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Okay, Judges 15, we continue 
with Samson. Remember last time, or the last 
few weeks, we saw Judges 13, the call narrative or the birth 
of Samson. And then in Chapter 14, he goes 
down to Timnah and he sees a woman there, one of the daughters of 
the Philistines. He wants to marry her. This does 
not make his parents happy. They try to dissuade him. 14.4, 
however, tells us, his father and mother did not know that 
it was of the Lord, that he was seeking an occasion to move against 
the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines had dominion 
over Israel. So we see that same sort of pattern 
continue in Timnah here in chapter 15. And I just want to begin 
reading in chapter 15 at verse 1. After a while, in the time 
of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife 
with a young goat. And he said, let me go into my 
wife, into her room. But her father would not permit 
him to go in. Her father said, I really thought 
that you thoroughly hated her. Therefore, I gave her to your 
companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, 
take her instead. And Samson said to them, this 
time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them. 
Then Samson went and caught 300 foxes, and he took torches, turned 
the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of 
tails. When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go 
into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both 
the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and 
olive groves. And the Philistines said, who 
has done this? And they answered, Samson, the 
son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given 
her to his companion. So the Philistines came up and 
burned her and her father with fire. Samson said to them, since 
you would do a thing like this, I will surely take revenge on 
you. And after that, I will cease. 
So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. Then 
he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the Rock of Edom. Now 
the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and deployed themselves 
against Lehi. And the men of Judah said, why 
have you come up against us? So they answered, we have come 
up to arrest Samson, to do to him as he has done to us. Then 
3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the Rock of Edom 
and said to Samson, do you not know that the Philistines rule 
over us? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, 
as they did to me, so I have done to them. But they said to 
him, we have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you 
into the hand of the Philistines. Then Samson said to them, swear 
to me that you will not kill me yourselves. So they spoke 
to him, saying, no, but we will tie you securely and deliver 
you into their hand, but we will surely not kill you. And they 
bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. 
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. then 
the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. And the ropes that 
were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, 
and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone 
of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed 
a thousand men with it. And Samson said, with the jawbone 
of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey, 
I have slain a thousand men. And so it was, when he had finished 
speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand and called that 
place Ramath-Lehi. 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. So God 
split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, 
and he drank, and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore, 
he called its name An-Hakor, which is in Lehi to this day. 
And he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines." 
Amen. We continue with this dear brother, 
Samson, as we continue through the book of Judges. I texted 
a brother today and said that some of the commentators treat 
Samson more harshly than the Philistines did. When you read 
some of these men and see their comments concerning Samson, I 
wonder if we're reading about the same sort of a fellow. They 
just picture this meandering brute that's governed by his 
passions going from event to event to event causing as much 
trial and trouble as he can possibly do. What I interpret or how I 
see it is the spirit of the Lord is moving this particular man 
to break the back of Philistine oppression so that the people 
of Israel can be freed from their bondage. Now, of course, Samson 
is not without sin. No man, save the Lord Jesus Christ, 
is without sin. But all in all, he is, as the 
Apostle describes him in Hebrews chapter 11, a great man of faith. And we'll see that as we move 
on in the passage tonight. What is really alarming and really 
shocking is that when we consider certain judges in this particular 
book, if we look at Samson in this narrative, he sort of stands 
out. We see him doing these sorts 
of things, killing or slaughtering men, hip and thigh. And we see 
him with this jawbone of the donkey. And we miss the really 
treacherous people in the chapter itself. The problem in Judges 
15 is not Samson. The problem in Judges 15 is the 
tribe of Judah. And we'll see that tonight as 
we move through the passage. We'll break it down into three 
sections. First, the betrayal by his father-in-law 
in verses 1 to 8. Secondly, the treachery of his 
countrymen in verses 9 to 13. And then the defeat of his enemies 
in verses 14 to 20. So let's just pick up with the 
betrayal by his father-in-law in verses 1 to 8. Samson returns 
to Timnah to get his wife. He comes with a young goat under 
his arms. That would be akin to you showing 
up at your lovely bride's home with a box of chocolates. It 
is a peace offering, it is a gift, it is designed to woo your beloved. If there's one thing we ought 
to observe is that Samson does not bear grudges. As we move 
through the passage, again, I think there's many appreciable traits 
about this particular brother. Remember in the last chapter, 
we saw that when he kills the lion with his bare hand, he doesn't 
even tell his father and mother. I mean, if he lived today, he 
would have that lion mounted and he'd put it over his fireplace 
and he'd take pictures of it so he could brag all over the 
known world about what he had done. Well, he doesn't brag about 
killing this particular lion. He doesn't bear a grudge against 
the woman who betrayed him to the Timnites. He goes happy-go-lucky 
as it were with his goat knocks on the door he wants to see his 
wife he wants to spend time with her and that's the gist of what 
we find in verse 1 after a while in the time of wheat harvest 
that's an important time reference because when he burns Philistine's 
property we understand why the narrator wants to tell us that 
it was wheat harvest. He really put it to them when 
he sent these foxes along the countryside to destroy their 
crops. I mean this was an act of war 
and aggression. Remember, we've defined war as 
breaking things and killing people. Well, that is precisely what 
Samson does in terms of the Philistines. But it's the time of wheat harvest. 
