Lust , Caution

Judges 16:15-30

Samson and Delilah

Judges Chapter 13-16 records the story of Samson. Manoah, a Danite, his wife is sterile and remained childless. The angel of God appeared to them and prophesied that Manoah’s wife was to conceive and have a son. The son was named later, Samson and he would be a lifelong Nazirite.

The Nazirite vow is found in Numbers 6:1-21, and contained three basic stipulations. A Nazirite was not to cut hair during the period of the vow; was not to drink any produce from vines, alcoholic or non-alcoholic; and was not to have contact with any dead body. The purpose of the Nazirite vow was to ask for God’s special help during a crucial time. It was a sign that you were looking to God with great intensity and focus.

Samson’s case is a unique one for he supposed to be a Nazirite until death. Besides, Samson’s mission was to be an Israelite judge to lead his people to fight against Philistine oppression (Judg. 13:4-5). Samson had three defining characteristics: long hair, Herculean strength, and sexual lust.

Samson saw a Philistine woman at Timnah and fell for her at first sight. He married her against the wishes of his parents (Judg. 14:1-2).

Then, he saw a prostitute in Gaza and became intimate with her at night. The enemy came to ambush him but he was not at all afraid of them (16:1-3). He woke up in the middle of the night and dismantled the doors of the city gates. He carried the doors up the hills of Hebron. He was so arrogant that his enemies feared and hated him at the same time!

Cherish the Source of Your Power, Do Not Abuse God’s Grace

After this, Samson went down to the Valley of Sorek and “fell in love” with a Gentile woman there by the name of Delilah.

The leaders of the five city-states of the Philistines met with Delilah to convince her to lure Samson into divulging the secret of his unusual strength. They promised her a great sum of money. By this time, Samson is seen as a national menace.

For Delilah, it means that if she could turn him over to them, she would be a national heroine. So the potential wealth, power, and influence being held out to her is very great. She would be set up for the rest of her life.

It was an offer that she could not refuse. So, she took the bribe and set out to seduce Samson into sharing the secrets of his Herculean strength.

Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you?”

Samson replied, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

So, the woman bound up Samson accordingly. When the Philistines came to arrest him, he immediately broke free from his bondage.

Delilah complained that Samson had lied to her. So, for a second time, she asked for the secret of his great strength.

Samson said, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

So, Delilah used this technique to bind Samson. When the Philistines came to attack Samson, he immediately broke free from his bondage.

Again, Delilah murmured at Samson, “Why did you deceive me again?” She demanded that Samson tell her the truth.

Samson replied, “If you weave the seven locks of my head, and… weave them together…” (v. 13). The Hebrew text is written in such a way that Samson did not complete his sentence. This shows that he was afraid. By mentioning his hair, they are getting closer to his secret!

So, Delilah waited until Samson fell asleep. Then, she took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the fabric of the loom.

In ancient times, the women worked the loom. The fabric of the loom represents Delilah’s hair. The weaving of his hair with the fabric of the loom speaks of Samson and Delilah’s interwoven love.

When the enemy came, Samson immediately broke free from his bondage.

From then on, Delilah nagged and pestered Samson everyday to reveal his secret. She said, “If you truly love me and want to be with me, then you should tell me the truth.”

Samson was worn out by the daily nagging. He could not bear her accusation that he did not love her. So, he told her truth, “I did not shave my head since I was little. If you shave my head, then I will be powerless.”

Samson could not bear to disappoint her even though she was leading him to ruin. This is typical of many destructive relationships. Samson’s love or lust for Delilah destroyed him. Love is transcendent and redemptive but if it is not fueled by God’s love, it becomes distorted and results in indulgence and destruction.

Samson slept at Delilah’s knees. While he was asleep, Delilah called for someone to shave Samson’s head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. When the Philistines came to arrest him, Samson awoke from his sleep and said,” I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.”

But he did not know that the LORD had left him. He was now powerless to resist the aggression of Philistines. They seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles.

