JUDGES LESSON 17


     We will begin this lesson in Judges 15:1 "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."

     The kid of the goats was, probably, a peace offering. She has
already been given to his friend, so her father would not let him go
in unto his wife. Whether this, again, is the will of God, or just
Samson wanting to see his wife is hard to tell. Everything he does
works to further the will of God with the Philistines.

     Judges 15:2 "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 had every right to hate her, because she tricked him into
telling her the riddle, and then told those he had challenged. That
was an act of treachery. Her dad knew that Samson should be angry with
her, and he thought Samson would want no more to do with her, so he
gave her to Samson's Philistine friend.  Samson did not want her
sister.

     Judges 15:3  "And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be
more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure."

     They will have nothing to blame Samson with about his unfaithful
wife. He does not directly do any harm to his wife, or her family. He
will get even with the Philistines though. We must remember all
through this, that God called him to destroy the Philistines.

     Judges 15:4 "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 them in nets, or snares. For this many to be in one
place had to be a miracle of God. This just means that Samson, tied a
fire to their tails, and sent them towards the crops of the
Philistines.

     Judges 15:5 "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."

     This means they ran through the corn, and set it on fire. It even
burned the stalks. The fire spread, and burned the vineyards, and the
olive trees.

     Judges 15:6  "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."

     This is the very thing they told her they would do, if she did
not find out about the riddle for them. You see, it did her no good at
all to be treacherous, and tell the riddle to the Philistines. She
came to the same fate, anyway. Burning with fire was judicial
punishment with the Hebrews, but these were Philistines that did this.
They were afraid to attack Samson personally.

     Judges 15:7  "And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done
this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease."

     It is really not known whether the burning of Samson's wife and
her father was to get even with her for starting this, or whether they
were trying to get even with Samson. It really does not matter. Samson
is going to avenge them anyway.

     Judges 15:8 "And he smote them hip and thigh with a great
slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam."

     This just means that he slaughtered them. We are not told how
many, but the word "great" indicates it was a large number of people.
The top of the rock, here, is, probably, speaking of a cleft in the
rock. It was, probably, up the side of the hill.

     Judges 15:9  "Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah,
and spread themselves in Lehi."

     He had said, if they would leave it alone, that would have been
the end of the killing, but they did not. Here, they have pitched
against him.

     Judges 15:10 "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."

     Judah thinks the Philistines have come against them, but they
have really come to get Samson, and bind him up for punishment. They
plan to destroy Samson.

     Judges 15:11 "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."

     Samson had chosen a high place on the side of the mountain,
because it was safer, and he could see them coming. Samson is fully
aware that the Philistines are after him. He, also, knows that what he
had done was in retaliation for what they had done to him. We must
continue to remember that, God wanted Samson to destroy the
Philistines, and free the children of Israel. It is interesting, that
so many men come against one man.

     Judges 15:12 "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."

     Samson has no fight with them. He will let them bind him and
carry him down, if they first promise that they will not attack him
themselves. These are Hebrews, and he has no quarrel with them.

     Judges 15:13 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.

     They have bound him to take him to the Philistines. They have
used two new ropes to bind him with. The Hebrews would not kill him,
but they were doing almost the same thing by carrying him down to the
Philistines. It is interesting, to me, that 3,000 men had to ask to
bind Samson.

     Judges 15:14   "[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."

     The Philistines were shouting, because they thought they would
surely be able to kill Samson. They were many, and he was just one
man. They had overlooked the power of God within Samson. Look at "the
spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him". God and Samson are a
majority, regardless of how many they are. The ropes were nothing to
him with the power of God within him. They broke easily, and fell from
his arms.

     Judges 15:15 "And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth
his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith."

     A new jawbone would not be dried out from the sun. It would be
pliable. Before the Philistines could recover from the two ropes
falling off of Samson, he had killed a thousand of them with the
jawbone of an ass. One can put a thousand to flight, when he is
operating in the power of God.

     Judges 15:16 "And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps
upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men."

     This, again, seems cruel, but we must continue to remember that,
God had brought Samson into the world to destroy the Philistines.

     Judges 15:17 "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 Ramath-lehi."

     "Ramath-lehi" means height of Lechi, or of the jawbone.
     Judges 15:18  "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?"

     This seemed to be a place, where there was no water, and Samson
was thirsty. He thought he might have to go to the Philistines to get
water.

     Judges 15:19 "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 En-
hakkore, which [is] in Lehi unto this day."

     God miraculously furnished him water to drink. God clave a place,
and a spring of water came out. Samson drank, and was refreshed.  I
believe it is saying, it was at the place of the jawbone.  It would
not matter though. God could make water come from the jawbone, if He
desired. He is God, and He can do with His creation whatever He wants
to. "En-hakkore" means spring of him that calleth.

     Judges 15:20 "And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines
twenty years."

     This shows that his strength from this spring of water revived
him, and he judged 20 years.




























                         Judges 17 Questions


1.  What did Samson take, when he went to see his wife?
2.  Who stopped him?
3.  Why was he not allowed to see his wife?
4.  Why had the father given her to his friend?
5.  Who did the father offer Samson, instead of his wife?
6.  Who will Samson take vengeance on?
7.  How many foxes did Samson catch?
8.  What did he do with them?
9.  What did the foxes burn up?
10. What answer did the Philistines get, when they asked who had done
    this?
11. What did the Philistines do to Samson's wife?
12. What does the statement " He smote them hip and thigh with a great
    slaughter" mean?
13. What is the top of the rock, probably, speaking of?
14. What did the Philistines do?
15. Who thinks the Philistines have come to attack them?
16. How many of them go to get Samson for the Philistines?
17. What did they say to Samson?
18. Why does Samson not kill them?
19. What does Samson agree, they can do to him?
20. What must we continue to remember in all of this killing?
21. What did Samson make the men of Judah swear to him?
22. How did they tie him up?
23. It is interesting, that it took _________ men to bind Samson?
24. What caused the cords to break on his arms?
25. What weapon did he use against the Philistines?
26. How many did Samson kill with this unusual weapon?
27. What did Samson name this place?
28. What does the name mean?
29. Samson was __________, after the killing of the Philistines?
30. What did God do to give him water to drink?
31. How long did Samson judge?