Samson clearly disregarded much of YHWH’s instructions and did things his own way. YHWH used him as he was “seeking an occasion against the Philistines” (Judges 14:4). We should take care not to assume YHWH approves of all the things which Samson did. We have previously covered some of his prior poor decisions and now in Judges 16 we see again his arrogance and poor judgment when it comes to dealing with Philistine women, including spending time with a harlot). He had every opportunity to see that Delilah was going to betray him, and ignored it. He knew he should not tell her, but eventually caved to stop the whining. He already faced a similar situation previously with his Philistine wife and he apparently did not learn from it.

We see now in chapter 16 that Samson, despite his great strength given to him by YHWH has put himself in a position to be defeated and humiliated.

Judges 16:1-21

Samson’s Weakness

      1Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. 2When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” 3Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

      4After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you.” 7Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered.

      10Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me how you may be bound.” 11He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 12So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men were lying in wait in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like a thread.

      13Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my hair with the web [and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 14So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.

Delilah Extracts His Secret

      15Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” 16It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. 17So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

      18When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. 20She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 21Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

Reflect on the poor choices that Samson made and the consequences he faced as a result. Despite great advantage given by YHWH, he managed to bring himself to ruin. Let us seek to be wise and use the gifts that YHWH gives us to his glory and not just to our own selfish purposes. There is so much more we can learn from studying Samson than just God gave him strength and he killed a lot of Philistines. Sadly, much of what we can learn is related to what we should not do.

Perhaps one simple summary would be that if YHWH puts an anointing on you with some great gift(s), do not think you can rely on that alone and ignore YHWH himself and his instructions.

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