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If they were playing a harmless game of cat and
mouse with each other, like any couple might do, that is one thing. But in
Samson’s mocking, he was toying around with the most important thing energizing
his ability to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines – his uncut hair,
the visible symbol that God was with him in delivering Israel from their
oppressor. How do we know his uncut hair
carried the import of God’s presence?
(Jdg
16:19) Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for
a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to
torment him, and his strength left him.
(Jdg
16:20) And she said, The Philistines are upon you,
Samson! So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at
other times, and shake myself free! But he did not know that the LORD had
departed from him.
Delilah was not playing a game; there was a cushy
and lush retirement in South Florida waiting for her. She had every intention
of enriching herself at Samson’s expense [death]. If she truly loved him, not
only would she have safeguarded his secret, but she would have been overly
protective of him whatever the cost.
If the Philistine lords were pressing on her or
leveraging some threat, all she had to do was to reach out and call 225-572-6766 (Call
Samson) for help! Do we really think
he would not have helped her (cf. Jdg 16:4, 15)? Of course, he would; he loved
her, but she didn’t ask for his help; she only wanted his secret for silver.
Was Samson attraction to pagan women forbidden by
the Mosaic law? Yes, but technically, the Philistines were not listed among the
seven nations slated for destruction (Deut 7:1-3)! However, Samson’s father
appealed to his son from a matter of merging with an idolatrous people who are
not in union with Yahweh,
Then his
father and mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of
your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the
uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for
she pleases me well (Jdg 14:3).
Samson
or this Philistine woman of Timnah, before Delilah entered Samson’s life, was
not the first son or daughter-in-law or vice versa to ever challenge the values
of their parents nor the last. It was true back then and true now; as followers
of Yahweh, we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, period. They will
only cause us to be ineffective for Yahweh, which was true of Samson when he
relented to Delilah’s demand to know the truth about the secret of his
strength. He wasn’t married to her, but where do you think his relationship was
headed? He loved her!
Samson’s
parents did not realize that Yahweh was seeking an occasion to move against the
Philistines because they were
oppressing Israel (Jdg 14:4). The Israelites wanted to quickly appease the
Philistines to quell any retaliation. Perhaps his father Manoah and his mother
suppressed a negative element of what was revealed by the Angel of Yahweh or
didn’t connect the dots – and he [their miraculous son] shall begin to deliver Israel
out of the hand of the Philistines (Jdg 13:5).
That could only invite trouble and conflict! Keeping
the peace at any price has a way of dulling the sense of disobedience to
Yahweh. In times like these, you have heard of this famous tack, “I know,
but…?” More often than not, there is always a practical and potent caveat entitled, “But” to keep the peace. Such a course usually runs aground and stops in its tracks. We are not privy if
Samson was cognizant of any divine purpose behind another occasion to move against the Philistines.
Samson could have avoided the loss of his hair, his eyesight, his freedom, and his life if only he had a greater
desire of personal holiness in serving Yahweh rather than compromising his moral and spiritual values. Losing his strength and eyes will be occasion enough for Samson to seek
vengeance (cf. Jdg 16:28). How often have we toyed
with something sacred like our testimony before the world and jeopardized our
effectiveness for Yahweh?
Our effectiveness in love and service to God demands personal purity. Whenever we shift our lifestyle from the truth of God’s Word to a worldview of everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Jdg 21:25b), we invite all kinds of trouble into our lives. This was the period of the Judges.
Samson
loved Delilah (Jdg 16:4), but it was not reciprocated, and her true feelings
for Samson were revealed by her betrayal. Again, I mention the possibility of
Delilah being a temple prostitute to make a living; if such was the case, love
would not be a luxury for such a craft. Beyond speculation, her character was
rotten to the core.
She
was attracted to a very powerful man who was an enemy of her people, but her
actions proved that her deceitfulness was meant to do irreparable harm to
Samson for the coin, not to joke around with him. His mockery was intended to make fun of
her because her antics humored him, but that got old quick – his soul was vexed to
death (Jdg
16:16).
