Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."
So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."
Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."
Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."
He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."
So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied."
He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric and tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." With such nagging, she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.
So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"
He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands."
When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,
"Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain."
While they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.
When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them." Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, "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." Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.
Judges 16:4-31
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Samson. Chosen judge of Israel. Appointed by God from birth. Born from two faithful, God-loving parents. Was strong and intelligence. Lived a life of self centeredness, vengeance, disobedience and sexual immorality.
Chapter 16 is the last we will read about Samson in the scriptures. He will not be revered through the ages like other Old Testament men before him. In fact, we should study Samson so to know what not to do as a follower of the Lord more than anything else. At the beginning of Chapter 16, we saw where he chose to sleep with a Philistine prostitute before escaping the clutches of the Philistines who wanted him killed. Prior to his death, he will have one last relationship…one that will lead to his doom.
For as our scripture opens, we read where Samson falls in “love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah”. Seeing an opportunity to finally get rid of Samson, the “rulers of the Philistines went to her” saying, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver." Delilah took the deal and set to trying to coax the information from Samson.
Scripture tells us that Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued." Samson, who we have seen once already deceived by a woman, is wise to the fact that Delilah might do just as his first wife had done. For he tells her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man." So Delilah goes to the “rulers of the Philistines” who give her “seven fresh thongs that had not been dried”. She uses them to tie up Samson and, “with men hidden in the room”, she calls out, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But no sooner did she utter these words that Samson broke free from his bonds, snapping the “thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame”. Delilah, realizing that she had been lied to, told Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied." Samson would lie to Delilah twice more as she persisted in trying to find out how to take away Samson’s strength to betray him. And even after the third time, she was undaunted in her quest to find out the answer she sought.
For after the third lie, she says frustratingly, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." And scripture tells us that she nagged and “prodded him day after day until he was tired to death”. Eventually, Delilah got her way for Samson “told her everything”.
How could Delilah disempower the mighty Samson? He tells her saying, "No razor has ever been used on my head because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man." And so Delilah, confident that she finally had the right solution, “sent word to the rulers of the Philistines” saying, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." And the rulers “returned with the silver in their hands”. The stage was set for Samson to finally fall.
With the silver shekels not far away from bringing her some wealth, Delilah skillfully puts Samson asleep on her lap and then had a “man to shave off the seven braids of his hair” which “began to subdue him” and caused Samson’s strength to leave him. The door was open for the Philistines to get in a long awaited attack as they “seized (Samson), gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. They bound him “with bronze shackles” and “set him to grinding in the prison” while the “hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved”.
Perhaps the saddest part of this betrayal story is that Samson didn’t even realize he was in trouble. He had always been able to overpower his adversaries in the past and was confident it would happen again. But the Lord had left him and sadly, he didn’t know it.
So why didn’t Samson know the Lord had left him? My guess is that Samson didn’t have a consistent relationship with Him. We see it all through his life story. True, there has been at least one juncture when he turns to God but note it was when he needed something (thirsty after fighting…Judges 15:18). Friends, we’re not just supposed to turn to God when we think it’s convenient. No…we’re supposed to turn to Him always…24/7…365 days a year. If we do this, then we will always be connected to the Lord and He to us. If only Samson had done this. His story might have ended so much better.
So how did his story end? Well, God does use Samson to destroy the rulers and many of the Philistines. Our passage tells the Philistines gathered to “offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god”, celebrating and saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands…“Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain”, and "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So “they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them”. After his performance, Samson asks his servant to “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them" and the servant does as he asks. Samson then “prayed to the Lord” saying, "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." Notice that Samson once again turned back toward God as the true source of his power and God delivered as “Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood”, braced himself against them, and shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!" before he “pushed with all his might” and brought the temple down “on the rulers and all the people in it” as well as himself. He was “buried…between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father” after leading Israel for twenty years.
So the life of Samson ends here but perhaps in the end, Samson learned his greatest lesson…and by doing so taught us an eternal truth. For Samson came to discover that his true strength wasn’t really in his hair or his mind or in his muscles but rather in God and God alone. He is the only true source of power for any man, woman or child and the good news is that there will ever be a lack of power and strength in our life as long as we stayed plugged into THE Power Source…God.
Question: Are you plugged into God? Are you drawing from His strength in your life instead of trying to rely on your own?
If so, then stay connected and receive the reward of His energizing Spirit in your life. I
If not, plug into Him now and stayed plugged in forever. For He stands ready to power you up and do awesome things in your life and in the lives of others through you. Rest assured of this. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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