Boastful, Blinded, and Bound - Judges 16:15-27

 Many years ago I was in a defensive driving class. Yes, I was in a defensive driving class as a result of a ticket I received for speeding on the highway. As part of this course, the police officer showed us several videos and still shots of what can result if the laws are not obeyed on the road. Shocking, graphic, and unsettling, these images were intended to scare us into submission. By showing us what has happened in the past, the officer was hoping that we might learn something and prevent similar things from happening as we take to the road. I must admit, it made me think twice about a couple of things and change a few things about the way I drive. Today I’d like to do something similar, although, instead of showing you pictures/videos, I’d like to take us through Judges 16:15-27. It is my prayer by showing you what happened to Samson in this passage, we might learn a thing or two so that we do not see this kind of failure repeat itself in our own lives. In this passage we are going to witness three actions that take Samson from the top to the bottom and we will discover how important it is not to rely on our own strength.\

a) ACTION #1: The Secret is Extracted-16:15-17

We last left Samson in a compromising situation with his new love interest, Delilah. Delilah has been trying to extract the secret to Samson’s strength so that she might share this information with the Philistines and they might bind and torture Israel’s deliverer. So far Samson has been successful in withholding the answer to her inquiry; however, he has been inching closer to revealing too much. Three attempts at discovering Samson’s power source have been thwarted and in verse 15 we arrive at attempt number 4. Delilah says, “…’How can you say, “I love you,” when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is’…” (16:15). Here, Delilah employs the same persuasive tactic of Samson’s first wife back in Timnah (see 14:16-17). She suggests that his love for her cannot be real if he is not fully committed to her and willing to disclose everything.

This tactic appears to apply the right kind of pressure according to verse 16—“And it came about, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death…” (16:16). No doubt, as in chapter 14, tears and persistent nagging accompanied Delilah’s accusations and claims against Samson here and the pressure is too much for Samson to take. The idiom “his soul was annoyed to death” means that Samson was completely worn out by Delilah’s incessant attempts and had met his limit.

As a result, Samson relents—“So he told her all that was in his heart…” (16:17a) (lit. “bared his soul”). Though it has taken awhile, Delilah is successful at wearing Samson down in her multiple attempts and finally receives what she has been looking for—the secret to Samson’s strength. Make no mistake, sin is patient, persistent, and willing to play the long game to lead God’s people to failure. As strong as Samson is, his mind and spirit prove to lack the same resolve and endurance that Delilah shows as she is about her business. In a game of wits, Delilah proves more resilient that Samson. To Samson, she has proven sweeter than honey and stronger than a lion.

After giving in, Samson “said to her, ‘A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.’…” (16:17b). What Samson reveals is telling. First, it indicates that Samson was (believe it or not) aware of his high spiritual and theological calling. Though his actions might indicate otherwise, Samson understood that his life was supposed to be special and set apart to the one true God of Israel. Second, the revelation of his hair and no razor touching his head highlights the one element of his Nazarite vow he had kept. While he had contacted dead bodies (the lion carcass, jawbone, and fresh ropes), entertained relationships with foreign women, and gave himself over to strong drink (all in defiance of his special promise and consecration), he had not, up to this point, cut his hair. His hair was, perhaps, the last remaining vestige of his promise to God that Samson had not broken.  That is, until now. With the secret of Samson’s strength extracted, things move very quickly toward devastation. So far Samson has played with fire without harm, but now he has been burned.

b) ACTION #2: The Strength is Taken-16:18-22

“When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent word and called the governors of the Philistines, saying, ‘Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.’ Then the governors of the Philistines came up to her and brought up the money in their hands…” (16:18). Something about what Samson said this time around and how he said it convinced Delilah and her co-conspirators that this was legitimate and they finally had the answer they were looking for. The Philistines pay off their double-agent (Delilah) and then they execute their plan to bring Samson in.

Given that in every previous attempt Delilah responded to what Samson said with an attempt on his life, I am not sure what Samson expected from her after this last disclosure. Had Samson any sense, he should have seen what would happen next coming a mile away. However, that is the thing about sin and slipping slowly toward devastation—once you go far enough, you cannot see clearly or think straight. Samson is compromised and as a result, he places himself in a compromising situation leading to his demise.

The text reveals, “And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him” (16:19). While earlier the guards in Gaza seeking Samson’s life had slept through Samson’s escape and removal of the gates (16:1-3), here Samson somehow sleeps through a major haircut that allows Delilah to torment him and the Philistines to overpower him. “Then she began to humble him” actually means “she began to torture Samson.” It is the same word Delilah used in setting forth her agenda in verse 6 (“So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you”) (Block, Judges, Ruth, 460).

The deed now done, she tests Samson with the same test he had passed three times prior—“She said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’” (16:20). This has been the story of Samson’s life—he has come and gone as he pleased without consequence. Remember, Samson believed himself invincible. No one had ever been able to tell him what he could or could not do (Block, Judges, Ruth, 461). However, there was one important difference between this episode and those before—“he did not know that the Lord had departed from him…” (16:20). Here lies the ultimate secret to Samson’s strength—the source of his power. Ultimately, it wasn’t Samson’ hair that empowered him. It was the Lord. The hair represented his connection to the Lord (the Nazarite vow). Because Samson showed no respect for the Lord, never gave credit to the Lord for his victories, and seemed to replace reliance on the Lord with reliance on himself, the Lord hands Samson over to his sin by allowing him to go it alone in his own limited human strength. After all, that is how Samson has been operating anyway. If Samson wanted to follow his own way in his own strength, now he really could.

Consider this, sometimes the worst thing God could give you is exactly what you want. Samson wanted to eb self-reliant and now he would finally get it.

With the hand of the Lord now removed from Samson’s life, the Philistines have no problem whatsoever in apprehending their victim—“Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and restrained him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison…” (16:21). The irony is not lost on the reader here as the Philistines torture their victim. “Overnight this man is transformed from one whose life is governed by sight and whose actions are determined by what is right in his own eyes into a blind man with eyes gouged out. Overnight a life of coming and going as he pleases turns into a life of bondage and imprisonment. Overnight the person who has spent his life insulting and humiliating others becomes the object of their humiliation. Overnight a man with the highest conceivable calling, the divinely commissioned agent of deliverance for Israel, is cast down to the lowest position imaginable: grinding flour for others in prison.” (Block, Judges, Ruth, 462).

Though Samson’s saga is highly personal, the rise and fall of this deliverer serves as an analogy for the people Samson was supposed to lead—the nation of Israel. Like Samson, if God’s people continued to persist in sin and entertain the pagan influences around them, they too will be seized, spiritually blinded, exiled, imprisoned, humiliated, and forced into labor. The same might be said of God’s people today. These same fates await those who trade dependency on the Lord for entertaining themselves with sinful pursuits or relying purely on their own strength to get through life. Though it may not happen all at once or right away, sin and self-reliance leads to spiritual captivity, blindness, exile, and slavery of all kinds.

Though Samson had been given every opportunity to lead an incredible life and successful ministry as judge, he has been utterly humiliated. In verse 21 we find him at rock bottom. Though his name means “sun,” by verse 21 Samson’s sun has set.

However, while all might seem lost for this failed deliverer, a small comment in verses 22 draws attention to a silver lining lurking on the periphery of an altogether ominous sky (Crenshaw, Samson, 501). Verse 22 reads, “However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off…”. Miraculously, this comment reveals that somehow God is not yet done with Samson and, despite his gross failure, the Lord might still have use for this antihero.

c) ACTION #3: The Success is Celebrated-16:23-27

Before we get to that, the Philistines revel in their victory over Samson in verses 23-27. First, we witness a pagan praise service. From the governors we see the following: “Now the governors of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said, ‘Our god has handed Samson our enemy over to us.’…” (16:23). In the ancient pagan world your confidence in your god(s) was dependent on successes you gained over your enemies. Because the Philistines were finally successful over Samson, the governors frame the victory theologically by offering sacrifices to the false god Dagon and giving him credit (something that Samson does not even do with respect to Yahweh following his own victories).

