During his career, my father took it into his head to join a particular company. His first attempt was unsuccessful due to a coincidence (I forget now why). When he tried again years later, the respective wives of the directors in the two companies happened to be friends, so his current employer found out by accident that he wanted to leave. The director offered him a better deal, so Dad stayed after all. He could not let the matter rest though, and shortly before Communism fell in Hungary, he applied again and – third time lucky – got the job. In the turbulent times of transition after Communism, large state-owned companies were privatised, sometimes changed profile, and were generally restructured with inevitable job losses. Dad’s company was one of the last to be privatised and by that time, he was retired. Although it was frustrating to be blocked in his earlier attempts, he was convinced of God’s hand who provided job security for him in his later years.

God’s sovereignty

As in my father’s experience, what stands out in our reading is God’s sovereignty that works through the vagaries of human decisions, selfish reasoning, and unjust action. In a violent and corrupt age that the time of the judges was, God is nevertheless at work even through morally corrupt and imperfect people, with or without their knowledge or agreement. While individuals’ determination is not overridden (they are responsible agents), God’s purposes are mysteriously achieved. Thus, Samson makes efforts to be friendly with the Philistines (intermarriage, fitting in with Philistine custom in Judg 14:2, 10, reconciliation with his wife in Judg 15:1), yet somehow, they always turn into conflict. On a human level, we understand that the reasons for this lie in Samson’s recklessness, hot temper, and immaturity, and he is responsible for his actions. Yet, no matter how much he starts out against the very purposes of God, he ends up achieving what the Lord wanted.[1]

Human action and God’s intention

In our reading, we see these two levels (human action and God’s intention) played out. While Samson acts from personal anger over being defrauded, his killing of the thirty Philistines in Ashkelon (Judg 14:19) broadens the antagonism beyond the confines of the kinship group and drives a wedge between Israel and the Philistines, as God had intended. Samson’s departure in a huff without consummating the marriage (this would have been after the week’s wedding feast), leads to his bride being given away to another (Judg 14:20), which opens up the opportunity for further conflict.

Interestingly, Samson’s subsequent actions are not a direct attack on his father-in-law’s family,[2] and later, when they are burnt by the Philistines (Judg 15:6-7), Samson takes revenge for them. Thus, a personal matter with a family is widened into a major conflict though Samson’s reasoning for this is opaque (why does he think his revenge is more justified now than before and why against the Philistines in general? Judg 15:3). His retaliatory action of destroying the three major food sources of the area (grain fields, vineyards, olive groves) is a common method that brings a population to its knees (cf. Judg 6:3-6), but an ancient reader would have seen an added significance. Prosperity and adversity were both caused by the gods, who on a different plain fought their own battles for power and influence. The Israelite Samson’s unconsciously chosen act of retribution speaks of the power of Yahweh, Israel’s God over the Philistine Dagon, the god of grain (see the reverse when the Philistines attribute the capture of Samson to Dagon later; Judg 16:23-24). God is at work to save Israel from Philistine oppression.

God works for the good of those who love Him

So often in our lives, we see only the human level, the horizontal plain. Like my father, we may do everything we can towards a particular goal, and find our way blocked. Unlike him though, we may not ever find out, even in retrospect, why something happened the way it did. When we think of the what-ifs and the might-have-beens, it is good to come back to this realisation: God works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28). When we hold onto the promise of this verse, we usually have in mind the ‘good’ that embodies what we hope for or desire, but in context, good is what aligns with God’s purpose, which in turn is that we become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29). In other words, all that God intends and allows to happen to us is for our good because it shapes our character and being as we respond even to adversity and pain with faith and godliness.

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[1] In this respect, he is like Jonah who is the most successful prophet without trying. He goes reluctantly to Nineveh not wanting them to repent and receive God’s grace, yet they do (Jon 3:5, 10; 4:1-2).

[2] Perhaps Samson acknowledged to himself that his father-in-law was not unreasonable to assume that the marriage was off and, much as we bristle against the way the younger daughter is offered in exchange (Judg 15:2; what a sad world where women are bought and sold as commodities!), Samson will have recognised a conciliatory gesture.

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For interest – How can God’s Spirit come on Samson to kill Philistines?

God’s role in the story of Samson’s escapades against the Philistines is once again disturbing (see also my post on The unexpected ways of God). We feel the tension between God’s Spirit coming on (lit. ‘rushed on’) Samson and the morally dubious acts that he performs (Judg 14:19). How could the holy God be associated with the murder of innocent people? It is worth exploring our presuppositions that arise from our particular cultural context.

Our cultural world

First, in a modern Western culture we take it for granted (at least in theory) that God, however defined, is all-powerful. Though our societies are secular today, the roots of how we think about God can be traced back to Christianity and its understanding of one God who is sovereign over all. Given this background, we feel the necessity to assert this truth much less. On the other hand, we are especially concerned about people co-opting God and doing violent acts in His name, so that v.19 pushes all the wrong buttons for us. Secondly, we are particularly sensitive to violence and war because most of us in the West are shielded from it so that it has come to represent ultimate evil that threatens our safe and comfortable lives.

The ancient context

By contrast, life in the ancient world was much more brutal and loss of life through violence and war was more common. Moreover, the belief that there were many gods meant that no one god could claim ultimate and all-encompassing power. The struggle for divine superiority was constant and people were pawns in the hands of the gods. It took many centuries even for Israel to acknowledge fully that there is only one God and other gods are nothing (witness their persistent idolatry). Given this background, it is not surprising that writers of the Old Testament wanted to emphasise God’s sovereignty and they did so by stressing His direct involvement. The difficulty is that this is a zero-sum game: the more we emphasise God’s sovereignty, the more we diminish human responsibility and vice versa.

What this means for us

What this means is that cultural context affects the way a story is told and what is being emphasised. Sometimes this can have unintended effects on us who live in cultures different from the ancient writers. However, this does not mean that everything is relative or that we should dismiss their perspective. The key is to reflect on the intent of the passage even when it is presented in a cultural garb alien to us. This is what I attempted above in focusing on God’s sovereignty, as I believe the passage does, but also making clear that this does not justify everything that Samson does and that he is responsible for his actions.

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