Judges 15:9 says, Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. The Philistines went up and camped outside Judah, Verse ten says, 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. The men of Judah asked the Philistines why they were ready to go to war with them, and they said they had come to bind Samson because of what he had done to them. Even if all that we are doing is sharing the gospel, we may make the people of the world ready to go to war with us today, and other Christians may be attacked because of our actively serving God. Verse eleven continues, 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. Three thousand of the men of Judah went up to the top of the rock Etam, and asked Samson what he had done to the Philistines and if he didn't know that the Philistines were rulers over Israel. If we as followers of Christ begin to stand strongly against evil in the world today, some who call themselves Christians may oppose us and question why we are doing what we are doing. They sent three thousand men to question Samson, so they must have known how strong he was. Samson said he did to the Philistines as they had done unto him. We as Christians should never treat those who have treated us badly the same way through, because we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Verse twelve states, 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. They told Samson that they had come to bind him for the Philistines, and Samson simply asked that they not fight against him themselves. I don't believe this was because Samson thought they could defeat him, but because he didn't want to destroy three thousand of his fellow Israelites. We should never go to war with other Christians. Verse thirteen adds, 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. The Israelites told Samson that they would not kill him, only bind him and deliver him to the Philistines. They may have feared Samson, but they feared the Philistines more, so instead of rallying around him, they wanted to bind him. We need to pray that we never fear the people of the world more than we have faith in God to deliver us from them. They bound Smson with two new cords and brought him down off the rock. Verse fourteen continues, And when he came unto Lehi, 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. When they got to Lehi, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Samson mightily, and the cords binding him became as useless as burned flax. What we as followers of Christ need to realize is that the Holy Spirit indwells us today and is still as powerful as He was in Samson day, so we should never allow the world to bind our faith. Verse fifteen declares, And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. Once set free, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Samson found the jawbone of an ass and killed a thousand Philistines. He didn't need more powerful weapons or even more people to help him, because he was acting under the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit under His leadership is still all we need today. Verse sixteen adds, And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. Of course, then instead of giving glory to God, Samson gave glory to himself. Matthew Henry says that Samson had to give himself praise because the men of Judah didn't, but I still believe that he, like we ourselves, should never seek self glorification, but should always seek the glorification of God. We should never brag about our victories as Christians today, but should always give the glory to God. Verse seventeen says, 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. After Samson finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and called the place Ramathlehi. He still did not acknowledge that the Spirit of God was responsible for his success. Verse eighteen continues, 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 did finally give credit to God, but more to complain than to glorify Him. He said God had given him a great deliverance, but then complained asking God if He did so only to allow Samson to then die of thirst. God has already given us the greatest victory, the victory over the power of sin and death, but we still too often complain when we have even minor problems in life, while questioning God's concern for us. Verse nineteen states, But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; 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. God took the jawbone and brought water out of it. The jawbone was not responsible for Samson’s victory over the Philistines, nor was it responsible for the water. God was responsible in both cases. Verse twenty adds, And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. Samson then judged Israel, for twenty years. Though they were still under the Philistines, they had a judge to rule over them. We may be under the rule of earthly governments today, but we as Christians still have the Judge, God Himself, to rule over us.
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