It happens that Samson visits his wife with a young goat. He's 
probably, you know, slicking back his hair and making sure 
everything looks good, blowing on his hand to make sure his 
breath is okay. He says to the father, let me go into my wife, 
into her room. But her father would not permit 
him to go in. That's the prohibition by her 
father. He makes this statement. No, 
you're not going in. And then he gives us the reason 
to, hey, I really thought that you thoroughly hated her. Yet 
it seems to follow, doesn't it? She betrayed him into the hands 
of these Timnites. She sold him out. She whined, 
she nagged, she cried. He told her the answer to the 
riddle. And then she goes and tells the people of Timna. And 
so the father says, I really thought that you thoroughly hated 
her. Therefore, I gave her to your companion. Now, this is 
not legit. And note the way the Philistines 
treat their women. Did she consent to this? She 
just is now given to another man. And then notice how he treats 
the younger daughter at the end of verse 2. And again, I think 
we see something admirable about Samson. He's not a man simply 
governed by his passions. He's not just meandering about 
seeking to satisfy his carnal lusts. At the end of verse two, 
is not her younger sister better than she? Probably better looking, 
more attractive. Doesn't she please you? Just 
like when you walked into Timnah and you set your eyes upon my 
older daughter, weren't you pleased with her? This man is now trying 
to appease Samson because he's realizing that Samson wants what 
was his. but the father-in-law has given 
her away and so now he offers the younger daughter. Please 
take her instead. Again, this is the type of treatment 
you get in a Philistine society. There's no respect, there's no 
concern, there's no love for daughters. We simply want to 
appease angry men so that they don't do vicious things to us. 
That was this father's interpretation of this particular event. Again, 
Samson doesn't take her. He's not out to satisfy his lust. He's not out simply for his own 
carnal pleasures. Note the result in verse 3. Samson said to them, this time 
I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them. 
There is just cause. This is wrong. This is vicious. 
And so he takes this private situation and uses it as a public 
occasion to bring judgment to bear upon the Philistines. And 
again, I think we need to understand that everything that happens 
in this particular chapter, and it's verified and confirmed at 
the end of the chapter, when the Spirit of the Lord rushes 
mightily on him, this is of God. Samson is not acting in a renegade 
fashion. He is not a law unto himself. And when we go through the chapter 
and we notice that he engages the enemy all alone, again, it's 
not because he's proud and he has a maverick spirit, but it's 
because the Judahites want to sell him out, let alone go into 
battle with him. So he's living in a debauched 
age among a debauched people and he is God's choice of deliverer 
to bring judgment to bear upon these people. So we need to see 
that God is sovereign behind the scenes orchestrating these 
particular events so that he can bring these Philistines or 
at least begin the process of bringing them under subjection 
to Israel rather than vice versa. Now notice the destruction of 
Philistine property in verses four to six. Verse four, then 
Samson went and caught 300 foxes. Now one of the commentators says 
foxes and jackals, it's the same Hebrew word. Foxes are solitary, 
jackals are more pack animals. So he was persuaded that it would 
be jackals. Either way, he takes these 300 
foxes He takes torches, he turns the fox's tail to tail. Why doesn't 
he double the amount of torches and just tie one torch to the 
tail of one fox? Probably because the one fox 
would try to find cover in a hole. Two foxes together couldn't do 
that. So he does this with a rope. 
