Blessed Be the Tie That Binds
Blessed Be the Tie That Binds
Judges 15:12-13a
And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.”
This brief exchange between Samson and his fellow Israelites reveals a moral ethic and a standard of brotherhood that far surpasses that of their Philistine counterparts.
Consider how differently this discussion could’ve gone had there not been a level of mutual deference between these parties. These 3,000 men didn’t come to Etam with torches, holding Samson’s parents in custody, threatening to burn them if he didn’t comply. In fact, they utter no fighting words at all. Between the lines, this feels like a Wild West sort of standoff in the center of town between two friends, neither wanting to pull the trigger, both searching the deafening silence for a more honorable solution than the cold smoke and steel of friendly fire but scraping the barrel. Samson isn’t the only one in a bind here. These 3,000 men have their hands tied, too. Yet, remarkably, they approach Samson meekly rather than viciously.
Now, one could argue that Samson doesn’t have any bargaining chips here—that even though he just wrecked an entire Philistine town singlehandedly, he doesn’t feel confident enough to fight 3,000 of his own kin, which makes his reply a forced submission rather than a willful one, but I disagree. I think by now Samson feels utterly invincible, against lions, against foxes, against entire armies, yet he knows in his heart that these brothers haven’t done anything wrong. He effectively sees the ropes on their hands, he knows he’s gotten them tied up in his own recklessness, so he refuses to let his hurt feelings get the best of him. To his credit, he comes out of the cave peaceably, not with swinging fists, but with open hands.
Friend, we’ve all got a cave like that, don’t we? A mental space we retreat to in our frustration when we feel like the world’s against us. Well, let’s learn from Samson’s example here in Judges 15:12-13. God’s calling us to lead others and to love others, and we can’t do that from Etam.