My 'One Year Bible' Journey

Today I read from the following books;

JUDGES 13:1 - 14:20
JOHN 1:29-51
PSALM 102:1-28
PROVERBS 14:15-16

Today's reading was great. It tells of 2 people I really want to know more about. Samson and John.

In Judges today it talks about the Israelites again doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. (This had now happened dozens of times...) The Lord again stopped protecting them and they were overpowered by the Philistines for 40 years.

There was a man named Manoah from Zorah who's wife was sterile, she could not get pregnant. The angel of the Lord came to her and told her that she would become pregnant and have a son. He told her that her son would be blessed by the Lord and would grow up to rescue the Israelites and free them from slavery (they were under the Philistines power). He didn't tell her too many details other than these; Do not drink any fermented drink or anything from a grape vine during her pregnancy, do not eat anything unclean during her pregnancy, Do not cut his hair for he will be a Nazirite who will be set apart to God from birth.

- While reading this I stumbled across that word 'Nazirite' and didn't know what that was. It is stated in a way that usually in the Bible refers to a persons origin. Many times when the Bible introduces a new person they will say where he is from, but for some reason this was different. So after a simple Google search I found a a Wikipedia document on Nazirites. It is very interesting yet a simple concept at first glance. You can read it for yourself - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazirite A Nazarite is someone who is 'Holy in the eyes of the Lord' and has a few simple laws to live by. There are several different types of Nazirites and Samson even has his own type! haha -

When the woman went home and told her husband what had happened he prayed to the Lord and begged him to have the angel come back again and teach them how to raise the boy that was going to be born (at this time they didn't know that the "angel" was actually the angel of God himself).

Later the woman was out in the field and the angel re-appeared. The woman ran to her husband and took him to the angel where they talked with him. The angel again didn't offer too much information other than the instructions that are given to those who are Nazirites. Then Manoah asked the angel to stay so they could prepare a young goat for him. The angel said them, I will not eat, but if you do prepare a burnt offering, offer it up to the Lord.

Here is an interesting part. It then states that Manoah asked the angel for his name. The angel (God) replied with this.. "why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."

Manoah then prepared a burnt offering and while it was on fire the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this Manoah and his wife realized that they had actually been talking with God. Manoah started freaking out saying that surely they will die because they have seen God with their eyes (there is other scripture referencing that it is common knowledge that people would die if they ever laid eyes on the lord)


Manoah and his wife followed Gods rules and Samson was born. The Lord was with him and he grew up to be very blessed. One day while he was in Timnah he saw a young Philistine woman. He went home and demanded that his parents get her as his wife. I'm assuming that arranged marriage was still the most common way back then. His parents would probably go talk with her parents and they would arrange for their children to marry. However Samsons parents didn't understand, they asked him why a Philistine? They asked him why he couldn't choose one from their own people, he again demanded that it be that Philistine woman. What Manoah didn't know is that this was all put together by God so that he would have an opportunity to "confront" the Philistines. As Samson and his parents were walking towards a vineyard on their way to Timnah a lion came roaring towards them. The spirit of the Lord entered Samson giving him great strength. He "tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat." But he told neither his father or his mother what he had done. (This whole thing happened out of site from parents). He then went and talked to the woman he liked. Later he then went back to marry her and he walked pass the carcass of the lion but he saw that bee's had made a nest with honey in it and he ate some, he then took some to his parents to eat but he didn't tell them it was from the carcass of a dead lion.

The next part I'm sure will get explained more (hopefully) in tomorrows reading but it talks about how Samson threw a customary feast for many guests which was tradition for a wedding. He told everyone a riddle and made a bet that they wouldn't guess what he was talking about. If they lost they had to buy him 30 pairs of clothes, but if they guessed it he would buy them 30 pairs of clothes. The riddle was "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet." The guests were stumped but they had days to answer. They approached his wife and talked her into getting the answer from him. She guilted him into telling her the story and the answer to the riddle, she told her friends and they gave Samson the answer. However Samson wasn't too happy when he realized that his wife was a traitor like that. The spirit of the Lord again gave him strength and he "struck down" 30 men from Ashkelon and took their clothes, gave them to the guests as his lost bed, and gave his wife away to his friend.



In John today it talks about when John saw Jesus. It says that he became very excited (wouldn't we all - haha) and said, "this is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after be has surpassed me because he was before me'".


It says that the next day John saw Jesus again and they followed him. They asked Jesus where he was staying and he asked them to follow him and he would show them. So eventually John, Philip, Nathanael, Andrew, Simon, Peter, saw Jesus and talked with him. It states that Jesus talked with Nathanael and said to him, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending the descending on the Son of Man."


The Proverbs for today is; PROVERBS 14:15-16 "A simple man believes anything, be a prudent man gives thought to his steps. A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless."

Labels: daily readings, John, Judges, Manoah, Philistine, Proverbs, Psalms, Zorah