JUDGES CHAPTER 16, “Story Of
Samson’s Demise: Samson And Delilah”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at chapters 14-15 and how that Samson had
his parents arrange for him to marry a certain Philistine woman, and that
situations then began to arise in Samson’s life that led him to exact revenge
upon the Philistines.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 16 and Samson’s
tragic demise as he continued down his spiral of spiritual decline and
compromise and eventually has a tragic and early death.
1.2.1. The story of Samson and
Delilah we are going to study today has been made into movies, popularized in
television commercials, and captured the imaginations of millions. It has all of the ingredients that great
stories have been known for in this world:
love, sex, deception, and violence.
1.2.2. Warren Wiersbe described the
life of Samson as being much similar to how Winston Churchill described the
Russians in his day, “a riddle wrapped up in a mystery inside an enigma.” No other man among God’s people of the Old
Testament had any greater opportunity or potential to be used greatly by the
Lord, and yet because Samson did not walk closely with the Lord his life really
is a life of tragedy and only worth remembering because of lessons to learn
from his mistakes and because of the great ways in which the Lord worked
through his life, yet really worked in spite of him.
1.2.3. We have seen that the Spirit
of the Lord began coming upon Samson and giving him great power so that he
could exact revenge against the Philistines.
The Spirit of the Lord first came upon him and gave him the power to
kill with his very hands a young lion that attacked him.
1.2.4. Then, we saw that the
opportunities for Samson to exert revenge against the Philistines began
occurring, and several times Samson demonstrated supernatural strength and
abilities as he killed and brought harm to the Philistines, for instance:
1.2.4.1. Samson killed 30 men in
order to pay off a gambling debt over a riddle he had propounded to some
Philistine men.
1.2.4.2. He performed an incredible
feat of capturing 300 jackals and in pairs tying their tails together around a
torch which he set on fire, and then he let the animals run into the fields of
the Philistines and they burned up all of the crops of the Philistines.
1.2.4.3. He killed 1,000 Philistines
with the jawbone of a donkey.
1.2.5. We saw though that Samson
had no real regard for his Nazarite vow that he was to be under, and thus no
real regard for the Lord Himself, for we see that he began breaking each of the
regulations of his Nazarite vow. He
touched a dead animal carcass, went through a vineyard, and then attended a
drunken wedding feast in which he most likely got drunk.
1.2.6. Also, we saw that Samson was
not a spiritual man and he had no regard for the law of the Lord for though it
forbid him to marry outside the nation of Israel, he had his parents arrange a
marriage for himself to a Philistine woman.
1.2.7. Evidently, Samson was a man
whom his parents had never properly disciplined and never learned to say ‘no’
to when he desired the things that the Lord had forbidden for his life. We see that this is probably the case because
although Samson’s parents objected to his marriage outside of
1.2.8. Samson has become such a
popular legend in our culture, with the various movies that have been made
about his life, that we have tended to think of him as being this huge and
powerful he-man. However, we have seen that
the scriptures do not tell us that he was a huge man but rather that the source
of his strength and power was the Spirit of the Lord. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson
he performed mighty supernatural feats and exacted revenge against the
Philistines.
1.2.9. We have also seen that
because Samson was not following the Lord closely that the works that he
performed were not the battles of the Lord but Samson’s own personal vendettas
and revenge. However, the Lord was allowing
Samson to do these things and even empowering Samson in order that He might
weaken
1.2.10.
Today, I want to propose to you that Samson was actually a very weak
man. Although he was a man upon whom the
Spirit of the Lord would sometimes fall and cause him to perform great feats,
he none the less was so weak that he could not conquer his own passions and
lusts. Samson could not conquer himself
and thus was controlled by his passions to the extent that, being controlled by
his fleshly sinful nature, he made very stupid decisions, decisions that
eventually led to his complete demise and early and tragic death.
1.2.11.
Samson’s main weakness in the flesh is women and sex.
1.2.11.1. He first saw a Philistine
woman of Timnah in chapter 15 and just because she looked good to him and
regardless that the Lord had forbid marriages outside of
1.2.11.2. Here we see in this chapter
that Samson goes and has sex with a prostitute in the Philistine city of
1.2.11.3. Then, Samson later falls in
love with this woman Delilah who ends up betraying him by getting him to
confide in her that the secret to his great strength was that he was under a
Nazirite vow and that if his hair were to be cut he would become weak. She then she tells this to the Philistines
who cut off his hair and afflict and enslave him. Samson finally comes to an tragic death at an
early age.
1.2.12.
In Gary Inrig’s commentary he has the following quote about Samson from
Ambrose an early Christian writer, “Samson, when brave, strangled a
lion; but he could not strangle his own
love. He burst the fetters of his
foes; but not the cords of his own lusts. He burned the crops of others, and lost the
fruit of his own virtue when burning with the flame enkindled by a single woman.”
2. VS 16:1-3 - “1 Now Samson went to
2.1.
In the Old Testament law of Moses we read that the Lord strictly forbid
sexual relations outside of marriage:
2.1.1. Lev. 19:29, “29 ‘Do
not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not
fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness.”
2.1.2. Deut. 22:20-21, “20 “But
if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then
they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men
of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly
in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the
evil from among you.”
2.2.
There are many scriptures also that speak of the folly of Samson for
not being in control of his own passions and lusts, including the following:
2.2.1. Prov. 25:28, “28 Like
a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no
control over his spirit.”
2.2.2. Prov. 16:32, “32 He
who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit,
than he who captures a city.”
2.3.
Though he should have known better, Samson was a very undisciplined
man, which was probably a reflection of how his parents raised him. Samson does not even attempt to live
cautiously and prudently and instead is very reckless. It is Samson’s lack of discipline and
recklessness that cause his spiritual demise that eventually leads to his
death.
