Judges 15:7 Revenge

Judges 15:7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.”

Revenge can be a powerful emotion. Justice and revenge can’t occupy the same territory. They are incompatible. Once the spirit of revenge enters, it is never satisfied.

Revenge leads to war crimes, lynchings, hostile takeovers, sibling rivalries, and so much more. Revenge never solves the issue. It only makes things much worse.

But our text places revenge at the center of the story. Samson has some reasons to feel the way he does. His wife was given to another person! I can imagine the feelings.

But we need to back up a little bit. Samson was the child of promise for a couple who couldn’t conceive. This is so often at the center of Biblical stories in this early part of the Scriptures. This difficulty in conception is the direct result of the Fall. And it plays out again in the story of Manoah and his wife.

But she does get pregnant at the cost of some of her freedoms. She must avoid all alcohol and things related to alcohol. She must live a very strict life of obedience to the Law. And the son she has, Samson, must never have his hair cut! The hair became the symbol of his dedication to the LORD.

So this son of promise has grown physically, but not spiritually. He remains self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it. He also has a crafty side to him that shows up at his wedding feast.

And the woman he marries isn’t the straightest arrow in the quiver. She manipulates him, as he has tried to manipulate her family and friends. When manipulation happens, no one wins. His wife is given to his best man!

Samson returns after paying off his debt through violence, another story for another day, to find his wife no longer his wife. Papers couldn’t be served, but the results were the same. The one he wanted wasn’t his anymore!

Samson is so mad that he vows revenge. He could have just walked away and left the manipulative woman to get what she deserves. Remember, she had repeatedly tricked him into revealing the answer to the riddle, the riddle that had led to him having to murder thirty innocent men and paying of his debt.

Who would want a woman like this? Samson! So often there is force at work in an abusive relationship that outsiders just don’t understand. And Samson was no exception. It was right there in front of him, the manipulative character of his wife, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted her.

And as the story progresses, things get much worse. Samson burns down the whole harvest of the people who had gained the upper hand. Then they burned the house of his ex-wife and her father. So the whole tribe of the Philistines comes to capture Samson putting the Israelites at an even greater level of peril. They have already been serving the Philistines for about twenty years. This would endanger them even more.

But then another woman enters. Surprise, surprise! She is also manipulative and cunning. She is easily bought with a bit of money. She schemes with the Philistines to find out Samson’s secret.

Samson is so thick, that he falls right into their trap. He loses his faith, the little bit of faith he had. He traded it for a woman, and the woman betrayed him. So he ends up as a laughing stock.

His final moments are consumed with revenge. He gets it, but not without costing him everything, including his life.

Revenge is nothing but a thief. It only steals what is yours to give away. It is never satisfied.