Delilah had repeatedly attempted to pry into the secrets of Samson’s strength. Could it be that he was not at all suspicious of her?

Samson had no reason not to be wary of her but he loved Delilah and could not resist her tears. Perhaps he was gambling on her not being malicious!

Or, perhaps, all these while, even though Samson did not restrain from lust and, in fact, broke almost every stipulation of the Nazarite vow, his strength did not leave him. He would naturally think that everything would still be alright even if his head was shaven.

Or, perhaps, Samson thought that all his accomplishments were achieved entirely out of his own talent and effort. The more God blessed Samson, giving him strength to fight his foes, the more Samson grew confident of his own invulnerability; and the more he engaged in irresponsible behavior. In other words, Samson’s heart used God’s blessings as reason to forget God. He no longer cared about God’s presence. No wonder he did not even realize that God’s Spirit and power had left him (v. 20)!

Samson was unable to see how dependent he was on God’s grace. He had come to see his strength as an inalienable right, not a gift of God’s mercy and grace.

In grace, God takes even our weaknesses and failures and uses them for us, but in sin, we take even his girts and strengths and used them against him. Our sinful hearts will find ways to use even God’s blessing to ruin our lives. Paul speaks of this in Romans 1 when in effect he says that the worst thing God can do to us is to give us our desires—success! The most successful people in the world tend to be the people that are the farthest from God.

Samson did not cherish the supernatural power that was given to him. He also never acknowledged that God was the source of his strength. He actually had abused the grace of God on him. Ironically, it was his Philistine enemies who recognized the divine source of Samson’s supernatural power. A person who does not care for his or her own relationship with God can never be a good and successful leader.

Today, do we repeatedly show contempt for the source of our strength, abuse the grace of God given to us? Such people just as Samson falsely inferred from God’s blessing: I can’t be defeated, so I can live as I like; I got this success because I was smart and savvy. I am self-sufficient.

Many non-believers desire what we have. They want to dispossess us of our spiritual treasures, yet we take these for granted. They think that we must do something to keep ourselves strong, yet we think that we don’t have to do anything to keep ourselves strong.

But God’s power is different. It depends on internal conditions, on a heart-relationship. There is no divine power or spiritual strength without discipleship. We ought to harness the power from above through constantly abiding with Christ, with spiritual discipline of prayer, study of scripture, worship, and fellowship, but these are precisely what we often neglect.

The Devil deceives us through busyness and self-deceit. He misleads us into thinking that even if we do not pray or read the Bible or worship or fellowship with others, we can still live our daily lives and the strength and blessing from God will continue to be with us.

Until one day, when we have exhausted the grace that God had supplied to us, when we are utterly defeated, when we fall and crumble, then we finally realize that God’s power has left us.

Now is the time we ought to firmly grasp all the means that help us to be connected to the Lord. God is our strength and refuge. His grace is sufficient for us to combat all enemies and challenges of life. In Christ, we shall live a life that is victorious!

Do Not Run Away from God but Fulfill God’s Purpose in Your Life

The Philistines plucked out Samson’s eyes and imprisoned him in Gaza. There, he was tasked to grind the mill. Grinding the mill was the task of women, donkeys, and cows.

Previously, Samson indulged in the lust of his eyes; now, he was blind. Formerly, he freely mingled with women, but now he was made to work like a woman. Once, he killed people like a mule, but now he worked like a donkey.

Before, he likened his wife to a heifer, but now he did the work of cows. Gaza was the place of his greatest success, but now it became the place of his greatest humiliation. He destroyed the gates of Gaza with his bare hands, but now he could not escape from Gaza. In fact, he would meet his end in Gaza.

When the Philistines celebrated the harvest at the Temple of Dagon, the god of grain, they brought Samson out for their entertainment; to foster the festive atmosphere! In the past, Samson destroyed much of the Philistines’ grain. At that time, there were many Philistines of note gathered in the temple. The roof alone accommodated 3000 Philistines.

