The Spirit of the Lord & Samson
You can have a seat, since you must be tired after reading all of those verses! The reason why we did that is because this is such a huge text, so I won’t be reading each verse throughout the sermon (otherwise it will add another hour to the sermon)... Instead, I’ll just point you to the section that we’re in as I explain it, so you’re going to need your Bibles to track along.
If you haven’t been with us, or simply need a refresher, we are going through the account of Samson. Last week, we saw the narrative of his birth and chapter 13, and the reason for that is because of verse one.
Peace In Israel’s Eyes
In 13:1, we see that “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Now, this sight motif is key throughout the book of Judges, so keep an eye out for that (pun intended) throughout our passage today.
As we heard last week, this phrase has appeared six times already prior to chapter 13 (Jdg. 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6)—mainly to show Israel’s sin cycle prior to God raising up each judge, but also to show the spiritual and moral blindness of Israel.
In other words, Israel again did what was wrong in God’s eyes—so God saw it fit to give them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years—which, as we also heard last week, was the longest time of Israelite oppression in the book of Judges.
Yet, as we’ll see throughout our passage today, there is no sense of war or conflict happening between the Israelites and Philistines during this time. In 13:2, we are told that Samson’s parents lived in Zorah—which was Israelite land just north of the Philistine border!
In 13:9, Manoah’s wife was out sitting in a field by herself without Manoah to protect her from any Philistines. In chapter 14, Samson goes down south to Philistine land multiple times, interacts with Philistine men (and women, he was more interested in them), then goes back home up north to Zorah—without getting killed.
This tells us that the Israelites were somehow living in strange peace with the Philistines, even though the Philistines ruled over Israel. This was peace in Israel’s eyes.
As Josh Lees mentioned last week, this doesn’t seem to be a “normal sin cycle” where Israel would cry out to God for help against their oppressors. They are content with the Philistines ruling over them instead of remembering Gideon’s words when he told Israel that “the Lord [YHWH alone] will rule over you” (8:23).
And yet, a son is born to begin delivering Israel—because God acts out of his own initiative to save his people, even without them asking. That’s just who God is, and how much he loves his people. This helps us understand the end of chapter 13 when the Spirit of the Lord began to stir Samson—which is our first main point.
The Spirit of the Lord begins to stir Samson (13:25-14:3)
“And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol” (13:25).
This word “stir” in the Hebrew has the sense of “disturbance.” So what does it mean that the Spirit of the Lord began to “disturb” Samson? Well, as we’ve seen, Samson grew up during this time of peace with the Philistines (as Israel saw it), and now the Spirit of the Lord has begun to stir or disturb this strange peace.
When the Spirit of the Lord came upon prior judges like Othniel (Jdg. 3:10), Gideon (Jdg. 6:34) and Jephthah (Jdg. 11:29), it was always right before they went to war and delivered Israel from their oppressors. So could it be that the Spirit is stirring Samson—for war against the Philistines?
After all, this stirring or disturbance begins in Mahaneh-Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol, which in chapter 18 is the place where men from the tribe of Dan will set out from for war (Jdg. 18:11-12). Based on the immediate context, it’s more likely that the Spirit started stirring Samson during a typical day’s journey from up north in Zorah to Eshtaol then down to Philistine land when “Samson went down to Timnah” (Jdg.14:1).
The point remains: The Spirit of the Lord has now began to stir up trouble and disturb this time of peace, as Israel saw it—and he does it through Samson, who will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines (Jdg. 13:5).
I can’t help but wonder: does Samson know this? Did he feel the Spirit stirring him to start a war against the people he was going down to visit? Does he see the big picture? Let’s find out in chapter 14:
“Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw [again, the sight motif] one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up [that is, back home to Zorah up north] and told his father and mother, ‘I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife’” (14:1-2).
