Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / September 19, 2026 - Judges 14 & Proverbs 15:17-20

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September 19, 2026 - Judges 14 & Proverbs 15:17-20 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tyler Shanborn, Student Ministry Director at Compass Bible Church South Valley.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Saturday, September 19th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word, Judges 14.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Samson went down to Timna, and at Timna he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Then he came up and told his father and mother, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timna.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now get her for me as my wife.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: But his father and his mother said to him, Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timna, and they came to the vineyards of Timna, and behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: After some days he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him, and Samson said to them, Let me now put a riddle to you.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: But if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, Put your riddle that we may hear it.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, Out of the eater came something to eat, out of the strong came something sweet.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in three days they could not solve the riddle.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Have you invited us here to impoverish us?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And Samson's wife wept over him and said, You only hate me.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: You do not love me.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he said to her, Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: She wept before him the seven days after their feast lasted.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And on the seventh day he told her, Because she pressed him hard.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then she told the riddle to her people.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the man of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: What is stronger than a lion?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck down thirty men of the town, and took their spoil, and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: In hot anger he went back to his father's house, and Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs fifteen, verses seventeen through twenty.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: A hot tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: From yesterday's reading in the Book of Judges to today, we we see the birth of Samson and the instruction that to his parents.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And now we see this child that was born to Manoah and his wife, and now we see a man, a man who is interested in finding a wife.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Samson is looking in in all the wrong places.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's looking among the daughters of the Philistines, and the Philistines at this time ruled over Israel, as we see in verse 4.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And his his parents are talking to him.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um, as we talk about the book of Judges, this time in Israel's history is described as a time where the people of Israel, where everyone was doing what is right in their own eyes.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this is this is the underscore highlight circle star uh in in your journaling Bibles that would that would really point to that.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um God is calling his people uh to to live lives that are set apart for him, and the Philistine people that are are ruling over uh Israel at this time, this this people um are worshiping false gods, they're worshiping um pagan idols, they're they're worshiping um they're not worshiping Yahweh, and and they're finding uh this this Philistine people is that they're doing what is right in their own eyes.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and here we see Samson uh doing the same.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: So um this this uh chapter here is one that can be a little bit tricky as we look to uh to verse four, where we see uh an interesting verse here.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it can be complex, and I'm gonna do my best to uh unpack it for us today.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh verse four says, his father speaking of Samson, his father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and we can look at this in a couple different ways.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we could look at Samson looking for an opportunity or seeking out an opportunity against the Philistines, uh, or or God, Yahweh, seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And and either way uh that you slice this, we we as we trace the the storyline uh of Samson, we see um that even through sin, uh even through um uh wickedness, even through I think we think of the life of Joseph and his brothers and uh their desire to to kill him and then not to kill him, but to sell him into slavery, all the wickedness that that is in um in the hearts of of Joseph's brothers as they seek to do harm and sin against their brother, uh, God uses all of that for good.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And in a similar vein, we can look at that this chapter and the chapters moving forward concerning Samson in the same way.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we can see that even though man is responsible for his own sin, God does not cause uh temptation, God does not uh lead anyone into sin.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: No one no one tempts God, he doesn't tempt others.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in James chapter one, we see let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God, for for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we we know that this is true.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: We know that God is not tempting Samson to go after this Philistine woman.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is uh under his own own volition, he's pursuing this uh for himself, he's following the desires of of his heart, and he is sinning against God.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: He is um he's interacting with with dead carcasses, he's um he's entering entering into um into temptation, putting himself near and among uh the vine, which uh as he is a man of the Nazarite vow, uh he is not to cut his hair, he is not to interact with with dead bodies, and he is not to uh consume any any product of of the vine.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see him in a per a peculiar spot here, pursuing a woman um among the vineyards of Timnah, and he's interacting with uh with a dead lion when scooping out honey and um out of the carcass of this lion.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: So um though though Samson is is sinning, he is he is in a line where he's he's pursuing uh marriage and and intermingling and interblending with the people of the land of Canaan.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: He's pursuing that in his own out of his own selfish desires, and God is going to use um God is going to use this uh and still still get the glory.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: He is he's not causing Samson to sin, he's not leading him into temptation.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: However, God can still um use use a sinful people for his glory.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll track we'll track that and trace that down as we continue to read through the book of Judges.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: So in this section uh of scripture, we also see some some riddles.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: We see uh we see deception, deceit, manipulation uh in Samson's wife and and her being pressed by these these thugs, these bullies, calling um her out and saying, if you don't help us, uh we're going to burn you you and your house down.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and she folds under pressure and and eventually uh persuades Samson over tears and um and she she causes him to uh to spill the beans.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: To share the answer to the riddle, and and out of this, he's empowered by the spirit in a supernatural way.