Last week we saw Samson – a Nazarite from his mother’s womb (Judges 13:5) – infuriated because he lost a bet with a number of Philistines. His Philistine wife was threatened with being burned with fire (Judges 14:15) if she did not betray Samson’s trust and get the answer to the riddle he had given them. Samson’s wife wept before Samson and declared “you don’t love me” until he told her the answer to the riddle. Once she heard it, she told the Philistines – causing Samson to go home to his father (Judges 14:19).

Anything Without God Leads To Misery

Though Samson was supposed to be a Nazarite, dedicated to the service of God, he was a very poor Nazarite at best. Samson was absolutely NOT a good example of how a husband should treat his wife. Our Lord Jesus said of marriage:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus was quoting from Genesis 2:24, and I am certain that Samson had seen that portion of Scripture. Yet he, in anger, left his wife. His first error in judgment was marrying outside of the faith. The Scripture says:

2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (ESV) You shall not intermarry with {the unbeliever}, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you …

Samson failed God in the very simplest and most basic of things, following his heart rather than his head. The abandoned his wife, leaving her with his best man (Judges 14:20), and goes away. Samson lives his faith before God pitifully, incompletely, unscripturally – and yet God uses him to accomplish divine purpose.

Judges 15:1-3 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. 3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

Samson returns to his wife “in the time of wheat harvest”, which would be in May or June. As bees make their honey from July to mid September, and it was a betrayed riddle about honey in a lion carcass that caused Samson to leave his wife in Timnath, it is possible that he has been gone for about a year. It is obvious that Samson has a bad temper, and a long cooling off period. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 37:8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

And Solomon wrote in Proverbs 14:29, “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly”. Samson seemingly abandoned his wife, holding a grudge for far too long. But cooling off, he comes back to her “with a kid” (Hebrew gᵊḏî pronounced ghed-ee’), with a young male goat. Young goat was considered a delicacy among the Israelites. When Rebekah prepared Isaac a meal, it was of two young male goats (Genesis 27:9-10). When the Angel of the Lord announced Samson’s upcoming birth, Manoah offered a young male goat to God as a burnt offering (Judges 13:15, 19). Samson had cooled down – finally – and brought a meal fit for a queen to her.

His father-in-law met him at the door. His wife was given to a Philistine, the best man that Samson left her with. The father-in-law offered Samson a younger sister in his wife’s place, but Samson wasn’t having it. Samson did as most people do when they are offended. He retaliated, though he did not believe his retaliation was as great an offense as what they did to him. Samson said,

“Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure”

Proverbs 4:23 tells us “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV). Samson followed his heart, but he didn’t guard his heart. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:39 … resist not evil: (do not repay evil with evil) but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Evil cannot be destroyed with darkness, no more than darkness can be destroyed with darkness. Only light kills darkness!

Judges 15:4-5 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Word Study: Samson uses what he can find to punish the Philistines for what he felt was a betrayal by his father-in-law. Samson went out and caught 300 “foxes” (Hebrew šûʿāl pronounced shoo-awl’), which can mean – depending upon the context – fox or jackal. In this context the word is probably better rendered “jackal”. Foxes are solitary and elusive, whereas jackals run in packs, and Samson caught 300 of them. As this is a time of harvest, Samson decides to strike at the heart of Philistia, be destroying their crops. Samson took “firebrands” (lapîḏ, torches), and put the torch “in the midst between two tails”, that is, tied to two jackals tails. This shows not only the power and speed of Samson, but also his cunning.

Samson dispersed 150 pairs of jackals with a torch between each pair, sending them through the fields of the Philistines.

Illustrate: It is like what happened with my little dog Bella. She pulled her leash out of my hand, and as the retractable leash hit the ground, she took off running! The sound behind her kept her running till she got home. These jackals started running from the torch behind them, and ran through the fields of the Philistines. They burned up the shocks of corn, the standing grain, the vineyards, and the olive groves.

The text does not tell us if Samson did this in just one day, or over several days. But when he was done, 150 fiery missiles ran through the Philistine fields, devastating that nation.

Judges 15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

Samson’s wife betrayed her husband because the Philistines threatened to burn her and her father’s home with fire. She did not escape her fate. When we give in to evil – even a little bit – evil is never satisfied, but grows and brings with it death.

