The Strength of the Spirit

INTRO

As we move into lesson 20, welcome to a world of chaos, to the world of Samson’s life that looked good, but the reality was that he was causing a lot of issues for himself. Samson has been defined as a hero and a deliverer––even an avenger. However, the wrongs Samson tried to right were because of him. Charles Spurgeon said that Samson’s “whole life is a season and series of miracles and follies.”¹

Samson’s problems began early. Samson found a Philistine woman to marry (Judges 14:1), a woman from a people who didn’t follow Yahweh. When his parents tried to dissuade him, Samson demanded that they go get her for him. The statement, “I want her,” literally means “she is right in my eyes.”²This phrase was usually used to “describe a person or action that was right in the Lord’s eyes.”³(Psalm 25:13). If Samson’s eyes had been on the Lord, this would not have been an issue. But Samson wanted the flesh, not the godly (Colossians 3:1-2).

TEACHING

Judges 15:1-5: Samson took a young goat as a gift for his wife, but her father would not let him see her (v. 1). In this culture, the gift was given before sexual relations. Samson was doing the same thing Judah had done with Tamar (Genesis 38:17). The father said he had already given Samson’s wife to someone else and offered Samson his younger daughter instead (v. 2). In return, Samson announced he would not be responsible for how he harmed the Philistines (v. 3). Block described Samson as “a man with a higher calling than any other deliverer in the book, but he spends his whole life doing his own thing.”⁴I think people who walk with the Lord have an incredibly high calling, but many, like Samson, would prefer to do their own thing.

Samson went out and caught 300 “foxes.” The Hebrew word for fox is also used for jackal. Nelson’s Commentary states that foxes are solitary animals, while jackals run in packs, suggesting that jackals would have been easier to catch.⁵He then tied a torch to the tails of each pair of animals, lit the torches, and sent them into the Philistine fields of grain. As an avenger, Samson burned piles of grain, fields of grain, vineyards, and olive groves (vv. 4-5). Since he didn’t get what he wanted, Samson acted like a spoiled child and burned everything the Philistines had. Samson was given the task of delivering the people from the Philistines, but judgement was clouded by his own desires. It had nothing to do with his calling from God, but his fleshly desire for revenge.

Judges 15:6-8: When the Philistines found out why Samson had burned their crops, they took the father and Samson’s intended bride and burned them to death (v. 6). Samson swore vengeance on the Philistines, even though he started it (v. 7). He tore them from limb to limb “with a great slaughter” (v. 8). Nelson’s Commentary states this meant Samson dismembered the Philistines.⁶Then, Samson went to a cave at the rock of Etam.

Judges 15:9-13: The Philistines came north and camped in the land of Judah, not their own land, and raided the town of Lehi. When the people of Judah asked why, the Philistines explained they had come to arrest Samson and take him back to Philistia (v. 9). So, the Israelite army of Judah (3,000 men) went to get Samson for the Philistines (vv. 11-12). Samson agreed but asked that the Israelites swear they wouldn’t kill him. Scholars have debated why Samson felt it was necessary to ask for this guarantee. Possibly, he didn’t want to have to attack his own people. The Israelites promised and took new ropes and tied up Samson (v. 13). “Ropes were made of leather, hair, or plant fibers . . . being new, these ropes were the strongest possible.”⁷

Judges 15:14-20: The Israelites took Samson to Lehi (still in Judah), where the Philistines were waiting for him. They came out shouting, either in joy at his capture or anger. But the Spirit of the Lord took control of Samson and the ropes that bound his arms became like burnt flax (the weakest of all ropes).⁸Samson picked up a donkey’s jawbone and used it to kill

1,000 Philistines (v. 15). Because the jawbone was fresh, Samson was touching something unclean, breaking one of the requirements of his Nazarite status. However, since the Spirit of the Lord directed him, that probably didn’t matter. Here are other times the Spirit of the Lord came upon a judge: Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6,19; 15:14. Romans 8:14 talks about the sons of God.

God used His Spirit to penetrate the darkness and the evil and the chaos through the judges. And He does the same thing with us.

Samson told what he had done with those he killed by the jawbone of a donkey––he piled the bodies in a heap (v. 16). Then, Samson threw away the jawbone and they named the place Ramath-lehi or Jawbone Hill (v. 17). Wiersbe emphasizes that “so often in Scripture, testing follows triumph.”⁹Samson called out to the Lord that he was going to die of thirst without water (v. 18). God brought water from the ground for Samson. After Samson drank, he named the place En-hakkore, which means “Caller’s Spring” because he had called to the Lord for water (1 Corinthians 10:4). We don’t know what Samson knew about God’s provision of water during the exodus, but he knew God was able to hear him call out and to provide for his needs (v.19). Samson judged Israel for 20 years (v.20).

Judges 16tells of Samson’s encounter with Delilah, another Philistine. He fell in love with her, and she used his feelings for her to try to get him to tell her the secret of his great strength. Twice, he lied to her, and each time she tried to have him bound and given over to the Philistines. Finally, she cried that if he loved her, he would tell her. So, he revealed that his uncut hair was the source of his strength. She cut his hair as he slept, and the Philistines arrested him. They gouged out his eyes and put him in a dungeon where he ground grain. In the dungeon, his hair began to grow back. The Philistines gathered together one day and were drinking heavily. When they became drunk, they had Samson brought before them, standing him between the pillars that held up the temple. Samson asked to be placed where he could feel the temple pillars since he was blind. Then, Samson asked God to give him strength one more time so he could get revenge on the Philistines for taking his eyesight. It is interesting that his eyesight was taken, since that’s what got him in so much trouble. Samson pushed with all his might and the pillars fell in, killing more than 3,000 men and women. Verse 30 says Samson killed more people in his death than he did in life.

CLOSING

We are a lot like Samson. We go through the day and make mistakes. We have a calling, but we mess up. For us, we have water that will never run dry. John 7 says there is living water inside us. So, we have to depend on the Holy Spirit moving in and through us. Samson forgot that and depended upon himself instead of depending on God all the time. Don't wait until the end of your life to walk out your calling. Start walking now.