Rest assured, I’m not sure if Samson sees the big picture. It seems like he just sees the attractive southern women. So how is the Spirit of the Lord behind all of this? Think of it like a movie that has two vantage points but focuses on one scene. While the camera is on Samson, the Spirit of the Lord is actually the orchestrator behind the scenes—making YHWH the main actor, as we’ve seen throughout Judges. In chapters 14-15, we will see this dynamic at play—which is why I titled this sermon, The Spirit of the Lord & Samson.
So, in 14:1, Samson sees an attractive Philistine gal then goes home and demands his parents to arrange the marriage for him. Now, Samson actually does a good thing here by consulting his parents—though he goes about in the wrong way by demanding to get what he wants.
Here is our first glimpse of Samson, who we usually think of as a “strong man.” Right away, we see that he’s actually rather weak; someone who easily gives in to his heart’s desire rather than engaging his mind and asking other godly Israelites for counsel.
In fact, this shows us that Samson is actually, not a weak man, but a weak boy—because this what little boys would say to their parents when they try to argue for what they want: “But mooom… daaaad… I’m in looove!” I am preparing for my response when Luca or Antonio try to pull that stunt one day, but look at Samson’s parents and their response to him in verse 3:
“But his father and mother said to him, ’Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?'” (14:3a).
Samson’s parents prove to be good Israelite parents who would’ve catechized their child in the ways of YHWH, especially regarding marital choice. It’s as if they said: “Samson, is there not a better choice among the Israelite women? Don’t you remember what your father Abraham told his servant regarding Isaac, and what Isaac told Jacob?” (Gen. 24:3-4; 28:1-2).
“But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes’” (14:3b).
Think about it—Samson recognizes his parents’ role, and specifically his father’s authority, in helping him pick a spouse—but he doesn’t respect it. He chooses to do what is right in his eyes. This is a direct parallel to Israel doing evil in the sight of the Lord (Jdg. 13:1).
In the book of Proverbs, time and time again we see that Solomon entreats his son to find wisdom—especially in finding a good wife. Here, we see that Samson has none of that. He sees with his eyes, desires, and takes. Does that sound familiar (Genesis 3:6)? As we’ll see throughout Samson’s account, Samson knows what is right in God’s eyes—but he chooses, often impulsively, to do what is right in his eyes anyway.
Children and younger people—especially those who are noticing the other gender or taking steps towards marriage—take note of the lessons for you here, especially when we get to the end of the passage and see the consequences of Samson’s choices.
But how do Samson’s parents respond to his rebellious and stubborn demand? Look quickly at verse 5: “Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah” (14:5a).
They gave in! They went down to Timnah with Samson, likely to give the dowry to the Philistine bride’s parents (as was custom in the Ancient Near East), and eventually “his father went down to the woman” (14:10) to take the woman from her father and give her to Samson as his wife, as well as to help start the wedding feasts (which may also explain their trip to the vineyards at Timnah).
What happened to the good Israelite parents who seemingly started off well and reminded their son of God’s words when he was about to make a bad choice? Did they cave because they couldn’t help but see their little boy in Samson’s face despite his rebellion? Did they themselves forget God’s word and the warning for parents regarding intermarriage with pagans?
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you… You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly” (Deut. 7:1, 3-4).
Verse 10 is the last time we hear about Samson’s parents, and this is an unfortunate ending to their beautiful account in chapter 13. Did they not think to ask other parents in Israel, or other people in Israel about this idea of intermarrying with the Philistines? Or did they know what they were going to get told, but wanted to see if an exception can be made for their little Samson? Like Samson and Israel, Samson’s parents eventually gave in and did what was right in their own eyes.
Parents, there’s lots for us to learn from this. Sometimes, it can be really hard to be objective when it comes to our kids (I am already learning that, even as a young parent)—and how much more when they bring a nice boy or a nice girl to the family dinner, it can be really hard to call out an unequal yoke (2 Cor. 6:14) for the sake of not risking a relationship with our children. I know some of you in this room who have really wrestled through this, and it’s difficult.
