Don’t Poke the Bear Unless You Can Kill It.
In Judges, Chapter 15:4-5, Samson tied the tails of 300 foxes together in pairs, lit their tails on fire and sent them into the Philistines’ grain fields. It was a foolhardy act of revenge. It was like poking a bear in the eye. The bear will not be happy. It will rise up and bite you. Of course, the angry Philistines came after Samson and would not stop until they bound and blinded him. It was a tragically unnecessary ending. Now, let’s contrast this with David’s words and actions, when he responded to Goliath’s threats to the Israel’s army. When King Saul told him that he would not be capable of slaying Goliath, David recounted his own experiences. It’s recorded in 1 Samuel 17:32-37 (NKJV). In it, David said, “Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them…”
David knew that proper response was to kill the threat. Now, we don’t go around killing people, but we do have real spiritual adversaries. The Apostle Paul called these, “principalities, powers” and “the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV). The way for us to deal with them today is to use our God-given authority to destroy them. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-4a, the Bible says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God…”
Samson’s fatal mistake was to act with carnal anger, to in a real sense, to “poke the bear” and then to take lightly the response he would get. This bad choice began the events that eventually killed him. His actions were in sharp contrast to David’s, who faced Goliath with a spiritually empowered response. He stepped into the valley in faith and launched a Holy Spirit powered stone to kill the giant. I’m Dr. Bob. The message is clear. If you are going to poke or provoke a spiritual bear, lion or giant, make sure you kill it using your spiritual weapons. They are well able to overcome and destroy whatever is capable of destroying you.
Don’t Poke the Bear Unless You Can Kill It
Podcast: Play in new window | Download