Judges 15:3-5. 3Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.” 4Then he went out and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. 5Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the grain fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the sheaves and the uncut grain. He also destroyed their vineyards and olive groves.
I have a bit of experience with wild foxes. One time, in Wyoming, a wild fox jumped into our van while the door was open. We often hear wild foxes “screaming” at night in my neighborhood (yes, it is terrifying). And just a couple days ago a wild fox was sitting in my back yard behind some trees (and I don’t live in the country, I live in the suburbs). But what I have never done is tried to catch a fox, much less 300 foxes. But that’s what Samson did.
Do you remember any of the stories about Samson? Samson was given incredible strength by God so that he could rescue the Israelites from the wicked Philistines. But Samson didn’t obey God very well, did he? He didn’t have any self-control (do you know what self-control is?). Samson did whatever he wanted to do, and he would use his gift of strength to do it.
And Samson hated the Philistines, but he didn’t hate them for the right reasons. God wanted to punish the Philistines because they worshiped false gods and made slaves out of other people (including the Israelites). The Philistines were very greedy and cruel, and they mocked God. They also lived in the land that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites. But Samson didn’t hate the Philistines because they hated God. He hated them because he thought they were mean to him. Yes, Samson was petty and selfish most of the time, but God still used him to fight the Philistines. How? With 300 foxes, or maybe jackals.
So here’s the thing, the word the Bible uses for fox can also mean a jackal (a medium size wild dog). In Israel there are all kinds of foxes and jackals. But catching 300 foxes would be nearly impossible because foxes all live alone. But jackals live in large packs. In fact, there are still packs of jackals in that part of the world that number into the hundreds. They usually all live together in caves and are actually friendly toward people. Not foxes – they run away from people. So Samson would be way more likely to catch 300 jackals, but not foxes. Either way, Samson used those dogs to burn down the Philistines fields and destroy their food supply.
Samson was a great warrior that God used to defeat his enemies, the Philistines. Jesus came at Christmastime to be an even greater warrior that God used to defeat his enemy, Satan and all his wicked ways. No, Jesus didn’t catch 300 dogs and tie their tails together with fiery torches, but because he was able to come at Christmastime and later die for our sins, one day he will come again, his second advent, and catch the devil for good. And Jesus will burn up all the terrible things that the devil has ever done. Not because he loves only himself, like Samson, but because he loves us and wants us to live happily ever after with him.
Questions: Is it easy or hard to think of Jesus as a great and powerful warrior like Samson?In what ways was Jesus fighting the devil at the first Christmas? How is he fighting the devil today?
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