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.