Out of The Eater

 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.  (Judges 14:14)

Samson slew a lion and a few days later received honey out of its carcass.  Along with Samson’s great feat he left us a riddle that answers one of the great mysteries of this life.  He shows us one of Scriptures “open secrets.”  Out of the bitterest and hardest, devouring circumstance comes meat and sweetness.  “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.”

Satan is as an “eater,” He is a “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8) 

Samson and others were able to stop the “eater” by the power of the Holy Spirit, and obtain strength and sweetness.

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. (Judges 14:5-6)

Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.  My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, (Daniel 6:21-22a)

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  (Hebrews 11:32-33)

Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.  (II Timothy 4:17)

Parents and the Eater

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 itwas of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.  (Judges 14:3-4)

What a disappointment Samson was to his godly parents.  They raised him to be a judge and deliverer of Israel.  They followed the exact prescription of the Angel of the Lord and reared him according to Nazarite vows.  Samson was now breaking his vows in vineyards, with dead bodies, and with ungodly women.  Samson was also breaking his parents’ hearts.

God was still in control.  God never tempted or inspired Samson to sin.  God would not bless his sin either, but God would still use the situation.  God would use the terribleness of Samsons sin as a way to punish the Philistines and deliver Israel.  Samson’s parents did not yet understand the riddle: “Out of the eater (the bitterness of sin) would come forth sweetness (the deliverance of Israel).”

 Philistines and the Eater. 

“… it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.” (Judges 14:4)

The Philistines were oppressors of God’s people.  The Philistines weakened the Bible-strong man by ensnaring him with women.   Samson had “given over his strength to women” (Prov. 31:3).   What the Philistines did not understand is that God can and will deliver his saints and judge His enemies.   One way or another God always accomplishes his purpose.  God in all of His goodness and grace cannot and will not bless sin, but Samson was still God’s chosen vessel of deliverance for Israel.   (“…an occasion against the Philistines,” vs. 4).

Samson did suffer the bitter consequences for sin.  He lost his strength and he lost his spiritual and physical vision.  However, in an answer to prayer, his life would close with a sudden flash of his former glory.  Samson would slay more Philistines in his death than he ever did in his life.  “Out of the eater would come forth meat and out of the strong would come forth sweetness.”    

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. (Judges 16:30)

People and The Eater 

Two things you we learn from the riddle of Samson.  Our situation is in the Lords control and our devouring situation will be a later source of meat and sweetness. 

This riddle answers one of the big questions of life.  Why does God allow us to suffer from sins of another?  We know God allows sin because He allows sinners.  One day every single sin will be judged once and for all, but until that day God will use (not bless) the sin of others to bring about his purposes.  “Out of the lion will come forth meat and sweetness.”  

The man Joseph was greatly sinned against by his brothers, by Potiphar’s wife, and then forgotten about and left in prison by the king’s butler.  God used the sin of others to bring salvation to Israel.

Joseph said to his brothers, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”  (Genesis 50:20)

The sins against Joseph like the sins of Samson would be used by God (“meant for good”).  Joseph understood the riddle of the eater.  Out of the bitter circumstance of being sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten about in prison would later come forth in meat and sweetness.  

We are given the same promise again in Romans:  

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)

 “All things” end up as “good” for the believer.  The evil that comes from the “eater” will bring forth “sweetness.”  Romans 8:28 explains that we are not victims of bad behaviour and circumstance, but victors over it.  God is not letting things happen to me, but for me, “for good.”  Life is not happing to me, it is happening for me (“all things work together for good”).   Romans 8:28 just reiterates Samson’s riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.”

It will always be true: the bad accident, the crime committed, the evil that was said or done, the untimely death, etc…  Instead of saying to God, “Why did you do this to me?” We must ask the Lord, “How do I get meat and honey out of this situation?”  Just as Christ brought the sweet honey out of the bitter cross, believers will find light in dark circumstance.  We will be able to point to a dark episode in our life and say, “this is what God did for me there!”  “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.”