The Scourge of the Philistines (Judges 13-16)
Perhaps it is, by now, no surprise to us that, in Judges, chapter thirteen, we find the Israelites in yet another physical and spiritual ‘hole’. It was a mess of their own making because - yet again - they had turned away from following the Lord and He had handed them over to their enemies, who now ruled over them and oppressed them. It had been this way for forty years. Indeed, the current generation would have been hard pressed to remember a time when they were free from the tyranny of subjection and that generation of Philistines would hardly have remembered when they did not lord it over the Israelites. If this was a land 'flowing with milk and honey', then they were suffering a drought: not enough cows and very few bees! Forty years under the thumb of the Philistines was not a good place to be.
But God had a plan. That plan involved the birth of a rather special lad called Samson, whose arrival had been carefully planned and arranged by God. The birth itself was somewhat special. In many ways, it went against all natural possibilities. His parents (Manoah and his unnamed wife) were a childless couple from the tribe of Dan and living in Zorah. They were childless because the wife was sterile – unable to give birth. But God stepped in and over-ruled her condition.
Empty and barren
Have you ever gone through a period of life when your relationship with God seemed totally barren? Maybe, for many years, you never knew Him at all, or you had started following Christ but then found it all just too difficult. Many believers find that the fulfilment of God's promises can seem slow at times. There can be periods when the heavens appear to be shut completely and God has turned a deaf ear; then we begin to drift back to our old way of life, where at least we were appreciated. Well, God’s word to us today is: ‘Don’t give up! Wait for me; speak to me and I will show myself when the time is right. I will be neither a minute too early nor a minute too late. I have a plan for your life; just be patient a little longer!’
The time came when God stepped into the lives of this couple. He sent a messenger (an 'angel') to the wife to announce that she would become pregnant and give birth to a son. During her pregnancy, she would need to abstain from drinking alcohol or eating any unclean foods because the boy was to be dedicated to God from birth - a 'Nazirite'. During his life, he was never to cut his hair or shave and he would become a leader, who would eventually deliver his people from the Philistines.
When God steps into our lives, we can expect things to change. Manoah hadn’t asked God to come into His life but, when he heard from his wife about the messenger sent from God, he responded immediately and positively by asking God to send the messenger again to teach them both what they would need to do. (It wasn’t until David’s day that the Israelites were fully delivered from Philistine tyranny, but the process had begun.) Are we equally able to recognise God's voice when He speaks to us? Do we believe what He says to us and act on it without delay? God is looking for people who will take Him at His word and not doubt Him.
We have been brought up in a generation of people who do not believe that God exists, never mind that He will speak to us; it is now time to redress the balance. We have lived under the curse of a godless society for far too long; it is now time for Him to make His power known among the nations. As, in Samson's day, God was looking for those He could trust and work through so, today, He seeks those who will work with Him: ‘For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him'. (2 Chronicles 16:9 )
A special sacrifice
God selected exactly the person He needed in Samson. We might look upon God’s choice as strange, but He thinks differently from us and His ways are not our ways! Both of Samson's parents responded positively to God's unexpected approach to them. It seems that neither of them had much previous experience of God. They weren't altogether sure how to respond to the messenger, but Manoah instinctively recognised their sinfulness before God and wanted to offer a burned offering for the forgiveness of their sin. God accepted this and 'did an amazing thing' for them, with flame shooting up from the rock on which they offered the sacrifice to consume it and also to take away the messenger with it.
People who sought God's forgiveness for their sin would bring an animal (in perfect condition) from their herd or flock (or a dove if they were really poor) to a priest. The unblemished animal symbolised the moral perfection demanded by a holy God (and the perfect nature of the real sacrifice to come later: Jesus Christ). The sinner laid a hand on the head of the animal to symbolize complete identification with it as a substitute. The sinner then had to kill the animal and the priest would sprinkle its blood on the altar to JAHWEH. In doing so, he symbolically transferred the sins of the person to the animal, thus taking away those sins in a process called 'atonement'. Finally, the carcass of the animal (not including its blood or skin) was burned on the altar, signifying the person's complete dedication to God.
In the case of Manoah and his wife, no priest was present but the messenger (angel) represented the presence of God Himself. In a way, this was foreshadowing a concept that became clearer after Jesus' death and resurrection: the 'priesthood of all believers'. It signifies that God Himself is present (through the Holy Spirit) whenever people put their faith in Jesus as having made a sacrifice of His own body for them. That faith in His sacrifice means that no ongoing animal sacrifices (or priests) are necessary for us to know forgiveness for our sins. We all have access to God directly, through Jesus’ death on the cross.
The enormity of what had happened hit Manoah really hard. He realised that he had been in the very presence of God and was terrified that both of them would be struck dead. Fortunately, his wife had understood rather more than him and pointed out: 'If the Lord were going to kill us, He wouldn't have accepted our burnt offerings and wouldn't have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles'. Perhaps, as believers today, we have become all too familiar with the idea that our sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus' sacrifice. The thought that we have narrowly escaped death at God's hands is largely foreign to our thinking. But, for Manoah and his wife, the realisation that God wanted them to do something for Him was very much 'up close and personal'. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into obeying God and following carefully the plan for Samson's life that God had laid out. Is our own willingness to obey God somewhat less enthusiastic because we fail to comprehend just how much Jesus has done for us?