Previously, Samson fell and was oblivious of God’s absence. Now, with his hair growing back, God was planning a counterattack. This time, the Philistines were the ones who were oblivious!

When Samson arrived at the temple, a child led him to stand in between of two pillars. Wrapped around the pillars, Samson offered his final prayer, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes” (v28).

Samson humbled himself. He recognized that God was the source of his strength. He entrusted himself into the hand of God and was even willing to die with the Philistines (v. 30)!

God heard his prayer and gave him strength because God wanted to use him to destroy the Philistines and save the Israelites.

Samson held to the two pillars and pushed with all high might and the whole temple collapsed! Many Philistines were killed in this incident. Samson killed more Philistines in his death than in his life.

Dagon, the Gentile god, also “died.” Dagon which was highly exalted by the Philistine was not truly god. The final victory belongs to Yahweh. Samson and the Philistines perished together.

Samson was the most gifted among all the judges. He was more of a warrior than Deborah. He was more courageous than Gideon and Barak. He had a far better pedigree than Japheth. Yet, his has the most tragic ends. Why?

Samson often said, “If you do such-as-such to me, then I will become weak and be like any other man” (vv. 7, 11, 17). This reveals that Samson was wavering between a Nazarite and an ordinary person. God had chosen him but he was determined to run away from his calling so that he could live his life of indulgence.

Samson’s real temptation had been to believe that we are blessed by God because of something great and deserving in us—complacently to see what he had been given by grace as rightfully his, to use as he wished. It is so hard to remember that we do what we do only because of God’s grace, and that God’s grace is given so that we might do what is pleasing to him and in the service of his people.

God and Samson were in a covenantal relationship. Although Samson breached the stipulations of the covenant, God still used him. Likewise, He knows our weaknesses. He can use our weaknesses to advance His plan of salvation. The weakness of humanity or other factors cannot thwart God’s work. When God’s people are not faithful to God’s calling, He will still use them but their lives will be filled with conflict and pain, just like Samson.

Today, since God has chosen you to be His child, you are no longer an ordinary person. If God has chosen you to be a leader, then you are no longer an ordinary believer. You ought to be steadfast in your ministry and be faithful to the mission that God has entrusted to you. If God’s people are loyal to Him, fulfil God’s purpose in their lives, they will surely enjoy the inexhaustible grace of God.

Samson’s Death Points to Jesus’ Death

Samson’s end is a picture, a shadow, of Jesus’ death. Both of them appeared completely struck down by their enemies, yet both in their death crushed their enemy—Samson, the Philistines and Dagon; Jesus, the ultimate enemy, Satan. As Samson brought the temple crashing down around Dagon and his followers, the spiritual power and apparent triumph of Dagon was reversed. Samson brought permanent alienation between the cultures, so that Israel would become distinct, no longer unknowingly and inevitably under the Philistines’ power.

On the cross, Jesus brought the power of Satan to nothing, disarming him (Colossians 2:15). How did the cross achieve this? It took away the penalty of our idolatry—death—so that Satan could no longer successfully prosecute God’s people. And it took way, the power of sin in our lives, enabling the Spirit to live in us to break the lure of idols in our hearts. Samson prefigures Jesus’ triumph, at the cost of his own death, over Satan, As Samson killed many as he died so it took the death of Jesus to “kill” Satan—the unseen power of idolatry, and the power of death itself.

There is of course, on crucial difference between Samson and Christ. With Samson’s burial, his rule was over (16:31). His story was finished. But with Jesus’ burial, in many ways the story had only just begun. He rules beyond his grave, not just before it. The One who became weak to save will rule in strength and power eternally. Jesus became weak to become strong.

Becoming and continuing as a Christian is about the same pattern—becoming weak to become strong. Only those who admit they are unrighteous receive the righteousness of Christ. Only those who know their life and strength are theirs purely because of grace are not living in the grip of fear, boredom, and despondency. Only those who know their own weakness are able to know God-given inner strength; the strength which enables us to avoid the pitfalls of Samson’s life: pride, lust, anger, vengefulness and complacency.