watch out for those delilah's

Judges 16

Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute. He went to her. The news got around: “Samson’s here.” They gathered around in hiding, waiting all night for him at the city gate, quiet as mice, thinking, “At sunrise we’ll kill him.^"  Samson was in bed with the woman until midnight. Then he got up, seized the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, bolts and all, hefted them on his shoulder, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Some time later he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek (Grapes). Her name was Delilah. The Philistine tyrants approached her and said, “Seduce him. Discover what’s behind his great strength and how we can tie him up and humble him. Each man’s company will give you a hundred shekels of silver.”  So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, dear, the secret of your great strength, and how you can be tied up and humbled.”  Samson told her, “If they were to tie me up with seven bowstrings—the kind made from fresh animal tendons, not dried out—then I would become weak, just like anyone else.”

The Philistine tyrants brought her seven bowstrings, not dried out, and she tied him up with them. The men were waiting in ambush in her room. Then she said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He snapped the cords as though they were mere threads. The secret of his strength was still a secret.

Delilah said, “Come now, Samson—you’re playing with me, making up stories. Be serious; tell me how you can be tied up.”  He told her, “If you were to tie me up tight with new ropes, ropes never used for work, then I would be helpless, just like anybody else.”  So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up. She said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The men were hidden in the next room. He snapped the ropes from his arms like threads.  

Delilah said to Samson, “You’re still playing games with me, teasing me with lies. Tell me how you can be tied up.”  He said to her, “If you wove the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight, then I would be as helpless as any other mortal.”  When she had him fast asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight. Then she said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He woke from his sleep and ripped loose from both the loom and fabric!   She said, “How can you say ‘I love you’ when you won’t even trust me? Three times now you’ve toyed with me, like a cat with a mouse, refusing to tell me the secret of your great strength.”  

She kept at it day after day, nagging and tormenting him. Finally, he was fed up, he couldn’t take another minute of it. He spilled it.  He told her, “A razor has never touched my head. I’ve been God’s Nazirite from conception. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would be as helpless as any other mortal.”  When Delilah realized that he had told her his secret, she sent for the Philistine tyrants, telling them, “Come quickly—this time he’s told me the truth.” They came, bringing the bribe money.

When she got him to sleep, his head on her lap, she motioned to a man to cut off the seven braids of his hair. Immediately he began to grow weak. His strength drained from him.  Then she said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He woke up, thinking, “I’ll go out, like always, and shake free.” He didn’t realize that God had abandoned him.  The Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. They shackled him in irons and put him to the work of grinding in the prison. But his hair, though cut off, began to grow again.

Delilah only came into Samson's life at the near end, but caused the most devestation to him yet.  She manipulated and deceived him into betraying his trust and faithfulness to God.  Though his physical strength awarded him great victories, his lack of self control brought his greatest defeat.  He could strangle a lion, kill hundreds with his bare hands, and nearly lift the world on his shoulders, but his burning lust for temporary satisfaction is what unraveled him.

In pursuing, beginning, and continuing relationships, how can we keep our desire for love and lust from deceiving us?  Decide early on what kind of person you will love before you give into passion.  Character and commitment to Jesus must be the greatest of all other traits.  Be patient in the pursuit.  When you watch and wait, you will begin to see what lies beneath the fluff and what you are really getting. It's worth it to know early on, very early on.  Catch the little foxes before they destroy you.  Remember what Samson did with the foxes on fire?

"Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom."  Song of Solomon 2:15

Delilah nagged Samson until he gave in.  What a sad excuse for him to disobey the Lord.  Don't ever let anyone talk you into turning your heart away from what God has for you.  Four times she manipulated him, and four times he chose lust for her, over love from God.  What a fool!  But, how many times do we (did I) allow ourselves (myself) to give into flattery and temptations over what we know (I knew) is true and holy? 

Heart check.  Been there, done that.  Never go back.

So then, Samson went from a mighty warrior, to a lowly slave.  Blinded.  Grinding grain.  No strength.  No dignity.  Alone.  

Then the Lord's redemptive grace arrives.  His ending is beautiful and I am still walking through it.

Just like with me.  I lived in a cycle much like Samson for many years.  It was ugly, lonely, and very painful.  

BUT - Jesus set me free, healed my heart, restored my mind/soul/spirit, and didn't end my story there.  Thank you Jesus!

"Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
    or, whine, Israel, saying,
“God has lost track of me.
    He doesn’t care what happens to me”?
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.
    He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.
    And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
    gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
    young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
    they walk and don’t lag behind."

Isaiah 40:27-31