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God's Call, God's Plan, and God's Glory Moved to the Backseat - Judges 15:1-20

Sermon Series: In Need of a Greater Rescue

Chapter 15 is a continuation of the narrative that began in chapter 14. If you’ll recall the narrative began with God stirring in Samson’s heart to go down to the Philistine town of Timnah where he crossed paths with a certain Philistine woman that he desired to marry. After demanding that his parents go along with him to arrange the marriage and an amazing lion attack in which Samson tore apart a young lion with his bare hands, Samson and his parents returned once more so that Samson could actually marry the Philistine woman. During the seven day celebration of their marriage Samson made a wager with thirty of the Philistine men. If they were able to solve a riddle then Samson would provide for them thirty new garments (one for each individual); however, if they were unable to come up with the answer they would have to provide Samson with thirty new garments (one from each individual). For three days the Philistine men were unable to come up with the answer to Samson’s riddle, so on the fourth day they turned to blackmail. They told Samson’s new wife to get the answer from Samson and pass it on to them before the end of the seven day celebration, and if she did not they would burn both her and her father’s family. So Samson’s wife pushed hard for several days until at last, on the last day (the seventh day of the celebration) Samson finally gave in and told her what the answer to the riddle was. His wife immediately made the answer known to the Philistine men and they in turn made the answer known to Samson. Samson realized quickly what had happened and chose to turn against the Philistines for their underhanded manipulation. So instead of making good on his wager by providing the thirty garments at his own expense, Samson went to another Philistine town where he struck down 30 different Philistine men, took their garments, and gave them to the thirty men who had answered his riddle. The chapter then ended with the author and narrator declaring that Samson returned to his parents’ house in “hot anger” and Samson’s new father-in-law gave Samson’s new wife to be the wife of another man.

Chapter 15 picks up the narrative by saying, “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” (15:1). The author and narrator revealed that Samson’s intention wasn’t to abandon his new wife. Although he had been greatly frustrated by her betrayal, the betrayal was apparently not enough for him to call it quits on their new marriage. So Samson returned to Timnah with a gift and intentions of consummating the marriage with his wife. To Samson’s great surprise his father-in-law would not permit it and told Samson that he had given his wife to be the wife of another man instead. The father-in-law attempted to appease Samson’s anger by offering to give his younger (and more attractive) daughter to Samson as a new wife. But the attempt to appease Samson was futile and Samson’s personal frustration towards these Philistines continued to grow. As a result Samson devised a plan to strike all of these Philistines in places that would hurt – their stomachs and their wallets. “And Samson said to them, ‘This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm’” (15:3). The author and narrator then said that Samson went out and caught 300 jackals. (Some English texts say ‘foxes’ in verse 4. The Hebrew word used in verse 4 can be translated as either ‘foxes’ or ‘jackals.’ ‘Jackals’ is probably to be preferred because they were more common in this particular area and because they tend to travel in packs as opposed to foxes which are more solitary animals. So it is more likely that Samson came upon and captured several packs of jackals in order to carry out the plan which he had devised.) Then Samson proceeded to take the jackals by pairs, tie their tails to a torch, light the torches, and then released them into the standing grain, the stacked grain, and the olive orchards so that they would catch on fire and destroy their produce. This act of retaliation destroyed much of the Philistines’ food supply and also wiped out an enormous part of their economy. As a result the Philistines were left hungry, economically ruined, and immensely angry.

In 15:6 the author and narrator revealed that the Philistines sought out who was responsible for this great devastation and discovered that it was Samson. But rather than pursuing Samson and holding him accountable the Philistines made Samson’s father-in-law the one they would hold accountable, believing that he had provoked Samson to act in this way. “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” (15:6). It’s unclear exactly why the Philistines chose to burn Samson’s wife and father-in-law with fire. Perhaps they chose to destroy them by the same means that their food supply and economic means had been destroyed. Whatever their reasoning, it seems somewhat ironic that while Samson’s wife had been able to avoid death for herself and her father’s family by fire earlier (by discovering the answer to Samson’s riddle [see14:15]), she (and her father’s family) had not been able to escape that fate altogether and were ultimately put to death by fire. The Philistines’ murder of Samson’s wife once again provoked Samson to great anger as Samson took this act of violence as a personal attack against himself. So he vowed to once again to do harm to the Philistines for the wrong that they had done to him. “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” (15:8). What exactly Samson did to the Philistines and how many were effected by Samson’s retaliation is unclear. However, the author and narrator did make clear that the act of retaliation was done with a “great blow” so we can be confident that whatever exactly took place packed an enormous punch among the Philistine people.

Further evidence that Samson’s retaliation packed an enormous punch among the Philistines can be seen as the narrative continued. “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’” (15:9-10). The Philistines set out to capture Samson and to pay him back for the harm that he had done to them. Perhaps anticipating that this would be the case, Samson had gone and hidden himself away in a piece of land that was a portion of Judah’s inheritance. The men of Judah were caught off guard when the Philistine army set up camp inside of their borders, and so they went to the Philistines to discover why the Philistine army had done such a thing. It appeared to them that they had come to go to war with them.

