Monday, November 10, 2008

Samson - Jury Duty That No One Gets Out Of

Judges 14:16-17 Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer."
"I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?" She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.


I enjoy watching the shows that have court room based scenes: Matlock, Law and Order, Shark, Perry Mason, Walker, Texas Ranger. In all these shows, there's that scene when they have the eye witness on the stand - the innocent person who's going to blow the case wide open with their testimony - and when asked the one question that will put the defendant away for life, they answer, "I've never seen that man before". Well you know it's coming because there's still a half an hour left until the shows over, but nonetheless it's very frustrating that they would lie on the stand. What we usually find out, during the rest of the show, is that the witness has been paid off or threatened. Without truly getting to know their character, there's no way to determine why they chose to act the way they did and lie on the stand.

At first glance in these verses, Samson's wife looks like a whiny, weasely woman. Someone who's working at Samson over and over to get what she wants. She cries all week long, she keeps asking him for the answer until he finally breaks down. THEN she turns around and tells the men the answer that she finally got from Samson. Going by this, Samson's wife does not seem like a good person at all - probably someone we don't want to know. However, if you remember in the last post, these same men threatened to burn down her house along with her whole family. I'm not sure about you, but I might do whatever it took to save my family as well.


The human nature in us takes one look at the 'sin' and declares it bad. While sin is bad, it should not be enough for us to dismiss a person. If we could take the time to find out the reason behind someone that's sinning, we might be able to help them. Just like in the court room scene - the rest of the show is usually spent helping the eye-witness, who was once supposed to be the hero, out of whatever trouble they're in. Did someone cut in front of you in line at the grocery store? Sure, they may just be a rude person, OR they may have a sick child at home and they're trying to rush back to get them some medicine. Did someone cut you off while driving and then honk their horn at you? Maybe they have bad driving skills and need manners, OR maybe they just had a fight with their spouse over an affair and they can't see straight through their hurt.


Are we willing to look past the sin and see the person?

6 comments:

Greg C said...

I think about that all the time when someone gets agressive in traffic. I don't know why they are acting like they are so I just give them some extra room.

I had the good fortune to sit on a jury a few years ago and it was an eye opener for me. A woman was suing the city but I knew she was making her story up. Everyone except me just wanted to give the woman the money and get home but I made them stay and think about it. It reminded me of that movie 12 angry men and in the end I managed to talk them down from 200 thousand to 10 thousand. (just enough to pay her laywer) Shortly after the case was over, I found out that I was correct and she had made the whole thing up. You never know what some people are thinking or doing.

Kelly said...

Dorothy - I think we all struggle with this one.

Hey - your comment at my blog today inspired something else. I just dug out the card you asked about. It says:

" 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and Will bring you back from CAPTIVITY." (Jeremiah 29:13-14A)

CAPTIVITY - captive - CAPTIVATED! God's hand is certainly at work here. And I just got another bible verse to add to my talk!

So in answer to your question, it didn't seem to apply to me until just now. Now it seems very fitting. THANK YOU FOR ASKING!

Edie said...

This is a great reminder Dorothy. Whenever I'm feeling impatient with others in situations like these, God reminds me of why I act just like that sometimes. Ouch.

Kay Martin said...

I love the courtroom shows also. I just located Hulu on the internet where I can watch old shows like Perry Mason for free. You're right about Samson's wife. None of us know what we would do in any situation until the pressure is on. Whenever I see anyone driving and talking on cellphone I hope and pray that they are not getting some devastating news and lose control.

Again great post.

mariel said...

oh, this is great! And a much needed reminder!

sailorcross said...

Awesome reminder!!! I think we often tend to just look at the surface, not even realizing what may be going on behind the scenes.

Is there a reason for this behavior? Why are they acting this way? Why do they continually lie?

And, I need to stop myself and give them some grace. Wasn't I granted so much more grace than I actually deserved?

Beth