What does Judges 15:5 mean?
God has raised Samson up as a judge (Judges 2:16–19) and deliverer in Israel. His mission in life is to begin to free Israel from Philistines oppression (Judges 13:5). That odd job description suggests how deeply subjugated Israel had become. Both sides have grown complacent. God's people are not motivated to struggle against the Philistines for their freedom. Samson, too, has shown he would rather marry a Philistine wife than rid the Promised Land of her depraved people (Judges 14:1–3; Deuteronomy 7:1–4).Rather than a typical military leader, the Lord has crafted an agent of chaos (Judges 14:4), who takes his feud with the Philistines very personally (Judges 15:3). God has used Samson's perceived betrayal by the people of Timnah (Judges 14:17–20; 15:1–2) to spur an act of revenge. This vengeance takes a devastatingly clever form. Samson has trapped three hundred wild animals resembling small dogs or coyotes; varied translations call them "foxes" or "jackals." These are released in pairs, tied together by the tail with a burning torch in between. Samson sets the animals loose into the wheat fields of the Philistines, which are ready for harvest.
The panicking creatures would instinctively run in an erratic pattern through the fields, attempting to separate from each other and escape the fire from behind. The field would very quickly be ablaze as the dry wheat caught and burst into flame. Setting crops on fire has long been used by aggressive armies in historical wars. Samson's use of animals would have added additional chaos and speed to this act of arson. On top of whatever the animals are doing, he is seeing to it that olive groves and harvested grain are also ignited. This vicious, calculated assault will decimate the agricultural resources of the season for that entire region, leaving the people of Timnah with nothing.
Samson is bringing God's judgment on the Philistines (Judges 13: 5; 14:4). In truth, Samson only cares that his enemies pay for what they have done to him (Judges 15:11).