Judges 15
The text doesn’t tell how much time has passed, but we can see his emotional trajectory is going in the wrong direction. The end of chapter 13 states that Samson was blessed as he grew. The end of chapter 14 shows that Samson was in hot anger.
Chapter 15 shows Samson engaged in full-throttled revenge. It always surprises me how quickly people can go from being inside the blessing of God to something very different. Samson is not the only person that experienced this trajectory. We are very capable of this trap!
The chapter begins with an angry Samson returning to his wife, only to learn that his father-in-law gave her to another man. Samson is offered his sister-in-law as another option. Samson’s story is so bizarre.
This is the beginning of rage turning into revenge. Verse 3 says that Samson will do them harm and count himself innocent. He committed intentional, malicious behavior. There are people in America on trial for the similar patterns of behavior.
Remember, people who claim to serve God do horrible things to other people. That doesn’t make God less loving and less gracious. It’s not God’s fault when bad things happen that should not.
The rest of the chapter involves Samson and the Philistines leveraging for power and position. People are betrayed. People are killed. God is not worshipped. God is not humbly submitted to. Acting out of revenge does horrible things in this world. We ought to be careful that we don’t follow Samson’s pattern of behavior.
Three things revenge does to a person.
Revenge controls you. I think Samson thought he was in control of the situation. I think he thought there wasn’t a problem with his anger. I think Samson thought he was just fine. Clearly, Samson was not okay.
Revenge takes you further than you planned. Samson was not satisfied until the Philistines were destroyed. Many people became involved because his father-in-law made a bad decision. A family conflict killed innocent people.
Revenge disintegrates good relationships. In verse 11, 3000 Israelites come to arrest Samson and turn him over to the Philistines. When a person gets to a point where his own side no longer supported him, there has been a problem for too long. Samson needed a person in his life that could offer correction and restoration. Years prior to this moment, Samson needed a person to help with walk with God.
The chapter ends with Samson demanding physical nourishment from God. His rage and revenge and taken him so far-off mission that he truly thought he was in control.
What about you and me? In our current American culture, anger and revenge seems to be an accepted practice. However, those emotions and actions always go further than we intended. Rage and revenge always hurt other people. There is always shrapnel. There is often friendly fire. Rage and revenge control us before we realize we have lost control.
Today, I encourage you to get alone with God and look for areas of anger in your own life. This anger will prevent you from pressing forward into the mission God has for you.