June 7, 2025 - Judges 14:14 - "The Riddle of the Gospel"

Judges 14:14

"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."

When you think about a riddle, it's a statement, or it could be some sort of question or phrase that has a double-veiled meaning. This is why many read the Scriptures without any understanding because you can read the words that are here and imagine their meaning, but what natural men don't know is that in these words there is a spiritual understanding, and that all of Scripture has to do with the glory of Christ.

When Samson told the riddle, it wasn’t to seek any glory for himself. But when you stop and consider what he was saying through this riddle—the destruction of the lion and the honey that came forth from it—it all pictures the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in defeating Satan and every enemy that stands between His people and Himself. It shows His glory in saving them. We know Samson didn’t go about boasting of this, just as Christ didn’t go about raising His voice in the street, though He was God in the flesh. When He came to this earth, He came to do a work—and there was a lion He met head-on: Satan himself. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil.

Stop and think about what that work was. Satan had caused Adam, even in his best state, to fall. The first Adam fell at the attack of this lion. But now Christ, the last Adam, would confront this lion and defeat him, thereby securing victory for His people. Yet not everyone perceived Christ’s mission in this way. They saw only a physical man performing miracles. Thinking naturally—as men do—they expected that if this was truly the Messiah, He would overthrow the Roman government and establish an earthly kingdom. That’s what everyone was looking for. But Christ continually showed them that the kingdom does not come with observation.

We see here Samson as a type of our LORD Jesus Christ. Here's one little riddle that confounds the wisdom of the wise. And so it was with our Lord. What is the sense here then of this particular riddle that he told? Samson taking of this lion, It says in verse 5, that it was a young lion, so in its full strength. Think about the temptations that our LORD faced when He came to this earth. There wasn't any holding back on the part of Satan to attack Him from the time of His birth, all the way to His death. Numerous instances where Satan, like a roaring lion, sought to defeat Him and destroy Him, and yet he couldn't. In verse 6, these words that we're familiar with, with regard to our Lord, but true of Samson, it says, "And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and He rent him as He would have rent a kid..." So there's a parallel too with our Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God was upon Him, His Father. That's what it means to be the Anointed One.

Honey is a type and picture of the sweetness of God’s grace. Not only did Samson enter into the enjoyment—if you will—of what he had accomplished in defeating the lion, but he also shared it with his loved ones; he came to his father and mother and gave them of it. There is a sweetness that flows from the death of the enemy—from the defeat of Satan. But this sweetness is for the people for whom Christ paid the debt, even as we see Samson here partaking of it himself. When you stop and think about honey and its properties, it’s not something man makes. It is something God, by His sovereign design, brings forth through bees. And what do bees do? They sting. Yet these bees, swarming about the carcass, could not keep Samson from obtaining the honey—the result of the lion’s death. So it is with Christ. Nothing could prevent Him from accomplishing redemption for His people.

In 1 Corinthians 15:54–57, a chapter rich with the truth of Christ’s resurrection, we read: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ.” Think of honey in this light—life-giving and sweet. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? All the bees that once swarmed—representing the sting of death, sin, and the curse of the law—could not stop Him. Christ entered into death and rose victorious. O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ.

I think of the story of the little boy who was out playing in the yard and got stung by a wasp. He came crying to his mother, and she gently removed the stinger and cleaned the wound. Then she told him to go back outside and play. But he said, "No, because the wasp can still get me." She replied, "No, the stinger was the only thing he had—and that’s been taken away. You can go out now and play in calm and peace."

Think about that in light of the LORD. He has taken away the sting of death. The sting of death is sin (1 Corinthians 15:56). And yet, how often we are still affected by our sin and the memory of it. We may ask, “How could God be merciful and gracious? How could He be just, and still justify the ungodly?” The answer is Christ. Christ paid the debt. It is finished.

What we are called to do now is, like Samson and his parents, enjoy the fruit of what that death—the death of the enemy—has accomplished. The stinger has been removed. Death is defeated. All that remains is the sweetness of God’s grace to be tasted by those for whom Christ died.