Samson Used the Jawbone of a Donkey as a Weapon

By Mary Vee
Judges 15

Samson's Thoughts

My Israelite brothers treated me like a superhero. "Samson killed a lion. Samson ripped a city gate from the hinges and carried it to the top of a hill. Samson--Samson--Samson."

Tired, disappointed, and wanting to get away from the Philistines after what they did to my wife and her father I walked into a remote area to be by myself. I camped in the cleft of the rock at Etam to get out of the hot sun.

For several days I rested in that quiet place until brothers from the tribe of Judah came looking for me. What ever they wanted had to be important. Three thousand of them crowded by the cleft.


"Samson, Samson! We want to talk to you. Get out here."


I peeked out from behind a rock. "What? What's going on?"


They came closer to me. "Samson, you're in so much trouble. Why did you do it? The Philistines are mad, burning mad. They're ready to kill us. You know the Philistines rule over us.  If we don't serve them, they'll destroy our homes and crops."


I shook my head and huffed. "I only did to them what they did to me."


"You can't do whatever you want, Samson. I don't care how strong you are, you're one man. Only one man. The Philistines will make our lives worse because of you." They opened their hands to show ropes. "We've come to arrest you and take you to the Philistines."


I wanted them to think they could tie me up.  I nodded. "OK. I'll go. But, promise you won't kill me."


The men nodded. "We won't.  Trust me, though, you won't be able to escape once we've tied you up. We'll give you to the Philistines to make them happy. It's the only way to keep our families safe. You gotta understand." 


I understood. The Philistines scared them. But they didn't scare me. I held out my arms and let them tie me with the new ropes.


My Israelite brothers escorted me back toward Judah. Before we reached the city gates, the Philistines ran toward me screaming something. I couldn't understand their words. Let's just say they weren't happy.


The closer the Philistines came the more God's strength flowed to my muscles. The new ropes turned into soggy threads and fell from my arms. I glanced down at the ground and found a jawbone from a donkey. Perfect!


I picked up the jawbone, took a fighting stance, and whipped it at each Philistine who dared to come near me. I killed a thousand of their men in a flash! Sweat poured down my face and neck like water flowing into a brook.  After the last Philistine fell to the ground, I dropped the jawbone and sighed.


I was hot and my mouth felt like a sandstorm had blasted through.  No water in sight. Not even a puddle. I leaned against a tree and moaned. "God, You gave me this victory over the Philistines and now You're gonna let me die of thirst?"  


Before I blinked my eyes, the ground next to my foot shook. A crack formed then a wide gap. Bubbles floated to the top and spilled off to the side followed by a stream of cool water. "Yes! Thank you, Lord." I pressed my face to the water and slurped a refreshing drink. It tasted delicious. I drank until I could drink no more. "Thank you, Lord."


God chose me judge Israel for twenty years during the time of the Philistines. Each time I needed strength to conquer a group of Philistines, God gave me what I needed. 


I wasn't a super hero. Just someone used by God to do His will.

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1.  Who came to arrest Samson?

2.  Why did they want to arrest him?

3.  What did they bring to tie up Samson?

4.  Did it work?

5.  What happened when the Philistines saw Samson?

6.  Who gave Samson the strength to judge the Philistines?

7.  How long dd God let Samson judge Israel?

Samson's Fox Fire

By Mary Vee
Judges 15

Samson's Thoughts

I missed my wife. 


I'd stayed at my father's house until the wheat had been harvested. We finished our work early, which made me glad;  I could finally go see my wife. 

I took a young goat as a gift for her father.  When I arrived, he opened the door and gasped. "Samson, why are you here? I didn't expect to see you again."

I held the goat out toward him. "I want to see my wife. Please accept my gift."

He shook his head. "You can't see her. I let another man marry her while you were gone. Now, Samson, don't be angry. You can marry her younger sister."

I took a deep breath and squinted at him. "You won't let me see my wife? You'll be sorry. This time you Philistines have gone too far."

I set the goat down and stomped away.  Why did I trust the people from this village? God said to conquer the Philistines and with His strength, I will--mark my word. 

The further I walked the more anger boiled in my veins. I slammed my fists together. I need a plan.


In a field not far away, I found foxes hiding in their dens. Immediately a great idea came to me. I could use the foxes to conquer the Philistines! 

 It didn't take long to capture 300 foxes.  

Next, I made one hundred fifty torches. 

I pulled two of the foxes out of the group, turned them back to back, tied a torch between their tails, and lit it. The animals bolted away from me toward the fields. They turned right, then left, trying to escape each other. Everywhere they ran, fires sparked setting the ripe wheat on fire. By the time I released the rest of the foxes, fires blazed from every field destroying all the Philistine crops.

Their grain, shocks, vineyards, and olive groves burned to the ground.

The next day, I went to my wife's home. She and her father had been killed by the Philistines.


Apparently the Philistines thought they could stop me.

Oh, were they wrong.

God gave me strength to conquer them all right. I found the men who took the lives of my wife and her father, killed them--then went home.


I still like visiting the Philistine villages. And yes, I'll visit them again. But not for a few days.

For the next twenty years, God gave me super strength to conquer the Philistines and judge Israel. 

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1.  Why did Samson take a gift to his wife's father?

2.  What did his wife's father say?

3.  How did Samson punish the Philistines the first time?

4.  After Samson heard what the Philistines did to his wife and her father, what did he do?

5.  What did God give Samson?  Why?

The Bible says, God appointed Samson to punish other nations.

