Samson’s Revenge
Revenge – Inigo Mantoya in Princess Bride
John Wick – justice on the guys who killed his dog
Avengers
Can Christians get revenge? Is Christian Revenge possible or contradictory to the Gospel?
Does the Bible talk about Revenge? Surprisingly a lot!
Jesus saying if someone strikes you on right cheek, turn to him the other as well, seems to eliminate Christian Revenge.
BUT what about Justice?!?
Justice for wrongdoers.
Justice for the orphan, widow, poor, the foreigner
Judges 15:1–3 (ESV)
1 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.”
Previous chapter – made a bet – if they could solve his riddle he had to give them 30 changes of clothes – kills 30 Philistines to fulfill his promise. (so guilty)
Mad at philistines – but actually the father who has done wrong.
He takes it out on all philistines
Justice in our eyes - goes too far!
Someone hurts me – I hurt the whole family.
Exodus 21:22–25 (ESV)
22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Leviticus 24:19–20 (ESV)
19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
Exodus 21:22–25 (ESV)
22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
God’s justice had limits –
Man’s justice exceeded.
Today – legal system civil and criminal, $
Let’s see how Samson is going to respond to his wife being given to another?
Judges 15:4–5 (ESV)
4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
Burned standing and stacked grain (remember harvest time) and olive orchards!
Huge financial losses – not just stealing but destroying wealth
Did it to many people, not just the dad or the best man who took his wife
Judges 15:6 (ESV)
6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
Philistines burn the father and wife. – JUSTICE?
Our world is full of justice – or injustice
We have an innate sense of justice. Something violates that we want to see it made right.
“anger always makes a value judgment. Anger is always a moral matter. It has rightly been called the moral emotion because it makes a statement about what matters”
*“Moral sanity must disapprove of wrong and that disapproval is the essence of anger” – David Powlison, Good and Angry
At times, it is right to be angry.
James 1:19–20 (ESV)
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Ephesians 4:26–27 (ESV)
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
Opportunity = “place” (topos)
Christian anger – yes, Christian revenge – NO!
Revenge –
Genesis 4:23b–24 (ESV)
23…I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”
Genesis 34 – Rape of Dinah (Simeon and Levi kill all the men of Shechem)
I was innocent and you hurt me; now you are guilty and I need to teach you a lesson – so MORE!
GOLDEN RULE:
Matthew 7:12 (ESV)
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Revenge is a demonic twist on the golden rule
Leviticus 19:17–18 (ESV)
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
We judge others by their actions but ourselves by our intentions.
AND if we have evil in our heart we judge ourselves righteous if we don’t act and others wicked if we perceive evil intentions
Judges 15:6 (ESV)
6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
Judges 15:7–8 (ESV)
7 And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
Judges 15:8 (CSB)
8 He tore them limb from limb and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
PROGRESSION
Philistines cheat to get out of the wager
Samson kills 30 to fulfill, but leaves afterward
Father-in-law marries off daughter
Samson sets fire to crops with 300 foxes
Philistines burn father-in-law and wife
Samson kills a bunch, tearing limb from limb
Then I’ll quit
Judges 15:9–10 (ESV)
9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. 10 And 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 did to us.”
Philistines in control – the govt.
Judah - “Why have you come up against us? What did we do?”
Do to him as he did to us? – justice
Want to bind him, not kill him?
Fate worse than death – humiliate, torture…
Judges 15:11 (ESV)
11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.”
Samson’s golden rule –
Our justice – is all about us; we don’t really see the other person; we see “just us”
Judges 15:12–13 (ESV)
12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
Just going to bind you (that’s what they want) – just do whatever the govt says
Judges 15:14–17 (ESV)
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. 16 And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.” 17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi. (Jawbone Hill)
Samson – arrested by the enemy – but Spirit of Lord rushes upon him.
Grabs donkey jawbone kills 1000 men.
Donkey jaw bone – touching the dead thing again
REMEMBER SAMSON WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NAZIRITE:
No grapes
No dead things
No haircuts
Touching the dead again
Judges 15:18 (ESV)
18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
Samson attitude – whiny, complaining
Judges 15:19-20 (ESV)
19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Could end there – but Samson is a tragedy
Judges 16:1–3 (ESV)
1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
Samson ignores the Torah – commits adultery
Pulls gates out and escapes in middle of night
REMEMBER – he (like you and me) tend to simplify God’s commands and do the ones that are convenient, but omit the others.