You
know the story; she was not being a spy in service to her country. No, this was
about patriotism for sale, greed, and betrayal (Jdg 16:5, 18). She saw an
opportunity and was bound and determined to sellout Samson for those 5,500
shekels of silver; South Florida was beckoning her. By all accounts, it was a
substantial amount of wealth for that day. She would not want for the rest of
her days. How the lords of the Philistines arrived at that particular sum of
blood money is uncertain, but it shows how passionate and invested they were in getting Samson out of their hair for good.
Apparently,
the carrot made Delilah’s betrayal worthwhile. If she was caught up in some
personal hell, this would be her opportunity to make a better life for herself?
If she did go to South Florida, figuratively speaking, she would eventually
discover as anyone with personal issues that she would still haul her personal baggage with her.
Delilah was a cold and cruel operator. For one, the Philistine lords wanted to
put a world of hurt on Samson (that we may bind him to afflict him (Jdg 16:5); so she was
going to deliver the package knowing they intended to hurt the man she purportedly loved. And two, she lulled him to sleep on her knees (Jdg
16:19, a picture of a peculiar blend of tenderness, trust, and treachery; it’s
a story that makes shivers ascend the spine.
Maybe she was motivated by revenge as well. It is possible she knew someone
that Samson killed; it could have been a relative for all that we know. She may
have been feeling some pressure from the Philistine lords to get results for
Samson was indeed a high-valued target to the Philistines. Whatever her motive,
money has a way of justifying anything.
(Jdg 16:16) And it came to pass, when she
[Delilah] pestered him [Samson] daily with her words and pressed him, so
that his soul was vexed to death,
Poor
Samson, he was playing with fire and was fixing to get burnt. She was
aggressive and persistent to the point of annoying him to death, figuratively
speaking. He was so taken in by her that he was blind to the possibility that
his Naziritic vow was about to be seriously compromised. He would not recover.
(Jdg 16:17) that he told her all his heart. No
razor has come on my head, for I have
been a Nazirite or separated one4 [Heb., naziyr, to separate (devoted or
consecrated)] to God
from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I
shall become weak, and be like any other
man.
Her pestering immediately
subsided, and he fell to sleep on
Delilah’s knees after his disclosing the
secret of his supernatural strength! Wasn’t that a touching moment! He fell
asleep on the lap of a she-devil and was on the brink of becoming just like any other man. She probably caressed his hair as he
drifted peacefully off to sleep. This darling was about to unleash
hell on Samson! His idiocy of the moment has to rank up there among the most stupendous
acts of stupidity in the Bible, even though he is listed in the hall of faith
in Hebrews 11:32. Recall the American idiom, “Loose Lips Might Sink Ships?”
Delilah
summoned the lords of the Philistines to bring the money (Jdg 16:18). After
lulling Samson to sleep, she called for the hairdresser. Samson is about to go
under,
[Delilah]
called for
a man and had him shave off the seven lock of his head (Jdg 16:19b).
For
the first time in nearly twenty years and at a minimum of 1,030 deaths later (cf.
Jdg 15:8, the number killed unknown), the Philistine lords physically laid
their hands on a shorn Samson. Obviously, there was nothing supernatural about
Samson’s hair. The source of his strength was God Himself (cf. Jdg 13:25; 14:6,
19; 15;14, 15; Zech 4:6).
If
inquiring minds want to know, the guidelines and restrictions involving the
ancient practice of Naziritic vows are found in Numbers 6:1-21. Note, in particular, Num
6:8,
All
the days of his separation (in the case of Samson, for life) he shall be holy [set apart] to the LORD.
For a Nazarite, it was more than just keeping the razor from his
or her head. He or she was to be set apart exclusively for Yahweh for a
determined amount of time. Samson must have missed the exclusive part. Holiness throughout Scripture has always been a
general theme and expectation of all believers (cf. Lev 20:16; Rom 12:1-2; 1
Tim 1:9; 1 Pet 1:15-16). If we play with fire, we are bound to get burnt. <><
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4. Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Handbook
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1976), 176.