How the logistics work is very difficult, at least for me to 
picture, but we see the end game. He takes torches, he turns the 
foxes tail to tail, he puts a torch between each pair of tails. He 
sets the torches on fire. He lets the foxes go. And here's 
the point, into the standing grain of the Philistines. And 
he burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well 
as the vineyards and olive groves. Bloch says, how Samson accomplished 
this is a great mystery. But this is something we need 
to appreciate. He says, but it fits into the 
picture of a man who kills a lion single-handedly. We're not dealing 
with a typical fellow here. I imagine he was a big fellow. You notice how many people from 
Judah go to confront Samson? If I had a problem with one of 
you, I wouldn't take 3,000 men. I don't think you're that strong. 
I don't think you could take me. I think you could take me, 
but I would take three or four people. I would take 3,000. Judah 
takes an army to confront Samson. We're not talking about your 
typical guy. He's not 90 pounds soaking wet. We need to remember that. It 
fits into the picture of a man who kills a lion single-handedly, 
kills 30 Philistines, breaks brand new ropes that bind him, 
slays 1,000 Philistines with a jawbone, and brings a house 
down over thousands of reveling Philistines. How does Samson 
do it? God is with him. God has equipped 
this man for this particular action. Again, Block commenting 
on the action itself in terms of the destruction of the property. 
He says, from his actions in verses 4 and 5, the reader learns 
why the narrator had mentioned the time of Samson's return to 
Timnah in verse 1 as the wheat harvest. Philistia was grain 
country. That was what they were about. 
And with his actions, Samson strikes at the heart of the Philistine 
economy. Now when we consider that Dagon 
was the god of grain, he is probably striking at the heart of the 
religious system that is intrinsic to the Philistine community. 
So by this one action of dispatching these 300 foxes into this grain 
he has obliterated them economically. He has also sent them a message 
concerning their god Dagon. When we get to chapter 16 we 
see Dagon is ultimately brought down. Later he will be dealt 
with again. But these are idolaters, and 
Samson hits them where it hurts." Verse 6, the Philistines said, 
who has done this? And they answered, Samson, the 
son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given 
her to his companion. So the Philistines came up and 
burned her and her father with fire. Remember, that was the 
thing they threatened the girl with, and that's why she gave 
up Samson's riddle. Ironically, this is what has 
come to be her portion and her lot, according to the narrative. 
Again, note the barbarism of Philistine society. Their beef 
is with Samson. But they know they can't just 
march in and burn up Samson. They've got to deploy. They've 
got to be tactical. They've got to be strategic. 
But in their enmity and in their rage, what do they do to Mrs. 
Samson? They torture her and her father. 
This is despicable. See, I think the narrator wants 
you to understand that even though Israel doesn't realize it, the 
people that they're willingly subject to is a barbaric, idolatrous, 
wicked, and a cursed nation that deserves everything that the 
Lord is going to bring upon them through his servant, Samson. When Samson picks up that fresh 
jawbone of a donkey. Note the narrator. It's a fresh 
jawbone. It's not an old, dried, brittle 
thing that once you crack somebody in the skull it falls apart. 
It's fresh. The teeth are intact. This becomes 
a great weapon and tool in the hand. of Samson. We ought not 
to say, wow, that's strange that a man is killing people with 
the jawbone of a donkey. We ought to say, praise God, 
that he raised up Samson to bring destruction upon these people 
who would go burn a woman and her father's house and who would 
engage in the sorts of things that they have engaged in throughout 
this particular narrative. The surprise that we have at 
times over Samson is really misplaced. And the narrator wants to make 
sure that we put it in its proper perspective. So they determine 
that Samson is responsible. They destroy his wife and his 
father-in-law. And then notice in verses 7 and 
8, you see there's an action and a reaction. That's the way 
the narrative is structured. Action and reaction. Action and 
reaction. Philistines and Samson are both 
operating according to the Golden Rule as well. Isn't this what 
the Philistines say? Verse 10, we have come up to 
arrest Samson to do to him as he has done to us. That's the 
Golden Rule Philistine style. The Golden Rule Samson style 
is the glory of God and the subjugation of the enemies of Christ's kingdom. 
