Judges 15 part 7: Samson Defeats The Philistines

Our text this morning is Judges 15:1-17. Judges 15:1 begins with the words, “After some days…”. These words may not seem very significant, but I have found them to be important to the flow of this text. For example, this is not the first time we have seen the words, “After some days”. The first time we encountered it was in Judges 14:8.

This phrase serves a couple of functions. First, it’s like a conjunction between parts of this story. A conjunction joins two thoughts together and it makes the reader look back at what has come before, but it also makes them look ahead to see what is going to happen next.

Secondly, the phrase, “After some days”, provides a couple of occasions within this fast paced narrative for things to slow down to think carefully about what is happening. Throughout this story Samson has opportunities to do this but he fails to do so. Instead he continues head long into trouble.

Illustration: The structure of this story allows the reader feel like they are driving a car down a long straight four lane street. Everything about this street makes you feel like you should be able to go fast and you don’t expect there to be any stops, but the city has put street lights at every intersection along the way.

On a good day a driver would hit each intersection when the lights are green. When this happens the driver is able to quickly go down the road and arrive at their destination quickly. However, most of the time this does not happen. Usually the driver hits every red light. As a result, that trip can cause the best of drivers to become impatient and experience road rage. Not all of us are like Jim F. who uses every stop light that he comes to as a time to go to God in prayer with thanksgiving. This is not what Samson or any other character in this story does when they encounter the red lights in this text. Because of this everyone expresses rage that leaves behind great devastation.

I have come to appreciate the structure of Judges 14-16. This structure is like encountering a ‘Selah’ in the psalms which reminds the reader to pause and look to the LORD before continuing to read. () Throughout this story it is easy to wonder where God is in all of this chaos, but we have been assured from the very beginning in Judges 14:4 that God is present in all these things, “His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.” (Note: this phrase, “Philistines ruled over Israel”, bookends this chapter.)

With this structure in mind we can appreciate how the Holy Spirit tells this story and helps us to interact with it. In Judges 14:1-7 we see the first story. After this the pace slows down for a moment in Judges 14:8 with the words, “After some days”. Then the second story begins in Judges 14:8b-20. At the end of the second story the story Judges 15:1 slows us down again before the third story begins in Judges15:1b-17.

Each of these three stories all build upon each other in intensity and drama in different ways. By the end of Judges 15 the reader will be ready for a break and some refreshment. (Judges 15:18-19) We will identify with Samson at the end of Judges 15 when he is thirsty, exhausted, and desperate for God’s help.

It is from this place that Samson prays to the LORD for the very first time. It is not particularly awe inspiring prayer, but the LORD is gracious and merciful to Samson and answers it with a dramatic miracle. In the end, Samson is very aware of his physical needs, but we are left to wonder if he really sees his need for God’s spiritual graces? Samson, like many of us, is driven by his senses and flesh.

Judges 15 ends with a picture of what all of Israel should be doing. Through Samson God has begun to deliver his people from the Philistines but they still are not looking to the LORD or praying to Him. In fact, they are working against Him and His judge. At the end of Judges 15 Samson is in a better place than Israel because he is praying, but Israel still does not know their physical or spiritual need for God.

In Judges 14:1-7 the narrative is very fast paced. One minute Samson’s heart is being stirred by the LORD for the calling he has been given (13:25), but then he goes to a neighboring town and sees a Philistine girl that he wants to marry. He returns and tells his parents this and although they initially resist they quickly go to arrange it. The intensity of this story is felt in a demand that is made twice by Samson when he says, “Get her for me!” (2-3) The speed of the events in this story seem to be consistent with the work of the Spirit upon Samson when we read in verse 6, “Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him…”.

The second story in Judges 14:8-19 is equally intense, full of intrigue, drama, deception, and intense emotion. What begins as a friendly bet ends up producing threats, anger, murder, and a wedding that appears to be called off. In the end, Samson angrily returns home and no one expects him to return to consummate his marriage. (19) The last words that we read are these, “And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.”. (14:20)

Because of those closing words the reader knows that there is probably trouble up ahead. During this pause in the action Samson did not make his intentions clear. We have seen that he is a private and isolated man and this can be problematic. During this time we also see that neither Samson’s best man or the woman’s father came to Samson to discover what his intentions were. This now sets up the scene for everything that happens next in our text.

In Judges 15:1-2 we read about the event that will trigger six different escalating actions and reactions that happen in Judges 15:3-17. We read, “After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, ‘I will go into my wife in the chamber.’ But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, ‘I really thought you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.’”

The LIFEPLAN, our discipleship plan at Community Church, is right when it teaches us that sin is our greatest danger because it not only leads to spiritual death and judgment, but because it leads to relational, physical, and emotional breakdown. This is what is happening here. In Samson’s anger he left and did not resolve these things in a godly way. As a result, sin took its natural course and began to work its destruction and death. (Galatians 5:19-24)

Notice that at this time in Israel’s history Samson and this Philistine woman were legally married even though the marriage had not yet been consummated. This is similar to how it wzas in Jesus’ day. (Matthew 1:18-21) In Judges 14:15 this woman was referred to as Samson’s wife. Samson has already been called her husband. (14:15) In Judges 15:6, after this woman was given to Samson’s best man, the Philistines still speak of Samson as the ‘son-in-law’ of the Timnite and they call her Samson’s ‘wife’.

