Judges 15 (NKJV)

14 “When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [b]broke loose from his hands.

Well, chapter 15 is certainly action-packed! Samson decides to go back and claim

his ishsheh” the Hebrew word which can mean woman or wife. Because Samson huffed and puffed off in a rage, her status was unclear, and this ancient Hebrew word has two meanings. Things did not go as he expected, so his actions release a destructive chain of events from tying jackals’ tails together with a lit torch attached and destroying the wheat fields of simple farmers, to his former ishsheh and her father being burned to death, to the slaughter of a random number of Philistines, to 3,000 Israelites arresting Samson and doing the Philistines job for them instead of fighting them and driving them out of their land.

In this drama, we do not read of the Spirit of the LORD coming upon him until verse 14., giving him greater strength. He snaps new ropes which bind him and uses a fresh donkey’s jawbone- one that which not dried out from the sun and brittle- to slaughter 1,000 Philistines. The root word for donkey and heap is the same, which helps to make some sense of his poem in verse 16. He stacked several heaps of corpses. Samson acknowledges who won the battle and begs the LORD for water. God provided water for Samson similarly to the way He did for the wandering Israelites.

So how is this very gruesome chapter applicable to today? The true source of Samson’s strength was not because he was a Nazarite. The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon Samson in the last two chapters enabling him to do unheard things. Fast forward to Acts 1:3, and Jesus tells his disciples to wait for the Promise of the Father, the fulfillment of Joel chapter 2. This same Spirit who “came mightily upon” Samson lives in us today because of Jesus. While it is improbable, we will break ropes that bind us or slay a battalion with the jawbone of a donkey; we have the same Power living in us to break the strongholds of sin which binds us and defeat Satan’s grip on our lives. I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to shout!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You gave us the Promise, the Power of Holy Spirit. He lives in us, guiding us, protecting us, strengthening us. What a gift! We don’t have to walk in the defeat like the Philistines, we walk in the victory of the resurrected Jesus. We walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. We walk in the assurance of Your Word that tells us we will have life everlasting. We are not yet perfect, but will be one day. We are not defeated. We are victorious. We are children of the Most High God.! We give you honor and praise and glory. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.