Judges 15:9-17 - We are better off working as team

Samson was the target of the Philistines who wanted him captured and dead. So, they launched an attack on the Israelites. Meanwhile, the people of Judah wanted to live peacefully. They had no wish to rile the Philistines who were their oppressors. Hence, they did not do anything to give the Philistines any reason to trouble them. Therefore, they were surprised that these oppressors would come up to them in Judah. Having checked with them the reason for their incursion, they agreed to collaborate with them to hand Samson over to them. Thus, three thousand men of Judah came to Samson in the cave of Etam, where Samson had hidden. They pointedly questioned him, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?”  

These questions reveal how fearful and wary of the Philistines the people of Judah were. They were almost blaming Samson for creating what they deemed as an untenable situation. This attitude of the people of Judah had made it difficult even if Samson had the wisdom to organize them into a fighting force. Samson was probably too self-absorbed to think out of the box. He insisted that he only did to the Philistines what they had done to him. His prime motive was to seek personal vengeance for what they had done to him. From his response, we surmise that he had not fully grasped his calling as a deliverer of Israel. Hence, he did not make any effort to motivate, challenge or garner the people of Judah to come against their oppressors. A wise leader would have done that.

Any wise leader would have realized that there is a limitation if he were to do the work all by himself. The situation that Samson and the people of Judah were in, made for a perfect moment to stir up the commitment of the people and get them involved in the battle. But Samson was too self-absorbed. He could only see his own hurt. And that had dulled his wisdom and he was unable see beyond his own hurt. Haven’t we all been in this situation before? We are too hurt and could only focus on ourselves rather than see the larger plan of God. Samson could possibly have accomplished much more if he had wisely motivated the people.         

The people of Judah were equally self-centred. They were only thinking of their safety and did not care what would happen to Samson, who was one of their own. They were willing to pay any price to be free from the harassment of the Philistines even at the expense of sacrificing one of their own people. Samson made them pledge not to kill him themselves before he allowed them to bind him and deliver him into the hand of the Philistines. To the people of Judah, Samson would face certain death but it didn’t bother them so long as they were spared. How selfish can they be? So they tied Samson up with new ropes and brought him from the cave in Etam and handed him to the Philistines.

When the Philistines saw Samson bound and led to the camp in Lehi they shouted triumphantly. But God had another plan for his people. Even though the people of Judah had Samson bound and led to the Philistines, verse 14 said that the Spirit of the LORD came upon Samson and he was endued with unusual power and strength. In an instant, he had the new ropes snapped as if they were just charred flax. He picked up a new jawbone of a donkey from the ground and with it he slaughtered a thousand Philistines. Triumphantly, Samson then celebrated his victory saying:

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have killed a thousand men.”

Samson, as well as the people of Judah was too self-absorbed. They all had a common enemy but their self-absorption had caused them to miss the opportunity to co-labour together as a unit. If they had worked as a team, they would have certainly leveraged on each other’s strength. And this is what God wants His people to do. When we leverage on each other’s strength, we will advance the work of God more rapidly. We must collaborate for His glory. Unity is strength!