Dating Delilah

Context:

— Samson went to Timnath,

— Timnath was the border city between the Jewish region and the Philistine region. He got close too close to the edge of where he shouldn’t have been, and it led to him marrying a philistine woman,

— when she was killed he went farther into the philistine territory and slept around with a prostitute, and on his way back to the Jewish region he fell in love with another Philistine woman named Delilah.

He went to

1. Delilah Deceives (v 4)

1. Delilah Deceives (v 4)

a) Samson loved Delilah

— Delilah’s name literally means “flirty” and “of the night” so it can be assumed she was not a morally pure person.

— Samson was supposed to be leading Israel at this time

— instead of leading a nation he was pursuing a woman

— Belief determines behavior, whatever is in your heart will come out as your actions.

says

Proverbs 23:7 KJV 1900

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

King James Version Chapter 23

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

— Samson followed his heart when he should’ve been following God.

says

King James Version Chapter 17

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

b) Delilah did not love Samson

— Delilah’s name literally means “flirty” and “of the night” so it can be assumed she was not a morally pure person. Some scholars believe that she was a prostitute

— She chose money over a man

2. Delilah’s Delusion (v 5-17)

a) Philistines test Delilah (v 5)

— The philistine Lords (political leaders) want to know if she is committed to her nation or to this man

— they also want samson dead because of all of the trouble he has been causing

b) Delilah tests Samson (v 6-15)

— she does the same thing over and over to Samson

— Samson knows what she’s doing but finally tells her what she wants to know

— Samson is blinded by his strength

— Samson is blinded by his lust

c) God tests Samson (v 16-17)

3. Delilah Destroys (v 18-24)

a) Samson’s Capture (v 21)

— Samson didn’t realize when God had left him

— They gouged out his eyes (he sinned with his eyes when he looked upon the women and lusted)

— They took him to Gaza, as far away from his people as possible, and also the same city where he destroyed and stole the city gates

— He was in permanent darkness, given the task of a donkey (he killed philistines with the jawbone of a donkey)

— Grinding grain for their god Dagon who was an agricultural god because he burned a ton of the philistines grain harvest

— Delilah served the god Dagon and eventually it led to Samson serving him too

b) Philistine’s Celebration

— they had finally defeated the enemy, so they thought

c) Samson crushes

— samson kills the philistines and kills himself

Conclusion

All these terrible things started with Delilah and the Philistines. Be careful who you surround yourself with and who you date. Don’t date a Delilah. How can you spot a Delilah?

Delilah distracts, she distracts you from spiritual things and things that are important.

Delilah dilutes, she waters down important and spiritual things to the point where they seem insignificant.

Delilah damages, she hurts you and makes it seem like you’re the one to blame.

Delilah darkens, she darkens your vision so that you don’t care about the light

Delilah defiles, she’s impure and tempts you to impurity

Delilah denies, she denies that she is ever in the wrong

Delilah disappoints, she never lives up to your expectations and doesn’t do what she says she will.

Delilah distrusts, she doesn’t trust you

His decline began when he disagreed with his parents about marrying a Philistine girl. Then he disdained his nazirite vow and defiled himself. He disregarded the the warnings of God, disobeyed the Word of God, and was defeated by the enemies of God.

Why did he want to be with the Philistines in the first place? Well it all started because He went to Timnath. Timnath like we mentioned earlier is the borderline town between the philistine and jews. He shouldnt have been there, he wouldve known it would lead to sin. He got as close to sin as possible and thought that he could overcome it, but the sin of the town sucked him in.

— Illustration of kings carriage and getting close to the edge

Samsons parents warned him not to be with the philistine people. Samson got as close to the edge of temptation as he could and he fell. We need to stay as far away from the edge of temptation as we can, or else we will fall too.

Even though there is always hope for repentance and renewal, the consequences and scars of sin remain.

says

King James Version Chapter 10

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it

says

King James Version Chapter 4

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Sin gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. the power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier. But sin only brings temporary false happiness for a short time. Samson had power with out purity and he never became the man that God wanted him to be.

Dwelling with Delilah always leads to death.

Don’t be a Delilah and don’t date a Delilah