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen that in a couple a couple different points in this chapter where he he takes his bare hands and and kills a lion.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then also here we see him uh out of his anger, um, get this this gift of the spirit, this this extra, extra human or superhuman strength that he has been gifted, he he uses it and um out of his anger here in this chapter, going in and taking the lives of thirty men and taking their garments and their spoils and using that as the payment to his agreement with these thirty uh thirty wedding guests, he gives the the dead, uh, the dead souls, their garments, uh, to to the people that he made the promise with.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh he goes back to his his home in his anger, and uh his his would-be father-in-law gives his wife to his best man.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: So this is uh seen can be seen as a chaotic chapter in uh the book of uh judges, but it's the the beginning of Samson's adult life as we know him uh as a judge in uh the book of Judges, and uh we will continue to see how God uh God uses um despite the sin in the man, uh despite the sin in the heart of man doing what is right in his own eyes, God is continuing to work uh in and among his people, and uh we'll continue to see that unfold.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as we look to our section in the Proverbs today, verse 17 calls our attention to the quality or substance of a meal or of a celebration of a feast and and the affections and the emotions and the the character of uh of the company um that that go along with it.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So better is a dinner of herbs where love is uh a salad made with love, leafy greens, a spring mix, if you will, or uh something that has um has no protein in the more more of a um a roughage kind of meal.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: And where where there's a dinner of herbs, love is this is better than a fattened ox, a rich and and lavish uh main entree, where uh there's great protein, great sustenance, great nutrients, um, fats and proteins in this fattened ox, but at the same time, with this with this preferred and rich um plate comes hatred.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: So it's better to have uh a simple or modest, uh a side dish, if you will, where love is than a main entree with with great flavor and seasoning, but uh alongside and all throughout it is is hatred.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: So this is uh a better better to have a a dinner of herbs where love is, maybe something less preferred as compared to a main entree like a like a steak or something like that.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um so better to have a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox with hatred with it.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh a hot-tempered man stirs up strife in verse 18.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: We all love uh a peacemaker, uh we all love someone who's going to uh to seek to flatten the choppy waters of contention, and um someone that is going to be slow to anger is one that is not leaning into a conflict, not not stirring up a strife.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: And a hot-tempered man, we just saw a hot-tempered man uh in our reading today, and and some might look to the the anger as justified.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, it's against God's enemies, of course, it's right, it's good.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this this is uh a complex issue, but the the hot-tempered man stirs up strife.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: He's looking and leaning into uh contentious um arguments, fights, uh quarrels, and the the person that is slow to anger, uh someone that is long-suffering, or someone that is um uh abundant in patience and self-control, they are the person that is going to quiet the contention, who's going to end the fight, gonna um install and establish peace among those who are at odds against one another.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in our uh backyard, um not too long ago, we had many, many raspberry and blackberry bushes, and not all of them were were thornless.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them were actually quite dangerous if you weren't careful uh picking the different berries.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and I'm thinking of this, um, I'm thinking of this verse here, and uh the imagery of getting stuck and scraped and scratched by these by these thorns.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um is there's some vivid imagery here, and and that's that's the way um like the way of a sluggard.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a hedge of thorns, difficult and painful to navigate, not easy, not smooth.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's choppy, takes great, um, it takes great effort to to navigate through.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh where on the other hand, the path of the upright, um, though we're comparing the the sluggard here with the upright.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: So those those who'd be working hard, um the upright looks looks to the work that's ahead and and delights in it because engaging with hard work is is pleasing to the Lord.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and for that man, for that woman, it's a level highway.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a way that is uh that's plain, that that's clear, and that is good and and right.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: And our final verse for today in Proverbs a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was definitely not wise for for Samson to be pursuing marriage with with an enemy of Israel, someone from the Philistines.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And and even we can see the hesitation uh of Samson's parents.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: Are you sure?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Are you sure, son?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: This doesn't sound wise to me.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can imagine um a wise son making good decisions and and the conversations as uh as his father and mother go to bed each night, not not concerned, not worried about their son and the foolish decisions and the outcome of his ways.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: A wise son makes a glad father.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And what what better wisdom to be found in wise living uh than through the scriptures?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So this is an honor to parents that we that we see throughout scripture.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh honor your father and mother, for this is right and and this is the first commandment that uh has a blessing attached to it, that it may go well for you.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um and in contrast, uh the foolish man despises his mother, wishes as if she was not an influence in his life, someone who is um looking to the gift of a godly parent, uh the gift of an involved and active parent, and saying, I want nothing to do with you.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't want to recognize you, I don't want to acknowledge you as an authority, as a care for my soul, as someone who's going to speak wisdom into my life.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: The foolish man despises his mother's care, his mother's attention, his mother's um love and affection uh for him.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh as we we compare the this final verse in in our our course in um chapter in the book of Judges today, uh we see that the the people of Israel and uh the the foolishness um of Israel, they they despise wisdom, they despise God's leading.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in for us today, how we how we look to these chapters and these sections of scripture, uh, we can be an encouragement that God does does extend his wisdom and his knowledge to us through his word, and we we have a feast before us each day to to take part in as we um we digest the word, as we we feed on God's word, as it sustains our souls spiritually.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we need to be people that are that are wise and that are pursuing and and taking heed, taking uh instruction from our our Heavenly Father as He seeks to lead us in the way that would best please Him.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks so much for joining us on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass bible sv.org.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.