So notice, after Samson gets wind of the fact that they burned 
his father-in-law and they burned his wife. He doesn't say, well, 
that serves that man because he sent her away and tried to 
offer me his younger daughter. No, that's not what Samson says. 
He obviously had affection for this particular woman. Now remember, 
when we get to chapter 16, I'm going to argue Samson did not 
have relations with the harlot in Gaza. And it says he loved 
Delilah. It doesn't say anything other 
than that. Samson in terms of his sexual 
fidelity is not the man that we have been led to believe he 
is. If his wife by legality has died 
in a fire than other than the Philistine thing. And again, 
we can't justify that. But he's not as despicable as 
we're often made to believe. He's not a bad guy. And we shouldn't see him in that 
particular light. He is a hero, a man of valor 
that God the Lord has used to bring judgment upon the enemies 
of Israel. So notice, verse 7, Samson said 
to them, Since you would do a thing like this, I will surely take 
revenge on you, and after that I will cease. So he attacked 
them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. Then he went down 
and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etah." This idea of hip 
and thigh, Kyle and Dalit say, the smiting or smiting hip and 
thigh is a proverbial expression for unsparing slaughter. It's 
an idiom. It's a figure of speech. It's 
to communicate that he really brought it to them. Daniel Bloch, 
he literally struck them leg upon thigh with a great striking. Bloch says the NIVs viciously 
offers a tolerable interpretation of the idiom, though it puts 
Samson almost in a negative light. When we want a man out there 
engaged in combat for us, we hope that he engages viciously. 
We hope that he takes no prisoners. We hope that he decimates the 
enemy. So don't let that word viciously 
throw you off. He says, the NIV viciously offers 
a tolerable interpretation of the idiom, leg upon thigh, presumably 
a wrestling idiom for total victory. That's the point. When this happens 
to his ex-wife now and to his father-in-law, Samson goes and 
uses this occasion to bring judgment upon the Philistines. So that's 
the betrayal by his father-in-law. Action. Reaction. Action. Reaction. Action. Reaction. And the end game is that God 
brings judgment to bear upon the Philistines through his servant. 
Now note, secondly, the treachery of his countrymen, verses 9 to 
13. Go back for just a moment to 
chapter 13, because we need to remind ourselves of the historical 
occasion. Notice in Judges 13.1, again, 
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and 
the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 
40 years. As we had cause to notice at 
13.1, this is a formula that's employed throughout the book 
of Judges. They sin against God, God raises 
up an agent of oppression, and that person, or rather that nation, 
holds the children of Israel down. Typically, in all of the 
other cycles, the children of Israel cry out, not in repentance, 
not to forsake their sin, but they cry out because of their 
distress. They don't like the oppression, 
they don't like the Midianites, they don't like the harsh treatment 
that they are receiving. Now note in this cycle, according 
to chapter 13, they don't cry out. There's no distress. They're not upset with the current 
situation. They've made peace with the reality 
that the Philistines are over them. They do not realize just 
how bad things have gotten and they could care less about defeating 
their enemies. We drew two implications out 
of that situation for life today in the Church of Jesus Christ. 