Between a rock and a hard place
In due time, Samson was born and God blessed him. We're not told anything specific of his childhood but we may safely assume that his parents brought him up in the way that the Lord wanted and, in due course, 'the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneth Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol'. (Judges 13:25) This was Samson's home - the 'camp of Dan', his tribe - which lay between two towns whose names meant 'hornet' and 'entreaty'. This geographical situation seems to describe very neatly Samson's own attitude towards the Philistines: on the one hand, rejecting their occupation of what should have been God's promised land and wanting to 'sting' them and eject them if possible whilst, at the same time, recognising that life would be much better for him personally if he was willing to compromise with them at some points.
This has close echoes in our own day and age, where those in many governments and institutions throughout the world have openly rejected the idea that we should be guided by religious beliefs and sentiments in public life. Such things should be kept entirely private and personal. Some people refuse to accept this idea and rebel against it in various ways, whilst others are more willing to compromise and 'let sleeping dogs lie'. The Hebrew word translated as ‘stir’ means to 'agitate' and it seems that Samson was 'stirred up' to become a 'hornet'.
The first indication of this is when Samson is drawn to a Philistine girl and wants to marry her. In Western society, Christians have long accepted the wisdom of the apostle Paul's advice to the believers at Corinth: 'Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?' (2 Corinthians 6:14) That would normally have been the practice amongst the Israelites as well: not to marry someone who was not also Jewish. Why is Samson going against this sound advice?
'Other seed fell among thorns'
Samson had been chosen and prepared by God for a specific task but, as Jesus warned in 'the parable of the sower', although God's seed is always good, it doesn't all end up in the right place, where it can grow and produce good fruit. Samson grew to be phenomenally strong physically but, spiritually, he was remarkably weak and he allowed the 'thorns' all around him to suffocate and choke him. He had large appetites to sustain his physicality but limited self-control and restraint when it came to moral scruples and spiritual values.
What is amazing is that God was still able to use Samson, despite all his faults. The story of Samson's marriage is not one that we might expect to find in the Bible. During the 'courtship' rituals with the young girl (who shares neither his culture nor his religion), Samson happens to encounter a lion on one of his journeys. He demonstrates his incredible strength and courage by killing it with his bare hands but, returning some while later, discovers the body of the dead lion and notices that some bees have made their home there. (This would have been extremely unusual; to find flies and maggots would have been unexceptional but bees...!) Samson then breaks part of his vow as a 'Nazirite' by touching the dead body and scraping out some honey. What's more, he takes some of the honey back to his parents and casually allows them to be 'defiled' as well.
The marriage plans proceed and, as part of the customary build-up in those days, a feast is held at which Samson (possibly under the influence of drink?) sets them a riddle with a high-priced wager (thirty sets of fine clothes) riding on whether or not his (foreign) guests can solve it. None of the Philistines can solve the riddle so they threaten to kill his fiancee and all her family if she cannot use her influence on Samson to get him to reveal the answer. (Nice people!) She duly deploys her feminine wiles and poor Samson succumbs. She then sells him out to protect her own family and Samson loses the bet. Samson didn't have the wherewithal to honour his bet, so he used his superior physical strength to go to another Philistine town where he attacked thirty young men and stole their best clothing to give to his wedding guests. But the 'icing on the cake' is that, after Samson has stormed off back to his parents in a huff at the betrayal by his fiancee, her parents then give her to another man instead; one of those who had been a 'companion' of his at the wedding feast!
A lone hero (Judges 15)
If the story of Samson up to this point has left us wondering how or why Samson earned his place in the Israelite 'hall of fame' (Hebrews 11:32-40) then this next chapter should help us to see some of his more positive qualities. Having cooled off a bit after the fiasco of the 'wedding', Samson decides to go and visit his wife to make things up with her. Clearly, he still loved her, despite all that happened. However, he then discovers that she has been given to another man!
No doubt her father had considered this the only sensible course of action under the circumstances, but Samson treats this new betrayal as one that warrants revenge, not just against one family but against the whole nation of the Philistines. Consequently, he embarks on a course of action that is either extremely brave or foolhardy. (As is often the case with acts of heroism, perhaps, it was probably both!) As the time of wheat harvest is approaching, he decides to demolish the entire harvest belonging to the town where his 'wife' is now living. He does so by catching three hundred foxes, tying them by their tails in pairs, then fastening a lit torch to every pair of tails before letting them loose in the standing corn. All the wheat (plus some vineyards and olive groves) were totally destroyed.
This would have been a life-threatening, economic disaster for the town and the people reacted by carrying out their previous threat and burning both his wife and her father to death (probably by setting fire to their house with them in it). Samson takes this as a further provocation and attacks them all, slaughtering many of them. He then disappears and takes refuge in a cave on land belonging to his neighbours, the Jewish tribe of Judah. You may have noticed by now that Samson is very much 'a lone wolf'. Unlike the other 'judges' during this period, he never seeks to gather an army of his fellow Israelites together but always acts alone, relying on his unusual physical strength and prowess.
