The girl from Timnah

The girl from Timnah has no name.  In the book of Judges, chapter 14, she is just referred to as the girl from Timnah.

Yet it is this girl who captured the attention of Samson.

This girl is also a Philistine.  Something his parents forbid him to marry.  But the Lord works through him in mysterious ways and in the end married her.

The bulk of the chapter deals with Samson's killing of a lion along the road and finding its insides full of honey.  He based a riddle on this lion to a group of Philistines.  His wife tricked him into telling her, who in turn told the Philitines the answer to the riddle.

The Philistines were rewarded by a having fine linen given to them and the girl from Timnah--Samson's wife--was given to his best man.

The beauty of God's glory

In Psalms 19, the first six verses talk about God's creation.

It is glorious how each day starts, with the sun coming out without sound, and it races across the sky like an eager runner in a marathon.

The rest of the Psalm talks about God's laws.

The laws are right and those who obey are happy, granting knowledge and wisdom to those who obey.  God is just, always fair, and keeps us safe from the evils of others.

Wisdom: the greatest treasure

Chapter 8 in the book of Proverbs deals with wisdom.

Wisdom is better than jewels or gold or even the finest silver.  To have wisdom is to have sound judgment, to honor God by hating evil, arrogance, or pride.

In verse 22, it says God created Wisdom before he did anything else.  Before the skies were formed, before the oceans began, before all life . . . there was wisdom.

Knowledge of God and his righteousness, following the path of justice, is wisdom.

And if you have wisdom, God will be pleased.

The birth of Samson

The birth of Samson is in the book of Judges, chapter 13.

Samson's mother had never given birth before, and one day an angel of God came to her and said she will bear a child, and will name him Samson.  Samson is to grow up a Nazirite, never to cut his hair and never to drink beer or wine and never to eat any forbidden fruit.

She told her husband Manoah, who prayed to God to have His angel visit again to tell him.

When the angel appeared, he offered the angel a meal.  Instead, the angel said to offer the young goat as a sacrifice to God.

The angel went up with the flames up to Heaven.  Manoah thought they were going to die, but his wife said he they were, they would've already done so.

And soon she gave birth to Samson, and the Lord's power was with him.

Trouble at home for Jephthah

In the book of Judges, chapter 12, Jephthah returned home and the people of Ephraim confronted him.  They demanded to know why they were not asked to fight the Ammonites alongside him.  They added that they were going to burn his house down because of it.

Jephthah advised them that he did indeed ask them to fight but they refused.  Then, he gathered up his own people and captured the people of Ephraim, and fought them.  He won.  To keep them from escaping, he had guards placed on every crossing of the Jordan River.  When an Ephraimite tried to cross, he had them tested.  They all failed.

42,000 Ephraimites were killed by him.