We can’t just lower the standard and say “oh she goes to church with him so it’s okay” or “he says he’s a Christian” (which we know doesn’t mean a whole lot today). We can’t just help get the wedding on its way just so we can play it safe and keep our kids close.
We have to stay true to God’s word (as Samson’s parents began to do, though they didn’t finish) and ask for wisdom and help from other parents and believers to see if we’re on the right track (as Samson’s parents failed to do).
Although as we talk about parents being involved in the process of their children picking a spouse, I know that the main problem today is that parents are rarely involved in this process due to our individualistic culture. The first step is recognizing that God gave parents the responsibility to disciple their children, which means being involved in their marriage aspirations.
Now, this passage was not meant to be a moral do’s and don’ts lesson on Samson’s marital choice—nonetheless, we can learn many lessons from Samson’s bad choices (there’s many more to come). After all, the OT Scriptures were written down for our instruction (Romans 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11), so “that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Cor. 10:6).
Yet, there’s a much bigger picture here—which 14:4 tells us about. Though there are consequences for Samson’s bad choices (as well as his parents’), God is using this whole process and Samson’s ungodly intermarriage with the Philistines for the Lord was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
For the Lord was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines (14:4)“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” (14:4).
But what was from the Lord? Not Samson’s bad choices, but the stirring of Samson against the Philistines. God stirs Samson against the Philistines so that God can find an opportunity against the Philistines, which happens to be his bad choice of finding a Philistine wife. This was all for the purpose of delivering Israel from the hand of the Philistines, so that the Lord (YHWH alone) would be ruler over Israel.
But you might ask: how is this possible? How can God stir Samson and use his sins without getting credit for sinning himself? To answer this, we have to understand how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility work together. Turn with me to Acts 3, where Peter talks about Israel’s greatest sin:
“The God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate… But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead… And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers [much like Samson and his parents]. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19).
Whether it was Judas betraying Jesus, or Israel delivering the Author of Life over to Pilate to be killed, God held these people responsible for their evil deeds. Yet, God had total control and sovereignly foretold that these things might be fulfilled through their sins (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28), so that he would raise up Jesus from the dead to deliver his people from their sins—thus, giving greater glory to himself.
As Joseph tells his brothers who committed evil against him, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen. 50:20)—which we know is fulfilled in Jesus Christ!
Here, in Judges 14, we see that God seeks to deliver his people Israel from the hand of the Philistines through Samson’s sins and his parents’ ignorance. And yet, God holds sinners responsible for their sins. God makes his grace abound to us, not us making his grace abound (Rom. 6:1)—so we can’t look at Judges 14-15 and think that we can stay in our sins because God used Samson. God will come to judge his enemies—those who keep sinning against him.
Throughout the rest of chapters 14-15, we will see that the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon Samson for opportunities against the Philistines—which is our second main point, and the first opportunity being the Lion and the Honey.
The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon Samson for opportunities against the Philistines (14:5-15:20)
The Lion & the Honey (14:5-9)“And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat” (14:5-6a).
As we talked about earlier, Samson and his parents were likely on their way to the Philistine woman’s house in Timnah at this point. But the vineyards of Timnah is where Samson is approached by the lion that he tears into pieces. And here is our first glimpse of Samson’s claim to fame—his strength.
However, notice that he doesn’t tear the lion apart until the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. This is supernatural strength. Not to infer that Samson was a twig, but we should be careful about movies or children’s books that portray Samson as the Middle Eastern Arnold—because not once does the text mention anything about his physique.
In fact, when Samson is commended with the other judges in Hebrews 11, the author states that he was “made strong out of weakness [and] became mighty in war” (Hebrews 11:34).
God is more glorified when he uses the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27), even a feat like tearing apart lions.But did Samson know that the Spirit was the one who enabled him to kill the lion? Because anyone who does something great like this would want something to show for it, wouldn’t they?
