Jawbone heap

“Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet” - Judges 14:14a

The story of Samson has always interested me. In particular, the episode when he tore a lion limb from limb and then later scraped some honey out of its decaying carcass. He ate it and gave some to his parents but neglected to tell them that he found it in what would amount to the ancient equivalent of road kill on a hot desert road.

I’ve spent some time reading this over and thinking about it and trying to discover what this means. I've come to the conclusion that it's the key to the whole story.

After eating the honey Samson went to marry a Philistine woman. Normally, Samson shouldn’t be looking for a wife among the oppressors of his people but God intended this because “He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines” – Judges 14:4. It appears that Samson was a judge with one purpose, to basically drive a crooked stick into a hornet’s nest.

And he was good at it. When he wasn’t killing lions, he was tying foxes tails together with torches, breaking down gates or killing Philistines. The rest of his time was spent chasing women.

At one point he fought an army with nothing but a jawbone in his hand. After the dust settled he surveyed the heaped up bodies and proclaimed that he had killed one thousand men, tossed the jawbone down and named the place “Jawbone heap”. And then he was thirsty. So thirsty, he felt he was going to die and so “he called to LORD and said, “Thou hast given me this great deliverance by the hand of Thy servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore, he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. So he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.”

The enemy is still roaming about like a young lion looking for someone to devour. God can give us superhuman strength to defeat the lion but here’s the rub… Samson went back and turned and looked at the decaying corpse off to the side of the road when he should’ve just put it in the rear view mirror and not looked back. He was curious and he saw some temptation in it. His whole life was about looking for pleasure in all the wrong places. Like taking honey from a corpse.

Sometimes he got it right. When he called on God at En-hakkore which means “spring of the caller” God gave him water and this seems to have given Samson the strength to avoid his destructive pleasures for twenty years.

God should always be the source for our strength and refreshment and not the world. When He gives us the victory we shouldn’t look back but have the wisdom to flee youthful lusts instead. I am often quick to ask God for strength but wisdom is greater than strength. Wisdom can keep you from getting into situations where you need it.

an unoriginal sacrifice

“A son honours his father and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honour? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” Says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name . But you say, “How have we despised Thy name?”

“You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.” But you say, “How have we defiled Thee?” In that you say, “The table of the LORD is to be despised.”


“But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly? says the LORD of hosts. – Malachi 1:6-8

Last week, a few days before harvest, a toxic plankton bloom hit one of my farms killing a tenth of the salmon we were raising. Like a tree casting its fruit to the ground before harvest. Instead of harvesting we spent the whole week removing a half a million pounds of dead fish.

On the outside I displayed an attitude of determined motivation. But on the inside, the mix of disappointment, pressure, and exhaustion; produced a feeling in me that is best described as melancholy despair. Now, after two days rest, I feel fine but in my Bible reading I came across the passage of scripture in Malachi quoted above and I believed it had meaning for me.

God doesn’t ask me to sacrifice animals because Jesus sacrificed Himself for me but what does He ask me to sacrifice?

Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. – Romans 12:1

I find sometimes I offer God whatever’s left in my day. Time that I wouldn’t offer my work or even myself. I’m ashamed to say I have never even fasted or spent a substantial amount of time in prayer. I’ve fasted a few times for work when I haven’t had time to eat breakfast or lunch but never for God.

I’m going to have to make some changes to prevent my company from suffering more of these kind of losses and more importantly hopefully no one figures out I’m to blame for this last one. If I see any bones in the office on Monday I’ll turn and run straight out of there. (sound of bones rattling in a small leather pouch then spilling onto the boardroom table) “The bones tell me… Hey where’s he going?”

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, “How have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!


Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.


Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes” says the LORD of hosts. – Malachi 3:8-11

Post script
I originally had titled this blog "Lame sacrifices" thinking that title was a clever play on words, but I happened to do a search and came across this blog --> Lame sacrifices where someone has written basically exactly the same thing six months ago. Right down to the same bible verses and title! I'm afraid to look any further in fear that I will discover more evidence that I am an unoriginal blogger.