Carcass

Judges 14-15

“Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.”                                Judges 14:8-9

There were three abstentions for one who was under a Nazirite vow: not to drink wine or fermented drinks, not to have a haircut, and not to have contact with a corpse. While Samson’s mother apparently kept all these abstentions, Samson was not so careful. As the account of his life unfolds, one can’t help but see that he does not seem to walk closely with the Lord or take his special call and vow very seriously. Additionally, he caused his parents to be involved in the defilement as well, since contact with a corpse renders any object unclean in God’s eyes (Leviticus 11:24-25, 39). The nonchalant attitude that he has (taking honey from a corpse and eating it as he walks along) toward the requirements of his vow indicates that he is not seeing the need to remain sanctified and undefiled. Notice also, this happens in a vineyard (verse 5). What was Samson doing there since the fruit of the vine was forbidden to him. Why did he separate from his parents to go there? I must see how important it is to be intentional about keeping the vow that I have made to the Lord in all I do and say.

Dear Lord, please help me take very seriously the vow I made to you when I said that I would turn from serving me to serving you. Help me keep that vow. Amen.