Think about it—if you went hunting and shot a bear, wouldn’t you want a trophy (or at the very least, a selfie)? How much more if you did it with nothing in your hands? Because what Samson does next (or what he doesn’t do next) baffles me:
“But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done” (14:6b). So is Samson supernaturally humble as well? Or is there something else going on here? We’ll get more clarity on this later on, because Samson’s secrecy with his parents will come up again a few times.
“Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes” (14:7).
The detail of “then he went down” likely suggests that his parents were at the Philistine woman’s home already, which explains why his parents weren’t around when he killed the lion. But the main point here is that Samson who earlier saw the woman (14:2) now talked with the woman, and the repetition on her being right in Samson’s eyes is supposed to be a negative echo of 14:3 and 13:1, as well as a foreshadowing of the things that Samson will do—which are not right in the Lord’s eyes.
“After some days he returned to take her” (14:8a).
After a while, Samson goes back to Timnah with his parents to take the Philistine as his wife. I can’t help but think of Proverbs 26:11 here: “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” Samson returns to this foolish path of intermarriage with the Philistines.
“And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went” (14:8b-9a).
On the way, he takes another detour without his parents (as he did before). This phrase turned aside is used earlier in Judges to describe Israel’s apostasy and how they have left or turned aside from the ways of their fathers (Jdg 2:17). Note how Samson’s physical ‘turning aside’ from his father here on the way to Timnah reflects his spiritual ‘turning aside’ from his father’s ways.
And this is no accidental detour, because Samson turned aside to see [there’s the sight motif again] the dead body and decided that eating from a dead, unclean body was right in his own eyes (in violation of Numbers 6:6). So not only does Samson insistently break the Israelite law, but he also intentionally breaks his Nazirite vow—and keeps it all a secret form his parents:
“And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion” (14:9b).
This is another clear allusion to Genesis 3:6 when Eve saw the forbidden tree, desired it, took of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to Adam, and he ate (when he should’ve swiped the fruit from Eve’s hand and crushed the serpent).
Here, Samson mirrors Eve, and Samson’ parents mirror Adam—who should’ve asked where the honey came from, instead of just eating. But why didn’t Samson tell them? Did he want to bypass the sacrifices necessary for breaking the Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:9-12)?
Either way, Samson ‘turning aside’ and spiritual blindness parallels that of Israel’s—they all did what was right in their eyes, which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet, we need to remember the overarching idea here—that this was all part of the Lord seeking opportunities against the Philistines (14:4). From his ‘turning aside’ and not telling his parents about any of it, everything Samson does here leads up to the second opportunity, which is the Feast and the Riddle.
The Feast & the Riddle (14:10-19)“His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do (Jdg. 14:10).
So while Samson took the detour to the lion, his father kept going and went down to Timnah where the woman was. As I hinted at earlier, Samson’ father likely went down to take the Philistine woman from her father, so that he could give the woman to Samson for him to take as his wife.
Now, notice that Samson’s mother was on this journey with them in verse 9. Yet, Samson’s father is the one who takes the woman from her father’s home as a wife for his son.
Though we know that Samson’s father clearly compromised by taking a Philistine wife (Deut. 7:3) and giving in to Samson’s unlawful request (Jdg. 14:3), he knew that he had the primary responsibility to make sure that his son married well.
Afterwards, Samson prepares a wedding feast at Timnah, just like the young men would usually do there. “As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him” (14:11). Here, we see the “strange peace” that we identified earlier and how Israel has assimilated into Philistine culture. Samson and his parents are literally feasting with the Philistines—which is the exact opposite of what we do at the Lord’s table (as we’ll celebrate today), where Christians do not feast with those who are friends with the world.
And what else would’ve happened at wedding feasts? Drinking wine. Likely why they came to the vineyards in Timnah (14:5), Samson continues to disregard Israelite law and his Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:4). Yet, we know that this Philistine wedding feast is being used by God as an opportunity against the Philistines, which leads to Samson’s riddle in verses 12-14:
“And Samson said to them, ‘Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast [which was the length of wedding feasts back then, see Gen.29:27], and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.’ And they said to him, ‘Put your riddle, that we may hear it.’ And he said to them, ‘Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.’ And in three days they could not solve the riddle” (14:12-14).