I mention these things so that we can begin to understand the sense of injustice and betrayal that Samson felt when this happens. I have often thought that Proverbs 6:34-35 which says, “For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.” These things that have been done provoke Samson’s anger and he refuses to be comforted and is determined to get revenge, saying, “This time I shall be innocent in regards to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” (3)

God has created the institution of marriage therefore He gets to regulate it. Samson and his parents did not submit these rules regarding marriage. Now we see just how difficult things become when society disregards God’s teaching on marriage. (Matthew 19:1-12)

One of my favorite parts of a Christian wedding is when the charge is given to everyone who attends the ceremony. During the ceremony everyone is reminded that they are witnesses at a Christian wedding where the bride and the groom are entering into a marriage covenant. They are all there to witness the LORD give His Spirit and His blessing to this union.

Because of this every witness is obligated to support this couple in a godly and biblical way. This is a Christian marriage so the witnesses cannot take sides when this couple has an argument. This is a Christian marriage so any advice, counsel, and instruction that is given to them must be in accordance with God’s Word. None of these witnesses are allowed to undermine that marriage with worldly and sinful wisdom and instruction. What God has joined together, let no man separate. (Mark 10:9)

One of the tragedies of what we see throughout this story is that everyone involved lacks the appropriate biblical wisdom and instruction that is so desperately needed. Samson and his parents lacked it in Judges 14:1-5. Samson has lacked biblical wisdom throughout this story, especially in these recent events that have helped to bring about these things that are happening now. Now this Philistine father and Samson’s best man lack the biblical wisdom that has been needed. Therefore, it is a good thing that the LORD is involved in all of these things!

Judges 15:1-2 describe the events that trigger six escalating reactions that take place in Judges 15:3-17. The first is seen in Judges 15:3-5, “And Samson said to them, ‘This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.’ So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.”

I cannot imagine the scope of the devastation that this act of arson resulted in. They had no helicopters, fire engines, or fire hydrants to cope with this. This one act erased countless hours of labor and fruitfulness and brought upon this community a famine that wiped out a whole years crops.

The second reaction is seen in Judges 5:6, “Then the Philistines said, ‘Who has done this?’ And they said, ‘Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.’ And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.” Doesn’t this show us the godlessness and wickedness of the Philistines. This reminds us of why the judgment of God has come upon them through Samson.

The third reaction is seen in Judges 5:7-8, “And Samson said to them, ‘If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.’ And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.” Time alone did not restore Samson and this woman. Similarly, vengeance alone will not resolve these things. In the end, many will be dead, there is an escalation, and Samson goes to Judah in hiding. Only God’s justice through Christ can bring about an end to wrath and promote reconciliation.

The fourth reaction is seen in Judges 5:9-10, “Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. And the men of Judah said, ‘Why have you come up against us?’ They said, ‘We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.’”

The Philistines have lost a crop by the actions of Samson and now the Philistines raid a town in Judah. This part of the story shows that this conflict has spread beyond the Tribe of Dan into the Tribe of Judah. This shows us that the Philistines rule is large throughout Israel and Israel has lost their will to fight and don’t want Samson to cause problem for them with their rulers.

The fifth reaction is seen in Judges 15:11-13, “Then 3,000 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? What then is this that you have done to us?’ And he said to them, ‘As they did to me, so have I done to them.’ And they said to him, ‘We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.’ And Samson said to them, ‘Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.’ They said to him, ‘No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.’ So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.”

Judah outnumbers the Philistines but they do not fight against their enemies who have raided them. No, they use their power to betray one of their own to the enemy. Doesn’t this remind you of what will happen to Jesus. Jesus was betrayed and handed over to the Romans by His own people. (John 11:35-43) As in this story, God controls everything for His divine purpose and His peoples good.

The sixth reaction is seen in Judges 15:14-17, “When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. And Samson said, ‘With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.’ As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.”

The Spirit of the LORD empowered Samson, against all odds, to have a great victory. He defeated 1000 fully armed men with the jawbone of a donkey! After this battle Samson was ‘very thirsty’. Because of His ‘great thirst’ Samson called upon the LORD in prayer. (18) Lesson: Where are those 3000 Israelites? If they were there Samson must be commended for the fact that he does not look to them for water, but to the LORD.

Samson’s prayer sounds a lot like the way Israel prayed when they were in the wilderness with Moses: demanding, accusative, complaining. And yet, the LORD is gracious and merciful to Samson and we are told in verse 19 that God ‘splits open the hollow place and water came out of it’. When Samson drank of this water His spirit returned, and he revived.

The same God who performed this miracle for Samson would one day stand before a Samaritan woman and teach her the importance of seeing her spiritual need, saying, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (11)

Like Samson, this woman thought her greatest need was water to refresh and revive her physically. Jesus, however, said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (13-14) Aren’t you grateful that God gives this gracious eternal water as gift to all who will receive it?!

In John 7:37-39 Jesus stood up and cried out to the people, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Then we read, “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

This morning there are several things that have brought us all together. We have come to find rest through believing in Christ, as the Scriptures have said, seeking to be refreshed by the Spirit who renews and restores us in the midst of this very fast paced and chaotic world. Having come together we see past this world to the Eternal Kingdom from which our King will one day return.