The Battle of Jawbone Hill

A while back, the associated press ran an article about American Airlines company wide emphasis on better customer relations. They pressed their people to give extra diligence with every interaction, to smile and go the extra mile.

A baggage handler was taking air kennels off the plane when he spotted a dead dog. At the gate, he saw a forlorn family, waiting. Remembering his training, he rushed to the family and said, “We just have a small problem, but you’re dog will be right out.”

The young man then went out, bought a dog that looked the same as the dog that was dead in the kennel. He rushed back to work, put the new dog in the kennel, and brought it out to the family.

“That’s not our dog,” the husband said at once. The young man started to object when he said, “Our dog is dead.” They were flying the dog home to bury it.

I love his passion. But serving Jesus requires more than passion; it requires discipleship.

The heavy lifting of discipleship is done in community.

I. The Battle at Jawbone Hill:

• Samson is a tragic figure. He is in a cycle of revenge with he Philistines. They hurt him; he hurts them. He killed thirty Philistines for their clothes in order to pay off a debt. When his wife was given to someone else, he torched their crops, and they in turn burned his wife and her father to death.
• His response to his wife’s murder was a vicious attack on the Philistines. (Judges 15:8)
• After that tack, he went to the low hill country of Judah and hid in a rock. (Judges 15:8)
• Remember with Samson, God raised him up because he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. (Judges 14:4)
• The Philistines raided Judah. When asked why they were attack, the Philistines say it is because of the trouble Samson is causing. Israel is ruled by the Philistines and in subjection to them.
• When the Philistines demand the Hebrew leaders hand over Samson, what should their response be? Judges 15:11 says that three thousand men of Judah went down to where Samson was, chastised him and asked to bind him so that they might hand him over to the Philistines.
• The Hebrews do not want to follow Samson, they just want him to stop rocking the boat. They don’t want to be free: They want to have peace.
• As their Judge, he is not supposed to be doing to them as they did to him personally. He’s supposed to lead them in war to drive Philistines out. The Judges are supposed to lead the nation to complete the conquest Joshua started.
• Judges 15:12 is so disappointing. “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” Three thousand troops come down. Might Samson have thought, “At last they have come to rally to me.” But instead, they come to bind their judge.
• What happens next is Samson’s finest moment:

Three Miracles in the text ahead:

Miracle 1: The Ropes melted away. (Judges 15:14)

The Hebrew is not that he broke them, but that on their own they “melted” away. God broke the bonds.

Miracle 2: Samson was empowered with superhuman strength. (Judges 15:15-17)

Literally his song says, “With a donkey’s jawbone, a heap, two heaps; With a donkey’s jaw bone I have killed a thousand men.”

There is a wordplay: The words for donkey and heap spelled the same in Hebrew.

Ramath-lehi means Jawbone Hill. The hill is not named jawbone hill. It’s what he named the pile of dead bodies.

3. Miracle 3: Water from the rock. (Judges 15:18-19)

God “split open” the hollow place in Lehi.

II. Some “What’s If’s”

This is a Hebrew tragedy. Not just Samson and Delilah, or Samson’s many failures; this story is a tragedy because it had such great potential. The community failed him.

1. What if they had stood up to the enemy?

Why did they not join Samson? Because no matter how strong the Lord is, the enemy looks scary. It’s a sad scene! Samson fighting alone, and no one joins him. He cries out he is thirsty, no one brings him water. They are spectators when called called them to be warriors.

2. What if they had discipled their judge?

Samson is undiscipled. When a young believer is not discipled, he goes out in passion to fight for the Lord; they are young, bright and strong. But they have not been taught to fight the inner fight against sin.

Can you imagined the powerhouse a Discipled Samson would have been? Aman who was not only young and strong, but wholly committed to the Lord?

Disciples are not born. They’re MADE. “Go and make disciples.”

3. What if they had come with swords instead of ropes.

Sometimes it’s easier to bind up young believers and hold them bac than to arm them for battle. He has to pick up a jawbone of a donkey because his people did not give him a sword.

How do we disciple? With as word. (The Bible.) The work of the Church is to arm you with the Word of God.

What the Word gives you is perspective. Shows you what God is doing. Judges 14:4 outlined God’s will for Samson’s life. But what no one did in his life was show him the big picture. They didn’t back him up and say, “Son, let me show you what God is doing here.” The result was, this young man thought it was all about him personally.

4. What if they had spoken truth?

What if they had chastised him and corrected him. His family was unable to reign him in; he needed the community of faith.

Disciples need truth. Deborah spoke truth of Barak. Nathan spoke truth to David. Jesus spoke truth to the Pharisees. The disciples asked, “Did you not know that the Pharisees were offended?” He didn’t care. Better to offend than let them go to hell.

Want to grow in Christ? Who has permission to wound you?

5. What if they had done life with him.

He spends no time with the community of faith, and all his time with Philistines and Philistine women. No one pulled him close and said, “Come to with me.”

6. What if they had sought the Lord together?

As big as the miracles were that day, it could have been bigger. After the miracle, after the battle, there was the opening for something big. They could have come down to their victorious judge, prayed and sought the Lord together and called for revival.

See something sad: Samson praying alone for strength. There should be a line of people come to praise God for the victory, like at the Red Sea.

Samson’s greatest moment could have been the nations greatest moment if they had sought the Lord in the hour of Samson’s victory.

There is a Samson who did all of those:

Jesus, like Samson, was bound by his nation, sold by Judas. Yet he took the instrument of death, not a jawbone, but a cross, and on a hill (not Jawbone hill, skull) he was victorious over sin, death and Satan. At the end he called out, “I thirst.”

Our Warrior:

1. He stands up against our enemy. Calls us to war.

2. He sends us out with a clear command: Go make Disciples.

3. Arms us with the Sword of His Word.

4. He gives us His Holy Spirit: Wounds us.

5. Builds his church. Fosters fellowship. Not just service together: Do life deeply.

6. Christ empowers us to lead in his kingdom.

7. We come together to seek the Lord. Only purpose. Call our hearts to revival.

The Tragedy of Samson’s life: No One Discipled Him.