Judges 15:14-20
“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. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.” (Judges 15:14-15)
Samson had allowed the men of Judah to arrest him and tie him up with two new ropes before delivering him to the Philistines. Having seen his power for several years around Zorah and Eshtaol, they had preferred to kill his wife’s family in an attempt to pacify him, rather than fighting him, but Samson’s response forced them to take stronger action. What a relief it must have been to see that the Israelites had already captured him.
They were celebrating the ease of his capture when the spirit of the Lord came on him and the ropes fell off as if they were just threads exposed to flame. Snatching up a dead donkey’s jawbone laying on the ground, Samson attacked, killing a thousand of the Philistines with it. One can only imagine the ensuing panic.
“And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 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.” (Judges 15:16-17)
Having put the rest of the Philistines to flight, Samson probably danced around like a foot ball player who just scored a touchdown, gloating and bragging about what he had accomplished in taking out a thousand armed men with nothing but a piece of bone less than sixteen inches long. His strength overcame the Philistine army. The spirit of God got none of the credit.
“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?” (Judges 15:18)
Samson was totally self absorbed. While the human body can go up to three days without a drink, as soon as he felt thirsty, Samson began to blame God for giving him the victory, then letting him just die of thirst. If God really cared he’d have given him some water to drink. He reminds me of the missionary who was given new vehicle, and got upset because he didn’t get to pick out which one he wanted. It is a rather common reaction today.
“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.” (Judges 15:19)
God caused a miraculous stream of water to flow from the jawbone. Refreshed by the drink, Samson regained his good humor and called the place Enhakkore, the fountain of one who called.
“And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.” (Judges 15:20)
The Philistines withdrew after being defeated by Samson, leaving Israel pretty much alone for twenty years, not wanting a rematch. During that time Samson judged Israel, guiding them more or less according to the laws God had set, although he wasn’t very careful about obeying it.
“Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.” (Judges 16:1-2)
God had given some very strict laws about prostitution. Deuteronomy 23:17 commanded “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.” A girl who had messed around before she was married was to be executed according to Deuteronomy 22:21. If a guy messed around with a woman who was married or engaged to someone else, they were both to be killed unless there was reason to believe it was rape. If the girl was not engaged or married, he was obligated to marry her, according to Deuteronomy 22:22-29. Four hundred fifty years before, in Numbers 25:1-9, twenty four thousand Israelites had been killed as a result of becoming involved with prostitutes from Moab.
Knowing all this, Samson deliberately went down to one of the main Philistine ciuties, and hired a prostitute there since he couldn’t hire one who was Jewish. By going to Gaza he hoped to get by with it. He was spotted and somebody told the Philistines. Remembering what had happened in Lehi, they decided they didn’t want to fight him in a place where they couldn’t see what he was doing, they locked the city gates, hoping to hold him until daylight so they wouldn‘t risk killing each other.
“And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.” (Judges 16:3)
Samson had no commitment to the prostitute, so at midnight, when he woke up he decided to go home. Finding the city gates locked, he didn’t bother to climb the wall, but ripped the posts that supported them out of the wall and carried the gate and the supports a couple of miles. I imagine the Philistines were rather glad he got away when they saw what he’d done. After all, most people would not carry several hundred pounds that far just for fun. They didn’t try to catch him.
“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. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.” (Judges 15:14-15)
Samson had allowed the men of Judah to arrest him and tie him up with two new ropes before delivering him to the Philistines. Having seen his power for several years around Zorah and Eshtaol, they had preferred to kill his wife’s family in an attempt to pacify him, rather than fighting him, but Samson’s response forced them to take stronger action. What a relief it must have been to see that the Israelites had already captured him.
They were celebrating the ease of his capture when the spirit of the Lord came on him and the ropes fell off as if they were just threads exposed to flame. Snatching up a dead donkey’s jawbone laying on the ground, Samson attacked, killing a thousand of the Philistines with it. One can only imagine the ensuing panic.
“And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 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.” (Judges 15:16-17)
Having put the rest of the Philistines to flight, Samson probably danced around like a foot ball player who just scored a touchdown, gloating and bragging about what he had accomplished in taking out a thousand armed men with nothing but a piece of bone less than sixteen inches long. His strength overcame the Philistine army. The spirit of God got none of the credit.
“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?” (Judges 15:18)
Samson was totally self absorbed. While the human body can go up to three days without a drink, as soon as he felt thirsty, Samson began to blame God for giving him the victory, then letting him just die of thirst. If God really cared he’d have given him some water to drink. He reminds me of the missionary who was given new vehicle, and got upset because he didn’t get to pick out which one he wanted. It is a rather common reaction today.
“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.” (Judges 15:19)
God caused a miraculous stream of water to flow from the jawbone. Refreshed by the drink, Samson regained his good humor and called the place Enhakkore, the fountain of one who called.
“And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.” (Judges 15:20)
The Philistines withdrew after being defeated by Samson, leaving Israel pretty much alone for twenty years, not wanting a rematch. During that time Samson judged Israel, guiding them more or less according to the laws God had set, although he wasn’t very careful about obeying it.
“Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.” (Judges 16:1-2)
God had given some very strict laws about prostitution. Deuteronomy 23:17 commanded “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.” A girl who had messed around before she was married was to be executed according to Deuteronomy 22:21. If a guy messed around with a woman who was married or engaged to someone else, they were both to be killed unless there was reason to believe it was rape. If the girl was not engaged or married, he was obligated to marry her, according to Deuteronomy 22:22-29. Four hundred fifty years before, in Numbers 25:1-9, twenty four thousand Israelites had been killed as a result of becoming involved with prostitutes from Moab.
Knowing all this, Samson deliberately went down to one of the main Philistine ciuties, and hired a prostitute there since he couldn’t hire one who was Jewish. By going to Gaza he hoped to get by with it. He was spotted and somebody told the Philistines. Remembering what had happened in Lehi, they decided they didn’t want to fight him in a place where they couldn’t see what he was doing, they locked the city gates, hoping to hold him until daylight so they wouldn‘t risk killing each other.
“And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.” (Judges 16:3)
Samson had no commitment to the prostitute, so at midnight, when he woke up he decided to go home. Finding the city gates locked, he didn’t bother to climb the wall, but ripped the posts that supported them out of the wall and carried the gate and the supports a couple of miles. I imagine the Philistines were rather glad he got away when they saw what he’d done. After all, most people would not carry several hundred pounds that far just for fun. They didn’t try to catch him.
Most focus on Samson's amazing physical strength and what he could do with it when they read of him. I was like that when I first began reading my Bible. Even then it seemed strange to me that God was causing war with the Philistines in such an odd manner. I realized that God didn't approve of what Samson had done or condone it. It was a refreshing lesson that cleared much confusion for me as a young Christian.
ReplyDeleteI think that that focus on Samson's strength while ignoring his sin has confused a lot of people, leaving them with the idea that the sin doesn't really matter.
ReplyDelete