Samson and Delilah - Judges 16

©Copyright July 29, 2018 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

We have been following the story of Samson. He is a man who is incredibly gifted but he has repeatedly squandered his gifts in the selfish pursuit of pleasure and in the out-of-control desire for revenge.

This morning it all comes to a head. We will see the height of arrogance and foolishness and watch the self-destruction of Samson. We will also learn some very important lessons for ourselves.

One day Samson went to the Philistine town of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute. 2Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the town gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, “When the light of morning comes, we will kill him.”

3But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of the town gate, including the two posts, and lifted them up, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron.

This is an act of reckless endangerment. Samson had killed 1000 Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. In every Philistine Post Office this guy was public enemy number 1. Everyone was looking for a way to get and kill Samson. To do so would be to become a national hero.

Samson walks right into the heart of Philistine territory and secures the services of a prostitute. It is almost as if Samson needed a greater danger. He goes to the capital, gives in to what appears to be a sexual addiction, and he does it while surrounded by guards in a walled city.

When the people of the town heard that Samson was there, all the men of Gaza waited for him all night long at the town gate. They planned to ambush him in the morning. But, Samson stayed with the woman only until midnight. There was only one way out of the city . . . through the gate. Samson went to the gate lifted the gate and the posts that held the gate and carried it 40 miles up a hill.

The passage does show the great strength of God channeled through Samson. However, the story does raise some questions:

If the whole town was waiting for him, how did he get through the gate? Were they asleep, getting rest for the morning? The ripping off the doors would have made a great racket. Did God put the men into a stupor like an unconscious state?

How could a man carry something like this for 40 miles? The answer is supernatural strength.

Why did he go all the way to Hebron? Why not just drop the gates when he a was a short distance from the city?

We aren't given any of the answers to these questions. The biggest question is: Why would Samson take such a risk? Tim Keller has written

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 a reason to forget God. (Keller 2031)

That danger is there for all of us. Most of you are likely familiar with the story of former President Bill Clinton and his relationship with a woman named Monica Lewinsky in, or just off the Oval Office. When this reckless act became known, it threatened his marriage, handcuffed important change he desired to make and threatened his job as President.

Several years after he left office he was interviewed by Dan Rather on 60 minutes. Rather asked the President, "Why?" Clinton responded, “I think I did something for the worst possible reason—just because I could. I think that’s . . . just about the most morally indefensible reason that anybody could have for doing anything. When you do something just because you could.”

This is what we see with Samson. He is playing with danger just to see if he could. When we begin to do things just to see how far we can go, we are in deep trouble. We have forgotten God and grown overconfident in our perceived invulnerability.

As a result of Samson's "gate-removing" incident in Gaza he is more "wanted" than ever before. And this sets up the story of Samson and Delilah.

Samson and Delilah

4Some time later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. 5The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

Two things to note when we look at this story. The name Delilah may actually be the name of this Philistine woman or it could be a code name. The Arabic name "Dalla" means "to flirt" when you put it with "lylh" that means "of the night." So the name of this woman man be an intentional reference to Samson's blindness in acting so foolishly.

Second, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that our common image of Samson as the giant man that spends all his time in the weight room, may not be accurate. One would think that with a man that size you would know "the secret of his strength." But these guys are completely baffled by the strength of Samson. This argues for the idea that Samson didn't look much different from the rest of us, but had a truly supernatural strength they could not explain.

We are told Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. It is a very safe assumption that she was a Philistine woman. When the Philistine rulers learned of Samson's relationship with Delilah they came to her and offered her an exorbitant amount of money. This is "Big Lotto" money! When you look at the money others received (for example it is three times as much as what Gideon received in Judges 8:26! The five rulers of Phlistia all pitched in 1100 shekels each for a total of 5,500 shekels of silver. This would take care of Delilah for the remainder of her life. Perhaps she loved Samson too . . . but not more than the money and the fame that would go with it.

Delilah is offered all this money and we read,

6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely.”

This is quite a sad partnership isn't it? Both Samson and Delilah are using each other to meet their own needs. Their relationship may have been passionate, but it was selfish. Samson was getting pleasured and Delilah was looking for a payday. This happens in more relationships than we would like to think. This is why many people divorce with the excuse that "they are not happy." Those words are a tipoff that the goal of the marriage was not to give . . . but to get.

Delilah doesn't waste any time. She decided to simply ask Samson the secret of his strength. Now let's stop here and ask a question: "Why don't alarm bells go off with Samson?" This Philistine woman wants to know how to take away his power and he decides to play with her! I have the feeling Samson felt he was invincible but decided he would play along. He was blinded by Delilah's beauty and his mind short-circuited.

First, he tells her he could be tied up with "bowstrings" but these are really dead animal tendons. The second time it is NEW ropes that were just out of the package. The third time it is seven braids of hair woven together in her loom. After each of these times Delilah called out that the Philistines were at hand and Samson broken out and was ready to fight.

Then we are told,

15Then Delilah pouted, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t share your secrets with me? You’ve made fun of me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!” 16She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it.

Samson seemed to be having fun at first. Now he just wants her to stop complaining. Finally, he tells her that if his hair was shaved he would become weak. I don't know if Samson really believed this. Keller writes,

It is truly strange that Samson did not leave after telling Delilah the truth (v 17). Instead, he went “to sleep on her lap” (v 19). Why? Because he did not really believe that his hair or his Nazirite vow was the source of his strength. He had come to believe that his strength was simply his; that no matter what he did or how he lived he would not lose it. His self-deception was not just psychological, but theological. 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. (Keller 2092)

While he was sleeping she had all his hair cut off.

20Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!”When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him.

Those last words are the key! Samson's strength was not his hair . . . it was the Lord. Disregarding the final vow seems to be the last straw. God withdrew His presence and Samson was left to fight the Philistines in his own strength. He was no match for them.

He was captured, his eyes were gouged out and he was put into hard labor. Finally, the Philistines had bettered their arch enemy. We will look at the rest of the story next week. Let's draw some conclusions. This passage teaches us some things about temptation.

Conclusions

Any kind of compromise opens the door to temptation. Any time we walk away from what God has told us to do, we are inviting Satan into our lives. When Samson went to see Delilah, he was walking away from his call to holiness. Anytime we feel we can "adjust" or "modernize" the clear commands of the Bible, we are walking out into enemy territory.

Samson knew he was not to intermarry outside of the people of Israel. For some reason, he felt that command did not apply to him. He knew what the Nazarite rites were but felt he could ignore them when they conflicted with what he wanted. Whenever we start to pick and choose what and when to obey, we are opening the door to trouble. We do this,

When we choose to lie or shade the truth

When we decide God's instructions regarding morality are outdated

When we choose to forego worship to do something else

When we neglect prayer and Bible reading

When we refuse to forgive

When we ignore people who we know are in need

When we gossip

When we justify rather than confess sin\

Each of these may be a small step away from the Lord, but every time you take one of these small steps you get further from Him.

Toying with Temptation is to Ask for Failure. Why in the world did Samson toy with Delilah? The Bible is clear, it tells us to "Flee Tempation!" It does not tell us to "see how close you can walk to the edge without falling." I think Samson was having fun teasing Delilah. However, he was playing a dangerous game.

It is like the person who plays Russian Roulette with a loaded weapon. It is a foolish, dangerous, and potentially deadly game! Let's say there are 10 glasses with water in them. One of these glasses contains deadly poison. Will you play the odds and take a drink? Would you take the chance if you knew every glass you drank was going to earn you $200.00?

I hope you see the foolishness of playing this game. Why would you put yourself in a position that could end your life?

We tend to play with temptation. We see how close to the edge we can walk without violating the letter of the law. Whenever we do so we are just moments from failure. We see this when it comes to sex, money, power, and in the way we treat other people. Whenever you find yourself pointing to a line (real or imagined) and conclude you have not crossed that line . . . you are playing spiritual roulette.

When people fall into sin they ask: Why did God let this happen to me? Do not blame God! Playing with sin leads to trouble. The Bible's command is simple . . . Run! Do not become fascinated with sin! It is deadly, and it will bite hard!

Temptation comes in enticing packages. In the Garden of Eden Satan used a piece of fruit that was enticing to the eyes and held the promise of bringing refreshment. With Samson, Satan used a beautiful woman. Apparently, she was a "looker." Give Satan some credit! He knows the best way to tempt us is to package the temptation in attractive wrapping.

The story is told about how the Trojan War came to an end. The Greeks could not gain entrance to Troy. They came up with a plan. The made a huge giant horse and brought it to the front lines. Shortly thereafter the Greek army withdrew leaving the horse. The people were enticed by the horse and brought it inside the city. What they did not know was inside the horse was a group of Greek soldiers! The enticement of the huge horse was too much to resist.

Satan will tempt you with

the applause of friends

a chance to make money

a desirable man or woman who takes an interest in you

the promise of a promotion

the snob appeal of being above others

the chance to get even with someone

He knows what will appeal to something inside of you and will use it for his purpose.

The person who feels "they can handle it" is especially vulnerable. We don't like to talk about falling into sin. We look at problems other people face and conclude, "This could never happen to me." I used to think, "Other people have marriage problems, I have read lots of books on marriage, and have counseled many couples over the years . . . I am well informed. It could not happen to me." But it did.

When we feel something could not happen to us, we let our guard down and we fall to the very temptation we thought we were immune to. Everyone is tempted. Everyone is vulnerable. The Devil will lull us into a feeling of security and then strike from behind when we least expect it.

Like Samson, we can start to become a little self-righteous. And you can tell when that happens because you are suddenly criticizing the sin of others. Instead of helping a person heal, you are picking up rocks, clenching your fists, sharpening your tongue, and making your protest posters. You find yourself thinking that the sin of another is far worse than anything you would ever do. This happens because you are starting to feel invincible. You, like Samson, are beginning to think it is your strength that protects you.

The truth is, we are all just one little decision away from major trouble. The only time we truly are strong is when we are resting in the Lord's strength. Such resting brings humility and a realization that "there but for the grace of God go I." Satan's goal is to get us to drift from him. Think about it like soldiers in a war. They must stay behind cover or they will be easy targets. When we start to feel "strong" and believe we can stand on our own and the Devil can't defeat us, we come out from behind our cover (the Lord) and we become priority targets. And mark my word, Satan is an excellent shot!

Samson teaches us that our strength can be lost. Victories do not make us invincible. Only the Lord can keep us safe when we face temptation. Only He can give us strength in the time of tragedy to learn from the hard times and turn back to the Lord.

Perhaps you don't need this warning. You are wounded. You have fallen and made mistakes. You have felt the judgment and wrath of the self-righteous. Maybe you drifted from the Lord and now you are picking up pieces. Learn from Samson. At the end of his life, after all the foolish choices, God made his hair grow again. He was restored to the Lord and given the opportunity to finish the job the Lord gave him to do.

I believe the same can be true for you and for me. More on that next week.