In this chapter, we see that Samson continues to wreak havoc on the enemy, to the point that his own countrymen become fearful. When Samson returns to claim his bride, he discovers that she has been given in marriage to his ‘best man’.
The father of Samson’s wife assumed that he had rejected his Philistine bride because she had betrayed him in telling the secret of his riddle, Judges 14:19-20. Because of this, Samson felt justified to bring calamity upon the Philistines by destroying their source of food.
We can only begin to imagine how Samson must have felt at this point, deceived, betrayed by his wife to be and her father-in-law, he was raging mad. Can you imagine this event? Catching one fox would be hard enough but catching 300 and fastening a torch to their tails is something else.
And I’m sure the animal rights campaigners would have had a field day with this event but he destroys the Philistine vineyards and olive groves with ‘fox-fire’.
But if we think that Samson was raging mad, the text tells us that the Philistines were so mad they retaliated by killing his almost bride and father-in-law.
After Samson had killed many other Philistines, the text tells us that Israel, fearing further retaliation, retaliated against themselves. Wanting peace at any cost, Samson’s countrymen handed him over to the Philistines, which tells us a lot about their spiritual depravity.
But the Philistines didn’t have any quarrels with the Israelites as a whole, it was just with Samson. The Israelites resented Samson’s exploits, and regarded him as a troublemaker, why?
Simply because they couldn’t see that it was the Spirit of the Lord working in Samson. And they couldn’t or wouldn’t see that God was working in and through Samson until they witnessed his supernatural massacre of the enemy.
Notice what God’s very own people said to him next.
The text says they came to tie him up and after assuring Samson that his own people won’t kill him, he allows them to do so. Samson allows himself to be taken captive, why? Because he has a plan.
Arriving before the gloating enemy, the ropes tightly binding Samson burst into pieces. And grabbing an improvised weapon, a donkey’s jawbone, Samson slays a thousand Philistines. And that place was called Ramath Lehi which means ‘Jawbone Hill’.
But once again in his anger because of his motives for revenge, he violated God’s law. The jawbone which he used to kill the Philistines was from a dead donkey and so it was classed as an unclean object. He was supposed to stay clear of anything dead according to the Nazarite vow he had taken, Numbers 6:6-7.
Some commentators claim that Samson took the credit for the victory but the text clearly tells us otherwise. And seeing the undeniable work of God in this massacre, Israel finally accepts Samson as their judge.
Samson’s struggle with passion and lust was much like his battle with the lion. He achieved God’s purpose, but his life could have been so much more victorious if he had exercised some self-control. His acts of deliverance were by-products of his fury and infatuation, Ephesians 4:26.
We cannot excuse Samson’s behaviour, but we can draw some comfort in knowing that if God’s grace can extend to a person like Samson, it can extend to us, Ephesians 6:10.
And yes, we may feel as flawed as Samson and we may even think we’re beyond hope, but there is hope, 1 Corinthians 10:13. God loves us and He desperately wants us to walk with Him in His ways.
He loves us so much that He sent the perfect Champion, far greater than Samson, to save us from sin, death, and hell and His Name is Jesus.
Samson defeated a lion but Jesus has defeated Satan, who’s described as ‘a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ in 1 Peter 5:8.
"So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God."