Now, before you read any further in the text, ask yourself, “What would I expect to happen next?” Israel’s oppressors had trespassed into Israelite land and demanded that the Israelites hand over the one who had been appointed by God to rescue them from the Philistines. Many of us might expect the Israelites to do their best to protect their judge. We might expect them to assemble as an army themselves and go to battle with the Philistines in order to protect and preserve their judge. At the very least we might expect them to deny the claims that Samson was hiding out in their land. But the Israelites’ response to the Philistines pursuit was shocking. The author and narrator said that 3000 of the men from the tribe of Judah assembled together and went to where Samson was. Rather than putting together an assembly of men to go up against the Philistines they put together an assembly of men to go up against Samson (their countryman AND their judge). When they came to him they said, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” (15:11). The men of Judah wanted to know why Samson had provoked the Philistines to such anger. You’re supposed to live in obedience to those who are rulers or authorities over you. Children aren’t supposed to provoke their parents to anger by being disobedient. Employees aren’t supposed to provoke their employers to anger by being disobedient. Peasants are supposed to provoke their king to anger by being disobedient. Those who are being ruled are supposed to live in obedience and submission to those who are ruling. So what was Samson thinking? He had stepped way out of line in his acts of retaliation and now it appeared that the tribe of Judah (and perhaps even other Israelite tribes) was going to pay the consequence for Samson’s irresponsibility. In looking to avoid any conflict with the Philistines the men of Judah made clear what their purpose for coming to Samson was. “And they said to him, ‘We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines’” (15:12). This is unbelievable! The Israelite men from the tribe of Judah had come to take possession of their God-appointed deliverer so that they could hand him over to their enemies. And what is even more shocking is that Samson doesn’t fight back. Instead, he said that if they would promise that they would not attack and kill him that he would permit them to bind him and deliver him to their enemies. “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” (15:12-13).

When the men of Judah approached the camp of the Philistines with Samson bound by ropes, the author and narrator said that the Philistine camp broke out in shouting and came out to meet them. But in that moment the author and narrator said that something else of great significance happened, “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” (15:14). God showed up on the scene and did the supernatural! God’s Spirit came upon Samson to empower him and God caused the new ropes on Samson’s arms to basically melt away so that Samson was no longer bound by the ropes. We then discover that Samson found a jawbone of a donkey and because the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him to empower him, he was able to use it as a weapon to kill 1,000 of the Philistine men. The author and narrator has made it clear for the reader that Samson’s success in this conflict was completely the result of God’s presence and empowerment, but we are still left to wonder if Samson recognized this. What Samson said following his unlikely victory made it sound as if he credited himself entirely for the defeat of these 1,000 Philistines. “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’” (15:16). Nowhere did Samson either thank God or acknowledge God for the victory over the Philistines. Instead he seemed to highlight his own greatness by taking credit for the unexpected victory himself.

Chapter 15 concludes with a few final noteworthy remarks. In verse 18 we see the first time that Samson called out to God. And yet again we continue to see more disappointing behavior from Samson. In the previous chapters we had seen the Israelites crying out to God because of the distress that the nation of Israel as enduring at the time. But this time, when Samson cried out to God it wasn’t because of Israel’s distress – it was because of his own distress. Apparently Samson was thirsty and believed that it was God’s responsibility to show up and take care of this problem. “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?’” (15:18). Samson continued to show no concern for anyone other than himself. This has been an on-going theme as the author has made Samson known to us through the last two chapters. Samson did not want to die of thirst, nor did he want to be captured by the Philistines. Forget the rest of the Israelite nation – that wasn’t important. Samson had his own problems to worry about and it appeared that Samson thought God should be just as concerned about his problems as he was. What comes as an even greater surprise than Samson’s self-centered prayer is that God responded with a great miracle. The author and narrator told us that God caused water to come up out of a hollow place and that Samson was able to drink and be revived.

As readers we have to be sure to note the remarkable differences in Samson’s life and what we have seen in the narratives of the previous deliverers. Thus far in the Samson narrative we have seen noteworthy differences between Samson’s confrontations with the Philistines and the confrontations between the previous Israelite judges and the nations that were oppressing the Israelites. The previous Israelite judges pursued conflict with their oppressors for the sake of the Israelites – to set them free from their oppressors. Samson on the other hand seemed to show no interest in going to battle with the Philistines so that he might free Israel from their oppressors. Instead, Samson engaged in conflicts with the Philistines for solely personal reasons and to avenge wrongs that he perceived had been done to him. In most of the narratives of the previous judges the author and narrator included evidence that suggested that the judges understood that it was God working on their behalf to give them the victory over their oppressors. Samson on the other hand seemed to believe that his victories and accomplishments were the result of his own efforts. Samson was an incredibly self-centered individual who seemed to show no regard to God’s call or plan for his life. He selfishly pursued what seemed right in his own eyes (whether it was something he wanted or retaliation which he felt responsible for carrying out himself) and when God accomplished something miraculous through him he was quick to take the credit for himself. God’s plan, God’s call, and God’s glory would have to take a backseat in Samson’s mind because he was too busy carrying out his own plan and pursuing his own glory.

