Afterward, it happened that he [Samson, added] loved a
woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah (Jdg 16:4).
Stating the obvious, Samson (Heb., shimshon, meaning
sunlight or “little sun;”1 from shemesh, meaning sun, daylight), was renowned
for his prodigious strength. He was the #1 enemy of the Philistines for twenty years, a judge of
Israel, the miraculous son of Manoah from the town of Zorah, of the tribe of
Dan (Jdg 13:2, 3).
Unfortunately, he was illicitly paired up with a Philistine woman of loose
character by the name of Delilah (Heb., deliylah,
meaning languishing; from the verb, dalal,
meaning to bring low, becoming small or of no importance). Delilah lived in the
fertile valley
of Sorek (Heb.,
soreq, referring to the richest
variety of choice vines) in Palestine well suited for vineyards.
Of
the five major cities in the land of the Philistines called Philistia, (Ashdod,
Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron, 1 Sam 6:17), it is probable that Delilah lived
closer to the southernmost city of Gaza than the other four leading cities.
Samson had a penchant for Philistine women (cf. Jdg 14:1-3; 16:1, 4). The old saying that if you play with fire you are going to get burnt is classically illustrated in the life of Samson (cf. Prov 6:27-28). It is the good old Smokey the Bear advice, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” If Smokey was around in Samson’s day, Samson would probably let out a hefty laugh and ignore the bear’s counsel.
Did God love Samson? Of course, he did (cf. Jdg 13:5, 7). Did God use Samson in spite of his misgivings? Yes, He did in a mighty way, but mightier still had Samson buffeted his body and got it under control, but we will never know what could have been had he honored his vows to God. That’s a healthy thought for any believer to ponder early on and keep on pondering until rapture or RIP (cf. Rom 15:4)! It’s better than winding up under a pile of pagan rubble.2
Did God love Samson? Of course, he did (cf. Jdg 13:5, 7). Did God use Samson in spite of his misgivings? Yes, He did in a mighty way, but mightier still had Samson buffeted his body and got it under control, but we will never know what could have been had he honored his vows to God. That’s a healthy thought for any believer to ponder early on and keep on pondering until rapture or RIP (cf. Rom 15:4)! It’s better than winding up under a pile of pagan rubble.2
This shouts out a warning to all believers that though we are free to choose, we are
not free of the consequences of our choices. So many believers who live without
fear of God dilute the chastening of God with a misunderstanding of His love (agape). The thinking goes something like
this; God loves me too much to spank me! This is a gross misunderstanding of agape, the law of the harvest (a man reaps what he sows, cf. Gal 6:7), and the chastening of the Lord (Heb 12:5-11).
So,
they go about toying with sin without fear of any consequences or repercussions
because God loves them, and they are on their way to heaven, or in Samson’s
case because he was strong as all get out to deal with any possible fallout! Samson, it seems, may have been
conflating physical strength with moral and spiritual strength. He let his
guard down with Delilah, thinking he could handle a woman who was physically
weak compared to the mighty Samson!
Delilah’s
betrayal of Samson for 5,500 hundred pieces of silver (Jdg 16:5) led to Samson’s
capture and humiliation; his supernatural strength was gone; his eyes were gouged
out; and he was imprisoned in Gaza and forced to grind grain (Jdg 16:21), nearly
forty miles from Zorah, his birthplace. He and he alone set himself up on a
degrading trajectory of “binding, blinding, grinding,” and finally dying; these
are the consequences of irresponsibility to God.
Though
he was a Nazirite and violated his spiritual purity and fellowship with God by
chasing after pagan women, God still used Samson’s connections and strength against
the Philistines to deliver Israel from being a vassal state of the Philistines
(cf. Jdg 14:4); Samson judged Israel for twenty years (Jdg 15:20; 16:31).
The Philistines made a critical mistake after capturing Samson.
Samson’s hair was growing back (Jdg 16:22), meaning that the Philistines were
not keeping it shaved. The Philistines probably reasoned that without sight,
Samson was powerless which may explain why they allowed his hair to grow back. They
no longer saw his strength as posing any threat to them.