The first is there is a danger of assimilating culture in such 
a manner as to no longer be concerned with the violation of God's law. 
sucking in the culture around us to such a point that we no 
longer are concerned with the violation of God's law. Let's 
take one real relevant example, homosexual marriage. There are 
some today within the professing church that are saying we ought 
not to have a big problem with this. That's assimilating culture 
to such a degree that we no longer have a problem with a violation 
of God's law. And then a second implication 
is the necessity that we must have of an uncompromising allegiance 
to Christ in the midst of a compromised culture. So while we live in 
a situation that is in rebellion against the Lord God, we are 
in the world but we're not supposed to be of it. We are supposed 
to be countercultural. We're supposed to march in lockstep 
with the law and the prophets. We're not supposed to succumb 
to the prevailing notions around us. We are to maintain fidelity 
to the living and true God. So that's the cultural context 
in which Samson found himself. Go back to chapter 15, and in 
verses 9 to 13, we see the treachery of his countrymen. Now notice 
verses 9 and 10, the Philistines and Judah. Now the Philistines 
went up and camped in Judah and deployed themselves against Lehi. And the men of Judah said, why 
have you come up against us? We don't want any problems. We 
don't want to go toe to toe with the Philistines. You can almost 
hear them panicking at this particular point. Why are you here? What's 
the problem? What's the issue? We don't want 
any challenges. So they answered, we have come 
up to arrest Samson to do to him as he has done to us. Now. We have the abundance of 
cowardice on display in verses 11 to 13. And I think this is 
very instructive for us as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to make sure that our 
conduct in the 21st century in a compromised culture does not 
look like the Judahite conduct in this particular culture. Notice 
first, they send an army against Samson and not the Philistines. Verse 11, then 3,000 men of Judah. Again, that's a huge number for 
one man. There was a fear of Samson in 
the land. And these Judahites took a delegation 
of 3,000 men to go confront him. What should they have done? They 
should have stood behind him and rushed against the Philistines. So now we've got Philistines 
and Judahites as allies against God's deliverer. Notice secondly, 
they embrace subjection to the Philistines. Notice in verse 
11, then the 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the 
Rock of Edom and said to Samson, do you not know that the Philistines 
rule over us? They've embraced it. They've 
welcomed it. They've made peace with it. They 
like it. They don't want to upset the 
apple cart. Dale Ralph Davis says here, sad, 
sad words. Here is a people who have acquiesced 
to bondage, who can no longer imagine anything beyond the status 
quo, who see deliverance as a threat to peace, who look upon Yahweh's 
enemies as their rightful lords. Israel is a people who can forsake 
Yahweh instantly. Haven't we seen that? They can 
turn on God in a moment, on a dime. Immediately they can reject and 
resist the Lord. He says, Israel is a people who 
can forsake Yahweh instantly, but who would not think of being 
faithless to the Philistines. What a pitiful question is verse 
11. I'm sorry, verse 10. Verse 11, 
do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Now note, thirdly, 
they identify themselves with the Philistines. What is this 
you have done to us? You poor pathetic babies. As 
if Sampson is supposed to say, well, I'm sorry I've brought 
this calamity on you. I'm sorry I've angered the Philistines. I'm sorry I've brought them to 
confront you. I'm sorry for the inconvenience 
that is facing you now. Look at what they are doing. 
They are identifying with the Philistines. They have made peace 
with Philistine rule. They have identified with the 
Philistines themselves. They have embraced the culture. 
they have drank in the culture, they have resisted the God of 
heaven and earth, and they have resisted and rejected the Deliverer 
whom God raised up to bring them out of this very situation. It is absolutely terrible. Samson 
says, verse 11, as they did to me, so I have done to them. Amen, Samson, because they deserved 
it, because they're the enemies of Yahweh and because you're 
the faithful one in Israel. Now notice fourthly, they express 
their desire to arrest him and deliver him to death. Are you 
getting this? Who's the problem in Judges 15? 
The man who goes after Philistines and takes a jawbone of a donkey 
and cuts down 1,000 men? Or a tribe of Judahites who have 
turned against one of their own and are going to arrest him and 
deliver him up to be executed? They know good and well the Philistines 
aren't going to put him in some cushy prison. He's not going 
to get three hots and a cot. He's not going to be a ward of 
the state. He's not going to live into old 
age, but rather he is going to be executed and destroyed. So 
they expressed their desire to arrest him and deliver him to 
death. They said, we have come down 
to arrest you that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. Again, Davis captures it well. 
