The Bitter Taste of Sweet Revenge

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

Several years ago, Mary was wronged in an employment situation, unfortunately one that involved someone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus. And both of us were understandably and justifiably upset. And so I listened to Mary as she expressed her emotions about the situation. But I’m just going to be really honest here and confess that I probably wasn’t a real good listener because I was already developing a plan - a very good one, I might add - to get back at the institution and the person who had committed the offense. And although I never carried out that plan, I also kept thinking about it for a lot longer than I should have.

Tension

Looking back now several years later, it is quite apparent that God took something that was clearly wrong and evil and used it for good in our lives. So I’m am grateful that, at least in this situation, I did not act on my plan.

Unfortunately, that has not always been true in my life, however. And perhaps there are some, or even many, of you who would have to honestly say that you’ve let your emotions get the best of you especially when it comes to getting revenge. But the account we’re going to look at this morning is certainly confirmation of what Scottish novelist Walter Scott wrote about revenge in one of his novels:

“Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell.”

― Walter Scott, The Heart of Mid-Lothian

I’m going to phrase that idea a little differently today:

Revenge may seem sweet in the moment, but in the end it becomes a bitter pill to swallow

That truth is increasingly being confirmed even by secular psychologists who have found that in the long run revenge is rarely satisfying and that in many cases the person who exacts revenge ends up feeling even worse afterward.

Truth

This morning we are going to continue our study of the life of Samson as we look at Judges chapter 15. Two weeks ago we saw that Samson’s life began with such great potential. He had godly parents and God blessed him and equipped him with the Holy Spirit. But as we saw last week, lust, compromise and anger caused Samson to waste that potential.

Hopefully you’ll remember that at his wedding feast Samson challenged the Philistines in attendance with a bet that he knew he couldn’t pay if he lost. And as we’ll see more fully this morning, that one impulsive act set off a series of events that were all about seeking revenge on the part of all parties involved. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, that does not end well.

As chapter 14 came to a close, we saw Samson leaving his own wedding feast to travel to a far away village where he murdered 30 Philistines and took their clothing in order to pay the bet he had lost. And when he returned, his bride’s father had given his fiance to his best man, likely to avoid embarrassment for his daughter and his family.

Let’s pick up the account at the beginning of chapter 15:

Judges 15:1–5 ESV

1 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” 4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.

Some time after he had left his bride at the altar, he goes back to her house, bringing a goat as a gift for her father. Men, I’m just going to say right here that if you offend your father-in-law, I would probably not try to smooth that over with a goat. It didn’t work for Samson either. His wife to be was already married to another man and so her father, probably afraid of what Samson might do, offers his other daughter to Samson as his wife.

But that wasn’t good enough for Samson. So even though he was 100% responsible for leaving his wife at the altar, he decides to seek revenge against the Philistines. And let’s face it, he goes to great lengths to carry out that revenge. He captures 300 foxes, or more likely, jackals, and he ties their tails together in pairs and lights them on fire and lets them loose in the grain fields of the Philistines.

Not surprisingly this is only the beginning of a back and forth battle to enact revenge between Samson and the Philistines. Let’s continue in verse 6:

Judges 15:6–8 ESV

6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

Now it is time for the Philistines to seek their revenge. They try to exact revenge on Samson, an Israelite, by killing two of their own - Samson’s fiance and her father. What’s really interesting to me here is that even though it really doesn’t appear that Samson has any kind of close relationship with the two of them, he still vows to seek revenge for their death. We do know that in the big scheme of things, God is working behind the scenes to use Samson’s anger to carry out His purpose of “beginning” to free Israel from the Philistines. But from a human perspective, Samson is totally driven to act by his emotions.

Samson vows that he will take revenge one more time and then he will stop. But even if we didn’t know the rest of the story, what we’ve learned about Samson so far is enough to make us skeptical of that claim.

