Jdg 15:1-20 With the Jawbone of an Ass, Have I Slain a Thousand Men

[Study Aired July 19, 2021]

Jdg 15:1  But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
Jdg 15:2  And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
Jdg 15:3  And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 
Jdg 15:4  And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 
Jdg 15:5  And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. 
Jdg 15:6  Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. 
Jdg 15:7  And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 
Jdg 15:8  And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. 
Jdg 15:9  Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 
Jdg 15:10  And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. 
Jdg 15:11  Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 
Jdg 15:12  And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 
Jdg 15:13  And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 
Jdg 15:14  And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
Jdg 15:15  And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 
Jdg 15:16  And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
Jdg 15:17  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
Jdg 15:18  And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Jdg 15:19  But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
Jdg 15:20  And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

This chapter deals with our realization of what Babylon really is and also the struggle we go through with our flesh as we see Samson engage the Philistines in a fight of his life.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Jdg 15:1  But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

Samson’s return visit to claim his Philistine wife occurred during the time of the wheat harvest. Spiritually, the wheat harvest is when we come to know the difference between the tares and the wheat, or good from evil. It is also the time period that we come to see ourselves as the greatest sinner and therefore cannot help ourselves unless God intervenes.

Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

1Sa 12:17  Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

Here in 1 Samuel 12:17, we are made aware that it is through the word of God (rain) and judgment (thunder) that we come to see who we really are. It is during this period of wheat harvest that we come to see who the Philistine woman really is – that is, she is married to another Jesus. The statement that her father “would not suffer him to go in” means that all that is happening is according to the counsel of God. God, in His mercy and wisdom, delivers us from continuing our fellowship with Babylon if we are marked as His elect.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Jdg 15:2  And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

It is the Lord who takes the initiative to disengage us from Babylon. Our flesh would want to continue having dominion over us by suggesting that even though the churches we attended were not up to the standard of God, there may be other churches (younger sister) who may be doing well with which we can have fellowship. The truth about the younger sister, who is called Aholibah in the scriptures, is that she is worse than her elder sister.

Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
Eze 23:5  And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,

Eze 23:11  And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.

Jdg 15:3  And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

This verse is confirming to us that our Lord (represented here by Samson) looks for an occasion or a reason to come into our lives to judge us just like a father punishes a son or daughter when they do something wrong. This is the way our Lord treats us so that at the end of the day, we will know that He is more blameless than us – as spoken by Samson!! Like Job, we want to bask in our own self-righteousness, and in doing so condemn our Lord as being unjust for all the suffering we are going through.

Job 40:6  Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
Job 40:7  “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
Job 40:8  Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? (ESV)

Jdg 15:4  And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 
Jdg 15:5  And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

The foxes here stand for our leaders or prophets in Babylon during our time there. The tails of these foxes also signify prophets that teach lies. What these “men of God” teach is like fire that burns down or destroys the standing corn with the vineyards and olives, which represent the truth of the word of God we had while we were in Babylon. Thus, we become worse off in Babylon than when we started.

Eze 13:4  O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jud 1:8  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

What this means is that in Babylon, even the little truth that we had received from the word of God is taken away from us. We therefore become impoverished in Babylon. Our time in Babylon was just like the time when Samuel was ministering in the presence of Eli.

1Sa 3:1  Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

Jdg 15:6  Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
Jdg 15:7  And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 

As stated earlier, the time of the wheat harvest is when we come to realize that instead of Christ, we have been given another Jesus during our time in Babylon. Therefore, like the Philistines, we come to loathe all we have acquired in Babylon. It is when we have come to this realization that Christ comes in with the word of His mouth, which is like fire, to start the burning down of Babylon (Samson’s wife) and the flesh (Her father and the Philistines) within us.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Jdg 15:8  And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Samson went and dwelt at the top of the rock called Etam.  According to Strong, Etam means a Hawk. We know from the scriptures that the rock is Christ, and here Christ is described as a Hawk. Hawks have hunting techniques which makes them capture their prey easily. In a similar vein, Christ is like a hawk who flies to and fro over the earth to capture His prey, which is His elect for the kingdom.

2Ch 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

As we abide in Christ, who is the rock, we are given victory over the flesh, which is the great slaughter. The smiting of the hip and thigh is another way of saying that anything that affects our walk with Christ initially is dealt with by the Lord.

