Jawbone Salvation and Divine Mockery Text: Judges 15:14-20
Introduction: God's Untamed Instruments
The book of Judges is a ride through a series of spiritual nauseating roller coaster dips. The pattern is established early: Israel does evil, God sells them into the hands of their enemies, they cry out, and God raises up a deliverer. But as the book progresses, the character of these deliverers becomes increasingly... problematic. The story of Samson is the crescendo of this theme. He is a man set apart from birth as a Nazirite, a man of vows, yet he seems to spend his entire life playing fast and loose with those vows. He is driven by lust, vengeance, and ego. And yet, the author of Hebrews places him in the great hall of faith alongside Gideon, Barak, and David (Heb. 11:32). How can this be?
It can be because the book of Judges is not primarily about the pristine quality of God's instruments, but about the overwhelming, sovereign power of God Himself. God is not a celestial CEO looking for the most qualified applicants. He is a sovereign king who delights in using the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the strong. He uses chipped vessels, cracked pots, and blunt instruments. And in Samson, He has found a blunt instrument par excellence.
The context of our passage this morning is one of national shame. Samson has been on a tear of personal vengeance against the Philistines, and they have come up in force into the territory of Judah. And what do the men of Judah do? They raise a posse of three thousand men, not to fight the Philistines, but to arrest their own deliverer and hand him over. They are a nation of slaves, and they think like slaves. They tell Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?" They have accepted their bondage. They would rather have peace with their pagan overlords than victory with their wild-man judge. So they bind him with two new ropes and hand him over to the enemy. It is a picture of utter apostasy and cowardice. And it is precisely at this moment of human failure, when all Israel's hope is bound and being led to the slaughter, that God decides to act.
The Text
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he sent forth his hand and took it and struck down 1,000 men with it. Then Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down 1,000 men." Now it happened that when he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi. Then he became very thirsty, and he called to Yahweh and said, "You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your slave, but now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the ancircumcised?" So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out of it. Then he drank, and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
(Judges 15:14-20 LSB)
The Spirit and the Straw Ropes (v. 14)
We begin with the confrontation at Lehi.
"When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands." (Judges 15:14)
The Philistines are shouting in triumph. They see their enemy, the one-man wrecking crew, bound and delivered by his own people. From a human perspective, the battle is over before it began. But they are reckoning without God. The text says, "the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily." This is not a metaphor for getting a second wind. This is a divine invasion. This is the same Spirit that hovered over the waters of creation, the same Spirit that would later descend upon Christ at His baptism. This is the power that raises the dead. The Spirit of God is the agent of divine action in the world.
And what is the immediate result? The two new ropes, the best restraints the men of Judah could provide, become like burnt flax. They don't just fray or snap; they are utterly consumed, disintegrated by the power of God. This is a picture of what happens to all human attempts to bind what God has chosen to set free. Political machinations, cultural pressures, military force, cowardly compromises, they are all nothing but straw ropes in the face of the Spirit's power. The Philistines' shouts of triumph are about to turn into screams of terror.
Divine Contempt and the Unlikely Weapon (v. 15)
Freed from his bonds, Samson needs a weapon. And God provides one, dripping with theological mockery.
"And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he sent forth his hand and took it and struck down 1,000 men with it." (Judges 15:15)
Notice what he finds. Not a sword dropped by a soldier. Not a craftsman's hammer. He finds a "fresh jawbone of a donkey." This is crucial. It is not an ancient, brittle bone, but a recent one, still heavy and formidable. But it is still the jawbone of a donkey. It is a piece of garbage. It is the bone of an unclean animal. God is not just defeating the Philistines; He is humiliating them. He is rubbing their noses in their own impotence. Their mighty army, their iron chariots, their military pride, all of it is brought to nothing by a brawling Israelite swinging a piece of refuse.
This is a foundational principle of spiritual warfare. God does not need our polished programs, our clever strategies, or our impressive resources. In fact, He often disdains them. He chooses the foolish to shame the wise. He chose a shepherd boy with a sling to defeat a giant. He chose a baby in a manger to upend an empire. And here, He chooses donkey garbage to deliver His people. This is divine contempt for the proud. The Philistines are not just killed; they are insulted. They are made a laughingstock. They are unmade by that which is nothing.
A Cocky Poem for a Great Victory (v. 16-17)
After the slaughter, Samson, covered in blood and glory, composes a brief, crude, and triumphant poem.
