God Can Use Even An Ungodly Person

 Mad about what had happened, Samson left before the wedding was over.  Not knowing whether he would get over it or not, they finished the wedding with the best man taking Samson’s place as groom, according to Judges 14:19b-20.  “And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.  But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.”   

 

A month or so later, Samson finally cooled off a little and decided he wanted to get back together with his wife.  He took a goat for a barbecue to help smooth things over, as Judges 15:1-2 describes.  “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.  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.” 

 

The Philistines had taken Samson’s walking out on the wedding as meaning he didn’t love his bride.  Since the wedding was already paid for, they had let the best man marry her.  His coming back as if nothing had happened created a whole bunch of problems.   If he would settle for her younger sister those problems could be eliminated, and if all Samson cared about was sex, her sister was prettier. 

 

Unwilling to negotiate admit he had been wrong in trying to rip off the wedding guests, Samson decided to get even, as described in Judges 15:3-5.  “And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.  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.  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. “

 

It was during the wheat harvest, and the plants had dried out and would burn quickly, destroying the grain.  Three hundred foxes fleeing fire tied to their tails would spread the fire very quickly over a wide area, burning thousands of acres of wheat and other crops, spreading to orchards and outbuildings and possibly resulting in many deaths.  Needless to say, the Philistines were quite upset about the fires, as Judges 15:6 tells us.  “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.”

 

The Philistines took much the same attitude many people have taken towards the current riots, blaming other people rather than punishing those guilty of committing the crimes.  Like the looters and rioters, Samson was not mollified by their actions against those he blamed, as Judges 15:7-8 describes.  “And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.  And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.”

 

Like the present day protesters, Samson began indiscriminately attacking everyone around, killing numerous innocent bystanders.  When he got done, he left Philistine territory and went back to Jewish land.  Like many present day protesters, he had no real connections with the land and people he destroyed.  As some people say, he had no skin in the game and was not directly affected by his actions. 

 

By this time, Samson’s crimes were so bad they could no longer be ignored, and Philistines went into Judah to arrest him.  Fearing Philistine retaliation, the leaders of Judah asked him to surrender, In Judges 15:9-13.   “Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.  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.  

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.”

 

Insisting he was not at fault, but assured that they would not kill him, Samson surrendered to the Jewish leaders and was turned over to the Philistines authorities.  Angered by the Philistines accusations and threats. Samson felt the powere of God come upon him, and attacked them with just a donkey jawbone for a weapon, in Judges 15:14-17.  “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.  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.”

 

Although it was the power of God that had given him the victory, Samson bragged about what he had accomplished.  A few minutes later, when he realized he was thirsty and couldn’t see any water, he accused God of leaving him to die, as Judges 15:18 describes.  “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?”  Unfortunately we see this same attitude in carnal Christians today.  When everything goes the way they want, they take all the credit, but if something isn’t the way they want it, they blame God. 

 

God had called Samson to deliver Israel, and his job wasn’t yet done.  He would not allow him to die until his part was finished. Judges 15:19-20 tells us, “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.  And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.”

 

For twenty years, God used Samson to lead Israel despite his unspiritual attitude and ungodly lifestyle.  Although he expected him to do great things, Samson never really believed God loved him, and never developed a personal relationship, continuing to go his own way instead.   He was like a great many Christians today, never trusting God enough to surrender fully to him.   God used his rebellious selfishness to accomplish his purpose.