May 2- Anger Management Denied

May 2, 2011

Scripture Readings:
Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25;
Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19

Anger is only one letter short of danger. 
~Anonymous

Judges 15:1-16:31

Have you ever seen the movie Anger Management?  In the movie, Adam Sandler plays a guy who is ordered by the court to attend anger management group counseling.  The group contains all sorts of people who really do have problems with anger and his interactions with the group cause Adam's character, Dave, to really need anger management after a while.  In the story of Samson, God does not want Samson to attend an anger management group.  He wants Samson angry at the Philistines.

Let's list what makes Samson angry today and the resulting action against the Philistines:

• Samson's wife has been given to his best man without his knowledge. Result: Samson burns all of the Philistine's crops including the grain, grapevines, and olive trees by putting torches on pairs of foxes and having them run through the fields, vineyards, and groves.
• The Philistines kill his wife and her father.  Result: Attacks many Philistines and kills them.
• Samson is tied up and hears the Philistines shouting in triumph that they have captured him.  Result: He takes a donkey's jawbone and kills a thousand Philistines.
• After spending the night with a prostitute, Samson is angered that the Philistines are going to try to capture him. Result: Takes the two posts of the city gate and carries them on his shoulders to Hebron.

Next, we have the perplexing story of Samson and Delilah.  We saw that when Samson picked his first wife he chose a woman from the Philistines, rather than the Israelites.  Today Samson is in a relationship with Delilah who is another Philistine.  Samson is following his lust, rather than God, but God is using Samson (even his flaws) for a good purpose.  We all know the story, Samson gets in a relationship with her, she betrays him to the Philistines and after a back and forth, she pesters him relentlessly and gets the information from him that his strength is in his hair.  Being a Nazarite, he would never have put a razor to his head.  Delilah cuts off his hair and the Philistines capture him.  It is hard to believe how foolish a man can be when it comes to sex.  Some men just lose their minds over women.  Samson is an example of this.  Samson is flawed, to say the least.

Samson dies while being tormented in the Temple of Dagon in a celebration in honor of the Philistine god, Dagon.  His hair has grown back sufficiently to give him the strength to knock down the foundational pillars and kill everyone, including himself.  Not a glorious ending by any means. God did use the situation to kill the Philistines and punish them for idol worship.  Samson does not come off looking good though.

Let's compare Jesus and Samson:  Here are some comparisons found in J. Vernon McGee's commentary on the book of Judges.  How they are alike:

• Both births predicted by an angel. 
• Both  were Nazarites.
• Both were moved by the Holy Spirit to do God's work.
• Both were rejected by their people and handed over to the enemy.
• Both destroy their enemies (Jesus will finally do this in the end.  For now, he has destroyed death.).

How they are NOT alike:

• Samson lived a life of sin.  Jesus lived a perfect sinless life.
• Samson prayed to avenge his enemies at his death.  Jesus prayed for God to forgive his enemies at his death.
• Samson's arms were outstretch in wrath and revenge at death. Jesus' arms were outstretched in love and forgiveness at death.
• Samson died. Jesus lives.

Samson is listed in Hebrews chapter 11 in the Hall of Faith.  This tells us all that our flawed lives can still have enough faith to make us usable by God.

John 2:1-25

Today we get to go to a wedding!  Don't you just love weddings?  We recently witnessed the royal wedding of William and Kate in Britain.  It was fun to see the bride's gown and all of the spectacle surrounding the event.   We don't see that in today's story because the focus of this story is Jesus' first miracle.  There are several things of interest. 

Mary, his mother, is the one to suggest that Jesus do his first miracle.  I love this! How like a good mother to point her son to the proper way to start his ministry.  Notice that Jesus tells her that his time has not yet come.  What do you think he meant by that?  We know that Mary's claim of Jesus' deity is not fully confirmed until he is raised from the dead. Perhaps he is warning her that this miracle will not clear her name (on the virgin birth), just yet.  It will be his resurrection that clears her name.  Note:  Jesus starts his ministry with a miracle at a wedding.  He starts his reign on earth as the King of Kings after a grand wedding feast with his bride, the Church.

Regardless, Jesus performs the miracle using six old stone water pots.  He gives specific instructions that the pots are to be filled to the brim (20 or 30 gallons) with water.  Upon dipping a ladle into the pot, the water turns to wine.  Let's talk about some of the symbolism here.  Six is the number of man in the Bible.  Believers are called earthen vessels and clay pots.  The Holy Spirit is symbolized by water and so is the Word of God.  Jesus uses you and me as we are filled with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.  When we ladle the Word of God out of ourselves and into others, it is a sacred act that God uses to build His Kingdom.  Jesus does the work, we are merely the vessels.

Have you been filled with God's Spirit through belief in Christ? Can God do the miracle of salvation through you?

Psalm 103: 1-22

This is a beautiful psalm of truths that we should remind ourselves of every day.

Proverbs 14:17-19

This proverb speaks of what happens when we are short-tempered.  How appropriate to read as we study Samson!

What did you see today?  Please share your thoughts.

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton
© 2011