"Then Samson said, 'With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down 1,000 men.' Now it happened that when he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi." (Judges 15:16-17)
The poem in Hebrew is a classic pun. The word for donkey is hamor. The word for heap is also hamor. He is essentially saying, "With the jawbone of a donkey, I have made donkeys of them." It is a taunt. It is a boast. And notice the last line: "I have struck down 1,000 men." There is no "to God be the glory" here. This is raw, unfiltered Samson. He is God's instrument, but he is still a deeply flawed and egotistical man. The Bible is relentlessly realistic about its heroes. The victory was entirely of God, but the victory speech is entirely about Samson.
And yet, God uses it. God is not waiting for us to get our theology of attribution perfectly polished before He acts through us. He works with the material He has. Samson then names the place "Ramath-lehi," which means "Jawbone Hill." He memorializes the event, ensuring that for generations to come, people would point to that hill and remember the day God used a donkey's jawbone to humiliate the uncircumcised Philistines. The monument is not to Samson's strength, but to the Philistines' shame and the absurdity of God's chosen weapon.
From Titan to Thirsty Toddler (v. 18-19)
The moment the battle ends, the narrative pivots from supernatural strength to profound human weakness.
"Then he became very thirsty, and he called to Yahweh and said, 'You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your slave, but now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?' So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out of it. Then he drank, and his spirit returned, and he revived." (Judges 15:18-19)
Samson, who just single-handedly slaughtered a thousand men, is now on the verge of death from dehydration. This is God's curriculum for His saints. God gives great victories, and then He immediately reminds us of our utter dependency. The strength was a gift; it was not inherent. Samson could defeat an army, but he could not create a drop of water. Without God's moment-by-moment sustaining grace, the mightiest warrior is just a dead man waiting to happen.
To his credit, Samson cries out to the right person. He calls to Yahweh. His prayer is a mixture of faith and petulance. He acknowledges the truth: "You have given this great salvation." He knows where the victory came from. But then the complaint: "now shall I die of thirst?" There is a flicker of covenantal identity here as well. He is horrified at the thought of falling into the hands of the "uncircumcised." Despite all his sin, he knows who his people are and who the enemy is.
And God answers. He is gracious to His whiny servant. He splits a hollow place in the rock and water comes out. This should echo in our minds. It is the same grace shown to a grumbling Israel in the wilderness when Moses struck the rock. God provides living water in the place of death. Samson drinks, and his spirit revives. He names this place "En-hakkore," which means "the spring of him who called." The two memorials stand side-by-side: Ramath-lehi, the hill of God's ridiculous power, and En-hakkore, the spring of God's sustaining grace.
A Chaotic Reign (v. 20)
The section concludes with a summary statement of Samson's career.
"And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines." (Judges 15:20)
Despite the chaos, despite the sin, despite the ego, God's purpose was fulfilled. For twenty years, Samson served as God's appointed check on Philistine power. He was a judge. He was a deliverer. He was not the kind of leader a committee would have picked. He was messy, unpredictable, and carnal. But he was God's man for that hour, and through him, God judged Israel's enemies and preserved His people.
The True and Better Samson
This entire episode is a shadow, a flawed type, pointing forward to the true substance. If we leave this story thinking only about Samson's muscle, we have missed the point entirely. Samson is a signpost pointing to Jesus Christ.
Like Samson, Jesus was betrayed by His own kinsmen, the men of Judah, and handed over, bound, to the enemy. As the Romans and the chief priests shouted in triumph, they were, like the Philistines, celebrating their own imminent destruction. When the Spirit of God came upon Jesus, it was not to break ropes of flax, but to break the bonds of death itself in the resurrection.
And what was the weapon of our Lord's victory? It was something far more foolish and contemptible in the eyes of the world than a donkey's jawbone. It was a Roman cross. An instrument of torture, shame, and curse. With this weapon of apparent weakness, Christ struck down not a thousand men, but the spiritual powers and principalities. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, triumphing over them in it (Col. 2:15). He made a heap of our sins and buried them in His tomb.
On the cross, in the midst of His great victory, our Lord also thirsted. He cried out, "I thirst," bearing the curse of dehydration that belongs to those in hell. And after His work was finished, from His pierced side flowed water and blood, the true En-hakkore, the spring of the One who called, from which we drink and live forever.
Samson was a flawed savior who saved himself and killed his enemies. Jesus is the perfect Savior who gave Himself to save His enemies. Samson's victory was temporary. Christ's victory is eternal. Do not trust in your own strength, your own righteousness, or your own ability to get the job done. Your strength is a borrowed gift, and you are always one step away from dying of thirst. Look to the one who was bound for you, who fought for you with the foolish weapon of the cross, and who now offers you living water from the spring of His grace.