Year 1, Day 276: Judges 15

More on Samson’s Character

I love the way that the Bible speaks about Samson in the early part of this chapter.  What is it that Samson says when he plans to do them harm?  “This time I will be innocent when I plan to do harm to them.”  (Judges 15:3)  Now that shows us Samson’s character right there.  Samson enjoyed doing harm to the Philistines, and he knows that he has not often been innocent in the harm.  In other words, the majority of the time that he has done harm to the Philistines he had a serious part in instigating them, bringing them to the point of fighting, or whatever.  Samson knows that he isn’t a person who simply metes out justice properly as an impartial beacon of God’s righteousness.

Again we have to ask, what is the end to Samson’s actions? Well, he goes to his wife and finds out that her father gave her to another man since it appeared that Samson didn’t want her anymore.  Now Samson seeks revenge – and he seeks to mete out revenge as he sees fit.  Samson burns the fields.  But remember where all of this started.  It starts because at the end of the last chapter Samson treated his wife as though he was abandoning her.  This whole chapter happens because Samson is only thinking about himself when it comes to this woman that he had to have and then so quickly discarded.  This whole chapter happens because Samson is too concerned with acting as it “seems right in his own eyes.”

The Response to Samson

What do the Philistines do?  They burn the house of his so-called wife and father-in-law.  They get back at Samson.  But then Samson strikes back at them.  Here we go.  The self-monger is out again.  Samson has to have the upper hand.  He has to have the last word.  He has to be the victor.  It’s all about Samson.

None of this would be bad if it was being done according to God’s agenda.  But it’s not.  It’s being done according to Samson’s agenda.  It starts with Samson’s desire, his thoughts, and his own selfish pride.  Yes, God is using Samson to get at the Philistines, but I cannot believe this is really how God would have desired it to happen.

What happens next?  His own people turn on Samson.  They know he’s acting as a loose cannon.  They turn on him – and they must mean to do so pretty seriously because they bring out 3,000 men to bind a single person.  You don’t bring 3,000 men to get a single person unless you are serious about what you are doing.

God’s Response to Samson

Yes, God enables Samson to break free of his bonds and teach the Philistines that they aren’t as powerful as they think they are.  Yes, God does refresh Samson after Samson whines to God about not having anything to drink.  There is little doubt that God’s power is on display through Samson.

But ask yourself again – is this really how God would have preferred the lesson to happen?  Do you think God really wants one of his judges bound by his own people?  Do you think God really wants to hear Samson whine and complain about how God has done a great thing through him in delivering the Philistines into his hand yet Samson is about to die of thirst?  Yes, clearly God’s hand is at work and God is trying to reveal himself.  But I still find little about Samson to respect except that God was able to work through him in spite of Samson’s self-mongerism.

Samson’s Response to God

Notice furthermore that there is no sign of gratitude on Samson’s behalf when he receives water – or deliverance – from God.  Let’s face it.  Rocks splitting open so a person can get a drink at the moment they are in most need of water is clearly God at work in a very supernatural manner.  But does Samson say thank you to God?  Does Samson do anything other than drink and be revived?  Not according to the Bible.  Samson just drinks and his spirit is revived.  There is no gratitude.  There is no humbleness.  There is nothing except a self-centered man feeling self-justified that he gets everything that he wants.

What a wretched mess we humans can be sometimes.  As I was praying in the service yesterday, my mind went down a profound thought.  God has really blessed us here in America.  We have everything that just about anyone has ever dreamed of having throughout history. 

• We can go places and have machines – cars, trains, airplanes – do all the work of the travel. 
• We can lounge on our beds and couches and have entertainment in television and the internet that never gets tired or needs a break. 
• We can talk to people without leaving the safety of our home.  We can even talk to people instantly even if they are thousands of miles away! 
• We have food that we don’t have to grow – it gets shipped practically to our front door.  We have enough food in our country that it is common to see people leave it on their plate and walk away from it at a restaurant – even though they have paid for it! 
• We even have fresh drinking water brought right into our house and our waste is also taken away! 

We have it all as far as our needs are concerned.

Spiritually, we can continue this line of thinking. 

• We have copies of Bibles in our own language. 
• We have an internet that allows us to read almost any translation of the Bible in print. 
• We have the ability to build churches and worship without fear. 
• We have monetary resources to help our endeavors. 
• We have everything every generation has ever wanted with respect to spiritual possibility.

 Now look at us.  We’re no different than Samson lapping up all the water he can drink and not pausing to be grateful to God about it.  We have it all, and we do so little with what we have.  Our country is great; God has allowed us to be great.  But Samson proves that just because God has allowed us to be great it doesn’t mean we are religious, spiritual, truly following God, or even gracious.  God may work through us, but are we any better than Samson in the process?

<><