The Philistine masses join the refrain upon seeing Samson in verse 24—“When the people saw him, they praised their god for they said, ‘Our god has handed our enemy over to us, Even the destroyer of our country, who has killed many of us’…” (16:24). For these Gazites, Samson may have won battles against them in the past, but they had won the war.

Following the praise service, the Philistines throw a party and ask for Samson to serve as the entertainment: “It so happened when they were in high spirits, that they said, ‘Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.’ So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars…” (16:25). Though the ruins of this temple have not been discovered, excavations in and around this region confirm the type of structure we read about here where the roof and upper story of a large meeting place were supported by two cedar pillars slightly less than three meters apart set on round stone bases (Block, Judges, Ruth, 466). Standing in the middle of these pillars for all to see is the trophy of their victory, a blinded Samson, helpless and bound.

The narrative briefly zooms in on Samson, escaping the jeers and insults of the crowd, and reveals the following in verse 26—“Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, ‘Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.” While there is certainly an element of foreshadowing here that sets up the next passage, this comment also serves to illustrate to just how weak and vulnerable Samson is at this low point. Earlier he tore a lion apart with his bare hands, killed 1000 men with the jawbone of a donkey, and ripped the city gates off their hinges. Here, a small boy is all that is needed to keep him in custody. This serves to show that absent the presence of God, even the mighty are utterly helpless and vulnerable.

As the description of the party continues, the momentum seems to shift in a different direction—“Now the house was full of men and women, and all the governors of the Philistines were there. And about three thousand men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was entertaining them” (16:27). Those who already know the end of the story can see how this description sets up what will happen later, but let us consider how those who would have read this for the first time might interpret this. The Philistines seem to be validated here. They had captured the champion of Israel (flawed though he may be, he was still their deliverer). Everyone who was anyone was there to join the celebration which seemed to exalt Dagon and undermine the God of Israel and his chosen leader. However, this is not how the story ends.

So What?

But before we get to the ending of Samson’s story, let us consider what lessons we might learn in Samson’s “rock-bottom” episode. First, prideful self-reliance might seem to work for a season, but it ultimately leads people to utter failure. As in Samson’s mind, our world might glorify the idea of total independence and yet, God’s people ought not fall for this trap. Samson finally gets what he seems to want in this passage—total autonomy—and he learns very quickly that he, in and of himself, is not all that strong or all that spectacular. When God leaves him, so does the power, perseverance, and provision. As a result, Samson is vulnerable to attack, helpless, and easily enslaved. This is the dirty bait and switch of our enemy too. The world and its many mouthpieces tempt us with the idea of self-reliance, promising freedom and control of our fate only to capture us, blind us, bind us, and take us where we do not want to go. When we show God the door, we might as well show power, perseverance, and provision out as well.

Samson was not created, called, and commissioned to go it alone or perform in his own strength and neither or we. This is why Jesus is adamant in John 15, “Abide in me and I in You. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you aide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (15:4-5). Are you connected to the vine? Is God’s presence in your life today?

Perhaps God is not in your life today or perhaps you have been brought very low, like Samson was in the passage. Perhaps today is a call to repentance and maybe today you need to confess your dependency on the Lord. Believe it or not, it is not over for Samson, and it does not have to be over for you either!

Flirting With Disaster- Judges 16:1-14

 

One of the most epic Broadway productions ever created is “Phantom of the Opera” by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Regardless of what many think about the subject matter, few question the brilliance and beauty of its many songs. The show follows a peculiar relationship between a young blossoming opera singer (Christine) and her mysterious vocal teacher (the Phantom lurking in the shadows). The tension lies in who this young opera singer will choose in love—an old friend and hero figure (Raul) or the mysterious and disfigured Phantom whose passion for Christine has him stopping at nothing to lure her into his clutches. At one point in the show, the Phantom sets up a production in which Christine has the lead and shares a duet with the male protagonist. These two are to sing a song entitled “Past the Point of No Return.” However, after the show gets underway and this pivotal tune approaches, the Phantom himself assumes the role of the male lead in the show and ends up singing this telling song with Christine, his love interest. It is a powerful moment in which Christine realizes that, given all that has transpired up to this point, she really might be falling for the Phantom after all. You can cut the tension with a knife. So many little things lead to this moment and it is a fitting analogy for the scene we arrive at in Judges 16. As Samson’s story continues, our protagonist inches closer and closer to disaster and in verses 1-14 we watch the slow but inevitable pull toward utter failure (the point of no return). It is my prayer that by examining two relationships Samson entertains in this passage we might learn how to avoid the devastation sin can bring in our own lives and avoid the point of no return.

a. Samson Flirts with Disaster (Samson and the Harlot)-16:1-3

In the last episode of Samson’s life we saw him take a couple of baby steps in the right direction. His role as deliverer finally became public (while before it was hidden/private) and he finally had sense enough to call upon the Lord for help (when he proved thirsty). The reader might expect more positive steps moving forward as Samson serves as judge for his people. However, those with this expectation will be sorely disappointed. As the narrative moves into chapter 16, the story takes a sharp turn for the worse and in the span of a single verse we learn how Samson foolishly visits a prostitute in Gaza—“Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her” (16:1). Earlier, Samson was shown to think with his eyes and be led by his sexual desires into a quick marriage with a foreigner (which ended in disaster by the way-see chapter 14). Here, Samson appears to exhibit a total lack of self-discipline and impulse control and as a result, he forgets the whole marriage idea, chases what he is really after anyway (physical satisfaction), and he commits adultery with a stranger. In this short account, Samson behaved in a way that said, “I have needs and I’ll go anywhere to anybody to fulfill them.” However, we learn next that his pursuit of satisfaction in the wrong place did not just put him at odds with God’s will and ways, it placed him in a vulnerable situation.  

The Philistines, still hell-bent on killing Samson, learn of Samson’s whereabouts (perhaps from the prostitute herself), and immediately travel to the area to take him captive—“ When it was told to the Gazites, saying, ‘Samson has come here,’ they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night saying, ‘Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him…” (16:2). Knowing that the gates would be closed at night, these guard patiently wait until morning for the arrest, assuming that is when Samson would attempt to leave. To understand what happens next a bit better, the reader must understand what city gates looked like. Flanking both sides of the gate on the interior of the city wall you had guard houses where soldiers would sleep in a series of rooms inside. It is obvious by what happens next that these guards were asleep inside these nearby structures, waiting until morning to apprehend their victim.

As the guards were catching some Zs “Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron…” (16:3). Regardless of how Samson was able to slip by these guards at night, remove the doors, and carry them some forty miles up a mountain, his removal of these huge doors foreshadows the coming disaster that will overtake this same city by the end of this chapter (Chisholm). God had obviously empowered Samson once again to escape death at the hands of the Philistines in a spectacular way. God does this not because Samson deserves to be rescued, but because God has bigger plans for Samson that are coming later.

In this short account, Samson’s desire to fill his fleshly needs in an inappropriate way places him at unnecessary risk. While he escapes this time unscathed by the threats surrounding him, this may not always prove to be the case. After all, wisdom literature in the Bible teaches that prostitutes reside in the gateway to death (Prov. 6:26; 7:24-27). In this short account you have a prostitute and Samson tearing down a city gate. What looks like an escape is actually an entrance into a habit/path leading to his ultimate demise (Chisholm, Judges and Ruth, 417).

b. Disaster Flirts Back (Samson and Delilah)-16:4-14

While in verses 1-3 Samson flirts with disaster, in verse 4-14, disaster flirts back. The text reads, “After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah” (16:4). So much is introduced in this opening of the next episode (the longest episode) in Samson’s saga). First, the problem is introduced with “he loved a woman.” This is not to say that women are the problem, but Samson’s lack of wisdom in the women he chooses to love and the many multiple women he enjoys intimacy with, time and time again, proven to be an issue. One commentator has said that here we have the ultimate answer to the riddle that Samson introduced in 14:18—Samson’s love of women is sweeter than honey and will also prove stronger than a lion (Block, Judges, Ruth, 453). This woman was from the valley of Sorek—a woman with allegiances to the Philistines (Danger, Danger, Danger!). Also, in this introduction of the story, we learn this woman’s name—"Delilah.” This is the first time a woman is namd in Samson’s story. Why is this particular woman given a name? Perhaps the answer lies in her name’s meaning. Scholars believe it could be a combination of the Arabic dalla which means “to flirt” and d + lylh meaning “of the night.” (Uh oh!). This is the woman Samson chooses to love this time around—a woman with a questionable name from a questionable background. We might assume, given what we have already learned from Samson, that so long as she looked good and satisfied his sexual needs, that is all that mattered to him. However, once again, his rush into a relationship with a questionable woman will render him vulnerable to disaster. His association with the wrong people in the wrong places will place him in a compromising position.

