“Then the Spirit of Adonai came over him powerfully. He went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their good clothes, and gave them to the men who had “solved” the riddle. He was boiling with rage, so he went straight up to his father’s house, and his wife was given to the companion who had been best man at the wedding.”-Judges 14:20
Whaddaya get when you combine the boiling anger of a very strong man with the power of the Holy Spirit?
The answer is pure mayhem.
Samson was outraged that his own bride had betrayed him to the Philistines by giving them the answer to his riddle.
On top of that, he now had to find a way to come up with 30 sets of clothing to settle the bet he’d just lost.
Samson could’ve told the men…
“Hey, since you threatened my wife to get the answer to my riddle, all bets are off”.
I suspect the reason Samson didn’t do that was because he must have felt some guilt for throwing out an impossible to solve riddle in the first place.
So what route did Samson decide to take instead?
The answer was VIOLENCE.
We’re told he traveled to a place called Ashkelon and proceeded to slaughter 30 men there so he could take their clothes and make good on the bet he just lost.
Now you’re probably not aware of this, but the city of Ashkelon is located a good 20 miles away from where Samson was.
In other words, the men he killed had zero connection to the wedding.
As far as we can tell, these were random murders on Samson’s behalf.
If you just happened to be a male citizen living in Ashkelon wearing nice clothing, it very well could have been your life on the line.
So Samson tore the clothes off of the dead bodies and I guess with a smug look on his face handed them over to the men he’d lost the bet to.
Afterwards he returned to his parent’s home in Tzorah of Judah.
Meanwhile back in Timnah, Samson’s wife and her family were still waiting for Samson to return.
But he never did.
Wow, what an offense to the girl’s family.
And what a troubling predicament.
Was Samson committed to his new bride or not?
I can imagine the thoughts stirring in the mind of the girl and her family.
We don’t know how much time passed but we’re told the girl’s father ended up giving her in marriage to Samson’s best man.
What a freakin’ mess!
However, back up for a second and take a look at verse 19:
“Then the Spirit of Adonai came over him powerfully. He went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their good clothes, and gave them to the men who had “solved” the riddle. He was boiling with rage, so he went straight up to his father’s house…”
We’re told in no uncertain terms that it was God Himself who instigated this mess.
I imagine this is one of those parts of Scripture Christians are quick to dismiss and sweep under the rug…
I imagine they’d say this is one of those terrible Old Testament stories that no longer has any relevance to us now that we’re under the New Covenant which is all about pouring a lot of thick maple syrupy love over our pancakes.
In response, I’d remind them of this verse from Isaiah:
“I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create evil:
I the Lord do all these things.“
-Isaiah 45:7
Sure Samson had some serious anger management issues.
But God without apology used that to achieve His purpose to cause trouble between the Philistines and the Israelites.
And here’s the more difficult question, if the Lord our God is the same yesterday, today and forever, what makes you think He ain’t doing the same thing right now between the Palestinians and Israel?
And remember, the word “Palestine” is the Greek word for “Philistine”.
So because of all that happened…
Samson’s thoughtless decision to marry some random Philistine girl because he thought she was hot…
The bride’s decision to betray Samson by giving the answer to his riddle to her countrymen…
And the girl’s father handing her over to another man in marriage…
Because of all this, a war was about to break out between the Philistines and Samson.
Over and out.
Oh I almost forgot to mention, remember yesterday I told you that in order to paint Samson in a positive light, the Rabbis say Samson’s wife converted to Judaism before the wedding ceremony?
Well, after this turn of events, the Rabbis now say that Samson’s so-called “bride” gave up her Judaism and allegiance to the God of Israel to return to the religion of the Philistines.
Isn’t it so interesting how we so forcefully project our own agenda onto the Scriptures?
Okay, I’m done.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN JUDGES CHAPTER 15
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