Samson Betrays Himself (Judges 16:4-22)

2/21/2010 8:19 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Samson betrays himself

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Judges 16:4-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “4 ¶  After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5  The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver." 6  So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you." 7  Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man." 8  Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9  Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered. 10  Then Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me how you may be bound." 11  He said to her, "If they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man." 12  So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" For the men were lying in wait in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like a thread. 13  Then Delilah said to Samson, "Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me how you may be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my hair with the web [[and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man." 14  So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his hair and wove them into the web]]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web. 15  Then she said to him, "How can you say, ’I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is." 16  It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. 17  So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, "A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man."

            18 ¶  When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19  She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. 20  She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 21  Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

    22 ¶  However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.”

            I realize that this is long portion of Scripture, however since I have, for the most part, chosen to follow the outline that is in the “Be Books” written by Warren Wiersbe I have chosen to work with the verses above for this SD.

            It is easy to look at the life of Samson and find fault with him, for there is a lot of fault to find with him, however the Lord has chosen to include the sins of the OT saints in order for the NT saints to see these and learn from them so that they will not have to through the same troubles. 

            I have already written about verses in James chapter one and also in 1 John chapter 2 that speak of some of the sins and temptations that Samson went through. 

13 ¶  Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14  But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15  Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16  Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”  James 1:13-16  Verse fifteen is the key verse as far as what Samson is going through as seen in this section of Judges.  Samson had formed very bad habits and because of those habits they eventually became part of his character, which is very hard to change, but with the help of the Lord it seems that Samson was able to change his character, and this probably happened when he was attached to the grinding stone where perhaps he had a chance to see better even though he was blind for he had a lot of time to think about his life then.  Now the verses in 1 John also apply to Samson here:  “15  Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17  The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”  It is evident that Samson had a great love for the world system for he would not have done the things that he did if he did not love the world system.  Verse sixteen speaks of the lust of the eyes, and it was the lust of the eyes that caused Samson to loose his eyes and this was a terrible price to pay.  Jesus spoke of this while on earth in Matthew 5:29  "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”  I realize that Jesus was speaking in a spiritual sense here but the point is made in the life of Samson that if he would had had control of his eyes spiritually then he would not have lost them physically.

            “Samson is one of three men in Scripture who are especially identified with darkness.  The other two are Kind Saul, who went out in the darkness to get a last—minute help from a witch (1 Sam. 28), and Judas, who ‘went immediately out:  and it was night’ John 13:30.  Saul lived for the world, Samson yielded to the flesh, and Judas gave himself to the devil (john 13:2, 27); and all three ended up taking their own lives.”

            As far as Samson’s hair being cut off which caused him to loose his power, the hair was just a symbol, and part of the Nazirite vow that he was under from birth.  When Samson lost his hair the Holy Spirit left him and that is why he lost his power and strength.  Dr. Wiersbe writes the following in a footnote from his commentary on Judges:  “The Holy Spirit left King Saul because of his sins (1 Sam. 16:14), and he also lost his crown (2 Sam. 1:10).  God wants us to “reign in life” (Rom. 5:17), and we will if we walk in the Spirit and yield ourselves wholly to the Lord.  Sin makes slaves out of kings; grace makes kings out of sinners.”  (Emphasis added)

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are many things in this passage that I can learn from, and most of them are very evident, however what I seen in this passage, and for that matter in the life of Samson is the sovereignty of God being seen in the life of Samson.  The sin in Samson’s life did not prevent God from accomplishing the work that he had chosen for him to do.  I also see God’s grace in the life of Samson.  God did not give up on Samson and even though he was blind God allowed him to grow his hair back and regain his strength, but as stated above I believe that Samson grew closer to the Lord while blind than when he was able to see.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Be zealous for the work that the Lord has for me to do and do it in the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Lord.

 

2/22/2010 7:59 AM