Samson’s wife given to one of his companions by the father-in-law, so Samson used foxes to set fire to the fields of the Philistines.

Judges 14:20-15:5

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In the previous post [Judges 14:8-20], Samson’s Gentile Philistine wife explained to her fellow Philistines what the answer to Samson’s riddle was. After that, Samson’s father-in law thought that Samson hated his wife for giving away the answer to the riddle. That is why the father-in-law gave away his daughter [Samson’s wife] to another man. This is where the verses of this post picks up.

“And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man. After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, “Let me go in to my wife, into her room.” But her father would not permit him to go in. Her father said, “I really thought that you thoroughly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.” Judges 14:20-15:1-2

From verse 20 alone, it would seem that Samson felt betrayed by his wife for giving away the answer to his riddle and gave her away. Actually, just the opposite is true, the father-in-law of Samson gave her away. Likewise, our Lord Jesus would never give His born-again Gentile children to unbelievers, especially not for revealing His Gospel.

Actually, Samson wanted to be with his wife and went to visit her and brought her a gift of a young goat, the same as our Lord Jesus Christ came as the “Lamb of God” to reconcile us Gentiles to God. However, the unbelieving Gentile father-in-law of Samson would not allow Samson to see his wife. This is the same as the fathers of Judaism trying to prohibit Jesus from “visiting” his “bride”, us born-again Gentiles. Samson’s father-in law thought Samson hated his wife for revealing his riddle, but that was far, far from the truth. The father-in-law even went so far as to offer another of his daughters to Samson, and that was not acceptable to Samson. Likewise, our Lord Jesus Christ wants those who live for God in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and no other.

“And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!” Then Samson went and caught three hundred foxes; and he took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.” Judges 15:3-5

Samson was not pleased about someone giving away his wife and took vengeance against the unbelieving Gentile Philistines for robbing him of her. Samson said, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!” Likewise, God takes vengeance against this atheistic unbelieving world for robbing Him of all that belongs to Him [especially His bride, the Church, you and me], “For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. For surely I will shake My hand against them…” Zechariah 2:8-9

Samson caught three hundred foxes and paired them up with a torch between their tails, making 150 primitive types of drones to attack the fields of the Philistines, or call them moving “Molotov cocktails”. We can envision Samson releasing one fiery drone into the field while tying two more foxes together with a torch between their tails. While the first two foxes caused the field to burn, the next two foxes would run where there was no fire and begin a fresh new fire somewhere away from the first fire. Samson did this 150 times, each time causing a fresh fire as the fire grew and grew to burn up the standing grain and the “shocks” of grain [stacks of wheat that had already been cut]. Along with the grain, the vineyards and the olive groves were burnt up as well.

What Samson did is part of the “scarlet cord” pointing to Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. By the fire of the Holy Spirit, Jesus burnt down the corruption of the Jewish culture along with the laws of Judaism. He burnt down the standing grain, which is what the Jewish leaders would have harvested to indoctrinate people in the laws of Judaism, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Matthew 23:15 By the fire of the Holy Spirit, Jesus also burnt up the wheat already harvested, which is to draw many Jewish people away from Judaism to follow Him and live by the Spirit. By the fire of the Holy Spirit, Jesus also burnt up the vineyards where Judaism grew, and the olive groves where the benefit was derived from the membership of Judaism.

What Samson did in sending the foxes out two-by-two with fire between their tails is what our Lord Jesus Christ did. Jesus sent disciples into the fields of the city [two-by-two], with the fire of the Holy Spirit, to burn down the corruption in the Jewish culture, “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” Luke 10:1 Many Jewish people believed the Gospel message and followed Jesus Christ, but some told the Pharisees what was being done, and the Pharisees were terrified of allowing the fire of the Holy Spirit to spread in their culture of Judaism, they said, “If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him…” As quoted, “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him…” John 11:45-48

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have the fire of the Holy Spirit in us to give us a desire to share the Good News of the Gospel of Christ. Our born-again experience is the Gospel written on our heart and that is what we want people to know, we have had a change of heart. However, we live in an atheistic culture that serves the entity that has power over physiology to give them their thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors. Our born-again testimony is destructive to the atheistic entity that enlivens the image of the beast to live and speak through people. The culture of today is groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

In today’s world, there is prohibition on spreading the Gospel. Our Lord Jesus says this about the inability to share the Good News, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1