Thursday, April 30, 2020

Judges 15:1 says, 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.  After a period of time, Samson decided to visit his wife, but his father-in-law wouldn't let him go in.  Samson had brought with him a kid. a young goat.  Samson had been wronged, but he had cooled off and brought a gift, though it may have been but a token, but he was rejected.  All we can do if we have been wronged as followers of Christ, is to cool off if we are angry and do our best to restore broken relationships.  Verse two states, 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.  Samson's father-in-law said he thought that Samson hated his wife, so he gave her to another man.  He then offered her younger sister to Samson instead. It was really not a good time to be a female.  Of course, the attitude of the father-in-law would imply that he believed any woman was pretty much the same as the other and that there could be no real feelings involved.  Verse three declares, And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.  Samson said that even though he was wrong in being angry that the displeasure that he was about to bring to the Philistines was because of their doing a greater wrong to him.  Though as Christians we are not to be in the getting even business, there comes a point where we must take a stand, even if it makes those around us angry.  Verse four says, 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.  Samson caught three hundred foxes and tied them by twos tail to tail, and tied a fire brand between their tails.  Verse five adds, 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.  Samson then turned the foxes loose in the cornfields of the Philistines, and burned the cornfields and the vineyards up.  Now, I know that many people today would say that Samson was abusing the foxes, but I don't believe this is the point.  Verse six states, 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.  The Philistines asked who had done this, and were told Samson, and then were told why he had done it.  The Philistines did not go against Samson, but burned his wife and father-in-law to death.  Though they may have been somewhat responsible for Samson doing hat he did, the Philistines should have gone after the one who had burned their crops.  If someone has wronged us today, that does not allow us to seek to punish those who may have had a role in their actions.  Verse seven says, And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.  Samson said that he would avenge what they had done, and then he would cease.  He was not looking for anything greater than to avenge his wife's death.  Though she may have betrayed him, though not necessarily by her choice, he still felt a responsibility toward her evidently.  Verse eight declares, And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.  Samson killed many of the Philistines, and then he went to live in the top of the rock Etam.  Samson then waited to see what the Philistines would do.  He did not seek to do more than he felt was necessary to avenge the death of his wife.  We are not called on to be avengers in the world today as followers of Christ, but we still must stand up to the evil in the world.

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