When there’s somethin’ that starts to smell . . . it’s time to have a sniff or two just to make sure there ain’t a skunk under the porch.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Man With No Face)
“Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor.”
“Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor.”
–Proverbs 14:9 (NKJV)
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“Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of…Samson… These people all trusted God and as a result won battles, overthrew kingdoms, ruled their people well, and received what God had promised them…”
–Hebrews 11:32-33 (Living Bible)
We have left Samson wandering the streets of Gaza. Why he was there Scripture doesn’t say. Probably to look at the girls and to get into trouble, both of which he did. He really had no business there, but how many times do we find ourselves in places where we should not be? I had a friend growing up. He was several years older than me and he related that he and his brother would go into the various towns in Nebraska where he grew up and find the town bully(ies) and fight. That might have been Samson. Samson didn’t really need anyone or anything to tempt him, but as Wiersbe points out, Samson tempted himself.
Samson seemed to be courting danger. He thrived on the battle and got himself into trouble. “Whenever Samson went into enemy territory, he ‘went down’ both geographically and spiritually.” (Wiersbe) Samson found a girl, a prostitute, then woke to find that the gates had been shut, and he was trapped inside the city much to the delight of his enemies. I can imagine him smiling at his adversity, for he went over and hoisted the gates from their moorings and carried them forty miles. While the enemies stood at the now vacant and vulnerable entrance to the city, Samson was far away laughing.
Later we find him again courting temptation and danger, this time in the form of Delilah. If you think of the names of the women you know from the Bible most likely Delilah is one of them. We’re not sure if she was a Philistine or not, but they paid her handsomely to help them capture Samson. She toyed and tempted him, as he toyed and teased her back. Here Samson is acting out the fool. Gary Inrig says, “Samson had power without purity and strength without self-control.” What a man! What a fool!
He didn’t realize, was he that blind (pun not intended, yet)? Delilah was making a fool of him. He should have been back in Israel tending to his duties as a judge. That seems to be a common trend. When a person isn’t attending to responsibilities and duties given him by God he tends to get him/herself in trouble. His Nazarite vow must have meant little to him as he continued to act contrary to it. In fact, as Dan and other tribes were losing their identity because of compromise, Samson was becoming like them without realizing it.
Woe to the man whom the Spirit has left. This is what happened to Samson. As the two cavorted with each other toying and teasing Samson each time came closer to telling her the truth. Finally, for “true love” (ha) he told her the secret to his strength. Samson, a man who didn’t know his own heart, finally turned the truth over to Delilah who in turn gave him over to the Philistines. Immediately they blinded him. No strength and now no sight. They put him to doing the work of a donkey grinding at the stone.
Let’s look briefly at Samson and darkness. The following is from the writings of Warren W. Wiersbe, “Samson is one of three men in Scripture who are especially identified with the darkness. The other two are King Saul, who went out in the darkness to get last-minute help from a witch (1 Samuel 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.”
Samson, the mighty man, the judge of Israel is now grinding the grain. Look at him trod, blind, his strength gone, his pride gone, his reputation now past. Pathetically, once a slave to his passions, now he is a slave to his enemies.
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“Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of…Samson… These people all trusted God and as a result won battles, overthrew kingdoms, ruled their people well, and received what God had promised them…”
–Hebrews 11:32-33 (Living Bible)
We have left Samson wandering the streets of Gaza. Why he was there Scripture doesn’t say. Probably to look at the girls and to get into trouble, both of which he did. He really had no business there, but how many times do we find ourselves in places where we should not be? I had a friend growing up. He was several years older than me and he related that he and his brother would go into the various towns in Nebraska where he grew up and find the town bully(ies) and fight. That might have been Samson. Samson didn’t really need anyone or anything to tempt him, but as Wiersbe points out, Samson tempted himself.
Samson seemed to be courting danger. He thrived on the battle and got himself into trouble. “Whenever Samson went into enemy territory, he ‘went down’ both geographically and spiritually.” (Wiersbe) Samson found a girl, a prostitute, then woke to find that the gates had been shut, and he was trapped inside the city much to the delight of his enemies. I can imagine him smiling at his adversity, for he went over and hoisted the gates from their moorings and carried them forty miles. While the enemies stood at the now vacant and vulnerable entrance to the city, Samson was far away laughing.
Later we find him again courting temptation and danger, this time in the form of Delilah. If you think of the names of the women you know from the Bible most likely Delilah is one of them. We’re not sure if she was a Philistine or not, but they paid her handsomely to help them capture Samson. She toyed and tempted him, as he toyed and teased her back. Here Samson is acting out the fool. Gary Inrig says, “Samson had power without purity and strength without self-control.” What a man! What a fool!
He didn’t realize, was he that blind (pun not intended, yet)? Delilah was making a fool of him. He should have been back in Israel tending to his duties as a judge. That seems to be a common trend. When a person isn’t attending to responsibilities and duties given him by God he tends to get him/herself in trouble. His Nazarite vow must have meant little to him as he continued to act contrary to it. In fact, as Dan and other tribes were losing their identity because of compromise, Samson was becoming like them without realizing it.
Woe to the man whom the Spirit has left. This is what happened to Samson. As the two cavorted with each other toying and teasing Samson each time came closer to telling her the truth. Finally, for “true love” (ha) he told her the secret to his strength. Samson, a man who didn’t know his own heart, finally turned the truth over to Delilah who in turn gave him over to the Philistines. Immediately they blinded him. No strength and now no sight. They put him to doing the work of a donkey grinding at the stone.
Let’s look briefly at Samson and darkness. The following is from the writings of Warren W. Wiersbe, “Samson is one of three men in Scripture who are especially identified with the darkness. The other two are King Saul, who went out in the darkness to get last-minute help from a witch (1 Samuel 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.”
Samson, the mighty man, the judge of Israel is now grinding the grain. Look at him trod, blind, his strength gone, his pride gone, his reputation now past. Pathetically, once a slave to his passions, now he is a slave to his enemies.