Seeing this new relationship as an opportunity to apprehend Samson, “The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven pieces of silver,’…” (16:5). By now the Philistines have learned that there was something special with Samson that helped him evade capture—his strength. They needed to find his kryptonite (his vulnerability) and they enlist this feme fatale to find it. This episode of Samson’s life has all the makings of a blockbuster spy movie—a hero, a female double agent, money, sex, intrigue, etc. (Block, Judges, Ruth, 454).  

As the story unfolds, multiple attempts ensue that have Delilah seeking to discover the source of Samson’s strength. All these attempts begin the same way—a question—“So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you.’…” (16:6). Anyone else find this question a bit curious? Can anyone say red flag? Can you imagine if a love interest asked how you could be rendered vulnerable enough to be bound and tortured?

What is perhaps even more shocking than this question is Samson’s answer (yes, He ANSWERS HER!). “Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.’…” (16:7). Before we get to the answer itself let us consider why Samson doesn’t immediately dump this girl and move on to someone else following this peculiar request. It is obvious that in addition to being impulsive, lacking in self-control, and unwise, Samson is especially prideful. He believes that he is invincible. After all, had he not enjoyed success after success against his foes up to this point? Samson probably thought to himself, “what can this woman do to me?” Rather than flee, he flirts with danger, entertains her request, and even tries to poke fun at her and the Philistines by giving a bogus answer.

What is worse, his specification of “fresh” and “undried” sinews means that he in no way respects his Nazarite vow (you know, that promise he was supposed to keep from birth that would set him apart for God’s special service). These cords would have been made with fresh tendons from dead animals and would have put him in contact with that which was ceremonially unclean. Samson has already entered relations with women that were considered unclean, eaten honey out of a dead lion, enjoyed strong drink at a raucous party, and used a fresh jawbone of a donkey to kill 1000 men. All of these behaviors in their own way transgressed toe standard he was supposed to keep. Here, his Nazarite commitment takes another nosedive.

In response to what Delilah was told, “the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried and she bound him with them” (16:8). Imagine this: your love interest asks how you can be captured and afflicted, you teasingly answer, and then she returns later and ties you up using the tools you specified. While it might sound crazy to us, Samson believes he is playing a game—a game that he believes he cannot possibly lose.

His assumption seems to be credible as Delilah’s first attempt fails—“Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you Samson!’ But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered…” (16:9).

This leads to a second attempt to capture Samson--“Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me how you may be bound.’…” (16:10). Red flag number 2. His love interest seems persistent in her attempts to render him helpless. Anyone else might be bothered by this, but Samson thinks this is fun! Remember, this man believes he is invincible.

“He said to her, ‘if they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man’…” (16:11). New ropes did not seem to be a problem earlier when the Israelites tried to hand him over to the Philistines earlier. While Samson knows this, Delilah may not.

“So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ For the men were lying in wait in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like a thread…” (16:12). The second attempt on capturing Samson fails just like the first.

Will the third time be the charm? “Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me how you may be bound.’…” (16:13a). As we count the number of attempts and red flags given off by this woman, let us also count the number of opportunities Samson is given to flee the scene and not follow this path any further. This is the third attempt from Delilah against her lover and Samson has had just as many opportunities to leave and move on from her to avoid unnecessary risk.

However, instead of calling it quits, he continues to play the dangerous game and, inches ever-so close to giving away what he believes to the be answer to his strength—"And he said to her, ‘If you weave the seven locks of my hair with the web [and fasten it with a pin, the I will become weak and be like any other man.’…” (16:13b). Now he is really playing with fire since his hair represents the key to his strength (Block, Judges, Ruth, 458). The reader holds her breath knowing that Samson is not gaining an upper hand against those who would wish him ill as much as he is veering closer to disaster.

“So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web…” (16:14). Three attempts at Samson’s life and three attempts thwarted. However, as many of us already know, this winning streak will only last so long, especially if in every new attempt Samson grows more and more compromised and moves closer to giving himself up.

So What?

This passage reveals much concerning how anyone, even God’s chosen deliverer, can slip into sin. First, seeking to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways can have people at the wrong place doing the wrong things. Samson was looking for sexual satisfaction which, in and of itself is not wicked, but something God created to be enjoyed in a specific way (in the context of marriage). However, Samson satisfies this need in an illegitimate way by visiting a prostitute. These misguided impulse control issues also lead him into a questionable relationship with Delilah where we learn another lesson—pride can leave anyone feeling invincible and throw them open to utter failure. Samson believes he cannot lose the games that Delilah plays with him when all the while he inches closer to disaster. This leads to the third lesson, failure often does not come all at once, but is a product a many small steps in the wrong direction. So far Samson has been relatively unscathed by the attempts on his life. However, the steps that he has taken, whether he realizes it yet, have already brought him past the point of no return. We will watch things unfold next week.

But before we move on, I wonder if there are those among us who are looking to satisfy legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. Maybe it isn’t sex, but acceptance, companionship, relationships, respect, peace, relief, or something else that is not evil at all. However, maybe you are seeking to satisfy these legitimate needs in the wrong places, at the wrong times, or in the wrong ways.  Perhaps today is a day of correction in which you need to say “no” to a few things, people, or practices that are leaving you vulnerable to failure. I wonder if there are others listening who believe they are invincible. Something about making it through this difficult year relatively unscathed might have you believing that you cannot be touched or that you are somehow above the kind of failure we read about here. Maybe today is a day to be reminded of the fact that there but for the grace of God go I. ANYBODY given the right set of circumstances is vulnerable to egregious failure and often the thought of believing it can’t happen to you is the first step in the wrong direction. I wonder today if people hearing this have not “failed” yet but have already taken steps in the direction of disaster. Maybe you are a quarter way, halfway, or 75% of the way to the cul-de-sac of devastation and maybe until now you have not realized it. Maybe today is a day to turn around and run full speed in the opposite direction. Do not follow the way of Samson. As it was for Samson, unfortunately, so it is for all too many. The road to disaster often feels good, is well lit, and is one many take with confidence until they reach what is at the end. Do not go down that road today.

The Thirsty Braggart - Judges 15:9-20

 Growing up in a house with young kids is a real joy and treasure, especially at the end of the day. I love coming home and being caught up on all that has gone on while I’ve been away at work—where the kids have been, what they have done, what new treasures they’ve brough into our house, etc. My daughter, Audrey, ends up being the one who fills me in most of the time, providing me with the run-down (“I did this, Henry did this, Heidi did this, We went here,” and so on). She is good at giving credit where credit is due. This got me thinking about the passage we are going to be studying today. Many incredible feats of strength and surprising spectacles have transpired in the life and times of Samson (tearing apart lions, man-handling an entire village, etc.) and yet, Samson doesn’t seem to be in the least bit interested in giving credit where it is due. Instead of thanking God for providing him his strength, he foolishly points to himself (when all the while it has been himself that has gotten him into all the trouble in the first place). This unfortunate trend continues in Judges 15:9-20 as Samson’s role moves into the public eye and the conflict between he and the Philistines spills over and becomes a conflict between the Philistines and the nation of Israel. Today we are going to witness three events that successfully force Samson into his public role of deliverer in Judges 15:9-20 and learn about the value of continued dependency on the Lord and giving God the glory for both the big and little ways in which he comes through for his people.