Oh no, Samson, we don't want to kill you. We only want to 
bind you and give you to the Philistines so they can kill 
you. Now note what he says. The tribe that had formerly waded 
into battle after battle, chapter 1, verses 1 to 20, the very first 
tribe in Judges that goes on the war path is Judah. He says, 
has become a collection of spineless wimps. They regard the Philistines 
as their rulers and Samson as their enemy. They don't even 
want to be always free people. They don't even see that as a 
possibility. Notice fifth, they assure him 
of their innocence. Samson says to them, verse 12, 
Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves." So they 
spoke to him saying, no, but we will tie you securely and 
deliver you into their hands. But we will surely not kill you. Now, I don't know if that was 
supposed to alleviate the brother and make him feel happy and whole 
and comfortable, but it surely tells us something about these 
derelicts. They are so degraded, they do 
not see what is going on. They deliver the deliverer. Fast forward in the New Covenant 
era. Don't we see that? The deliverer 
is delivered in order to bring deliverance. The same sort of 
motif and pattern that you see in the life and ministry of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Lots of types going on. Read 
Gil. He'll show you some types you 
never thought existed. But this is their situation. And then six, they betray their 
utter spiritual degradation. we will surely not kill you." 
The end of verse 13, they bound him with two new ropes and brought 
him up from the rock. Kyle and Dalich said, instead 
of recognizing in Samson a deliverer whom the Lord had raised up for 
them and crowding around him that they might smite their oppressors 
with his help and drive them out of the land, the men of Judah 
were so degraded that they cast this reproach at Samson. They should have seen in him 
a victory. They should have seen in him 
a champion. They should have seen in him, we will follow you 
to the death. We will battle behind you, Samson. You're going to lead the way, 
because after all, you're Samson. But we will happily be behind 
you, and whatever Philistines you might happen to miss with 
the jawbone of the donkey, we'll be there, and we'll take them 
out. But that's not what happens. You see, this is absolutely wretched 
when internal corruption threatens the covenant community. It's 
bad enough when we have the external problems of the Philistines. 
It is doubly bad when we have the internal problems within 
the community itself. You see, we're in a culture that 
says you must allow and you must tolerate and you must do. The 
church as a whole should resist that and hold fast and not betray 
her Lord and His word. But what happens is that there 
is internal corruption. Some within the body of Christ. 
Some professing believers say, well, wait a minute. We don't 
want to do that. We shouldn't rock the apple cart. We shouldn't challenge anything. 
We should just lay down and take whatever it is they have for 
us. This is what's happening today, the internal corruption 
within the church. We've got big problems in terms 
of Philistine oppression. What's the church doing? Entertaining 
the masses, bilking them for money. doing everything and anything 
save preaching Christ and Him crucified. The very thing that 
is demanded from us and the very thing that God will bless for 
us is the very thing that in many places the church will have 
nothing to do with. We just want to conduct ourselves, 
we just want to be unmolested, we don't want to rock the boat, 
we don't want to have any issues or any challenges or any problems 
whatsoever. Perhaps you've heard this quote 
from Edmund Burke, a British political philosopher who said, 
all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to 
do nothing. Right? You probably all heard 
that. That's what's going on right there. Thankfully, God 
the Lord is not going to allow it to happen. Thankfully, Philistines 
and cowards are no match for the living and true God. But 
there is a lesson here, I think, for the church today. It is faithfulness 
to God and to his means that is absolutely crucial. We mustn't 
betray either, because the culture around us doesn't like what we 
have to say. Again, Davis makes this perceptive 
comment. Whether it is the evil and sin 
within us or some form of it outside us, God does not call 
us to negotiate with sin and evil, but to wage war on them, 
to nurse a holy hatred toward them in all their multicolored 
forms. We are near hopeless when we 
begin to adopt Judah's slogan. It has always been this way. 
