Judges

Judges Chapter 15

Judges 15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

They sure did some strange things back then. Samson wanted to see his wife and child but her father had given her to another person who was part of his wedding. The father assumed Samson was too angry with his wife for her betrayal. Yet we see Samson going and bringing a gift.

Judges 15:3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Samson blamed the Philistines for this and took foxes with firebrands into the wheat, vineyards and olive yards to do great damage.

Judges 15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

This is a terrible ending for the father and daughter. We do see though that their betrayal and fear of being killed by the Philistines ended badly. They were killed by the the Philistines they feared anyway. The Philistines threatened his wife and her family if she didn't betray Samson in revealing to them the riddle Samson challenged them with in chapter 14. I wonder if she had not have done that, perhaps Samson would have prevented anyone to touch her family. All she had to do was tell Samson about the threat. He would have taken care of it. Samson should not have given in and told her of his secret. Later we shall see that Samson's weakness in beautiful women comes back to haunt him again with another woman who betrays him later.

Judges 15:7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

He planned to quit after getting vengeance on them for killing his wife and family but it continues.

Judges 15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

The tribe of Judah was fearful of the Philistines since they were under bondage at that time from them. They should not have been but the sin against God blocked the safety they had when the served God. God allowed this to happen because of rebellion and sin.

Judges 15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

They destroyed his wife and kid so he justifies taking vengeance against them.

Judges 15:12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

At least Samson didn't want any harm to come to any from his own nation. He allowed the men of Judah to bind him and deliver him to the Philistines. This gave Samson the opening he needed to defeat the Philistines and free the whole nation from their bondage.

Judges 15:14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

Imagine one man defeating 1000. When Samson was filled with the Holy Spirit and is in the will of God, nothing is impossible. God called Samson to deliver Israel from bondage and this was in the will of God

Psalm 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

In the long run the faithful in the Lord shall stand before Him and inherit eternal life.

Judges 15:17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Samson prays unto God for his own personal need here and God did not leave him in his weakness.

Judges 15:19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

We will hear more about Samson in the chapters to come but we see that not many details of his being judge is stated but the bible emphasizes many other things about Samson. His weaknesses and his strengths are written for us to learn from. It's an example of many of our own struggles in our own lives. I believe it is written for us to avoid the temptations and mistakes he made. I don't believe it is written for us to gloat and criticize Samson but to learn from his success and his failures. DC

Judges Chapter 16