1) Samson is Forced into Custody-15:9-13

When we last left Samson, he was hiding in a cave in Etam after having destroyed the Philistine town of Timnah. This followed a personal dispute involving his first wife that ended with burned crops and many dead. Thus far, Samson has acted on his own in his dealings with the Philistines, and as a result, he has incurred the wrath of the entire pagan nation. While it may look like chaos, all of this is being used of the Lord to set the Israelites against the Philistines. God’s people had grown too comfortable with this pagan nation and had even entertained many of their customs, practices, and ungodly behaviors. The Philistines must go for God’s people to do what they have been called to do on the world’s stage and Samson is proving to be the instigator that will set these two people groups against each other. After all, the Philistines cannot and will not stand for Samson doing what he did to one of their cities. What began as the Philistines verses Samson is going to turn into the Philistines verses the Israelites. Things begin to escalate in this direction in verse 9 of chapter 15—“Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and spread out in Lehi” (15:9). Here, the Philistines confront the men of Judah with a small army, believing that they are giving the runaway Samson refuge.

Their approach comes as quite a shock to the men of Judah who ask “Why have you come up against us?” (15:10a). Remember, up to this point Samson has gone about his escapades in Philistine territory by himself. Because he has not involved God’s people in what was going on, they have been left in the dark and find it especially curious that this Philistine army is nearby. Luckily, the Philistines explain what is taking place—“And they said, ‘We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us.’…” (15:10b). Here the men of Judah learn that one of their own, their deliverer, has offended their oppressor. What will they do in response?

Remember, while this personal conflict between Samson and the Philistines has developed into an international crisis, this is exactly what God wants. He wants the Israelites to finally take up arms against their pagan oppressor. However, rather than rise together and rally around their God-appointed deliverer, the men of Judah seek the easy way out and sell Samson down the river. Verse 11 reads, “Then 3000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, ‘Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us?’ And he said to them, ‘As they did to me, so I have done to them.’…” (15:11).

Instead of acting like proud Israelites in full support of their leader, the men of Judah prove to be dutiful subordinates of the Philistines sent to retrieve their deliverer out of his hideout (Block, Judges, Ruth, 443)—“They said to him, ‘We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.’ (15:12-13a). For the Israelites, Samson is not an asset, but a liability that threatens their security and relative comfort. I say “security” loosely as the Israelites are under oppression and one may wonder how secure they really were under the control of pagans. I say “comfort,” but realize that their comfort was placed in an unrighteous and idolatrous context. Just because it may have felt safe and good to be ruled by the Philistines does not mean that is what God wanted for them.

Once approached, “Samson said to them, ‘Swear to me that you will not kill me.’ So they said to him, ‘No, but we will bind you fast and give you into their hands; yet surely we will not kill you.’ Then they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock” (15:12-13a). Can you imagine a more humiliating position to be in as God’s-appointed deliverer? You are being arrested by your own countrymen and they have to draw you up out of a hole to retrieve you. As shocking an image as this proves to be, even this will be used to carry out God’s will for his people.

2) Samson Slays His Enemies-15:14-17

The next event of this passage takes us to when the Philistines were to intercept Samson from Israelite custody. Picture this, the Israelites are about to hand over their leader to the very people oppressing them. In what should have been a victorious battle scene in which God’s people drove out this wicked nation, we see a fearful and timid people trying to make peace with those who have no business being there in the first place. Thankfully, God shows up in a big way and makes moves that are in keeping with his will despite his people’s failure—“When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily” (5:14a). I cannot conceive of a better occasion for God to act in an obvious and deliberate way. Israel needs to be inspired out of their stupor and the Philistines need to be put in their place. When God shows up here, he can accomplish both simultaneously.

Whenever God’s Spirit shows up in the book of Judges, incredible things happen. Even in Samson’s life and tenure, it was when God’s Spirit came upon him that he tore a lion apart! This note of God’s empowerment is important as it reveals who should get the credit for Samson’s successes and Israel’s victories. It is God’s power acting to perform God’s will for God’s glory that ultimately matters.

This particular expression of God’s power allows Samson to shed the ropes that bound him—“so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bons dropped from his hands” (5:14b). There is no natural cause for “new ropes” to disintegrate in the way they do here. The supernatural power of God unleashes this deliverer from what binds him, giving him the ability to exercise his God-given strength in a spectacular way.

Now freed, Samson goes on the offensive with the only tool he could find nearby—“He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and toot it and killed a thousand men with it” (5:15). What makes this incredible feat more impressive is that the jawbone found was “fresh,” indicating that it was still relatively soft and had not yet hardened. None but God could be behind such a feat of strength and efficiency with so feeble a weapon. However, despite the unmistakably supernatural nature of this event, I am not sure that Samson even recognizes who is enabling him to do what he accomplishes here.

They say that old habits die hard and perhaps none are more difficult to break than narcissism. We can see this in Samson’s celebratory exclamation of verses 16—“Then Samson said, ‘with the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men.’” In contrast to previous songs in the book that take time to give God credit and praise, not a word is shared about God’s enabling power here. Samson claims all credit for himself, which causes the reader to wonder if he is even aware of God’s involvement in his life. What a tragedy!

“When he had finished speaking, he threw the Jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi” (15:17). Samson memorializes his achievement by renaming the place “Jawbone Hill.” Some believe that this “hill” refers to the mound of Philistine corpses that fell at the hand of Samson in this episode (YIKES!). Though empowered by God to break free and gain this victory over the Philistines, Samson soils the potential for praise by claiming all the credit and punctuating it with a morbid and self-serving display of pride. Will Samson ever learn that he is only great insofar as God enables him to be great? When left to himself, he has proven to be a disaster and totally in need. Perhaps the third event of this passage will remind him of that.

3) Samson is Nourished-15:18-20

As God continues to establish Samson’s public role of deliverer (a role that he has chosen to keep to himself up to this point), something happens in Samson’s life that should have reminded him of just how dependent on the Lord he really is. “Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the Lord and said, ‘You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” (15:18). This is interesting on several levels. First, this is the first time that Samson calls out to the Lord in his story. He does not call out to the Lord for victory over the Lion, the village of Timnah, or the Philistines that would seek to kill him. He also does not call out to the Lord on behalf of his people who are under oppression. No, instead he calls out to the Lord first when he develops a personal need. He is thirsty. Also, what makes this request so ironic is that while he recognizes God’s ability to empower him in big ways (earning him big victories), he questions God’s willingness/ability to provide for him in the small and simple ways. While we ought to commend Samson for finally crying out to the Lord, we might be left unimpressed by the tone and attitude with which he does it.

That said, despite all that Samson proves to be, God answers this cry in verse 19—“But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived…” (15:19). The same God who had empowered Samson to win over the Philistines is the same God who split open the seem of a rock to nourish him and replenish his strength. What grace! What love is seen is God’s willingness to refuel his self-centered and reckless servant.

Even this great display of lovingkindness from the Lord is turned into an occasion for Samson to draw attention to himself. The text goes on to say “Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day…” (15:9b). Most scholars seem to think that the best translation of the name given to this spot it “the spring of the caller” (Block, Judge, Ruth, 447). This name focuses not on God who provided the water, but on the thirsty Samson who prayed and asked for it. How is that for thankfulness?

Regardless of his personal failures, what results from these events in the life of Samson is he goes from a rogue deliverer to the public leader of God’s people. He has, through his isolated escapades dragged Israel herself into conflict with the Philistines. Again, this is what God wants to drive out the pagan influence from his people and their land. Samson, for better or worse is the leader of that people and “he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines” (15:19b-20).

So What?

Among other things, this passage reminds us that God is the enabler behind anything and everything good (big and small). Whether Samson recognizes it or not, the text of Judges 15 makes it abundantly clear that it was God who empowered Samson to escape his captivity and gain victory over the Philistines. However it was also God that satisfied his thirst and replenished his strength. While we might rail against and scorn Samson for so flippantly turning the graces of God in his life into opportunities for self-aggrandizement, how often do we prove to behave the same way in our own lives? How often do we fail to give God the glory for the major victories in our lives? How often do we forget to say thank you for the simple graces that sustain us each and every day?

After all, doesn’t Paul say in Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”? Does not Jesus remind that “apart from him we can do nothing” (John 15:5)?

