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 broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men!” Judges 15:13-16
I wrote about the call of God on Samson in the last devotional. He was called to defeat the enemies of God and specifically the Philistines. The account of Samson in the book of Judges shows that he had great success in conquering his enemies and single-handedly overcoming them. Samson was a strong man and was able to kill a thousand men all by himself.
In some ways, Samson reminds me of Goliath (See 1Samuel 17). Just as Israelites were intimidated and were trying to kill Goliath, the Philistines knew Samson’s reputation, and they looked for every opportunity to trap him and make him ineffective. What is truly the difference between Samson and Goliath? It is not necessarily their character but the call of God. The difference is that Samson was on God’s side, and he was helping the Israelites, but Goliath was on the side of enemy and wanted to kill the Israelites.
While Samson had great success in his life, he was also a hot-tempered man who used his strength to get back at those who made him angry. We cannot make a success formula out of Samson’s life because he was such a mixture of God’s will and self will! Samson doesn’t fit our ideal picture of a Godly Biblical character because in one instance he is doing the will of the Father and at another instance he falls prey to his own passions.
Does that remind you of some people you know? Does that remind you of you? We can be so spiritual and self-controlled in one moment, but at another moment, we can give in to anger and frustration wondering if we even know what self-control means.
Samson continued to get away with his hot temper, but in the midst of his carnality, he did the will of God! Isn’t it amazing that God was able to use Samson in spite of his big issues!?
