WITH GOD'S HELP SAMSON GETS HIS REVENGE

PROCLAMATION

“… And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.  And Samson said unto them, ‘Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.’ ”  Judges 15:6-7 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Prophet Samuel.  After Samson’s Philistine wife told her people the answer to the riddle, Samson went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men, stripped them of their clothing, and gave the clothes to the thirty Philistine men who were assigned to be his “companions.”  While he was gone Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions. (Judges 14:19-20)  When he returned Samson went to visit his wife but her father would not let him in because she had been given to one of his companions. (Judges 15:1-2)  Angered, Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes, tied a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches, let the foxes loose in the grain fields, and burned up the grain, the vineyards, and the olive groves. (Judges 15:3-5)  When the Philistines found out that he had done this, they burned his wife and her father to death.  Then Samson swore that he would have his revenge on them.  He attacked them and slaughtered many of them before going to a cave to rest. (Judges 15:6-8)  The men of Judah went to Samson to explain to him that the Philistine army had come for him and would attack them if they did not turn him over to them.  So he agreed to be tied up and given to the Philistines. (Judges 15:9-13)  When the Philistines approached him, The Spirit of The Lord came powerfully upon him and he took the jawbone of a donkey and killed three thousand men.  Afterwards, Samson led Israel for twenty years. (Judges 15:14-20)

 

APPLICATION

Being human, it is not easy to be a Christian and behave in a Christ-like manner.  In His Sermon on The Mount, Christ taught that we should love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us. (Matthew 5:44)  We are told to be kind to our enemy, for by doing so we are heaping burning coals upon their head. (Romans 12:20)  The Bible says, “Avenge not yourselves … for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,’ saith The Lord.” (Romans 12:19)  We need help.