The Wages Of Sin Is Always DEATH

When the Philistines burned Samson’s wife, he immediately attacks again. Samson’s concern is not the glory of God, but vengeance! Yet God is using him as an avenger. God is ultimately in control – and even the devil must bow to the will of God.

Judges 15:7-8 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Word Study: Samson obviously loved his Timnite wife, so he avenged her by ruthlessly slaughtering every Philistine he came upon. The phrase “hip and thigh” means to strike so as to relentlessly kill. After killing an unknown number of Philistines, Samson “dwelt in the top (Hebrew sᵊʿîp̄, pronounced saw-eef’, the cleft) of the rock Etam”. This “cleft of the rock” is south of Bethlehem on the main road, close to the foothills of Judah. This is a well protected cleft that was on a well known rock. Samson was not hiding from the Philistines, but wanted them to know where he was. They could not sneak up on him.

Judges 15:9-13 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

God’s Judah Should Have Been Leading Israel,
But Has Compromised With The Philistines

The Philistines went to the Rock Etam in Judah’s territory. They knew where Samson was – everyone knew where Samson was – but they did not want to risk battling him. He had already killed a number of Philistines. So the Philistines come to Judah. Though Judah is supposed to be leading the nation, my commentary notes:

“The men of Judah did not respond to Samson as the judge whom God had raised up to deliver them from the Philistines. Instead of supporting him, they meekly bowed before their oppressors, and took the Philistines’ side against Samson (v. 11-13). Instead of affirming that Yahweh ruled over them, they acknowledged that the Philistines ruled over them (v. 11). “The Israelites are now no different from the peoples surrounding them: Canaanization is complete! And Judah, once the leader of the nation in 1:1-2, has now degenerated into being a lackey of the enemy.”

The men of Judah rebuked Samson for jeopardizing the peace of the land, and sent 3000 men to bind Samson. Though Samson’s faith was often somewhat worldly,

Samson never had an army, nor anyone to support him outside of God the Holy Spirit throughout his entire ministry.

Samson willingly allowed the Israelites to bind him, as long as they promised not to kill him. Samson knew that his ministry was to defeat Philistia, not Israel. When those who came to bind him promised not to kill him, Samson meekly allowed them to “bind him with two new cords”. He was then delivered to the Philistine army. Yet God was in this as well. Delivered to the Philistines bound hand and foot, they dropped their guard. Like the mythical Trojan Horse of Troy they received Samson …

and the Child of the SUN burned their house down!

Judges 15:14-17 And when he came unto Lehi, (names means “Jawbone”) the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

When the Philistines saw Samson bound, they shouted with glee. Here was the enemy who burnt their crops and killed their people. They were going to take their revenge. But as they shouted, “the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him”. When the Holy Spirit filled him, Samson became powerful, and broke the new rope as if it were dental floss. We are told that Samson found “a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith”. Skeletal parts of animals were often used to make farm equipment, like plows. Samson found a newly killed donkey, and with its jawbone killed 1000 trained warriors. After killing these warriors, Samson called the name of this place of victory “Ramathlehi”, or “Jawbone Hill”. One preacher came up with a five point sermon on the jawbone Samson used, saying:

It was a NOVEL weapon,
It was a CONVENIENT weapon,
It was a SIMPLE weapon,
It was a RIDICULOUS weapon, and
It was a SUCCESSFUL weapon.

God can take the strange or odd, and use it to create fantastic things. Samson uses this one jawbone to kill 1000 Philistines in full armor. Then and only then do we see Samson pray.

Judges 15:18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Samson’s prayer is much like Samson’s life. His prayer does not glorify God, though he does recognize that God gave him the victory. Samson calls himself the “servant” of God, though he speaks to God as if God were HIS Servant. Samson does not ask God for water, but demands it, and nearly accuses God in the demanding.

Judges 15:19-20 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water there out; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

God made water come out of the Rock, much like He did for Moses and Israel (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11). In the New Testament we are told that the Rock that Israel saw was symbolic of our Lord Jesus:

1 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV) and {Israel} drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ ..

