Can a little squabble quickly escalate? Can we make peace? Can God use even the worst leaders for divine purposes? Let’s begin in Judges 15.
Did Samson return to find that his wife had been given to another man?
Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in. “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.” Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves. (Judges 15:1-5 NIV)
Did Samson’s revenge set off more retaliation from the Philistines?
“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “Samson,” was the reply, “because his father-in-law from Timnah gave Samson’s wife to be married to his best man.” So the Philistines went and got the woman and her father and burned them to death. “Because you did this,” Samson vowed, “I won’t rest until I take my revenge on you!” So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam. The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and spreading out near the town of Lehi. The men of Judah asked the Philistines, “Why are you attacking us?” The Philistines replied, “We’ve come to capture Samson. We’ve come to pay him back for what he did to us.” (Judges 15:6-10 NLT)
What did the men of Judah do to Samson to try and keep the Philistines off their backs?
The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.” Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.” They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” They spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will bind you securely and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. (Judges 15:10-13 WEB)
What did Samson do to the ropes that bound him and his captors at Lehi?
When Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines met him and came out shouting. The Lord’s spirit rushed over him, the ropes on his arms became like burned-up linen, and the ties melted right off his hands. He found a donkey’s fresh jawbone, picked it up, and used it to attack one thousand men. Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone, stacks on stacks! With a donkey’s jawbone, I’ve killed one thousand men.” When he finished speaking, he tossed away the jawbone. So that place became known as Ramath-lehi [Jawbone Hill]. (Judges 15:14-17 CEB)
Did God care for Samson’s thirst? Was Israel still under Philistine oppression?
Samson was so thirsty that he prayed, “Our Lord, you helped me win a battle against a whole army. Please don't let me die of thirst now. Those heathen Philistines will carry off my dead body.” Samson was tired and weary, but God sent water gushing from a rock. Samson drank some and felt strong again. Samson named the place Caller Spring [En-hakkore], because he had called out to God for help. The spring is still there at Jawbone. Samson was a leader of Israel for 20 years, but the Philistines were still the rulers of Israel. (Judges 15:18-20 CEV)
How can we overcome the tendency for trouble in churches?
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14 ESV)
Is there a special blessing for those who work hard to make peace?
The peacemakers are blessed, for they will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9 HCSB)
Can a little squabble quickly escalate? Can we make peace? Can God use even the worst leaders for divine purposes? You decide!
