20 Samson and Delilah [Judges 16]
The Bible passage: [Judges 16]
The Story:
One of the judges was named Samson.
Samson had taken a vow to be holy (separated) to God that is called a Nazarite vow. Samson had superhuman strength. He attributed his strength to his vow.
Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her. When the people of Gaza heard that Samson was there, they waited in ambush for him at the city gate. Samson stayed in bed until midnight. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and pulled them out. He put the doors on his shoulders and took them to the top of the nearby mountain.
Sometime later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The Philistine leaders went to her and told her to find out where Samson’s great strength comes from. They promised her a lot of money for the information.
Delilah asked Samson where his strength comes from. He told her that if he were tied up with seven brand new bowstrings that had not been dried, he would become as weak as any other man.
The Philistine leaders brought her seven new bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them while he slept. While the men waited in ambush in her room, she woke him and said, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” Samson snapped the bowstrings like they were simple thread, so the secret of his strength stayed a secret.
Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Won’t you please tell me how you can be tied up?” He told her, “If you tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as other men.”
When he went to sleep, Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men in ambush were waiting in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were nothing.
Delilah said to Samson, “Again you mock me and tell me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids on my head with the web of a loom-”
The next time he fell asleep, she fastened the braids to the loom with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He awoke from his sleep and broke free from the loom.
Delilah cried, “How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me? Three times you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great!”
Because she nagged him day after day and pled with him until she wore him out, he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak.”
When Delilah realized that he had finally told her the whole truth, she sent a message to the Philistine leaders that she now had the right answer. The Philistine leaders came and brought her the money.
She let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. At this point, his strength left him.
She cried out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He woke up and thought to himself, “I will escape like I did before and break free.” He did not know that the Lord had left him.
The Philistines grabbed him and put out his eyes. They brought him to Gaza and chained him up. Samson was forced to grind grain in the prison.
Samson’s hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.
The Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a sacrifice to their god Dagon. They celebrated their belief that their god had given them their enemy Samson.
When they were drunk, they demanded that Samson be brought from the prison to entertain them. They had Samson stand between the pillars of their temple. Samson asked the young man who was leading him by the hand to lead him to where he could feel the pillars that supported the temple so he could lean against them.
The temple was full of men and women, including all the leaders of the Philistines. About 3,000 men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.
Samson prayed to the Lord: “Lord God, please be with me. Strengthen me just one more time. Let me get my vengeance, let me pay them back for taking my two eyes.” Samson leaned against the two middle pillars supporting the temple, one on his right hand and the other on his left. Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. The number of his enemies killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life.
His brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back to Israel, and buried him between in the tomb of his father.
The Lessons:
- Some of the things in a Nazirite vow include: it is voluntary; it is for a specific period of time; vow not to drink wine or any fermented drink; vow not to cut their hair; vow not to have contact with a dead body.
- The story appears to center around Samson’s hair. However, Samson’s strength didn’t come from his hair, but by his vow not to cut his hair. When Samson’s strength returned, he took revenge on the enemies of his people.
- In 12 The Ten Commandments I mentioned that an idol was anything that we put ahead of our relationship with God. Samson made Delilah the priority over his vow to God. Delilah became an idol to Samson.
- God calls his followers to be holy. Samson was committed to being holy, but he failed often. Samson was physically strong, but morally weak. God often uses weak people to accomplish His purposes.
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