Judges 16:4 (ESV)
4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Sorek = grapes
Judges 16:5–6 (ESV)
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”
Philistines – where is the source of his strength? (Didn’t look like the Dwayne the Rock Johnson
HOW TO BE BOUND?
Satan wants to bind you.
Each of us can be bound in different ways –
Our past – identity
Our desires – good things taken out of balance
3x – Samson gives an answer and 3x Delilah tries
1. Fresh undried bowstrings
2. New ropes – unused
Judges 16:13 (NLT)
13 Then Delilah said, “You’ve been making fun of me and telling me lies! Now tell me how you can be tied up securely.” Samson replied, “If you were to weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle, I would become as weak as anyone else.” So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric.
NOTICE the third one has to do with his hair
Flirting with the truth; flirting with sin
Samson had compromised every area except the hair, now compromising this final vow
Maybe began to believe that God would allow him to have the strength even if cut?
No consequence, no consequence, no…
God loves us enough to not allow us to sin comfortably.
SUMMARY - DELILAH – wove the hair into the loom – but that didn’t do it. It wasn’t cut.
Judges 16:15–17 (ESV)
15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
Ah the truth – does he feel safe?
No, She has done exactly what he said last 3x
1 John 2:11 (ESV)
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Sin blinds
worn out
The more you walk in darkness, the more blind you are to your sin.
Sleeping with girlfriend – won’t be objective whether you should break up, move out, get married
Can’t pray about sin – sin blinds
1 John 1:8 (ESV)
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Must agree with God that we have sinned.
Repent of sin – turn away and around, go the other direction
In our own eyes – it doesn’t seem that bad
RIGHT IN GOD’S EYES?
Judges 16:18–21 (ESV)
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
THE LORD HAD LEFT HIM –
EYES GOUGED OUT
Right in Your Eyes? God’s judgment – eyes gouged out
Couldn’t see – spiritual blindness
Matthew 5:27–30 (ESV)
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Judges 16:22 (ESV)
22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
We may want to freeze our hair cut so it stops changing – but idea is that we continue to grow.
Nazirite was supposed to offer the hair as a burnt offering – instead Samson had a burnt life – all his life seemingly up in smoke
Judges 16:23–25 (ESV)
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.
Remember – they didn’t want to kill Samson – wanted to humiliate him.
Judges 16:28–30 (ESV)
28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
Avenge me – not forgive my selfishness, and stupidity; avenge me
I lost my 2 eyes, they should lose their life
Suicide would be honorable - ????
3000 die at his death, more than his entire life
Vengeance – the Lord honored his request BUT…
Romans 12:17–21 (NLT)
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Enemy is hungry… - quoting Proverbs 25:22
Matthew 5:38–45a (ESV)
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
THE GOSPEL – you can’t do this Christian walk – need Jesus
Forgiveness
REMEMBER JUSTICE?
Something bad was done. Things need to be made right.
Jesus who was the righteousness of God – the perfectly right-ness of God
Came and suffered an awful, painful death to pay for your sins and mine
GOD’S VENGEANCE –
Every sin will be paid for on the cross or in Hell.
If we hold a grudge, we doubt the Judge.
We see our sins as small, and others’ as great
How much should a person suffer for their sins?
How much should you suffer for yours?
Story of 10 Amish girls shot
Following the tragic Amish school shooting of 10 young schoolgirls in a one-room Amish school in October 2006, reporters from throughout the world invaded Lancaster County, PA
https://lancasterpa.com/amish/amish-school-shooting/
https://lancasterpa.com/amish/amish-forgiveness/
Application
Who do you need to forgive?
Do you see others’ sins against you as worse than your sins against God?
Are you walking in darkness in some area and need to repent?
Additional Study:
Cities of Refuge – avenger of blood; until the death of the high priest
Joshua 20:1–6 (ESV)
1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. 6 And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’ ”
Matthew 18:21–35 (ESV)
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Gold talent = 58-75 lb. Price of Gold at $1256.63/oz x 16oz x 70 lbs = $14,074,256,000
Talent also consider a bag of gold - 6000 denarii or 20 years wages. 10,000 talents = 200,000 years wages or approximately $6B!