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Judges Chapter 16
Samson and Delilah
- Judges 16:1 Then
went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto
her.
- 2 And it was told
the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed
him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city,
and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is
day, we shall kill him.
- 3 And Samson lay
till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the
gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them,
bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them
up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
For some reason Samson must have found
out about the plot to kill him. This man was strong. The men were
waiting at the gate of the city. So Samson went out and just took
the gates of the city away. I don't know what happened to the men
lying in wait. Still we see a weakness in Samson that kept getting
him in trouble. Looks like after what happened with his first wife,
he would know better.
- Judges 16:4 And it
came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of
Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
- 5 And the lords of
the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him,
and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we
may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him:
and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of
silver.
So many down through the years yield to
temptation when it comes to money. It still happens today. What does
it really matter in the long run when we all face God. The money is
gone. As soon as our natural body dies, all our possessions is not
ours any longer. All for nothing.
- Judges 16:6 And
Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict
thee.
- 7 And Samson said
unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never
dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
Samson's weakness were Philistine
women. It did open the door to his defeating the Philistines at
times but I wonder if there would have been another way. Delilah was
the third temptation.
She must have wanted that money bad and
didn't waste any time betraying Samson. These ropes were very strong
but Samson had no fear that he couldn't defeat anyone and anybody.
-
Judges 16:9 Now there were
men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said
unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the
withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire.
So his strength was not known.
It is obvious here that Delilah was in
on this thing. Samson knew that apparently, but he seemed to like
challenges and had no fear. The men were lying in wait just waiting
to take Samson once he lost his strength.
- Judges 16:10 And
Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told
me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be
bound.
- 11 And he said unto
her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were
occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
- 12 Delilah therefore
took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait
abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like
a thread.
Again we see Samson is not taking this
seriously and is enjoying the game. Perhaps he justifies himself by
using it as an occasion to deliver his people from the bondage of
the Philistines.
-
Judges 16:13 And Delilah
said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto
her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
Delilah seems to be trying to guilt him
into revealing his secret. I've seen so much of that down through
the years. Manipulation through trying to place guilt on people.
This is different than Holy Spirit conviction over real sin. Using
guilt to manipulate people is not always Holy Spirit conviction but
just someone placing another type of bondage on a person. He is now
in dangerous territory by allowing his hair to be messed with.
- Judges16:14 And she
fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be
upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away
with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
- 15 And she said unto
him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not
with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not
told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
- 16 And it came to
pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him,
so that his soul was vexed unto death;
He should have left then and there and
defeated the Philistine while he had strength. Here shows his
weakness of coming under pressure to this woman.
- Judges 16:17 That he
told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a
razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from
my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from
me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
- 18 And when Delilah
saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for
the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he
hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines
came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
Surely the love of money is truly the
root of all evil. Yet where does it get us? In the end we lose it
all. We can't take it with us. It will not buy us out of God's
judgment in the end.
- Judges 16:19 And she
made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she
caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she
began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
- 20 And she said, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep,
and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake
myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
He must have mistakenly thought he
would wake up if someone tried to cut his hair and let down his
guard. I can't imagine why he did this. This happened to another in
the days of the kings. King Saul because of disobedience lost the
anointing and the Spirit of the Lord departed from him.
This would be the worst thing that
could happen to anyone to lose the Holy Spirit in their lives. It
would be worst than the natural death of our bodies. Through the
grace of God and faith in Jesus it is harder for it to happen, Being
born again by God's spirit and receiving His Holy Spirit to abide
within us, is to be guarded and treasured.
- Judges 16:21 But the
Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down
to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind
in the prison house.
- 22 Howbeit the hair
of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
People can be so cruel. What a horrible
thing to happen. Perhaps his eyes looking upon what he should not,
was what caused his downfall. Yet we know God still uses Samson to
defeat the Philistines. No one gets away with anything.
The Death of Samson
-
Judges 16:23 Then the lords
of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great
sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said,
Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Without God we would open ourselves to
this type of thinking. Satan is out to steal, kill and destroy our
souls. They became so deceived, they actually thought an idol make
of metal or stone could deliver Samson into their hands. When it was
just a woman's lust for money that enticed Samson into their hands.
We see that Samson's defeat was in his own weakness for beautiful
women. But God wins in the end.
- Judges 16:24 And
when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said,
Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the
destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
- 25 And it came to
pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for
Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson
out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set
him between the pillars.
- 26 And Samson said
unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may
feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean
upon them.
Samson's hair had grown back by this
time and I'm sure by this time he figured out not only how to defeat
them but why he was defeated.
Imagine people being that cruel that
they make fun of and torment their enemines.
-
Judges 16:28 And Samson
called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray
thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God,
that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two
eyes.
Samson knew the real source of his
strength and made things right with God in the end. God used this to
deliver Israel from their bondage to the Philistines and Samson got
revenge for what they did to his eyes.
- Judges 16:29 And
Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house
stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right
hand, and of the other with his left.
- 30 And Samson said,
Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all
his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the
people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death
were more than they which he slew in his life.
- 31 Then his brethren
and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and
brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the
buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty
years.
He defeated more at this time than all the
other times he fought against the Philistines. 3,000 were killed
that day. Samson gave his own life and didn't ask God for his own
deliverance but willingly died with them. His relatives were able to
take his body away showing that Israel was free to do so. DC
Judges Chapter 17
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