Judges 15

There is a Chinese saying that goes “冤冤相报何时了?”, which literally means “revenge for revenge, when will it end?”

If you are a fan of Chinese kung fu dramas, you may have come across this saying very often, and it is very true that if we allow our anger to lead us into taking things into our own hands, vengeance is always inevitable; and whenever there is vengeance, there will be hurt, and even lost of lives.

In our Bible reading today, this was what happened in the life of Samson, the final Judge of the people of Israel.

Bible Passage: Judges 15

In all things, there is a beginning, and without a spark, there won’t be fire.

Hatred begets vengeance, and when vengeance is conceived, there would be the impulse to put vengeance into action, and when that happens, there would be hurt and even death!

The theme verse for the Book of Judges seems to be: “there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes”, so Samson’s father-in-law did what was right in his own eyes, and he sparked off a series of revenges.

The father-in-law gave away Samson’s bride out of anger that Samson left the bride hastily on the final day of the feast (14:19 -20). Then in retaliation, Samson burned the crops of the Philistines, and in turn they burned the Samson’s bride and his father-in-law to death.

Who won in the end!? There is truly no gain but huge lost in such vengeance.

That is no wonder why our Merciful but Righteous Lord admonishes us:

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 12:19

Amen! Only our God, the Righteous Judge knows what true fairness is, and only He will know what are the just verdicts for the wrong doers and for the wicked, and He will surely mete out the just punishments (Nahum 1:3a).

Especially we who are called Christians, all the more we must not allow our human emotions to overwhelm us even when we are being wronged.

For man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

James 1: 20 (HCSB)

We must always think ahead of what would be the consequence of our actions of anger. And more often than not, the actions that are sparked off from our human anger will be devastating not only to others, but also to ourselves.

There is another thing that we can ponder in this chapter is the prayer of Samson.

Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the LORD and said, “You have given

this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and

fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”

Judges 15:18

After all the killings, Samson became thirsty, and he remembered God.

A person who could break thick ropes like breaking burnt flax, who killed 1000 men alone with a donkey’s jaw bone, but strange yet amazing, the thirst for water brought him down and reminded him of his weakness and his need for God.

At this juncture, it makes me wonder why would God want to raise a judge like Samson. He was impulsive, disobedient to parents, broke the vow of a Nazarite by touching a lion’s carcass, and he was also a brute man.

Hope you can share some of your views regarding this with our readers here.

Samson was also unpopular among the Israelites.

When the Philistines came to Judah to arrest Samson, the people there mastered 3000 men and went to the cave of the rock of Etam where Samson was hiding.

Why were these 3000 men mastered? Was it to fight off their oppressors and save Samson from their clutches?

No! They actually knew Samson’s great strength and they had summoned these 3000 men to help the Philistines to capture Samson in order to save their own lives from the angry Philistines (15:11)!

Was this the way to treat their judge?

Well, had Samson been a spiritual leader instead of a fighter, a lone ranger at that, he would have gained the support and respect of the people of Israel to fight their enemy as one people.

And had Samson prayed for spiritual strength rather than physical need, he would have been a better judge for the people of Israel. Do you agree?

I think the lesson that we can glean from Samson’s case is that God is in control of all things. He is able to turn a bad or wrong thing into something that can accomplish His good will.

Next, we have to be faithful servants for God’s use, and as servants of God, we need to be in-tuned with His attributes.

All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for yourselves.

Matthew 11:29 (HCSB)

No matter how useless or worthless we may think of ourselves, as long as we are willing to work for God, to always heed His word, and to learn humbly from Him, we can be precious and useful vessels in the eyes of God our Master.

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also wood and clay,

some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from

what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the

master of the house, ready for every good work.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 (ESV)

May God guide us all as we lead our lives and work in His House as a worthy child of God, obeying His word and fulfilling His desires.

Shalom!