This sermon was given at a Canon Court Evangelical Church,Fetcham. service in a local care home.
The book of Judges in the Old Testament tells us about a very dark period in the history of Israel. It records a time between the leadership of Moses and Joshua, the leaders who brought Israel into the Promised Land, and the reign of kings like David and Solomon. During this interval, God led and looked after his people through a series of heroic figures called judges, temporary warriors that would arise for a few decades and give Israel victory over their enemies before dying and leaving Israel oppressed once again.
Perhaps the greatest of these heroes is Samson. He is famous for being betrayed by Delilah, who would trick him to reveal the secret of his great strength (his long hair) and hand him over to his enemies. When we read the story of Samson, we see a mighty man with many flaws. However, the story we are considering today is one of his greatest triumphs.
The scene is set earlier in the chapter. Samson has once again enraged the Philistines, and they decide to put an end to his heroics. An army is assembled and they set off towards Judah in order to find him. The people of Judah are so terrified of the approaching Philistine army, they pull together 3000 men not to fight, but to find Samson and hand him over to their enemies, in the hope that once they have him they will leave the rest of Israel alone. Samson, when found by the men of Judah, is unwilling to fight against his own people, and so resigns himself to being bound by two new ropes and handed over to the Philistines. That is where we pick up the story:
‘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. 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. 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." As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.
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?" 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. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.’ (Judges 15:14–20)
Within this narrative, we can see two separate salvations. One great, the other little. One granted by God, the other doubted by Samson. Therefore, let us consider those two points: A Great Salvation Granted and A Little Salvation Doubted.
1. A GREAT SALVATION GRANTED (V14-17)
The situation that Samson found himself in wasn’t ideal. He is bound with two ropes on his arms and hands and hears the cries of at least a thousand enemies running towards him. Maybe he tried to flex his muscles, to see if he could break his bonds, but to no avail. The ropes were new, they were as strong as they would ever be, there is no way that a man could free himself from them. His salvation looked impossible, this was finally one situation that he wouldn’t be able to get out of.
And then something happened that made all the difference. What is impossible with man, is possible with God. Even the most hopeless situation can be turned around. We are told that ‘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.’ The ropes that once restricted him were removed, now he was freed from captivity and free to fight. He looks around quickly for something, anything, that he could use as a weapon and sees a stack of bones from a dead donkey. He takes up the long jawbone, as it was still fresh it would have had the teeth still in it and make a formidable (if unforgettable) weapon and the hero Samson strikes his Philistine enemies, the dead piling up around him as he fought on. Hundreds of Philistines were struck dead, until the number of a thousand was reached. The one thousandth and first Philistine didn’t appear to rate his chances against this donkey warrior. Samson’s great salvation is complete, and his makes up a little rhyme to celebrated. In the Hebrew, the word for donkey and heaps is the same. Moffat gets us closest to the word play in his translation ‘With the jawbone of an ass, I have piled them in a mass.’ A great salvation granted.
Notice that is what Samson says. He doesn’t say ‘I have achieved a great salvation’, but ‘You have granted a great salvation.’ It is God who is the saviour, not Samson. It was God’s spirit that freed him from his bondage and strengthened him for the fight. God granted a great salvation to Samson, and yet there are far great salvations that God grants than this.
In the New Testament, the apostles use the term ‘great salvation’ to refer not to Samson’s jawbone wielding fight with the Philistines, but Jesus Christ’s triumph for us on the cross. He too was surrounded by enemies, and not just bound hand and foot, but nailed to a cross. And yet, his triumph was not over those who sought to kill him. His fight was not against his enemies, but for them. On the cross, Jesus Christ died for his enemies, taking the punishment for their sins.
We look at Samson, bound and about to be taken by his enemies, and think that his is a hopeless, dangerous situation. And yet, as those who have sinned against God, defied his rules and refused to worship him with our whole hearts, we are in a far more dangerous situation than Samson. We would have more hope facing a thousand enemies in battle tied up than facing the consequences for our sins, the wrath of a holy, perfect God against sinners like us. And yet the gospel, the good news of Christianity, is that just as God granted great salvation to Samson, he grants great salvation to us. If we repent of our sin, turn away from it, and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, turn towards him in faith, we will experience a salvation far greater than Samson was granted that day. God promises in his word, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’. (Acts 16:31) God still grants great salvation today to all who ask him for it.
2. A LITTLE SALVATION DOUBTED (V18-20)
Not only do we see a great salvation granted, we also see a little salvation doubted. Having just been in single combat with a thousand enemies, Samson is left exhausted. In particular, he is thirsty and cries out to God, ‘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?’ Even though he has just experienced God’s goodness and grace in granting him a great salvation, he now doubts whether God will grant him a little salvation, just a drink of water to quench his thirst.
Unfortunately this is a tendency in the people of God. There is a trend in the Bible of those who are saved by God, then immediately doubting whether they will be sustained by God (1 Kings 18-19). Perhaps most famously, we see this in the Israelites who are led out of slavery in Egypt. Exodus 16-17 tells us that, having experienced deliverance, seeing God part the Red Sea so they could escape and closing it behind them on the armies of Egypt, the Israelites immediately start complaining. What will they eat and drink in the wilderness? Why has God brought them out of Egypt to die in the desert? Like Samson, despite experiencing a great salvation, they doubted a little salvation. What is bread and water in the desert to the God who can part the Red Sea? Having just saved Samson from dying at the hands of a thousand enemies, was God not able to prevent him dying from thirst?
If you are a Christian, remember that the God who saved you is more than able to sustain you. If he can deal with the consequences of your sin, he can deal with the challenges you face in your life. Paul explains just this in Romans 8:32 we he says ‘He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’ In giving us his Son in order to save us, God has shown us that he will give us whatever we need. Having granted us a great salvation, we don’t need to doubt that he will grant us a little salvation. If we are worried or anxious, we can approach him in prayer and ask for whatever we need. Whether it is the strength to go to that hospital appointment, courage to talk to that family member or faith confront that sin in your life. God delights in answering the prayers of his people, their cries for salvation, no matter how big or small. Just like Samson, we will find ourselves refreshed and revived. As the Psalmist exclaims, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation…’ (Psalm 68:19-20).
ALEXANDER ARRELL