How can we expect to change anything? Well, with the preaching of the 
gospel and the power of God's word and the ministry of his 
Holy Spirit, that is enough to affect the change that God Most 
High wants to affect. Our task, our calling, is simply 
to be faithful. Isn't this what Paul says in 
1 Corinthians 4? Moreover, it is required of stewards 
that they be found faithful, not accommodating, not culture 
loving, not culture assimilating, but rather those who stand upon 
the word of God and with Luther say, here I stand, I can do no 
other. Doesn't matter what hell itself 
says against us, we need to hold fast to the word of truth. I 
think, in many respects, the church is in Judges 15 a lot 
more conspicuously than we would like to think. Now notice, finally, 
verses 14 to 20, the defeat of his enemies. So at the end of 
verse 13, they bound him with two new ropes and brought him 
up from the rock. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines 
came shouting against him. He's now in a position of disadvantage. His own countrymen have delivered 
him up. The betrayers have delivered 
the deliverer. to the oppressor. It is absolutely 
backwards in the way it ought not to be. Again, this underscores 
the sovereignty and the majesty and the glory of God. Even when 
the Philistines come shouting at Him, and even when the Judahites 
are rooting for the Philistines, the Spirit of the Lord rushes 
mightily upon Samson and brings a decisive victory in this exchange. But the Philistines come shouting 
against him. It's probably a battle cry. It's 
a war cry. They're ready to take him down. 
He has hurt them. Remember? 30 men in Ashkelon, 
the economic devastation that he has wrought with his band 
of merry foxes, the many killed after his wife and his father-in-law 
were killed. I mean, as far as they're concerned, 
Samson needs to go, and he needs to go immediately. So when they 
see this big man handcuffed, as it were, They rush upon him. They're screaming at him. They're 
ready to take him out. Look at the contrast. It's so 
glorious. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines 
came shouting against him. Then the spirit of the Lord came 
mightily upon him. It's almost as if God is saying, 
bring your best. Bring it on, Philistines. Sit 
there and scoff, you coward as Judahites. You are now battling 
against the Spirit of the Lord God Almighty. The Spirit of the 
Lord rushed upon him. and the ropes that were on his 
arms became like flax that is burned with fire and his bonds 
broke loose from his hands. Imagine the Philistine and Judahite 
reaction. We just put fresh ropes on him. They shouldn't be that brittle. 
No man should be able to snap those kinds of ropes. Do you 
think things were fundamentally different then as it is now? 
If you wrap my arms with ropes, I can't snap them. That's the 
whole point. He snaps that. Probably for that 
moment, the Philistines and the Judahites thought, uh-oh, what's 
going to happen now? You've unleashed this man filled 
with the power of the Spirit. not just brute strength, not 
just a well-seasoned warrior, but a man with the spirit of 
the Lord God Most High penetrating him. He breaks the bonds loose 
from his hands and then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, 
reached out his hand and took it and killed a thousand men 
with it. That is impressive. And then 
Samson is the punster, isn't he? Isn't he a great guy? He 
likes the riddle in chapter 14. And after he smashes a thousand 
men with the jawbone of a donkey, the last thing I'm going to do 
is compose a pun. He's mocking the enemies of God. What does it say in the second 
psalm? When the men rise up in mutiny 
against God and against his Christ, the Lord mocks them. Samson knows something of the 
God of Israel. And he composes this pun. With 
the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone 
of a donkey, I have slain 1,000 men. It rhymes in Hebrew. Moffat captures it this way in 
English. With the jawbone of an ass, I 
have piled them in a mass, is what he says. With the jawbone 
of an ass, I have piled them in a mass. 1,000 dead, bloodied 
Philistines are lying there because the Spirit of the Lord came upon 
this man who was sent to begin the deliverance from Philistine 
oppression. And then notice, he names the 
place Jawbone Hill. And so it was, verse 17, when 
he had finished speaking that he threw the jawbone from his 
hand and called that place Ramath-Lehi. The margin says jawbone height, 
or we could say jawbone hill. There was a famous hill in the 
Vietnam War that took on the name Hamburger Hill. It was the 
place of a great battle there. So Samson does something akin 
to that. Now notice. The acknowledgment 
of the Lord's servant, verses 18 to 19. Then he became very 
thirsty. That follows, doesn't it? I doubt 
killing 1,000 men happens in five minutes. I mean, the carnage 
involved in that. The strength involved in that, 
a thousand men, with the jawbone of a donkey. He's not got guns 
blazing. He's not even got a sword that 
he's swinging around. He doesn't have that distance. 