In verse 8 ,we read that Samson struck the Philistines on the hip and thigh with a great blow. In the underlying Hebrew, this is an idiomatic expression that means he inflicted a violent beating and possibly even killed some of those men.

As you would expect, it’s now the Philistines’ turn to avenge what Samson had done to them. Let’s continue in verse 9:

Judges 15:9–13 ESV

9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” 11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

The Philistines make a raid on the city of Lehi in Judah. The name “Lehi” literally means “jawbone” and we’ll see the significance of that in a moment. Now remember that God has raised up Samson to deliver His people from the Philistines. But when the Philistines come looking for Samson to take out their revenge on him, the people of Israel are all too eager to give him over to their oppressors. It’s hard to know why strictly from the text, but I sure get the idea that the Israelites had become so comfortable being assimilated into the Philistine culture that they were no longer even looking for a deliverer. That seems to be supported by the fact that for the first time in the book of Judges the people hadn’t cried out to God and asked for a deliverer.

So Samson allows his own people to bind him and turn him over to the Philistines. But, as I’m sure you can guess by now, Samson is about to continue this never ending cycle of revenge. We’ll continue in verse 14.

Judges 15:14–17 ESV

14 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. 15 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. 16 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.” 17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.

Once again the Spirit of the Lord rushes on Samson. He easily shed the ropes that his fellow Israelites had used to tie him up and he grabbed the first thing he saw to use as a weapon - a fresh jawbone of a donkey. Once again, this would have been a violation of his Nazirite vow since he was not to touch anything that was dead. And with that jawbone he killed 1,000 Philistines.

But that’s still not enough for Samson. He taunts the Philistines with a pun that is not easily understandable in English. The Hebrew words for donkey and heap sound almost exactly the same, so Samson is essentially saying that he has made the Philistines into donkeys by using the jawbone of a donkey. But he is using much coarser language than that if you get my drift.

Let’s finish the chapter.

Judges 15:18–20 ESV

18 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?” 19 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. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Apparently killing 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey makes a person thirsty. I think God used that thirst to remind Samson that his power came from God and that he is only a man who could do nothing without that power. So for the first time in the account of Samson’s life, we see him calling on the Lord. While he seems to do that only to get something from God to serve his own desires, he at least acknowledges that God is working through him. And God, being rich in grace and mercy, grants Samson’s request and provides him with the water he needs to be refreshed.

This chapter is the perfect illustration of the idea we began with this morning:

Revenge may seem sweet in the moment, but in the end it becomes a bitter pill to swallow

This never ending cycle of revenge between Samson and the Philistines didn’t leave either side satisfied. While it might have provided a bit of gratification for a short time, that never lasted, and it was only a matter of time before the sweetness of revenge became a bitter pill to swallow and the cycle just began all over again.

So what can we learn from this passage that will help us break that cycle in our own lives?

Application

HOW TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF REVENGE IN MY LIFE

Take responsibility for my own actions

Samson had a habit of blaming everyone else for his problems. He blames everyone but himself for the fact that his wife had left him and married someone else. But he was the one who was completely responsible for that. He is the one who made the bet with the Philistines. He is the one who told his bride the answer to the riddle. He is the one who left the wedding feast and went to a far off town and killed 30 men so he could pay off his bet. Had he just acknowledged that was all on him, the cycle of revenge could have been broken before it ever got started.

Some of you joining us this morning are angry at some situation in your life that you think is someone else’s fault, but which is in reality completely on you.

Men, maybe you’re mad at your wife for not meeting your physical needs, but the truth is that because you’re not meeting her emotional needs. Or conversely, maybe some of you women are mad at your husbands because they aren’t meeting your emotional needs, but you’re refusing to meet their physical needs.

Some of you are mad at your boss, but the truth is that you’re not a good employee or that you should have never taken that job in the first place.

Kids, some of you are mad at your teachers or your parents, but the real problem is that you don’t respect them and honor them.

