Samson and Delilah – Part I

Judges 16:4-9
And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

In the valley of Sorek there lived a temptress named Delilah and Samson loved this woman. Valley of Sorek is on the border between ancient Philistines and the tribe of Dan. This is a dangerous place to be in i.e., a border. Step onto the side of the Lord where there is life and hope. Do not stand at the boundary where you can be trapped by the enemy! Samson’s parents were Manoah and his wife and the Lord God spoke through an angel of God about the birth of a son who was to be separated unto the Lord. The parents had taken all the care to follow the angel’s instructions and Samson was a Nazarite living unto the Lord. But, he had a weakness with women. We all have different weaknesses but when we live in the Lord, we will be able to resist the enemy and he will flee away from us (James 4:7). With the help and strength of the Lord we can win a battle against the enemy. We should pay attention to the Spirit of God and ask for sensitivity to the Spirit’s murmurings. The Word of God warns against adulteresses in Proverbs 7:25-26 where it says, “Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.” The satan brings temptations our way when we are drawn by our own lusts and enticed (James 1:14). If we live in flesh we will die; but if we live in Spirit, we mortify the deeds of the body and therefore we shall live (Romans 8:13).

Samson fell in love with a temptress and was drawn to her in flesh and not by Spirit. The Philistines took advantage of the love that Samson had for Delilah and approached Delilah with an evil intention. The Philistines asked her to entice Samson and find where his strength lies so that they can attack him in the correct way and thus win against him. Judges 13:5 says, “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” The Lord God had a wonderful plan for Samson and the Lord wanted Samson to live a life unto the Lord and bring Him all the glory by delivering the Israelites from Philistines. Now that Samson was drawn to Delilah, Philistines approached Delilah to find out how they can prevail against Samson. If satan cannot attack us directly, he will try all different ways. No matter what, by the power of Jesus let us resist him. The shed blood of Jesus that is upon us will put to death the enemy and the work of the enemy (satan) against us. The plan of the enemy was to bind and afflict Samson; in fact the satan also tries to bind us with his cords and afflict us but every plan of the enemy is shattered when we hold onto the Old Rugged Cross. The Cross of Christ has crucified the flesh and trampled the enemy under Jesus’ feet and if we cling to the Cross we will trample the enemy by His strength. The Spirit of the Lord enables us to be liberated from the captivity of the enemy and the afflictions of the enemy will be endured for a season but the JOY of the Lord will be ours for the Lord takes great delight in enabling us to go on the heights (Habakkuk 3:16).

The Philistines promised to pay Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver each for finding the strength of Samson. Judas Iscariot betrayed Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of silver as it says in Matthew 26:15. Judas sought an opportunity to betray Jesus, just like Delilah grabbed the opportunity based on Samson’s weakness to grant him to the Philistines to bind him and afflict him. I Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil”. Here we see a woman who has the love of money and a temptress that has the evil power to entice men with her tricks. The enemy’s tricks of deception are exactly like this. We should be aware of the satan’s tactics and the Word of God helps us to gain insight into the deceiver’s evil plans and equip us with God’s holy armor. The enemy knows pretty well that God has put His hedge of protection about us, and about our house, and about all that we have on every side (Job 1:10). Enemy will try to breakdown the hedge so he may find entry into our lives; so let us fix our eyes upon Jesus!

Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.” The words of Delilah to Samson are suggestive of her evil desire. She enticed him just like the enemy entices us with temporal passions. Her ulterior motive is evident in these words but to Samson who was drawn with lust these words although evil sounded alright for he relied on his own strength and might at this point. He was a man dedicated unto God but was easily drawn away by his weakness. He said to her, “If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.” He did not respond as a man of God would by saying that his strength is in the Lord; instead his response was a lie and is indicative that he thought that his strength was in a physical thing without life. It grieves my heart that Samson did that. Let us ask God to believe Him and only have hope in Him. Let us not think haughtily in our hearts that “I am not like Samson”. Let us ask God to expose our own weaknesses and with the help of God we can resist the enemy if he entices us based on our weaknesses. Christ is our strength and in His strength we rejoice!

The Philistine lords brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. It is very clear that she informed the Philistine lords after her discussion with Samson. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. This is how Satan waits to catch us. I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”. Samson was not vigilant and he took the strength he had so lightly. It is Lord’s strength to bring liberty to the Israelites. Delilah wanted to bind him and give him to the Philistine lords so he could be afflicted. But Samson broke the withs as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire. Samson’s strength was not known at this time. When Delilah attempted this attack on Samson, he did not flee away from her. Next we will see another attack from her. Beware of the enemy and its tricks. Be sober, be vigilant and be decked with the armor of the Lord!

Next: Samson and Delilah – Part II