Photo courtesy of Christian Image Resources

Samson's Riddle

By Mary Vee
Judges 14

Samson's Thoughts

A few days after I killed the lion (you can read the story here. )  I went back to see the lion's body.


A swarm of bees had buried their hive deep between the bones. Rich, golden honey had dripped out. I grabbed a branch from a tree and waved it over the hive. The bees zapped from their home and swarmed to a flowering bush. While they were gone, I dipped my hand inside and scooped out honey. 

Fresh, warm honey.  Gooey. Delicious.

I gave some to my parents, but I didn't tell them about killing the lion.

A few days later I married a girl from a nearby village. Following the wedding, I gave a banquet for her family and the rest of her village. All the Philistine men came. Yes, the girl was a Philistine.


On the first night of the banquet I wanted to have some fun. I asked the Philistine men, "Do you want to hear a riddle? If you can correctly solve and explain it to me before the seventh day of this banquet ends, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes. but, if you can't explain the riddle to me, you'll have to give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes."

The Philistine men looked at each other and whispered then turned to me. "Okay, tell us your riddle."


This is the riddle I told:  

Out of the eater came something to eat,
and out of the strong cam something sweet.

They scratched their beards and whispered to each other. No one knew the answer.

For seven days I watched the Philistines work on the riddle. but couldn't find the answer. Each night after our wedding, my wife came to me and cried. "You don't love me. You told the men from my family a riddle yet you didn't tell me the answer!" 

I laughed."Dear wife, I haven't told my parents the answer either." She cried and cried. I couldn't get any sleep. After several days I couldn't stand the noise any longer. I told her the answer to the riddle.


That night I went to the banquet. It was the seventh night. I looked at the Philistine men and smiled. "So, do you have the answer to my riddle?"


The nodded and smiled back. "Yes.  What is sweet____. Honey is the answer.  What is strong___. Lion is the answer."


Those tricky Philistine men. They must have found out the answer from my wife. Anger boiled from my toes to my head.  The great strength God gave me for the lion flowed into my muscles. I went to Ashkelon and killed thirty Philistines, took their clothing, and gave it to the men who answered the riddle.

I didn't want to be around those Philistines any more so I went back to my parent's house.  My wife stayed with her Philistine family.
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1.  What did Samson find in the lion's body?
2.  Why did Samson have a banquet?  Who came?
3.  What did Samson tell his guests?
4.  What did Samson want them to give him?
5.  Why did Samson tell his wife the answer?  
Samson didn't know the men from the village talked to his wife and promised to burn her family's house if she didn't tell them answer.
6. What did Samson do when he heard the Philistine men's correct answer?

God gave Samson the strength to conquer the Philistines

Samson Kills the Lion

By Mary Vee
 Judges 14

Samson's Thoughts

Did you ever feel like you were different from everyone else?  I did.


My parents never cut my hair and wouldn't let me have many foods or drinks my friends had.

One day my father called me out to the field to help him. He finally told me about the day an angel gave him special instructions for my care. Apparently an Angel of the Lord spoke with mom and him before I was born.


As I grew older, I heard my parents and other adults talk about the Philistines. They'd conquered many of our villages forty years ago and have treated the survivors like slaves. Several of my friends still can't find enough food and their houses have been destroyed.

I knew I should have stayed away from the Philistine villages, but I couldn't. I wanted to know who they were, how they dressed, and what they did. When I had free time I walked to one of their villages not far from my home.


On the way there I found a fig tree at the top of a hill. It'd been a while since I'd eaten and a treat would taste good.  

When I reached for an extra large fig on an upper branch, I saw an animal dart from a bush just beyond a tree in the field. It crouched as if stalking something. The creature picked up speed, as it crossed the field. One section of sparse grain let me see the animal's body. the golden tail and mane ruffled in the wind. 

No problem. That lion is down there and I'm up here. I plucked several figs and stuffed them into my mouth before checking if the fruit was ripe. Yuck. Nasty. Bitter taste. I spit those disgusting figs out in a flash.

I looked around for something to get rid of the bad taste. A small distance away stood a large fig tree with ripe, juicy figs hanging from every branch. Perfect. My stomach growled, begging for food.


I walked to the second fig tree, reached out, and grabbed a fig. That's when I heard something breathing.  Huffing and puffing close to me. I whipped around and saw the lion running towards me. My heart blasted blood into every cell in my body. I didn't have a moment to think or to find a weapon. 

Then, something different happened. My muscles automatically tightened ready to do battle. A surge of energy sprang from somewhere, I didn't know where. I didn't know why the lion's fangs didn't scare me. A voice told me, "Don't be afraid." It must have been God.

The lion roared, ready to attack, then increased speed. His extended claws flew toward my face ready to rip me from my bones. I didn't breathe.

My hands flew into defense position until the lion fell forward to the ground. My hands and arms attacked with a speed and power as if I had killed thousands of lions. 

When the creature stopped, I stepped back and stared at it. 



How did it happen?

I held my hands out then tipped them over. Where did the strength and speed come from?

I tipped my head back to take a deep breath and saw the vast sky above. Then I knew. God gave me my strength.

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1.  How did Samson know he was different from his friends?
2.  What group of people forced the Israelites to become slaves?
3.  What animal surprised Samson.
4.  What happened when the lion attacked?
5.  What did Samson learn?
6.  Why did God give Samson this? (hint:  think of the Philistines)

Photo courtesy of Christian Image Source