Our “God is the ROCK, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful GOD Who does no wrong, upright and just is He (Deuteronomy 32:4). Because Israel “abandoned the God Who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior” (Deuteronomy 32:15), they are under the Philistine heel. As Israel has drifted farther and farther left of God, the Lord has given them a carnal savior. Samson is that carnal savior. Commentator Matthew Poole notes that Samson’s great thirst was “partly sent by God, that by the experience of his own impotency he might be forced to ascribe victory to God only, and not to himself”.

Samson Allowed Sexual Sin To Conquer Him

When God saves us, He saves us FROM our sins. When Jesus came, it was prophesied “He will save His people FROM their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus did not come to make us comfortable in our sins, but to conform us to God’s will. “He appeared to TAKE AWAY SINS” (1 John 3:5), “to PURIFY for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

Samson was a sexual addict, who chased after the wrong women, and never learned from his mistakes. A person can be saved, and allow sin to drift back into their lives. If they do so, they will suffer the consequence of sin. The wages of sin is always death, even for the believer. The Bible warns us that:

1 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV) Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

All sins that you commit hurt others, and damage your soul. But sexual immorality (called “fornication” in the King James) specifically damages the body. You not only gather sexually transmitted diseases that attack your flesh, but sexual sins lead to bodily degradation. Sexual sins are the cause of the madness that we see in America today, where people declare there are many, many genders, and where perversity and confusion reign.

Samson is no exception. Sexual immorality will destroy the strongest person.

Judges 16:1-3 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

Samson goes to “GAZA”, one of the five chief cities of the Philistines, about 36 miles from his hometown. The Philistines knew who Samson was by now as he had judged Israel for 20 years. Samson would have been on Philistia’s “Most Wanted” list, so when Samson went in to fornicate with the Philistine harlot at Gaza, the Philistines gathered. They formed a large force outside the city gate. In ancient times cities were walled and gated, so that when night fell the gates could be closed, and the inhabitants be protected from roving hoards of bandits. Samson went into the harlot (whore) until midnight. When the enemy slept, he went to the locked gate, and “took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders”, carrying them some 36 miles to Hebron. Why did Samson do this? Again, it had to do with his pride, his ego. He could have broken the gate down and just left, but he wanted to taunt the Philistines.

For Superman, Kryptonite is his downfall. For Samson, Philistine women and his pride is his Kryptonite!

Judges 16:4-5 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

Twice Samson has sexually sinned with Philistine women, and twice he has evaded capture. But as they say, “The third time is the charm”. Samson fall for a woman named “Delilah”. Her name, the Hebrew dᵊlîlâ (pronounced del-ee-law’) means “delicate, devotee”. The name is a Hebrew name. Delilah was a Philistine convert, and very possibly a “temple prostitute”. The “the lords of the Philistines”, the governor of the five major Philistine cities, approached Delilah with a proposal. If Delilah would find out the source of Samson’s power, they would each give her “eleven hundred pieces of silver”. A person could live on just ten shekels of silver annually (Judges 17:10), so these men were offering Delilah a fortune. The Soniclight Commentary notes:

“… taking $25 thousand as the average annual wage, the governors’ total offer to Delilah would approach $15 million. This lets us see how valuable the capture of public enemy number one was for the Philistine governors and what an incentive Delilah had to betray her lover.”

Judges 16:6-9 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. 7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

The “seven green withs that were never dried” were seven pieces of catgut – often used for bowstrings or strings in tennis rackets. Samson allowed Delilah to bind him, and he easily broke the restraints.

Judges 16:10-12 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. 11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

Again, Samson allows Delilah to bind him with new ropes – but he easily tears them apart. So Delilah demands again that Samson tell her what the secret of his strength is.

Judges 16:13-15 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. 14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

This time Samson tells Delilah to loom the seven locks of his very long hair , to weave it together like a web. Delilah looms his hair, weaving it like dreadlocks … but this does nothing with his strength. Two things are true: Delilah is persistent, and Samson is persistently arrogant and foolish! He continues in his sexual sin.

Judges 16:16-19 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

Samson is trapped. He played with fire, would not repent, and now he is defeated. We’ll return next week and finish this story, as our time runs short. But one thing you should take away from this lesson today:

Galatians 6:7-9 (NASB) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

May God bless you as you follow Him, and not your heart. For Christ’s glory we pray. Amen and Amen.