March 23

March 23

Judges 13–15

Scripture Text: Judges 13:1–15:20

Series: Read the Bible in a Year

At the end of chapter 12, we have a brief mention of Abdon, Judge of Israel. He, along with Ibzan and Elon garner a mention among the judges. Their works are not mentioned, and one may infer that they served well and experienced no significant idolatry in Israel or invasions from outside. This gives them the title “minor judges” by some commentators. We might consider otherwise those who serve well, leading by faithful example. 

As we might expect, after Abdon’s faithful leadership, Israel is faithless and evil. We assume their evil is again turning from the Lord to the Baals and Ashtaroth. Whatever the substance of their faithlessness, the Lord left them in the hands of the Philistines for a generation. If one has read the Old Testament, the setup of the second King of Israel is obvious. But for now, we have a major story of another judge, himself somewhat lackluster and less that faithful. His may be like our own stories: not too inspiring and often unfaithful—saint and sinner rolled into one package. That is Samson, Nazirite and Judge of Israel. His narrative begins with the pervasive Bible story of the barren couple. One day, an angel appears and promises them a son, whom he commands them to raise as a Nazirite. He and his mother while bearing him are not to drink fermented beverages or eat anything unclean. He will also refrain from cutting his hair, which figures prominently in his story. It is a good thing celibacy was not required also, as women were Samson’s weakness. Not that he was any better at avoiding unclean food or barbershops. 

Samson exhibits multiple examples of unfaithfulness, yet the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon Samson more than once to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Again, Samson’s story is much like our own. “If we are faithless, [God] remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13). The Lord sometimes works his purposes through faithless people for faithless people. It might be thought by some that Samson struck the Philistines because of anger. The Philistine woman at Timnah who had caught Samson’s eye and who was promised to him in marriage was given by her father to another man, probably Samson’s own best man since Samson’s enraged exit from his wedding feast may have left the bride and her family in an embarrassing situation. Regardless, it was the Lord who gave the Philistines into Samson’s hand. 

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