But the question is: why would Samson pose a riddle to his Philistine companions with these conditions? Was this random or spontaneous because he was a bit of a gambler?
We don’t know for certain, but what we do know is that the riddle is about the lion and the honey—which no one knew about except for Samson! I mean, if we didn’t know the context, I don’t think we would be able to figure it out—which seems to be the point! It was supposed to be unsolvable, making it a guaranteed win for Samson.Whether or not Samson knew it, the Spirit of the Lord is the one behind this. Wouldn’t it make sense that the Lord would sovereignly ordain the lion in Timnah to engage Samson and start a chain reaction of opportunities against the Philistines—which brings us to this riddle and its conditions?
On top of that, it would also cost the Philistines: In their day, thirty changes of clothes would’ve been very costly. In 2 Kings 5, the king of Syria gave Naaman ten changes of clothing as a gift for Elisha to heal Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:5). Afterwards, when greedy Gehazi asked Naaman for the gifts that Elisha rejected, he only asked for two changes of clothing (2 Kings 5:22).
So, thirty changes of clothes plus thirty linen garments was an extremely high wager, which is why the Philistine men who couldn’t figure it out started to panic: “On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, ‘Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?’” (14:15).
So the Philistines threaten and manipulate Samson’s wife, and she goes on to manipulate Samson in verses 16-18:
“And Samson's wife wept over him and said, ‘You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.’ And he said to her, ‘Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?’” (14:16).
Clearly, Samson’s wife acts out of concern regarding her father’s household, instead of confiding with her husband that she was being coerced by the Philistine men. On the other hand, Samson clearly views his father and mother as his top priority at this point, based on his response. Here, we already see the consequences of an unequal yoke. There is no understanding of becoming “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24) because it is not based on the reality of marriage (Eph. 5:32).
Yet, in a way that wasn’t evident with his parents’ pressing in verse 3, Samson shows his weakness (which will get fleshed out in chapter 16) when he gives in to his Philistine wife:
“She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, ‘What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?’ And he said to them, ‘If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle” (14:17-18).
So the tables are turned on Samson, and the Philistines succeed. But what happens next tells us that the Spirit of the Lord is still in control and was using this as an opportunity:
“And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house” (14:19a).
While Samson lost in a small way, the Philistines lost in a bigger way. The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon him and it results in double trouble for the Philistines, costing them the 30 garments and changes of clothing plus 30 lives.
Whether Samson’s hot anger was directed at his wife for betraying him, or the Philistines for ‘plowing with his heifer’ (or both as a double betrayal), this detail tells us that Samson’s actions were the result of his hot anger—and the Spirit empowers him, not for his personal vengeance, but for the opportunity against the Philistines.
The chapter then ends with a notice on what happens during Samson’s retreat back home to Israel, which is a cliffhanger that anticipates the increased amounts of vengeance and violence in chapter 15, which leads to the third opportunity against the Philistines—the taking of Samson’s wife.
The Taking of Samson’s Wife (14:20-15:1-8)“And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man. 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 in to my wife in the chamber.’ But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, ‘I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead’” (14:20).
Apparently, they thought that Samson’s hot anger was directed at his wife, which may be legitimate based on Samson’s goat gift. Either way, Samson’s hot anger returns, quite literally:
“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” (14:3-5).
Samson seems to admit that his anger in Ashkelon was unwarranted, but now he justifies his next act of vengeance. By now, we shouldn’t be surprised by the supernatural activities of Samson since we know who’s behind all of this.
But the important detail to note here is that Samson set fire to the grain, both the harvested ones (stacked) and the unharvested (standing) ones. This also happened at the time of wheat harvest (15:1), which would’ve put the Philistines in famine territory. Not only do they lose basic necessities like clothing, but they also lose their source of food.
“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. 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” (15:6-8).