Psa 31:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
Psa 31:2  Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
Psa 31:3  For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

Jdg 15:9  Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 
Jdg 15:10  And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

The Philistines pitching in Judah is to let us know that the enemies are within us – that is our flesh. Lehi, according to Strong’s dictionary, means soft as in the softness of the flesh covering our cheek bone. Spreading themselves in Lehi implies that the enemies focus on the vulnerable areas of our lives to defeat us. These areas of least resistance in our lives are the sins that easily beset us, which are the focus of the devil’s attacks. In other words, a little leaven (propensity towards error), leavens the whole lump.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Verse 10 indicates that the purpose of the flesh within is to bind us and ultimately destroy us; that means destroying our relationship with Christ. That is the same as being unable to do the things that we would in Galatians 5:17.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Jdg 15:11  Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

The three thousand men of Judah is symbolic to let us know that all which is happening to us in terms of our struggle with the flesh is part of the process of becoming spiritually complete (3000 = 3x10x10x10). Within us sometimes, we hear voices of the flesh telling us, like the men of Judah, that this war with the flesh can never be won since we are flesh and therefore dominated by the flesh. This is the same as saying, “Who can make war with the beast?”

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Jdg 15:12  And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
Jdg 15:13  And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

Verse 12 shows us the intent of the flesh within us – that is to bind us to deliver us to the devil to sift us like wheat and destroy us. However, the good news is that our High priest Jesus is praying for us that our faith will not fail!!

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Like Samson, we become apprehensive about being overcome by the flesh and therefore being put to death spiritually. That is what Samson meant when he told the men of Judah, his own flesh, that they should swear that he would not be killed by them. We all struggle like Esther and wonder whether the King will extend his sceptre to us in our time of need or if we will be put to death. This is contrary to the teaching we had in Babylon that claims we are already saved, and we quote some scriptural verses to support our assurance of salvation.

Est 4:16  Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

In Philippians 2:12, we are admonished to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. The fear and trembling means that we may wonder at times whether we are going to make it to the first resurrection. As we indicated in the previous review, one of the things that assures us that we are on the right track to our destination is that our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing!

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Outwardly, the men of Judah represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon. As indicated in verse 12, the whole period of our engagement with Babylon is that we end up being bound in chains or groping in the dark and needing deliverance from the Lord just like Samson as he was brought to the Philistines in bondage. It is significant to note that the men of Judah removed Samson from the rock in verse 13. As indicated earlier, the rock is Christ and so at the end of our journey in Babylon, we are removed from abiding in Christ.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Samson was bound by the men of Judah with the purpose of delivering him to the enemy, the Philistines. Like Samson, we become entangled in sin again and again even after the victories we have won over the flesh. In our battle with sin, we may lose some fights but not the war. If we have been penciled to be part of the elect, then whatever the devil throws at us, we shall overcome. Jesus admonished us that in our struggle against sin, we do not have to resist to the point of shedding blood. In other words, we would not be cut short through death (shedding of blood) in our journey of overcoming the flesh if we are called and chosen.

Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Psa 124:6  Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Psa 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Psa 124:8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Jdg 15:14  And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

As indicated earlier, Lehi means soft as it relates to the softness of our flesh covering our jaw bones in our face. So what we are being told here is that, as we get to know our Lord Jesus more through the word of God (the Spirit of the Lord), the chains binding us from our Babylonian captivity are broken. This comes at a time that we realize our weakness (Meaning of Lehi) that we can of ourselves do nothing. That is when our Lord raises a standard against the enemy within (the Philistines) when he comes at us like a flood!!

Isa 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

Paul puts it this way: “when I am weak, then I am strong!!”

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

My brothers and sisters, the only way we can win this fight to overcome the flesh or the old man is that we look to Jesus. If we look within, we will see all our weaknesses, and the devil will use these weaknesses to discourage us from running the race. The devil comes to us to tell us that we are not up to the standard God requires with all these weaknesses in us. We might as well give up the fight because there is no way we can overcome. however, in our weakness, like Samson at Lehi, we are made strong!! All the disciples before us had weaknesses but through Christ they were made strong.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The weaknesses we are talking about here is explained by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10. It relates to infirmities, persecutions, the distress we go through, our anxieties, worries, challenges, etc.; in other words, our inadequacies to do anything. It is when we realize our inadequacies that we rely on Christ alone to deliver us. That is what makes us strong – depending on Him alone!! That was what happened to Samson.