But they also underestimated Samson's God who did not need his eyes
to bring deliverance to Israel. It was God all along who had performed the
great feats of strength through Samson (cf. Php 4:13). This Samson was not the
same man we read about since being stripped of his strength and sight and being
subjected to all kinds of humiliation. Samson knew that the real strength was
not in his hair but in obedience to Yahweh (cf. Jdg 16:28; Zech 4:6).
I
think that it is quite possible, that when the Lords of the Philistines gathered
together in Gaza “to
offer a great sacrifice to Dagon3 their god” (Jdg 16:23), Samson
was to be the main sacrifice4 (cf. 1 Chron 10:10). This occasion coincided with one of their annual celebrations, but this year was going to be very special, for when the
people spotted Samson, they gave praise to Dagon,
Our
god has delivered into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of
our land, and the one who multiplied our dead (Jdg
16:24).
Samson on display in Gaza would draw a record crowd! How often does this happen? This
was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the Philistines! They pick the time,
the place, and the mode of death of their #1 enemy.
Now
the fears and rage of the nation of Philistia could subside and find some satisfaction and
closure with the sacrifice of Samson to Dagon, and now they will finally be able to move forward with plans to put a world
of hurt upon Israel as payback for all the property damages, injuries, sufferings, and deaths Samson inflicted upon Philistia.
You kind of get the impression that they didn’t like him or Israel very much….
Samson
came forth from the prison by the request of the people to perform some impressive
feats in the outer courts of the temple with about 3,000 men and women watching from the roof while an untold number watched from under the roof and the surrounding area of the outer court (Jdg 16:27).
Samson was not expecting any Valentine's cards to be raining down like confetti, anachronistically speaking. Fancy that; he never received one “I love you card;” instead, he only heard the sounds of their
virulent, vile, and vitriolic contempt and animus toward him; he was definitely feeling
the love that day. The Philistines were animated and hungry, like bloodthirsty
mosquitoes, wanting the blood of Israel’s deliverer. He would find no mercy from these idol worshipers; they wanted to mock and ridicule him, make a show
of him, and then offer him to Dagon.
It
was a rare opportunity to sacrifice an arch-enemy at the time of an annual
festival, and Samson knew he was a dead man in the midst of a people consumed
with blood lust. There would be no rescue from the weak-kneed and cowardly
Israelites (cf. Jdg 15:9-13); his strength was returning, but he could not see
to fight his way out of Gaza.
I am of the opinion that while in his blindness
he saw the spiritual depravity of his enemy in a way he never experienced
before. Perhaps, he realized the hypocrisy in his own soul, carrying the label of Nazirite and acting like a pagan. There was more to living for God than merely refraining from cutting your hair!
It finally came together for
him spiritually, but it was a little too late; you know. The law of the harvest was in full gear, and time was running out. Unbeknown to the Philistines, there was just enough fuel in the heart tank for one last spectacular run by Samson. Samson feigned to be tired and asked the lad who was leading him by the hand,
Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them (Jdg 16:26, NLT).
The blind was about to blindside them all! <><
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| To Part 2 |
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1 Leon Wood, The
Distressing Days of the Judges (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 338. Dr.
Wood gives a likely meaning to the Hebrew word, shimshon, translated as Samson.
2 Samson’s body was
retrieved by his family and buried in the tomb of Manoah his father,
between Zorah and Eshtaol (Jdg 16:31). Why Manoah was not buried in Zorah is
unknown.
3 It is not definitive
if Dagon was a grain deity, a storm deity, or a fish deity. Either way, there
was a demon behind the worship of this idol and all idols. In addition, it
had a human face, arms, and hands (1 Sam 5:1-7).
4 Http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/phc/phc10.htm.
“(2) In this temple sacrifices were offered at festivals conducted by the ‘Lords’
of the Philistines (Judg. xvi. 23). It is not unreasonable to suppose that
Samson was destined to be offered in sacrifice at the great feast of rejoicing
there described. This was probably an annual festival, occurring at a fixed
time of the year, and not a special celebration of the capture of Samson:
because an interval of some months, during which Samson's shorn hair grew
again, must have taken place between the two events.”