Ironically, the fate that Samson’s wife wanted to avoid eventually finds her. This would spur Samson on to strike the Philistines “with a great blow.” The number of deaths is concealed here, but it’s obviously a big enough casualty that he runs to hide in a cave and the Philistines prepare for war against Samson in Judah in verses 9 and 10—which leads us into the fourth opportunity, Judah and the Jawbone.
Judah and the Jawbone (15:9-20)“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.’ 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” (15:9-13).
Here, we get another glimpse of Israel’s spiritual blindness. In verse 10, Judah’s question as to why they’re being attacked shows that they have lived in false peace with the Philistines. In verses 11-13, they basically tell Samson that they intend to keep that peace by binding him and giving him over.
The men of Judah are content with the Philistines ruling over them, as opposed to YHWH ruling over them (Jdg. 8:23). Instead of backing up Samson who would deliver them from Philistine rule, they start binding him up to hand him over to the enemy.
Yet, the Lord is still in control and uses Judah’s spiritual blindness against the Philistines when the Spirit once again rushes upon Samson in verse 14 to kill even more Philistines:
“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” (15:14-17).
While the Spirit comes upon Samson in power, the Spirit also comes through fire as the ropes were burnt. Samson finds a fresh jawbone (which again breaks his Nazirite vow), yet God uses Samson and his weapon of choice to kill the most Philistines yet (which will also bring lasting shame to the Philistines due to what the place would be called).
Somewhat surprisingly, Samson gives YHWH the credit: “And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?’ And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years” (15:18-20).
Whether Samson knew it from the beginning, we know that Samson recognizes that 1) God granted this great salvation for him against the Philistines, and 2) that he was God’s servant in all of it—from the Spirit’s stirring of Samson for opportunities against the Philistines to the Spirit’s rushing on Samson for fighting against the Philistines.
Yet, even in the height of victory, the chapter ends with a looming reminder that Samson only judged Israel for half the time that the Philistines ruled over Israel. After all, the Lord decreed that Samson will only begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines (13:5). So this is a cliffhanger that leaves us hanging.
See Christ, The Better Samson
Even the next guy who would go on to kill more lions to protect his sheep and kill more Philistines to actually deliver Israel—even King David, whom the Spirit of the Lord would also rush upon (1 Samuel 16:13)—could not fully and perfectly deliver God’s people from their enemies.
Judges 14-15 makes us long (and should make us long) for a better judge and a better Samson—the son of David, Jesus Christ—on whom the Spirit of God would descend like a dove, and about whom the Father would say: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Now this is the Son who will save his people from their sins (the true enemy, and the last enemy being death—1 Cor. 15:26).
So, Judges 14-15 calls us to turn away from doing evil and what is good in our eyes, and turn back to Jesus who is better and did better than any of the good that Samson or Israel or any of us could ever do. This Jesus, unlike Samson, did what was right in God’s eyes. Jesus doesn’t break his vows, but keeps his promises.
Yet, Judges 14-15 is not just a moral lesson that says, ‘don’t be like Samson’ or ‘do better than Samson.’ In fact, we can’t do better than Samson because we are like Samson. Even though he was a Nazirite to God from the womb, he was also a sinner from the womb (Psalm 51:4). Judges 14-15 teaches about Samson, but it also teaches us about us, and our need as sinners for a better Samson.
This is why celebrate at the table, as we look forward to Jesus who will come and deliver his people. So rejoice! We are at peace with God through Jesus Christ. He is for us.
And yet, unlike Samson with the Philistines, we don’t feast with those who are against God. While Jesus will come back as a deliverer, he will also come back as a destroyer. Jesus will judge his enemies—those who keep sinning against him, lest we think that we stay in our sins.
But through Christ and his Spirit that has descended upon us dwells within us, God can use us in spite of us and our sins. Though we are prone to stumble and fall back into evil ways, God can still bring about his good purposes through us (Genesis 50:20). Don’t think that you’re too far gone from God’s Spirit that he can’t use you for his glory, like Samson.