In a relatively short passage, Judges 15:1-17, we see Samson avenge himself three different times. Samson was not acting as a deliverer for God’s people, who had been oppressed by the Philistines for more than forty years (Judges 13:1), even though God was using him in that way (Judges 14:4). Instead, he was acting out of his own selfish and vengeful desires. Every single time, death and destruction were the result.
Before we cast stones at Samson, however, we need to realize that we have been guilty of the same thing. Even though the Bible tells us never to avenge ourselves (Romans 12:19), we sometimes find ourselves in situations where we desire revenge and even choose it. In those moments, like Samson, we are not being who God has called us to be.
But why? Why do we desire revenge? Why do we choose revenge? We know that it is wrong, so why do we keep doing it? When we look at Samson in Judges 15, I believe we find three reasons. We see these reasons in him, but we also need to be challenged to see them within ourselves.
First, Samson sought revenge because he felt justified. Because his Philistine wife had been given to another man, he said, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm” (v. 3). He felt that he bore no responsibility for the damage he was about to do to the Philistines by burning their grain and olive orchards. Yet the reason she had been given away was because Samson had left her in anger and returned to his father’s house after their week-long marriage feast. When she was given to his best man, Samson harmed the Philistines, and he felt completely innocent in doing so.
Do we ever feel justified in seeking revenge? Someone hurts us, and we retaliate by hurting them, yet we feel no responsibility for the pain we cause. We convince ourselves that we are innocent of the harm we have done because they hurt us first. That kind of thinking is always wrong. While we are right in believing that we should not have been hurt in the first place, when we seek revenge, we are never innocent. We are guilty.
Second, Samson sought revenge because he believed he was in control of it. After the Philistines learned who had burned their grain and why, they burned Samson’s wife and father-in-law. In response, Samson struck them with a great blow. Right before that, he said, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit” (v. 7). Notice how he thought he was in control. He planned to get revenge one more time, and then he would draw the line and stop. The problem is that he drew the line, but he did not stop. He continued responding with revenge. He believed he was in control of his revenge, but in reality, his desire for revenge was in control of him.
Sometimes we think the same way. I will give the last hit, and then I will stop. I will say the last word, and then the argument will be over. I will post one more hateful comment, and then I will be done. But how often does that actually work? We draw the line, but we do not stay behind it. The reason is that revenge, once chosen, cannot be controlled. The situation escalates, anger grows deeper, and resentment continues to build as our desire for revenge takes control of us.
Third, Samson sought revenge because he wanted to get even. As his own countrymen prepared to hand him over to the Philistines, he said, “As they did to me, so have I done to them” (v. 11). Samson ended up killing 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey out of a desire to treat them the same way he believed they had treated him. In reality, Samson did far more to them than they had done to him, but his revenge was still driven by a desire to get even.
“As they did to me, so have I done to them.” Contrast that with how Jesus calls us to treat people in Matthew 7:12:
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Instead of treating people the way they have treated us in an attempt to get even, we must treat people the way we want to be treated. You do not want others seeking revenge against you, so do not seek revenge against them.
As we prepare to discuss this topic on Sunday morning, it is important to ask why we so often want and seek revenge. When we look honestly at what motivated Samson’s revenge, I pray that we will also see what is in our own hearts. When our ungodly and unbiblical motivations for revenge are brought out of the darkness and into the light, we can turn away from them and better reflect the heart of Jesus instead of the heart of Samson.
-Tyler Alverson
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