(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 15:9–17, “Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 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.”
Israel was afraid of the Philistines and the Philistines were afraid of Samson. The Philistines decided to force Israel to do something about Samson for them. They attacked Judah and when Judah asked why they had attacked the Philistines told them that they really wanted Samson and they would spare Judah if Judah delivered Samson to them. Samson wasn’t afraid of the Philistines but he was concerned that Judah might betray them. Judah couldn’t do anything to capture Samson because he was so strong but they were able to talk to Samson. Samson made a deal with Judah, he promised that they could take him to the Philistines bound hand and foot as long as they didn’t do anything to him themselves. Samson was strong in the Lord’s Name but he was afraid of betrayal by his friends. This is a sad state of affairs and can still happen today. Too often people who want to do things for the Lord are wounded by the people they accept as their friends even though we can go in the Name of the Lord without fear. Judah took Samson down to the Philistines and when they saw Samson bound hand and foot they were glad and shouted with a triumphant shout. Samson was filled with the Lord’s spirit and he broke the cords that bound him. He found the jaw bone of a dead donkey and used that as a weapon. He killed a thousand Philistines in battle, as they tried to kill him. Samson composed a small poem to celebrate his victory and called the place after this great victory.
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