Jdg 15:15  And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
Jdg 15:16  And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

As suggested earlier, the jawbone is taken from the softness of the flesh from the cheek. In Exodus 34:20, the firstling of an ass is compared to the firstborn sons of Israel. This indicates that an ass can also represent the elect. Again, Jesus, in answering the Pharisees about the healing of a man on a Sabbath day, made the statement that when an ass falls into a pit on a Sabbath day, will the Pharisees not care about it? So this is to confirm that an ass represents the elect. Let’s also remember that it was with an ass that Jesus made His triumphant entry to Jerusalem. This means it is through the elect that Christ would be made known to Babylon and the world.

Exo 34:20  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

Luk 14:1  And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
Luk 14:2  And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
Luk 14:3  And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
Luk 14:4  And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
Luk 14:5  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

What we are being told here in verse 15 is that out of our weaknesses (the jawbone of an ass), comes strength from the Lord to defeat the enemies on our behalf. The thousand men being slain signify the dying of our flesh or our old man as we look up to the Lord in our weaknesses.

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Jdg 15:17  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

At the end of Samson’s speaking, he put away the jawbone out of his hands. Our end of speaking is when the tent of our body is destroyed – when we physically die. That is when we shall cast away our weaknesses or the jawbone out of our hands. This means that in this life, we shall have weaknesses, but God will carry us through to the end if we are destined to reign with Him.

2Co 5:1  For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2Co 5:2  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
2Co 5:3  if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.
2Co 5:4  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
2Co 5:5  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2Co 5:6  So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
2Co 5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Co 5:8  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2Co 5:9  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (ESV)

Jdg 15:18  And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

In the midst of victory, Samson became apprehensive and wondered whether he may end up falling into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines. In the same way, we sometimes become vulnerable as a result of all that we are going through even in the face of victories. Except the Lord comes to our aid through our brothers and sisters, we would not be able to finish this race which is marked out for us. What will sustain us in our vulnerability is the word of God which every joint supplies as we gather together. That is why we are cautioned to get together as we see the day of the Lord approaching. The day of the Lord is our judgment day.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

When we read the letters of Paul, we can see that sometimes he needed encouragement from other brethren. This is exemplified in the following:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 1:16  The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: 
2Ti 1:17  But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.
2Ti 1:18  The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
2Ti 4:9  Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11  Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

This race we are running is not for the strong but for the weak who put their trust in the Lord.

Ecc 9:11  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Jdg 15:19  But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

In our weakness, God comes to us to revive us through the word of God given to us by our brothers and sisters who also have weaknesses. This water that comes from the hollow place in our jaw to nourish us is the word of God which comes to us in season at our weakest points in life. If we pay attention to these words from our brethren (that is, if we drink this water), we become strengthened to face the challenges of the day.

There are times, too, that God open our eyes to see a well of water which we haven’t seen before to strengthen us in our desert situation as we walk with Him. This was what happened to Hagar when she was with her son Ishmael, and she ran out of water in the desert and didn’t know what to do. God intervened by helping her see what she had not seen before – water in the desert, which is the word of God. May the Lord help us to see what we have not seen before as we go through His words.

Gen 21:15  And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
Gen 21:16  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
Gen 21:17  And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Gen 21:18  Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
Gen 21:19  And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

Jdg 15:20  And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. 

As we have learned earlier, the name Samson means sunlight. Now, let’s look at the significance of the twenty years in the days of the Philistines under Samson. In the scriptures the number twenty signifies the beginning of maturity as we are now ready to become enlisted in the Lord’s army to war against the enemies of our land.

Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Num 1:22  Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Based on this, we can say that the twenty-year rule of the Israelites under Samson is a period in our lives that we are dominated by the flesh (Philistines), but we are gradually becoming mature in the things of God as a result of the sunlight (Samson) or the light of the glorious gospel we are receiving from the Lord. This beginning of maturity pertains to recognizing our appalling situation and beginning to rely on the Lord through His words to begin the cleansing process in our heavens, which results in the gradual death of our flesh or the old man.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

That period is when we recognize we have been deceived in Babylon, and we begin to see that the time has come for our temple to be cleansed. This was what our Lord Jesus was alluding to when He told His disciples about the destruction of their temple.

Mat 24:1  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

We all, like the disciples, are enchanted by the outward appearance of our temple, which is our bodies.  This is because we were taught to focus on the outside rather than on the inside by our leaders (the scribes and Pharisees) in Babylon.

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

It is when we recognize that we have been deceived in Babylon (Mat 24:4-5) that we know the time has come for our temple to be cleansed. That is the beginning of our maturity, which is symbolized by the twenty years. That is the message of this whole chapter of Judges 15 – that is, the beginning of the cleansing process of our temple!!!