No matter what this next season may bring for, we cannot forget to give credit where it is due for sustaining us and carrying us through. As precarious as our world may prove to be today, I imagine it was worse still in the days of the Judges. The same God who extended his grace and favor to an undeserving people then will continue to do so now. He is our God; we are his people. May we live a life that gives him glory and honor and praise accordingly as we persevere and remain on our mission to the end. Don’t believe for a second that your victories and successes are your own doing. It is the Lord that sustains his people in both the big and the little ways. May he alone be praised.

Playing with Fire-Judges 15.1-8

 For a while now my son has shown a fascination with anything related to the military—its history, wars, weaponry, generals, etc. Understandably, this includes those things related to guns. When he was even a small toddler, every stick was a gun. Eventually we ended up buying him Nerf guns that shot foam projectiles at targets. However, recently, thanks to a sweet member of our church, he has graduated to his very own Daisy Red Rider BB gun. This past weekend we took his new BB gun out to my in-laws house and tested it out with great success. As a shooter myself, I could not help but appreciate how we were able to enjoy something we both share an interest in together. That said, even if I was not interested in shooting, you better believe I would not send my young son out to enjoy himself alone—especially with something that could prove dangerous. You see, our shooting together rendered our time all the more safe and sweet. Choosing to go it alone would have simultaneously thrown open the door for considerable risk and would have lessened the sweetness of the experience we had. This was true this past weekend as my son and I went shooting and it is also true in the context of God’s people. In Judges 15:1-8, Samson ends up playing with fire in part because he ends up going about the Lord's business alone. As a result, he ends up celebrating alone and throwing himself open to unnecessary risk (once again).

1) ELEMENT #1: The Spark-15:1-2

When we last left Samson he was pouting at his parent’s house after being brought to shame at his wedding feast. Not only had he been personally embarrassed, he had also brought embarrassment upon his family and left his bride with a “friend” of his back in Timnah. Needless to say, there appeared to be no love lost between Samson and his wife nor the Israelites and the Philistines at the end of chapter 14. However, as chapter 15 rolls around “love is in the air again” (or, perhaps more accurately, “lust is in the air”). Verse 1 reads, “But after a while in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, ‘I will go into my wife in her room’” (15:1a).  The time of the wheat harvest (late April-late May) is when people would typically celebrate the land’s fertility for another year and, perhaps, when youthful romantic impulses were in full swing (Chisholm, Judges & Ruth, 411; see also Gen. 30:14; Ruth 2:23). Such impulses seem to be guiding Samson back to Timnah who returns with goat in hand looking for physical intimacy with this woman. Some commentators have interpreted this gift as an ancient equivalent to a box of chocolates (Boling, Judges¸234). Samson is expecting to enjoy himself with his wife despite everything he did earlier to ruin this relationship. It might take more than a goat to smooth things over—that is, if she is even available anymore in the first place.

Upon his arrival, “her father did not let him enter. Her father said, ‘I really though that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion’…” (15:1b-2). Given Samson’s behavior in the previous passage, the father’s conclusion seems reasonable. After all, Samson abandoned his bride after calling her a heifer. Even more so, the wording here might suggest that Samson had near-formally divorced his bride. Some have even translated the father’s first comment here as “I must insist that you certainly divorced her” (Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist, 189; See also Block, Judges, Ruth, 439). As far as the father was concerned, things between his daughter and Samson were over—so over that the father had already given the daughter away to someone else (another member of the wedding party)! This is not something that could be easily reversed. What is Samson to do? What is the father to do?

Quick thinking leads the father to what he believes is a good compromise/solution—the hand of his second daughter—“Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours instead’…” (15:2b). The father attempts to quench Samson’s rage by offering what he believed was an even prettier daughter in place of Samson’s first wife. Such cavalier attitudes toward women were not characteristic of God’s people (and certainly never taught in Scripture). However, we learn here and elsewhere that this kind of indifferent treatment of women was certainly par for the course for the Philistines. Does the daughter have an opinion on the matter? Instead of treating her like a person, she is treated more like a new car given in place of the previous year’s model. Yikes!

Though this transaction is shocking in today’s standards, we might be led to believe that Samson would be eager to take the father up on this offer. After all, Samson is someone who did “what seemed right in his own eyes” and this girl is supposed to be pretty (that is all that seemed to matter the first time around). Also, Samson is looking for satisfaction and this would be the easiest way to achieve that. However, if we have learned anything from Samson up to this point, expect the unexpected.

2) ELEMENT #2: The Fuse-15:3-5

The spark of unmet expectations lights a fuse in Samson leading to conflict. It is obvious by Samson’s reaction that he did not give the way he left the wedding feast a second thought. He expected to return to his wife and resume life as if nothing happened (Block, Judges, Ruth, 440). We might add clueless to the list of Samson’s character traits (a list which already include devious, lustful, reckless, etc.). In his own twisted way, Samson feels more than justified in taking the actions he does in response to this father’s comments—“Samson then said to them, ‘This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.’…” (15:3). What Samson says here spells trouble. What he ultimately states is “I will be absolved of all when I bring disaster upon you.” In Samson’s mind, something that belonged to him was taken unjustly. Therefore, to enact vengeance for this offense would be justified. His promise creates a sense of anticipation in the text. The reader is left to wonder “What is he going to do to get even?”

The reader’s curiosity is not disappointed as something truly unexpected takes place—“Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails…” (15:4). The collection of these foxes, the fastening of these foxes together, and the lighting of the torches attached to the foxes fit the pattern of Samson winning victories in unusual/unexpected was. He has already ripped a lion apart and single-handedly killed 30 Philistines. Later we will see him break through brand new ropes, slay hundreds with a jawbone of a donkey, and topple an entire structure. Against this backdrop something like collecting these foxes, tying them together, and setting them ablaze, does not seem like too big a deal. However, it is what he does with these foxes once lit that bring about devastation.

The text reads, “When he had set fire to the torches, he released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning up both the shocks and standing grain along with the vineyards and groves” (15:5). Now we can better understand why the detail of the “wheat harvest” was mentioned in verse 1. Because Samson was kept from enjoying himself in the way he expected, he keeps the Philistines from enjoying the fertility of the land. Some have speculated that by tying the foxes together the two competing animals trying to separate from each other would have sent the pair through the fields in a zigzag pattern, maximizing the devastating effects of the torches attached to their tails. All parts of the grain crop along with the vineyards and olive groves are decimated. This would have crippled the Philistine economy in this region.

If we take a step back we can take notice of how Samson and his dealings compare to the others God uses in this book. Samson goes about his battles and conquests alone. “All his achievements are personal, and all are provoked by his own [mis]behavior. [Also], unlike the other deliverers, he never seeks to rid Israel of foreign oppressors, and he never calls out the Israelite troops. Samson is a man with a higher calling than any other deliverer in the book, but he spends his whole life ‘doing his own thing’” (Block, Judges, Ruth, 441). By operating alone, Samson leaves himself open to two things: 1) The lack of accountability leads him into trouble, and 2) the lack of fellowship keeps the victories he wins in God’s strength short-lived and lacking in impact.  In this way, by failing to surround himself with others, this deliverer proves personally inept. He gets the nation into trouble and he fails to inspire the nation when God uses him to clean up after the fact.

3) ELEMENT #3: The Explosion-15:6-8

Things explode in and around Samson after his arson in verses 6-8. First, an investigation is launched seeking to discover the source of the wildfire—“Then the Philistines said, ‘Who did this?’ And they said, ‘Samson the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion” (15:6a). But wait, I thought according to the father Samson had “divorced” his wife earlier. Wouldn’t this have severed the son-in-law/father-in-law relationship? According to the Philistines, Samson was the husband of the first woman and he had not formally divorced her. This seems to discredit the father’s statement and action of giving Samson’s bride away to his companion. Perhaps Samson is justified in his anger on some level.

