Judges chapter 15 reminds us that living life motivated by retaliation and revenge often brings us to a lonely place. The chapter begins with Samson heading back to visit his bride (apparently to consummate the marriage). When he arrived, he was told by her father, “I thought you thoroughly hated her… I gave her to your friend“. Samson’s reaction is predictable, “This time I have the right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them“. We are told Samson captured three hundred foxes and tied their tails together in pairs. “He then fastened a torch to every pair… and let them loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up their stocks and standing grain together with their vineyards and olive groves“. In retaliation, the Philistines “went up and burned her (his bride) and her father to death“. Samson said to them, “Since you have acted like this, I will not stop until I get my revenge on you. He attacked them violently and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.” Retaliation and revenge always escalate producing bitterness and division.
Next we read, the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and declared, “We have come to make Samson a prisoner… to do to him what he did to us.” The men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?” Samson answerd, “I merely did to them what they did to me“. What a contrast to the example of Christ. While being tortured on the cross He prayed for His tormentors, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Only forgiveness produces peace and destroys bitterness. Are you holding on to bitterness? Jesus taught a revolutionary idea to the world and it is one of the Christian distinctives. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). This was, and still is a world-changing teaching.
After the men of Judah turn Samson over to the Philistines, “The Sprit of the Lord came upon him in power. The ropes became like charred flax and the bindings fell from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men“. Understand that God used Samson to accomplish His purposes in spite of his faults, just as God used the unjust Philistines to bring Israel to repentance. Remember that the Philistines had been oppressing the Israelites for over forty years. Very often we blame others for the bad situation we are in. Someone is unfair or unjust to us, but we fail to see our part. I believe God uses our circumstances to effect a change in our life. After the victory Samson cried out to God, “You have given your servant a great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? Then God opened up the hollow place… and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.” Our great God of mercy rewards even poorly worded requests for salvation with abundance! Wherever you are, call out to God and be restored.