That's what's good about a sword. It keeps a little bit of distance 
between you and the enemy. The jawbone of a donkey doesn't 
afford that. You're going to get blood splattered 
from the Philistines all over you so that when you're done, 
you're going to be thirsty. And this is what we find. Verse 
18. Then he became very thirsty and 
now notice. So he cried out to the Lord and 
said, you have given this great deliverance by the hand of your 
servant. Samson's not proud. Samson's not arrogant. Again, 
Samson's not perfect. He's got his issues, but he understands 
from whence his help comes. He doesn't take the credit for 
this victory. He doesn't say, look what I've 
done. He says, you have given this great deliverance. Literally, 
you have given this great salvation. by the hand of your servant. Then he says, and now shall I 
die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. He 
acknowledges his dependence upon God. The Spirit of the Lord empowers 
him for battle. He needs God the Lord to provide 
water for him so that he doesn't fall prey to these uncircumcised. What is at stake here? Preserve 
your servant so that I can preserve your people. sustain me with 
water so that I can sustain your people. As wayward as they are, 
as cowardice as they are, they need my help under your gracious 
hand and under your mercy." Davis again, with reference to his 
acknowledgment of his dependence upon the Lord. Davis says, here 
is Samson dependent on Yahweh. Here is the Savior confessing 
that he needs saved. We have repeatedly heard that 
Samson's power comes from Yahweh's spirit. But in case these failed 
to register, we surely cannot miss this picture. Samson is 
anything but self-sufficient. What does he do? He humbles himself 
under the mighty hand of God and he says, you have given this 
by your servant. Please give me water so that 
I may continue in the track that you have set me in, in order 
to provide deliverance for your people. Far from being arrogant, 
far from being cheeky, God says, here's your water. In language 
reminiscent of Exodus 17, language reminiscent of Numbers 20, just 
as when Moses was there, the rock split and water flowed out 
in order to provide provision to the children of Israel, such 
is the case for this man. Verse 19, so God split the hollow 
place that is in Lehi, and water came out and he drank, and his 
spirit returned and he revived. Therefore he called its name 
Anakor, which is in Lehi to this day. Spring of the color, or 
it might be deemed the place where God answers prayer. Samson 
prayed. God answers. Samson says, let's 
remember this. Let's have it written for posterity 
that it was in this place that God brought deliverance through 
his servant, and God brought deliverance to his servant when 
he cried out in prayer for this nourishing water. And then verse 
20 is a summary such as we find in other places in the book, 
and he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines. Now the absence of the land having 
rest, the presence of the fact that it's still the days of the 
Philistines don't bode well, doesn't indicate that everything 
is hunky-dory in Israel. but there was at least some destruction 
to the Philistines in accordance with what was prophesied concerning 
him in 13.5. For behold, you shall conceive 
and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head. For 
the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he 
shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. What he begins here ultimately 
I believe King David finishes with reference to the Philistines. If we want to go even further 
in terms of the typical significance, the Lord Jesus ultimately brings 
the deliverance that man stands in need of. So that's Judges 
15. We have seen the betrayal by 
his father-in-law, the treachery of his countrymen, and the defeat 
of his enemies. Again, God working behind the 
scenes God working through this particular man, God empowering 
him with the Spirit of the Lord so that he can bring destruction 
to these Philistines and hopefully bring the people of Israel to 
a place where instead of embracing this objection, they want to 
throw it off and they want to get back to where the Lord God 
had called them. Well, let us close in prayer. 
Our Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for 
your grace and mercy that you would raise up a man like Samson 
to begin the deliverance in Israel. We pray, Father, that you would 
help us to take away the lessons that we ought to see in a passage 
like this. Yes, your amazing grace, but 
as well the amazing cowardice of your people, quivering and 
afraid and subject to the Philistines and wanting it to be that way. 
God, help us to be faithful to you. Help us to be faithful to 
your word. Help us to be faithful to those 
things you've ordained for your church. I pray that you would 
go with us now, that you would watch over us in the remainder 
of this week. Again, be with our brothers and 
sisters who are challenged physically. Be with all of us, God, who are 
challenged spiritually. And bring us together on the 
Sabbath day that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. And 
we ask these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.