Either the Philistines are looking for an easier target to blame and deal with than Samson, or they are so convinced that this father has dealt poorly with Samson and had brought Samson’s wrath upon the Philistines. Either way, the Philistines enact their own brand of justice against the father-in-law and older daughter—“So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire” (15:6b).  This is dripping with irony given that this was the very fate that the daughter was threatened with earlier—the threat that she took pains to avoid in retrieving the answer to the riddle Samson gave earlier (see 14:10-20). Though she acted as the master of her fate earlier, the hidden providence of God is able to bring the schemes and conduct of human beings upon their own heads and thereby accomplish his own purposes (Block, Judges, Ruth, 442).

Earlier actions and statements might suggest that Samson didn’t really care for his first wife all that much. However, after she is burned up, Samson appears to be really grieved by the Philistine’s actions against her—“Samson, said to them, ‘Since you act like this, I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will quit” (15:7). After the Philistines fight Samson’s fire with fire of their own, Samson vows to repay their violence with more violence and then foolishly expects that to be the end of it. To be sure, Samson always acts as if the next destructive act will be the last. However, this kind of violence only breeds more violence, leaving very little room for resolution. Had Samson been keen on including the nation of Israel in his campaigns against the Philistines or seeking the Lord’s will on his nation’s behalf and not going it alone, things might have concluded much earlier.

Samson makes good on his promise in verse 8—“He struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam…” (15:8). In Hebrew this verse reads, “He struck them leg upon thigh with a great striking.” Most believe that this is a Hebrews idiom for total victory. Samson may have dealt “completely”/”ruthlessly” with those Philistines in Timnah; however, in so doing he shook the hornet’s nest of the greater Philistine nation as a whole. This is probably why he retreats down in the cleft of the rock of Etam like an animal hiding from its predator. Once again, we find Samson alone. 

So What?

God’s people are not designed to go through life and pursue God’s mission alone. In the Book of Judges, Samson was intended to be a deliverer who rallied God’s people to drive out the Philistine influence around them just as Gideon had the Midianites earlier or Jephthah the Amorites after that. Instead, Samson goes it alone. This does two things, it leaves him alone to enjoy hollow victories and throws himself into unnecessary risks. While God can (and does) continue to work through even Samson’s foibles and failures, the lack of accountability and fellowship that is characteristic of Samson’s career renders his tenure especially tenuous. The same might be said of God’s people today. While God can accomplish his will regardless of the circumstances we are in or the circumstances that are places around us, the Lord’s design is for us to partner together in meaningful relationships the provide the accountability and fellowship we need to persevere from a posture of strength, not unnecessary risk.

Applied today in a pandemic world with increased isolation and social distancing, a world in which investments have been made to render access to church services easier online, we must be especially aware of this. God has not designed the church to operate virtually through congregations of isolated individuals far removed from the gathering. This is not church as it should be. While certainly, especially for a season, God can work through this series of unprecedented circumstances and for those of especially high risk participation virtually may be necessary, we all need to be vigilant to remain accountable and pursue meaningful fellowship with each other as best and as richly as possible. If that means you can be here, you need to be here. If you cannot be here yet, this means going out of your way to be as plugged in as possible and investing in ways that go beyond casual viewing.

Friends/family, it is only then when pursue community with the body God has given us that we can adequately celebrate the victories God provides us to the fullest, bringing inspiration and perseverance to our walk. Also, it is only when we are together in meaningful ways that we can be held accountable and be encouraged to walk according to the word and will of God alongside our brothers and sisters.

Party's Over- Judges 14:10-20

 

Weddings are a big deal in our culture. There is so much about a wedding that people are fascinated with. What is it that you enjoy most about a marital celebration? Is it the dress? The ceremony? The venue? The vows? The reception party? The dancing? The toasts? The reunion with family and friends? Is it all of the above? In Samson’s day, weddings were a big deal also and yet, in Judges 14:10-20, Samson spoils the celebration in a foolish way leading to embarrassment, shame, and even separation from his own bride. YIKES! You have heard of a bridezilla. Samson proves to be a groomzilla. In today’s passage we are going to look at three actions that expose Samson’s weakness. In so doing we will learn how we might avoid the kind of shame that befalls him at his wedding feast in our own lives.

a. Samson Presents an Impossible Riddle -14:10-14

When we last left Samson he was heading back for his bride in Timnah with his parents while feeding on honey scraped out of a dead lion. We pick up the story of Samson’s life in verses 10-11 of chapter 14 as the wedding celebration commences—“Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this…” This all seems innocent enough, except that the word for “feast” in this context “refers to a seven-day drinking bout at the home of his bride’s parents” (Block, Judges, Ruth, 431). Samson is not enjoying a traditional Israelite wedding celebration as much as he is a Philistine stag party with the young men of Timnah. Having already failed to keep his Nazarite vow by entering into marriage with a Philistine woman and coming into contact with a dead body, now Samson stands to break another element of this consecration with the consumption of strong drink. By giving into a pagan people and endorsing their pagan customs, Samson puts himself in another highly compromising situation and sets himself up for failure.

The already compromising situation grow tense, if not dangerous, as the text reveals that “When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him,…” (14:11). After the Philistines see Samson, they are afraid of him. Unwilling to take any chances, they surround him with bodyguards—enough bodyguards to easily overwhelm Samson if they need to for any reason.

Samson fails to see just how precarious his situation is. Instead, he believes that he can outsmart his hosts and trick them out of a great deal of assets. Rather than play things safe, Samson seems eager to pick a fight. This he does by presenting a riddle. However, before he shares the riddle, he must see if the partiers want to play his game. Therefore, he sets the terms, terms that appear to be overwhelmingly in favor of the Philistines: “Then Samson said to them, ‘Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.’…” (14:12-13a). Samson suggests that if they can solve his riddle within seven days, he will provide each of them with a complete suit of clothes, consisting of long garments and shorter tunics (Block, Judges, Ruth, 432). This was no small prize. The wager here involves the equivalent of 30 modern-day three-piece suits worn for a special occasion. However, if they fail to provide the right answer, then they must provide Samson with thirty capes and suits of clothing.

If this sounds like a bar bet, that is because it is in many ways. After a few drinks, Samson is feeling cocky and the guards surrounding him are eager to take him up on the bet—“And they said to him, ‘Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.’…” (14:13b).

Samson’s riddle involves a short six words in the original language: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet” (14:14). The riddle includes two paradoxes: a consumer producing food and something strong producing sweetness. No doubt the Philistines would have begun searching around the room they were partying in for clues that might point them in the right direction. However, Samson knows all along that the answer lies in a distant field in a remote location that, as far as he knows, only he has visited. It is, for all intents and purposes, an impossible riddle and Samson, by all appearances, has this won from the beginning. The only one who could ruin this for Samson is, well, Samson himself.

b. Samson Is Tricked into Providing the Answer-14:15-18

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens and Samson’s wife is the means by which the answer would be extracted and shared. After a few days of ruminating on the riddle, the Philistine fraternizers grow anxious, fearing that they are going to have to make good on the wager they made—"Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, ‘Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?..." (14:15). First, to retrieve the elusive answer, the group of guards blackmail this woman, threatening her and her family’s house (hmmmm…nice countrymen this Philistine woman has on her side). Second, they suggest that she is complicit in Samson’s bet. Evidence of just how high the price was that they would have to pay if they lose is seen in their anxiety over their presumed fate if they failed to produce the answer—“have you invited us to impoverish us?”.  Her loyalty to her people questioned and her home threatened, Samson’s wife is successfully enlisted by these guards to somehow pry the answer to the riddle out of her new husband and she wastes no time to get started.

“Samson’s wife wept before him and said, ‘You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.’ (14:16a). Not a bad first attempt by this new bride. Her first ploy is to weep (playing the emotional card) and then to guilt her husband into giving what she wants by questioning his love for her (though I’m not sure how effective this will prove to be given that Samson didn’t appear to be as much “in love” with this woman as much as he was “in lust”). Then she questions his respect for her people the Philistines, “you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me” (as if Samson cared at all for the fate of the Philistines). Samson’s response is terse and firm: “And he said to her, ‘Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother, so should I tell you?’…” (14:16b). This response reveals at least two things. First, it reminds the reader of Samson’s callousness toward his parents. His withholding of the details about the lion and the honey from them in chapter 14:1-9 shows just how little he cared for even them, let alone his new bride. However, the second thing this reveals is that regardless of how much he really cared for/loved his parents, the apron strings had not been severed and if it came to a choice between them and his new wife, his parents would receive priority (contrary to Gen. 2:24).