Obviously, in some cases there is blame on both sides, but the Bible is pretty clear that you need to look at your own faults first before you go blaming others for your problems:

Matthew 7:3–5 ESV

3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

If you want to stop this whole revenge cycle dead in its tracks before it even begins, you must take responsibility for your own actions.

Be a shock absorber

When someone does something to hurt us, we need to be shock absorbers. Instead of getting all up tight and angry and repaying evil with evil, we need to absorb that offense and let things stop with us. That’s why Jesus talked about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek. Or as Peter reminds us:

1 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

Jesus was the ultimate shock absorber. Although He did nothing wrong, He willingly took our sins upon Himself and bore them on the cross. He is the ultimate example of what it means to repay evil with a blessing. Just like Samson, He allowed Himself to be bound and turned over to His enemies. And just like Samson snapped those ropes, Jesus broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave to prove His mastery over sin and death.

In Jesus, God forgave our sins so that we can forgive others. There may be times when we have every right to exact revenge, but that doesn’t mean that we should exercise that right. We can often bring the cycle of revenge to a quick end just by being a shock absorber.

Turn my energy into something good

Samson certainly wasted so much of his potential by taking the strength that God gave to him and using it to seek revenge rather than to do what God had called him to do and free Israel from their bondage to the Philistines. But before we’re quick to criticize Samson, perhaps we need to consider how we do exactly the same thing.

As I think back to the example I shared with you at the beginning of the message, I realize just how much energy I put into developing a plan of revenge. And that did absolutely no good for me or for anyone else.

Apparently I’m a slow learner, though, because recently I allowed myself to get sucked into a lot of the arguments surrounding the coronavirus. That was a complete waste of time because there was nothing I was going to do or say that was going to cause anyone to change their preconceived ideas. Fortunately, God brought me to the place where I realized just how much time and energy I was wasting there. And I’ve been working on using that same time and energy to help the people who have been impacted by this pandemic, regardless of their opinions. Perhaps it’s time for some of you to do the same.

Let my needs drive me to God

We’ve been criticizing Samson a lot on this series - and with good reason. But we also need to give him credit when it is due.

Even though he may have done it for selfish reasons, at least Samson let his thirst drive him to seek out God. And to be fair to Samson, we do see that there is at least some degree of humility here as he acknowledges that it is God who has granted everything he has been able to accomplish.

This is the one area where we can learn something positive from Samson. When we feel the need to seek revenge, instead of taking it into our own hands we need to take it to God. and once we do that, we can also...

Leave the results to God

Samson wrongly thought that He had to take everything into his own hands. And if we’re honest, I think most of us would admit that we think like that, too, much of the time. In fact, any time we seek revenge, that is exactly what we’re thinking and doing. But the Bible is clear, we are not to think like that. Here is what Paul wrote about that in his letter to the churches in Rome:

Romans 12:19 ESV

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

It may very well be that God won’t ever exact the revenge that we think He should, at least not here on this earth. But what we can be sure of is that God is 100% just and righteous and He will ultimately do what is right.

Inspiration

Revenge may seem sweet in the moment, but in the end it becomes a bitter pill to swallow

Perhaps the biggest danger with seeking revenge is that there is almost always collateral damage. People who have nothing to do with the conflict are going to get hurt. In this account an innocent woman and her dad are burned to death and over 1,000 Philistines are violently attacked and killed.

And I don’t think any of us want to be a part of something like that.

Action

When Samson stood up and made his bet during his wedding feast, I don’t think he ever imagined the cycle of revenge that would ensue. And perhaps there are some of you here today that stand at a crossroads like that. You have been hurt and like I did several years ago, you’re plotting your revenge. Or maybe right now you’re already caught up in a cycle of revenge. At a minimum, even if you’re not in a situation like that right now, I can assure you that someone is going to wrong you and you are going to be tempted to seek revenge.

My prayer for you is that you’ll do whatever is takes to stop the cycle so that you don’t ever have to experience the bitter taste of sweet revenge.