As we are reading the narrative of Samson there are some good questions worth asking, “Who wants a rescuer like Samson?” “Who wants a deliverer who is so obsessed with his own glory that he isn’t willing to acknowledge the more glorious One who is doing the miraculous?” “Who wants a rescuer who doesn’t show any concern or love towards those he has come to rescue?” “Can Samson really rescue and deliver when it appears that he, himself, has much to be rescued and delivered from?” These are all important questions to ask – questions that help us as readers of the OT to be anticipating and expecting more from the promised deliverer that God said He would send to rescue humanity from sin, Satan, and sin’s consequences. Listen to the very different way that the Apostle Paul described the character of Jesus in his letter to the Philippian church. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). The description of Jesus that Paul gives is a picture of an incredibly glorious One who wasn’t obsessed with His own glory. In fact He laid His own glory aside so that He could be obedient to God’s call and God’s plan for His life. While He was seated on the most glorious of thrones, surrounded by unimaginable riches, and the object of unending worship, He did not ignore God’s call or the ones who so desperately needed Him in order to keep his grip on those things. Instead He laid aside all of those things, and living a life of perfect righteousness on earth, He proclaimed God’s Kingdom and God’s majesty, and carried out in perfect obedience God’s plan, by which He died on a cross, was buried in a tomb, and rose again three days later to pay each individual’s penalty for sin and offer them new life instead. Jesus didn’t need a rescuer – He was the Rescuer that God had promised to send to rescue us from sin and its consequences. He is the One that you need to call on in faith to rescue you from your own sin if you have never done that before.

For those of us who have trusted in Jesus as Savior, the question we have to wrestle with is this, “Have we surrendered to Him as Lord.” Last week we asked the question, “Have we disregarded God’s calling in our own life to be disciple-makers?” And many of us, after a week of wrestling with this question have probably come to the conclusion that in many ways we have. Why is that? I think the answer for many of us can be discerned in Samson’s own life and disregard for his calling. Samson disregarded his calling in large part because of his selfishness – and many of us are disregarding our calling for the same reason – our selfishness. When we call on Jesus for salvation we also have to surrender to Him as Lord. We have to let go of the right to rule and reign over our own lives and hand that over to Him. Jesus’ first disciples struggled with this, even though He was constantly reminding them of their need to do this. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In several places in his own gospel account the NT author Mark recorded several times in which Jesus said very similar things. “And they came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, ‘What were you discussing on the way?’ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And He sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ‘If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but Him who sent me’” (Mark 9:33-37). “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And He said to them, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ And they said to Him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking . . .’” (Mark 10:35-38). “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31). Jesus understood well that we are great lovers of self! But He also understood that we could never live for or follow after Him if we continued to be great lovers of self. So Jesus often instructed His disciples that they needed to die to self – it’s the imagery of taking up one’s cross daily. Every day we have to be asking God to help us die to self. When we are loving ourselves we won’t ever take the time to invest in others, to love others who are not like us, or to stick with others who are working through messy situations in their own lives. When we are loving ourselves we won’t give of our energy, or effort, or our time for the good of others because we can be using our energy, effort, and time for the good of ourselves. And when we are loving ourselves we won’t be looking for ways to make God’s glory and majesty known because we’ll be looking for ways to make our own name great. As long as we are living self-centered, “me-focused” lives we will never truly follow after Christ or fulfill our God-given calling to make disciples. We have to put our ‘self’ to death and surrender the rule and reign of our lives to Jesus. This is what it means to surrender to Jesus as Lord. Samson failed miserably at this. We have to pay attention to Samson’s example and resolve to live differently.

Connection Point Questions for Discussion:

1. Have you ever heard (or used) the expression that "(something) got moved to the back seat?"  What does that expression mean?  Why do things get "moved to the backseat?"  Think back on the Samson narrative that we have been examining the last two weeks.  What are some things that Samson moved to the back seat?  How did Samson's self-centeredness contribute to or factor into this?

2. Can you think of a time when personal selfishness got in the way of you carrying out God's calling or leading?  Would you be willing to share that with us?  How did your selfishness prevent others from seeing and/or experiencing the love of God and the good news of Jesus?

3. In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Why did Jesus use such strong language?  Why did Jesus say we need to put our "self" to death each day? What evidence might we see in our lives that would suggest we haven't put "self" to death?  What evidence might we see in our lives that would suggest that we are starting to put "self" to death?

4. On those days when our "self" is still reigning, when the selfishness in our lives is evidence that "self" is alive and well, what hope do we have?  How should this encourage us to grow in our love for Jesus and our obedience to Him?

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