Betrayal by his own side
The Philistines gathered together a small army and set out in pursuit of Samson. This attracted the attention of the people of Judah who had their own appreciable army (some three thousand troops) and went out to meet them. The Philistines explained that they are only looking for Samson, so the people of Judah went to find Samson themselves. But, instead of supporting their 'hero' and taking this opportunity to throw off their oppressors, they rebuked him for jeopardising their own safety. They preferred to live alongside the Philistines and just get on with life, even if it meant restrictions on their freedom and humiliations at their hands.
How many believers today are willing to compromise in significant areas of their life so long as it allows them to go through the motions of going to church regularly and continuing to follow their traditions and patterns of worship without too much interference from the State? All too often, we think that we can avoid the Enemy's attention simply by 'keeping our heads down' and 'not rocking the boat'. Samson certainly had his faults but he did not lack courage or the willingness to do what he believed to be the 'right thing'.
In any event, the people of Judah took Samson, tied him up with two new ropes and handed him over as a prisoner to the Philistines - which was exactly what he wanted. Once in their hands, the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson in power. The ropes that bound him 'became like charred flax' and dropped away. Spying a donkey's jawbone on the ground, Samson picked it up and used it to start attacking the Philistines. Nobody was able to resist him and he killed about one thousand of them. Afterwards, he was exhausted and extremely thirsty so he cried out to God for help and God opened up a spring of water right there, allowing him to recover and restore his strength.
A fall from grace (Judges 16:1-22)
Samson was really strong physically, but he had a fatal flaw: he really fancied women as well. Because he acted alone, he was able to move from place to place more easily and the Philistines were generally unable to gather together enough people at short notice to overpower him. One night, he visited a prostitute in Gaza which had a city wall where the gates could be closed and locked at night. As word spread that Samson was there, the Philistines surrounded the city, intending to catch him at dawn when he left. However, Samson got up in the middle of the night to leave, took hold of the city gate and simply uprooted the entire structure, bar and all. He carried it away with him to a hill near Hebron - some thirty-seven miles away!
This story is told as a prelude to his famous encounter with Delilah, which has become one of the better-known stories in the whole Bible. He fell madly in love with her and visited her often. But the Philistines had learned a thing or two over the years and decided to go for a more subtle approach. They went to Delilah and offered her a significant reward if she could persuade Samson to give up the secret of his strength. Three times she tried but, each time, Samson sold her a dummy, giving some plausible story about how he could be reduced to helplessness, only for her to find (when some of her people tried to capture Samson) that he had lied to her.
But Delilah did not give up. She nagged him continuously, complaining endlessly that he didn't love her until, eventually, he gave in and told her the secret of his strength: that he had taken a vow never to shave his hair and, whilst ever he kept that vow, God's Spirit would never leave him. Like his wife earlier, Delilah then betrayed him. She lulled him to sleep on her lap and shaved his head. When Samson awoke, the source of his strength had left him. He was overpowered by the Philistines who gouged out his eyes and bound him with bronze shackles. They then put him in a prison and set him to grinding corn there.
Human beings seem to find it easier to put their trust in rigid laws, rituals, ceremonies and superstitions rather than in relationships. Perhaps that is because relationships are dynamic and require us to change and adapt, to develop and grow, instead of just relying on some past achievement or status whilst ignoring the actual feelings of another person. The apostle Paul talked about us being 'marked with a seal' when we put our faith in Jesus. That seal is the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, allowing us to have a dynamic, ongoing relationship with God, day by day. (Ephesians 1:13-14) If we turn our backs on His Spirit and that relationship, there is no guarantee that we shall be able to turn back to God later. Jesus Himself warned that 'every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven'. (Matthew 12:31) These are hard words that we do well to heed if we are believers.
The final act (Judges 16:23-31)
However, Samson was allowed to experience the presence of God within him once again because, in prison, his hair grew back and God did not leave him alone. The day came when Samson was able to strike one last blow against the Philistines with his remarkable gift of physical strength. Thousands of people had gathered in the temple of their god (Dagon) and they called for Samson to be brought out of prison so that they could make fun of him, taunt him and torture him. As the crowd laughed and screamed at him all around, he called one last time upon the LORD God to give him strength. He braced himself against the two central pillars of the temple and pushed with all his might, bringing the entire edifice down on top of him. He became a human earthquake and some three thousand people died with him as the temple collapsed.
Although the Philistines were not finally defeated until the days of King David, they were largely a spent force, comparatively leaderless and powerless, from Samson's time onward. Our God is sovereign and no one human being can prevent Him from achieving his goal with the human race: to forgive us and restore us to a position of dynamic, loving relationship with our Creator.
But the challenge for us is to live in the way that God has asked us to and to die in whatever way He calls us to. God’s desire is to bless His people and He will always raise up the right people at the right time. We shall be amongst His people if we guard carefully the presence of His Holy Spirit in our own lives: the deposit that guarantees our inheritance with all the saints when Jesus returns for His church - to the praise of His glory!
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