With time ticking (given the seven day timetable ascribed to this wager) and her first attempt unsuccessful, Samson’s wife persists in her efforts—“However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted…” (14:17a). Never underestimate the power of persistence, especially in the home! “And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard” (14:17b). Apparently Samson could only take so much and “at the climactic ‘eleventh hour’ on the seventh day” he finally relents to her nagging demands, perhaps just to silence her many tearful appeals (Block, Judges Ruth, 434).

Like clockwork, Samson’s wife relays the newfound information to her co-conspirators—“she then told the riddle to the sons of her people” (14:17b). This whole ordeal reveals just how ill-conceived this whole relationship is on the surface. Samson doesn’t seem to really love her and she doesn’t seem in the least bit loyal to him. All of this leads to the another failure in Samson’s life—a failure that he got himself into by making this bet in the first place and then cracking under the pressure thereby losing the bet he was sure to win outright. Samson proves cocky, reckless, and mentally weak. This gets him into trouble.

c. Samson Reacts to His Embarrassing Failure-14:18-20

With a grin on their faces, the Philistines present their answer to Samson’s riddle just in time to win the wager in verse 18—“ So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, ‘What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?’…” (14:18). Perhaps to twist the proverbial knife into Samson’s ego and maximize the drama of this moment, the Philistines wait until the last minute to provide the answer and when they do they answer Samson’s riddle with one of their own. The riddle doesn’t just reveal that they discovered the answer to the riddle, it also exposes Samson’s desecrating act of scarping honey out of a dead carcass. This was highly embarrassing for Samson and, I imagine, highly disappointing for his parents if they were nearby.

Furious after his loss and immediately aware of how these guards have won, Samson “said to them, ‘If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have found out my riddle,’…” (14:18b). “You cheated!” Samson exclaims, “and you used my wife to do it” (although he doesn’t use “wife”). His reference for his wife proves to be just as offensive today as it would have been in the ancient world. What a great way to end a wedding feast! YIKES!

However, the scene is not finished yet. “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle…” (14:19a). Though Samson got himself into this mess, the Lord gets him out of it. It is God’s Spirit that allows Samson the strength necessary to overwhelm his enemies here. Samson kills thirty men, took their spoil (personal effects), and then uses these articles to pay the debt he owed to those who won the bet.

Remember, God is using this ill-conceived marriage to stir things up between Israel and the Philistines because things have become too comfortable between these two people groups and Israel, as a result, is losing its special identity as the set-apart people of God.

The fallout of this episode continues as Samson—now posturing as a pouty and embarrassed brat—returning home to live with mom and daddy—“And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house…” (14:19b). As for Samson’s wife, she “was given to his companion who had been his friend” (14:20). Talk about marital bliss. Some have said that the first year of marriage is the most difficult, but I would have never imagined a more difficult first week!

So What?

In last’s week’s look at Samson’s life we saw how isolation and a sweet tooth got this young man into compromising situations. In this week’s passage we see how risky behaviors (fraternizing at a raucous party) and reckless wagers (in the giving of the riddle) can lead to embarrassment and shame. Ultimately, in both passages, these failures demonstrate what occurs regularly in a life ruled by the flesh. While last week we saw how familiarity with God’s Word and pursuing spiritual community can help God’s people live a life in the Spirit, today we might say that avoiding the wrong crowds and unnecessary risks can also help aide a Spirit-filled life.

However, we also learn that God can and will use anything and everything to wake his people up from misplaced complacency and comfort—even if it that means allowing us to fail miserably. For Israel, he allowed Samson to go through the motions of this chapter to stir his people toward long-overdue action that would have them appropriately distance themselves from the pagan influences and practices that they were entertaining and accepting. In our lives, God may use an embarrassing failure to draw our attention to areas of compromise and complacency that need fixing or avoiding too.

Maybe you have failed recently. Maybe you are fresh off an embarrassing episode. If you are a child of God today, do not lose heart and do not give up. The same God that so-empowered Samson despite himself is more than able to overwhelm the mess you have gotten yourself into and even use it to accomplish his will. Call upon him today and life a life ruled by the Spirit as you move forward.

The Dangerous Thing About a Sweet Tooth-Judges 14:1-9

Last week’s message and this week’s message have us moving from one major life event (Samson’s birth) to another (Samson’s marriage). Both these milestones garner a lot of attention and celebration in the ancient world and today. However, there are those things that might spoil the celebration or turn the wedding shower into a mere drizzle. In Judges 14:1-9, Samson proves to be his own worst enemy and cannot seem to get out of his own way as he pursues and marries a Philistine woman. Despite all that God does to empower Samson for great things, we will learn by watching two episodes in this passage that when we choose to be controlled by our flesh instead of the Spirit, bad things will result.

a. EPISODE #1: FORBIDDEN LOVE-14:1-4

We pick up the story of Samson’s life when he is a young man. In chapter 14 verse 1, the narrative wastes no time in suggesting what appears to drive “Sunny” –“Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines…” (14:1). This is the first of two examples IN THIS PASSAGE of Samson being ruled by the lust of his flesh. Nothing of this woman’s character is mentioned. For Samson, her looks were more than enough, even though she was a Philistine from Timnah.

The town of Timnah, now under Philistine rule, used to belong to the tribe of Dan (see Josh 19:43). Located on the northern border region of Judah between Israelite and Philistine populations, this community would no doubt see many clashes between these two people groups. Samson first confronts this city as Israel’s deliverer not as an aggressor seeking to free God’s people from oppression, but as a lustful young man looking for a wife in what many believed were all the wrong places. “The image the narrator paints of Samson in…(this) episode is anything but attractive. He is an insolent and independent young man, unafraid to venture into the pagan world of the Philistines and undaunted by potentially compromising situations” (Block, Judges, Ruth, 424).

Singularly motivated by his flesh, Samson “came back and told his father and mother, ‘I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore get her for me as a wife’…” (14:2). The repetition of the verb “to see” in verses 1-2 (and later) demonstrates that Samson is operating on appearance and for personal interest, not on principle or for the greater good. He has a one track mind that is not going to a holy place. Added to this lustful desire to be satisfied is the sense of entitlement and self-centeredness. You can almost hear the bratty selfishness in his demand of his parents to do what is necessary to get this girl for him at the end of verse 2. What do his parents have to say?

Interestingly, Manoah and his wife (remember them from chapter 13), appear to be the voice of reason in this episode—“Then his father and his mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’…” (14:3a). This response from Samson’s parents demonstrates their pain and disappointment in their son’s choice of a bride. Is there no one good enough for him among his own countrywomen, that he would stoop to such a level and take a wife from among the uncircumcised Philistines (an intentionally pejorative way to refer to this people group)? The parent’s comment serves to remind Samson that intermarriage with these pagan oppressors was inappropriate. For Samson’s parents his demand poses not only an ethnic problem but a cultural dilemma. Because the Philistines were considered unclean, marital union between an Israelite and a Philistine presented obvious problems.

Equally important to what was said by Samson’s parents is what was not said. Their quibble with Samson’s choice seems to be based on ethnicity, not on what God had clearly articulated in his word. Samson’s parents do not recite Deuteronomy 7:1-5 which says, in part, “Intermarriage with non-Israelites is forbidden by the Lord” nor do they remind him of his Nazarite vow which would have prohibited him from marrying this woman. Their problem with Samson’s would-be wife is not based on what God has said, but by their personal prejudice. (Nice, sounds like this is going to work out really well).

