“You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:19-23 ESV)
Chapel on the Rock, Allenspark Colorado
Judges 15
Samson in Action
Some time passes after Samson’s wedding night to the unnamed Philistine woman.
You remember, the night where he killed 30 Philistines because his new bride went around weeping and
that made him give up the answer to his riddle.
This was also the night that the bride was given to the best man because Samson killed 30 men and then left (possibly they thought Samson wasn’t going to come back).
The foxes that Samson catches are technically Syrian Jackals, an animal that is somewhere in-between wolf and fox.
(No animal was harmed in the making of this lesson)
Some time passes after Samson’s wedding night to the unnamed Philistine woman.
You remember, the night where he killed 30 Philistines because his new bride went around weeping and
that made him give up the answer to his riddle.
This was also the night that the bride was given to the best man because Samson killed 30 men and then left (possibly they thought Samson wasn’t going to come back).
The foxes that Samson catches are technically Syrian Jackals, an animal that is somewhere in-between wolf and fox.
(No animal was harmed in the making of this lesson)
<=== A Syrian Jackal
>150 pairs of these Syrian Jackals have their tails tied together to a torch and then Samson lights the torches and lets the animals go.
›The pairs end up burning down the stacked and standing grain as well as the olive orchards. In the past the Israelites are afraid to grow crops because their oppressors would come in and steal the crops so a little bit of poetic justice with the destruction of Philistine crops here.
›At the wedding feast the Philistines had threatened to burn down the wife’s house while she was inside if she didn’t find out the answer to Samson’s riddle.
›Now they do end up burning down her house with her inside.
›When Samson struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, he was basically wrestling them and throwing them around.
>150 pairs of these Syrian Jackals have their tails tied together to a torch and then Samson lights the torches and lets the animals go.
›The pairs end up burning down the stacked and standing grain as well as the olive orchards. In the past the Israelites are afraid to grow crops because their oppressors would come in and steal the crops so a little bit of poetic justice with the destruction of Philistine crops here.
›At the wedding feast the Philistines had threatened to burn down the wife’s house while she was inside if she didn’t find out the answer to Samson’s riddle.
›Now they do end up burning down her house with her inside.
›When Samson struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, he was basically wrestling them and throwing them around.
Samson in Action Continued
Then it says that the Philistines camp to make a raid on a place named Lehi; this is Hebrew for “jawbone”.
The Israelites basically beg Samson to turn himself in to the Philistines so that they don’t have to suffer for his civil disobedience. Samson agrees to go along
with it as long as the Israelis don’t physically attack him.
Samson has another rush of the Spirit as the ropes are unable to hold him. He kills 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone (Lehi) of a donkey.
Afterward the Lord quenches his thirst.
Then it says that the Philistines camp to make a raid on a place named Lehi; this is Hebrew for “jawbone”.
The Israelites basically beg Samson to turn himself in to the Philistines so that they don’t have to suffer for his civil disobedience. Samson agrees to go along
with it as long as the Israelis don’t physically attack him.
Samson has another rush of the Spirit as the ropes are unable to hold him. He kills 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone (Lehi) of a donkey.
Afterward the Lord quenches his thirst.
Judges 16
Team Player
Here we have again the illustration of Samson’s weakness- the ladies. Gaza is one of the 5 cities of the Philistines and he spends an evening with a prostitute there.
On a whim he decides to pick up the gates of the city and walk 38 miles with them and drop them in front of another Philistine city- Hebron.
After this we have Samson using a word that was kryptonite in to him- “love”. He saw Delilah and he fell in “love” with her.
The 5 lords of the Philistines each offer her 1,100 pieces of silver (5,500 pieces of silver total) for the secret of this nuisance’s power.
Here we have again the illustration of Samson’s weakness- the ladies. Gaza is one of the 5 cities of the Philistines and he spends an evening with a prostitute there.
On a whim he decides to pick up the gates of the city and walk 38 miles with them and drop them in front of another Philistine city- Hebron.
After this we have Samson using a word that was kryptonite in to him- “love”. He saw Delilah and he fell in “love” with her.
The 5 lords of the Philistines each offer her 1,100 pieces of silver (5,500 pieces of silver total) for the secret of this nuisance’s power.
Team Player Continued
In the case of Samson’s first wife he had a riddle that no one could solve in order to perplex the Philistines. With Delilah he decides to have a little bit of fun
when she questions him about the secret of his strength.
The first time Samson sells Delilah a fake answer he tells her that if he were bound up with 7 fresh bowstrings then he will lose all his strength. Delilah had a
group of men ready to take Samson out, but this wasn’t the secret of his strength.
Next Samson tells her that all that has to be done is tie him up with unused rope. Much like the first time, as the men wait to take him out it turned out to be a
lie.
The next deception grows eerily closer to where his actual strength did lie- in his hair. Samson has her try to weave his hair into a web and fasten it with a pin. This too is a rouse and the men waiting don’t get a chance to grab Samson.
Finally Delilah uses the approved technique of complaining to get Samson to spill his guts to her (sound familiar?) and gets everyone ready to seize him after she has someone shave his hair.
When the Philistines seize Samson they gouge out his eyes and then take him to prison. While in prison he is reduced to slave labor (and doing women’s
work).
Samson is put on display in the temple for everyone to mock. A boy has to show him where the pillars are but the Lord grants one more feat of strength.
In 1 day he kills more than in his whole career.
In the case of Samson’s first wife he had a riddle that no one could solve in order to perplex the Philistines. With Delilah he decides to have a little bit of fun
when she questions him about the secret of his strength.
The first time Samson sells Delilah a fake answer he tells her that if he were bound up with 7 fresh bowstrings then he will lose all his strength. Delilah had a
group of men ready to take Samson out, but this wasn’t the secret of his strength.
Next Samson tells her that all that has to be done is tie him up with unused rope. Much like the first time, as the men wait to take him out it turned out to be a
lie.
The next deception grows eerily closer to where his actual strength did lie- in his hair. Samson has her try to weave his hair into a web and fasten it with a pin. This too is a rouse and the men waiting don’t get a chance to grab Samson.
Finally Delilah uses the approved technique of complaining to get Samson to spill his guts to her (sound familiar?) and gets everyone ready to seize him after she has someone shave his hair.
When the Philistines seize Samson they gouge out his eyes and then take him to prison. While in prison he is reduced to slave labor (and doing women’s
work).
Samson is put on display in the temple for everyone to mock. A boy has to show him where the pillars are but the Lord grants one more feat of strength.
In 1 day he kills more than in his whole career.
Reflection
Some things that Samson taught us:
1) Some people just weren’t meant to get married. Why push it if it ain’t your thing?
2) Don’t you think that the first time a woman came to you with the approved technique of whining that you would think twice about giving up another answer?
3) Notice that each time Samson takes out Philistines we are told that the “Spirit of the Lord” came on Samson- so was it really his hair that gave him his strength?
4) Samson goes out with a bang but this is not so much a tale of his strength as it is a cautionary tale about using the gifts that the Lord gives us and not wasting them.
1) Some people just weren’t meant to get married. Why push it if it ain’t your thing?
2) Don’t you think that the first time a woman came to you with the approved technique of whining that you would think twice about giving up another answer?
3) Notice that each time Samson takes out Philistines we are told that the “Spirit of the Lord” came on Samson- so was it really his hair that gave him his strength?
4) Samson goes out with a bang but this is not so much a tale of his strength as it is a cautionary tale about using the gifts that the Lord gives us and not wasting them.