honey. This private experience, which should have been a reminder of God's power and provision, becomes fodder for a prideful game.
He is essentially setting up a covenant, a binding agreement, with these Philistines. He is making a vow. But this is a foolish vow, a carnal contract. It is a classic example of what happens when we use God's gifts for our own glory. God gave Samson supernatural strength to deliver Israel, and Samson uses the story of that strength to try and humiliate his new in-laws and win some fancy clothes. He is prostituting his divine experiences for the sake of his ego.
The Philistines readily agree. "Propound your riddle, that we may hear it." They are confident in their numbers. Thirty of them against one of him. They take the bet, and in doing so, they walk right into the conflict that God was orchestrating. Both sides are acting out of pride and greed, and God is using their sinful motivations to set the stage for His own purposes. Samson wants to win a bet. The Philistines want to win a bet. God wants to start a war.
The Impossible Riddle (v. 14)
Samson then delivers his master stroke, a riddle that is, by its very nature, unsolvable by anyone but himself.
"So he said to them, 'Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.' But they could not tell the riddle in three days." (Genesis 14:14 LSB)
The riddle is poetic and clever. The "eater," the "strong one," is the lion he killed. The "something to eat," the "something sweet," is the honey he found in its carcass. It is a paradox, a beautiful turn of phrase. But it is also deeply unfair. A good riddle contains all the clues needed for its solution. This was not a riddle; it was a secret. No amount of logic or deduction could solve it because it was based on a private, supernatural event that Samson had told no one about. He wasn't testing their intelligence; he was mocking their ignorance.
This is the height of arrogance. He has stacked the deck so completely that he cannot lose, or so he thinks. He has forgotten that when you make covenants with covenant-breakers, you cannot expect them to play by the rules. He thinks he is in control, but his foolish wager and his treacherous new wife will soon strip that control from him.
But let us step back and see the deeper, theological riddle that God is propounding here. "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." Is this not the very pattern of the gospel? Our greatest enemy, the strong one, is death. The lion of Judah, Jesus Christ, met that roaring lion on the cross. Death, the great eater, consumed Him. He went down into the grave, into the carcass of death itself. But out of that eater, out of death, came forth meat for all of us. Out of that strong one, came the sweetness of resurrection life and eternal salvation.
The cross was the ultimate riddle. To the world, it looked like the ultimate defeat. The strong man, bound and killed. The eater, victorious. But on the third day, the sweetness of the honeycomb was found in the carcass of the grave. Christ's death to death was the death of death. Samson's riddle was a cheap parlor trick based on a secret. God's riddle of the cross is a profound, cosmic truth that is openly declared to all. Samson used his riddle to mock and exploit his enemies. God uses the riddle of the cross to save His enemies and make them His sons.
Conclusion: God's Sweet Providence
Samson is a mess. Let us make no mistake. He is a compromised, carnal, and foolish man. He is a poor steward of his gifts, and he makes a covenant with the enemy that is bound to blow up in his face. And it will. The Philistines will threaten his wife, she will betray him, and Samson will be forced to pay his debt by killing thirty other Philistines. The whole affair is sordid and sinful from start to finish.
And yet, God's purpose stands. "His father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD, that He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines" (Judges 14:4). God's intention was to use this mess to provoke a fight. Samson's foolish riddle was the spark that lit the fuse.
This is how our God works. He does not need our righteousness to accomplish His will. He can work through our sin. This does not excuse our sin, but it magnifies His sovereignty. He takes the bitter foolishness of Samson's pride and brings out of it the sweet honey of Israel's deliverance. He takes the horrific evil of the cross and brings out of it the sweetness of our salvation.
The application for us is twofold. First, do not be Samson. Do not make foolish vows. Do not yoke yourself with unbelievers. Do not use the gifts God has given you for your own vainglory. Flee compromise, because it will always lead to a tangled web of grief and strife.
But second, and more importantly, trust the God of Samson. When you find yourself in a mess, whether of your own making or not, remember that God is sovereign over it. He is not surprised. He is not thwarted. He is working all things, even the bitter and foolish things, together for the good of those who love Him. He is the master of bringing sweetness from the strong, and food from the eater. Trust Him. He is writing a story, and the ending is sweeter than honey.