(Now before I dive into the Scripture, I'm going to ask you to grab a Bible and turn to Judges 15 and read the verses when it says to. Or if you prefer, open up a Bible online to read it. Either way, read the Word, don't just read what I say, my words are not inspired, unlike His!)
Read verse 1: Some time has passed and Samson's no longer angry about the riddle, so he's ready to consummate the marriage. He brings a goat to give her as a gift, but her dad says no.
Read verse 2: Her dad explains the whole situation with the best man, and then offers Samson his younger, prettier daughter instead.
Read verse 3: Samson plans to harm the Philistines, but thinks it's ok this time. (Interestingly, he insinuates that he thinks he actions in the last chapter were wrong. He doesn't fully understand how God is using him.)
Read verses 4-5: Samson comes up with a rather creative, yet rather sick method to get the Philistines. He catches 300 foxes, ties them in pairs by the tail, and puts a torch on that rope between them. He then lets them loose to destroy crops. They wreaked havoc, destroying grain, grapes and olives. And remember, in verse 1 it said it was the time of the harvest, meaning he destroyed months of work and provision that could not be replaced easily.
Read verse 6: The Philistines ask around and figure out what's going on, so they kill Samson's wife and her father.
Read verses 7-8: Samson gets revenge. I don't know about you, but in my gut I want to frown upon what he's doing, but keep in mind that killing Philistines is what God has commanded him to do.
Read verses 9-10: The Philistines head to Judah. The men of Judah question them about what's going on. The Philistines explain and ask them to turn Samson over to them.
Read verses 11-13: The men of Judah go to Samson and ask him to turn himself in. He agrees so long as they take him alive. I find their comments in verse 11 to be sad; they are content to live enslaved to the Philistines.
Read verses 14-15: As the men of Judah turn Samson over to the Philistines, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Samson and he kills 1000 men with a donkey's jawbone.
Read verses 16-17: Samson poetically summarizes, but omits God's role in what happened. The place is named "hill of the jawbone."
Read verses 18-19: Samson dramatically questions God's sovereignty because he's thirsty. God provides water for him and therefore the place is named "the spring of him who called."
Although God played the most significant role in what happened both at the hill and the spring, one name glorifies Samson while the other name glorifies God.
Read verse 20: Samson judges Israel for 20 years.
Read verse 2: Her dad explains the whole situation with the best man, and then offers Samson his younger, prettier daughter instead.
Read verse 3: Samson plans to harm the Philistines, but thinks it's ok this time. (Interestingly, he insinuates that he thinks he actions in the last chapter were wrong. He doesn't fully understand how God is using him.)
Read verses 4-5: Samson comes up with a rather creative, yet rather sick method to get the Philistines. He catches 300 foxes, ties them in pairs by the tail, and puts a torch on that rope between them. He then lets them loose to destroy crops. They wreaked havoc, destroying grain, grapes and olives. And remember, in verse 1 it said it was the time of the harvest, meaning he destroyed months of work and provision that could not be replaced easily.
Read verse 6: The Philistines ask around and figure out what's going on, so they kill Samson's wife and her father.
Read verses 7-8: Samson gets revenge. I don't know about you, but in my gut I want to frown upon what he's doing, but keep in mind that killing Philistines is what God has commanded him to do.
Read verses 9-10: The Philistines head to Judah. The men of Judah question them about what's going on. The Philistines explain and ask them to turn Samson over to them.
Read verses 11-13: The men of Judah go to Samson and ask him to turn himself in. He agrees so long as they take him alive. I find their comments in verse 11 to be sad; they are content to live enslaved to the Philistines.
Read verses 14-15: As the men of Judah turn Samson over to the Philistines, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Samson and he kills 1000 men with a donkey's jawbone.
Read verses 16-17: Samson poetically summarizes, but omits God's role in what happened. The place is named "hill of the jawbone."
Read verses 18-19: Samson dramatically questions God's sovereignty because he's thirsty. God provides water for him and therefore the place is named "the spring of him who called."
Although God played the most significant role in what happened both at the hill and the spring, one name glorifies Samson while the other name glorifies God.
Read verse 20: Samson judges Israel for 20 years.
Application:
- Seek to resolve conflicts, don't just retaliate. This is true for two reasons. First, God will judge people and take vengeance (Rom. 12:19). Secondly, It didn't solve anything, it just caused this back and forth fight that continued to escalate.
- Give the glory to God. Samson did not give any acknowledgement to God and as a result, God caused something else to happen to kinda force Samson to. Recognize the things in your life that are from God and thank Him.
- Seek freedom. It pains me to see that the men of Judah were content to live enslaved to the Philistines. When you recognize an area of your life where you are enslaved to sin, cry out to the Lord so He can deliver you!
**All Scripture is quotes from the New American Standard.
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I'm currently teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. These are my lessons and some funny tidbits that happen during the course of the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm currently teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. These are my lessons and some funny tidbits that happen during the course of the morning.
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