Samson is undeterred by his parent’s comments. His mind appears to be made up –“But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she looks good to me.’…” (14:3b). Again, the primary motivator in Samson is what he “sees”—i.e. the lust of the eyes. Literally the text reads “because she is right in my eyes.” She may not be right for Samson’s parents or in accordance with what is said in God’s Word or in keeping with his Nazarite vow, but she is right in the only way that seems to matter to Samson—right in his eyes. Like the rest of his countrymen during this sordid period in their history, Samson, the typical Israelite, operates exclusively on the basis of his senses. In fact, rather than rise above the least common denominator as the deliverer of God’s people, he fits right in with “everyone who did what was right in their own eyes” (see 17:6; 21:25) (Block, Judges, Ruth, 426).

This union has disaster written all over it. However, perhaps it is not totally irredeemable.

In a shocking twist, the text suggests that something much bigger is at work—“However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines…” (14:4). OF THE LORD!? How in the world could this be of the Lord?  A fresh look at this whole episode from the Lord’s perspective reveals the answer. This marriage illustrates (through God’s chosen deliverer) Israel’s willingness to coexist peacefully with and even intermarry with the Philistines. Remember, God’s people were so comfortable and accommodating to this pagan people group that they did not even cry out for the deliverer they received in chapter 13 (oppression can turn to misplaced comfort, it just take apathy and time). However, it was never God’s intention for his people to lie down with the enemy and he is determined to shake things up in a mighty way. Samson is the tool God will use to aggravate the Philistines and his marriage to this woman, no matter how ill-conceived at first glance, would offer the Lord the opportunity to make this happen.

In case the reader forgot, the narrator reminds them at the end of verse 4, “Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.” This was not what God wanted. Therefore, “if the Israelites do not have the heart to take action against the Philistines, God will cause the Philistines to take action against them” and use Samson’s lusty pursuit of and union with a Philistine woman to that end (Block, Judges, Ruth, 426).

b. EPISODE #2: A STRANGE THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO TIMNAH-14:5-9

As we move to episode two, "a strange thing happened on the way to Timnah” (a play on “A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”). It is obvious that Samson’s parents give in to their son’s demands and head toward the town where his future bride lived—"Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah;…” (14:5a). Though Samson and his parents start their journey together, at some point, given what is revealed later, Samson must have wandered off by himself.

“...and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him” (14:5b). One commentator has concluded that this young lion, like all male lions, became nomadic—a loner (kind of like Samson here in this situation). When such lions attempt to claim territory, they roar more frequently and become more aggressive. This is the kind of lion that Samson encounters. Strawn concludes that such a roaring nomadic lion “is perhaps the most dangerous instance of the world’s dominant land predator that one could possibly encounter” (Strawn, “Kepir arayot,” 158). Hungry, strong, and driven purely by instinct, Samson appears to meet his match in the animal kingdom.  

Immediately upon seeing this lion, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Samson) mightily” (14:6a). As if to highlight the role of the Lord in these events, the text reads that the Sprit of the Lord “rushed” upon Samson and infused him with superhuman strength. God is ultimately the one behind Samson’s power and this description of God’s activity reveals who is really in control of both Samson’s life and Israel’s destiny.

So empowered is Samson by the Lord “that he tore him (the lion) as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand” (14:6b). This is remarkable on several levels. First, few people would/ever did tear goats apart (uncooked ones at least). That would be a feat in and of itself and here Samson shreds a lion!  Second, he does this barehanded (no weapon, knife, or other utensil necessary). Add this to what we already learned about the lion and what you have here is perhaps the best possible way to introduce Samson’s remarkable strength when empowered by the Spirit. When God was with Samson, there was nothing in the world that could take him down.

While we might expect Samson to share and even gloat about his victory over this ferocious feline, “he did not tell his father or mother what he had done” (14:6c). This is curious to say the least, almost as curious as the appearance of the lion itself. Perhaps the best explanation for this entire spectacle is that the Lord is at work both in the emergence of the Lion, the strength to defeat it, and the silence after the victory. God is setting things up for something yet to come in the future. We will have to wait and see how this all fits together until later in chapter 14. 

Hot off his victory over the lion, Samson “went down and talked to the woman, and (once again) she looked good to Samson” (14:7). This is probably the first time Samson spoke to his love interest (as before the text suggests he stopped at gawking at her). However, the depth of their conversation appears relatively shallow as at the conclusion of the dialogue the narrative simply reiterates that “she looked good to Samson.” Again, Samson appears to be driven primarily by his flesh and soon we see more confirmation of this.

Things fast forward in verse 8 beyond the presumed negotiations Samson’s mom and dad entered with the woman’s parents. Once complete, sometime later Samson returns to Timnah to retrieve his bride—“When he returned later to take her” (14:8a) (gee, sounds romantic). While in route “He turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion” (14:8b). Perhaps out of curiosity, Samson follows the same route he took earlier on purpose to see what had become of his vanquished foe. This was risky as Samson was supposed to be fulfilling a Nazarite vow. According to Numbers 6:6, a Nazarite was not to “contact a dead body.” This risk doesn’t appear to be of any concern to Samson (after all, he was on his way to marry a Philistine).

Samson’s curiosity was not disappointed as “behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion” (14:8b). This detail and what follows is teaming with significance. First, this swarm bears the signature of God as bees do not normally inhabit dead bodies (like, say flies/maggots do). Something peculiar and, even, supernatural was at play here as God places these bees where they would not naturally be found to test Samson. Second, the image of a “community” (translated “swarm”) of bees thriving in a decaying carcass is dripping with irony. Nearly everywhere else this word for “swarm” is used it refers to a collection of people, usually the Israelites as a faith community called to be agents of grace and light in the world. In other words, the bees thriving and producing honey in a dead lion was an illustration for what God’s people were supposed to be doing on the world’s stage. Both the bees in the lion and the Israelites success in the world were peculiar examples of God’s supernatural power in expected places.

Throwing all inhibitions aside Samson “scraped the honey into his hands and went on eating as he went” (14:9a). Obviously Samson does not just have an eye for the ladies, he also has an insatiable sweet tooth. While he had passed the physical test posed by the lion, he failed to keep the spirit of his Nazarite vow and failed the spiritual test of self-discipline that this honey posed. Why would he do this? “It is possible Samson interpreted his finding the honey on his way to his wedding as a good omen that foreshadowed blessing. Perhaps he viewed it as a symbol of the sexual pleasure about to be his or as an aphrodisiac, appropriately provided just before his wedding” (Chisholm, Judges and Ruth, 407). Regardless of why he does it, it is a gross and ominous act that spells disaster in the future and helps set in motion what will happen in the remainder of the chapter.

Adding insult to injury, Samson cavalierly implicates his parents in his own defilement by sharing this honey with them—“ When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion,…” (14:9b). It appears that Samson’s perversity and lack of scruples knows no bounds. While his parents had done their best to raise him as a Nazarite per the Angel of the Lord’s instructions, here Samson returns the favor by desecrating them both. Unaware of what he has just ingested, Manoah, Samson’s father, continues the journey down to Timnah to finalize the wedding arrangements for his compromised and compromising son.

So What?

Among other things, this passage illustrates two ways of living—living under the control of the Spirit or living under the control of the flesh. When Samson was guided by and empowered by the Spirit, he was literally tearing lion’s apart. However, when he was controlled by his flesh he was entertaining dangerous relationships and defiling himself and those around him. What we all have to understand from the life of Samson is that relinquishing control to the flesh—i.e. following our gut to whatever will satisfy us or give us pleasure for the moment—is the human default. Living by our senses and being guided by the lust of our eyes is what comes most naturally to human beings given that we are fallen creatures in a broken world. This mode of living is easy to slip into, even for those who have been called of God. When things are especially tense, frustrating, or challenging we are most susceptible to reverting to the least common denominator. When the world throws us for a loop (as it has for all of us this past year), the natural parts of us will seek the path of least resistance to find relief. This can have us digging into a carcass for the honey just like Samson or chasing after what is forbidden for a thrill. Therapies that we pursue that run contrary to the Word and will of God may feel good for the moment, but they, whether we realize it or not at the time, defile us and leave us susceptible to hurting those around us.

 God would have us endorse a different lifestyle—a life in the Spirit. Consider the words of Paul: “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). “Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Col. 3:5). “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). When we walk by the Spirit, God can do extraordinary things in and through us. Why would we choose to live any other way?