Judges 16:1-21
Samson became fast frienemies with the Philistines, taking their women and killing their men. His conflict and revenge cycle with them continued and caused the Philistines to result to intellectual and emotional warfare to bring him down.
Samson was a bit of a ladies' man with a thing for Philistine women. One night while he was with a prostitute in the Philistine city of Gaza, some of the Philistine men plotted to kill him first thing the next morning. But, Samson left at midnight and decided, for some reason, that he needed to take the city gates with him. He took them way far away to a hilltop near Hebron. I am not sure if he was aware of the plot against his life or if he just wanted to prove, once again, just how strong he was.
In any case, the plot was not carried out and some time passed before he fell in love with yet another Philistine woman. This one you may have heard of - Delilah. Here is where that complex warfare came in. The five Philistine rulers knew about Samson's love for Delilah and decided to use it against him. They all went to her and promised her a large payoff if she would find out the secret of his strength and tell them.
And she wasted no time doing it. She went to him, probably with the sweetest, most innocent presentation she could muster, and asked him to tell her the secret of his strength. Samson gave her a bogus response, but she bought it. She went to the rulers and told them what he said. Then, they provided her the materials she needed (or so they thought) to tie him up securely so they could ambush him. When they tried to attack, Samson broke free and they failed.
They went through this two more times (exact same cycle) before Delilah got really serious about being made a fool of and missing out on her payment. So, after the third time, she nagged and nagged and nagged until Samson could no longer stand it. (Kind of like the incident with that riddle and his fiancee). So finally, after baiting him with the whole 'if you love me you'll tell me' bit, Samson told her the real secret to his strength - his hair had never been cut because he was a Nazirite.
She knew she finally had the truth and she lulled him to sleep and cut his hair so that this time the men's attack would be successful. And it was. Samson thought he would just break free as he had before, but his strength was gone. The men took him away to Gaza, gouged out his eyes and made him a grain grinding slave.
There are so many things that could be pointed out about this story, but the most obvious is the danger of lust. I know, I've used the word love before now, but I think we all know that's not really what these two had going. Love is not deceitful, which both of them were. Love is not harmful; I think that part speaks for itself in this story. And, contrary to popular belief, love is not blind or blinding. In fact, I believe that when you truly love someone, you are able to see them more clearly than at any other time. That is why it can sometimes seem painful; because the truth is not always pleasant.
So when we let lust get the best of us, bad things happen. Anyone reading Samson's story can see how foolish he was in this situation. Delilah didn't even bother changing her tactics because he fell for it every time. I mean, honestly, what would cause a man to allow a woman to do all those things to him, knowing it is a setup, besides lust? And he paid the price for it, as we all will.
So, Lord, please help us to recognize the difference between love and lust and not be fooled by either. Love is from you; it is you, God, so it is good. Anything that looks like love, but is used for evil is lust. Help us to not fall victim to its appeal. Hide us in your love, Lord; let us see through your eyes. Give us discernment and strength to resist its temptations and avoid its consequences. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Samson became fast frienemies with the Philistines, taking their women and killing their men. His conflict and revenge cycle with them continued and caused the Philistines to result to intellectual and emotional warfare to bring him down.
Samson was a bit of a ladies' man with a thing for Philistine women. One night while he was with a prostitute in the Philistine city of Gaza, some of the Philistine men plotted to kill him first thing the next morning. But, Samson left at midnight and decided, for some reason, that he needed to take the city gates with him. He took them way far away to a hilltop near Hebron. I am not sure if he was aware of the plot against his life or if he just wanted to prove, once again, just how strong he was.
In any case, the plot was not carried out and some time passed before he fell in love with yet another Philistine woman. This one you may have heard of - Delilah. Here is where that complex warfare came in. The five Philistine rulers knew about Samson's love for Delilah and decided to use it against him. They all went to her and promised her a large payoff if she would find out the secret of his strength and tell them.
And she wasted no time doing it. She went to him, probably with the sweetest, most innocent presentation she could muster, and asked him to tell her the secret of his strength. Samson gave her a bogus response, but she bought it. She went to the rulers and told them what he said. Then, they provided her the materials she needed (or so they thought) to tie him up securely so they could ambush him. When they tried to attack, Samson broke free and they failed.
They went through this two more times (exact same cycle) before Delilah got really serious about being made a fool of and missing out on her payment. So, after the third time, she nagged and nagged and nagged until Samson could no longer stand it. (Kind of like the incident with that riddle and his fiancee). So finally, after baiting him with the whole 'if you love me you'll tell me' bit, Samson told her the real secret to his strength - his hair had never been cut because he was a Nazirite.
She knew she finally had the truth and she lulled him to sleep and cut his hair so that this time the men's attack would be successful. And it was. Samson thought he would just break free as he had before, but his strength was gone. The men took him away to Gaza, gouged out his eyes and made him a grain grinding slave.
There are so many things that could be pointed out about this story, but the most obvious is the danger of lust. I know, I've used the word love before now, but I think we all know that's not really what these two had going. Love is not deceitful, which both of them were. Love is not harmful; I think that part speaks for itself in this story. And, contrary to popular belief, love is not blind or blinding. In fact, I believe that when you truly love someone, you are able to see them more clearly than at any other time. That is why it can sometimes seem painful; because the truth is not always pleasant.
So when we let lust get the best of us, bad things happen. Anyone reading Samson's story can see how foolish he was in this situation. Delilah didn't even bother changing her tactics because he fell for it every time. I mean, honestly, what would cause a man to allow a woman to do all those things to him, knowing it is a setup, besides lust? And he paid the price for it, as we all will.
So, Lord, please help us to recognize the difference between love and lust and not be fooled by either. Love is from you; it is you, God, so it is good. Anything that looks like love, but is used for evil is lust. Help us to not fall victim to its appeal. Hide us in your love, Lord; let us see through your eyes. Give us discernment and strength to resist its temptations and avoid its consequences. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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