2.4.
Samson here was flirting with temptation instead of fleeing from it and
as a result he gets ensnared in sin.
2.5.
Following lust leads a person to eventually lose all control of
himself. The path to falling into sin,
you see, is not a big cliff that one day a person inadvertently falls off. Instead, it is a gradually decline, one that
involves gradual compromises with the world and flirting with sin. When a person has finally hit rock bottom he
doesn’t even initially realize where he is at or how he got there.
2.6.
Going to a prostitute in Gaza, Samson surely knew was a very foolish
and risky thing to do, after all the Philistines were looking for any
opportunity to kill or harm him.
However, whenever a person has given himself over to living for the
fulfillment of his lusts he loses all sense of logic and reason and as a result
may do many a stupid thing.
2.6.1. In our world today, we are
almost daily hearing stories of people who suddenly break and do something very
violent such as commit a mass murder.
This occurs because the person first had unbridled lust in his life.
2.7.
The Philistines had been looking for an opportunity to kill or harm
Samson, and now they have heard that he is in their city, so they lay a trap
for him. They thought that they could
contain Samson in the city because of the impregnable construction of their
city gates. The city gates were
constructed of wood covered with metal and nail studs and were very heavy. Their posts had been pounded deep into the
ground.
2.8.
Because the Philistine guards at the gate of the city thought that
there was no way that anyone could escape out of the city, they evidently got
lazy and fell asleep at their guard.
2.9.
Knowing that a trap had been set for him and that the Philistines
planned to capture him in the morning when he left, Samson decided to leave the
harlot and the city at about midnight.
2.10.
This time when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson He gave Samson
great strength so that he picked up the doors of the city gate and carried them
up either to a hill on the way to Hebron, or all of the way to Hebron itself,
an uphill distance of 38 miles. The text
allows either interpretation, and either feat can only be explained in
supernatural terms. No strong man
competition ever saw any feat performed that is even close to that performed by
Samson on this day.
3. VS 16:4-5 - “4 After this it came
about that he loved a woman in the
3.1.
We don’t really know much at
all about this woman Delilah.
3.1.1. Her name is Semitic not
Philistine, however she lives among the Philistines, therefore she may be the
result of an intermarriage.
3.1.2. She may very well have also
been a prostitute, but we aren’t specifically told this.
3.1.3. She was evidently a very
attractive woman and Samson surely had a sexual affair with her.
3.1.4. Samson desired her for more
than just sex, he actually fell in love with her.
3.1.4.1. Love blinds a person. As an application here, many a Christian guy
or gal has initially thought that a date with a non-believer would be harmless
however after they have fallen in love they lost all reason and were willing to
have sexual relations or a marriage relationship which is outside God’s will
for their life (marriage for a Christian is only to be with those who are in
the Lord).
3.2.
Delilah was a woman who loved things and used people. She used the men in her life for her own
purposes. She enjoyed being with Samson
but she loved money and the finer things in life more than she loved him,
therefore for a good price she was willing to sell him to the Philistines for
what would be his torture, imprisonment, and perhaps death.
4. VS 16:6-14 - “6 So Delilah said to
Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound
to afflict you.” 7 Samson 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.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her
seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now
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. 10 Then
Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now
please tell me how you may be bound.” 11 He 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.” 12 So 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. 13 Then 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.” 14 So 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 tries to get Samson to tell her the
source of his great strength
4.1.
We see in these verses again that Samson is flirting with temptations
instead of fleeing them. Knowing that
Delilah is trying to find out his weakness to use it against him, Samson thinks
that he is stronger than he is and that he has the ability in his own strength
to withstand the temptation to tell his secret.
4.2.
We see here that Samson had plenty of opportunities to flee this
temptation, and that the promise in 1 Cor. 10:13 was surely true for him, “13
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is
faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be
able to endure it.”
4.2.1. Just as Joseph fled out of
the bedroom of Potiphar’s wife when she tried to seduce him, so Samson at this
point would have been wise to run fast and get as far away from Delilah as he could
get.
4.2.2. Many years ago, Jon Courson
once said that he came into one of his kid’s rooms when the child was a
baby. As he walked over to the baby he
noticed that the baby was reaching up trying to grab something. When he got closer he realized that his child
was reaching up trying to grab a deadly Black Widow spider that was hanging
from a web over the crib. This is the
way we Christians look to the Lord whenever we are flirting with temptations in
our lives.
4.2.3. If a person plays with fire
they are eventually going to get burned, so a person who flirts with
temptations will eventually succumb to sin.
4.2.4. Someone once spoke about the
lives of Christians, especially those committed to ministry, that the hand of
the Lord is not heavy upon their lives.
Therefore, it is not wise to tempt and test the Lord by flirting with
temptation for the Lord may allow you to fail and fall right on your face into
sin.
4.3.
Apparently, the Philistines were hiding in the house and listening whenever
Delilah would tell Samson that the Philistines were upon him. If Samson could not break his bindings when
Delilah woke him telling him that the Philistines were upon him then Delilah
would yell and the Philistines would come quickly into the bedroom and capture
him. But, if Samson broke his bonds then
the Philistines would remain in hiding.
4.4.
As Samson is flirting with this temptation to reveal the secret of his
great strength, notice that he begins to get closer to the truth by suggesting
to Delilah that his strength had something to do with his hair.
4.5.
It is worth noting that Samson’s strength was not really the result of
his long hair. It was the Spirit of the
Lord who gave him the great strength, not his hair.
4.6.
To this point, Samson has now broken every aspect of his Nazarite vow
with the exception of not cutting his hair.
Instead of Samson trying his best to be as faithful to the Lord as he
can be, he thinks in terms of how far he can go outside God’s perfect will for
him without losing the empowering from the Spirit of the Lord. The only thing left intact of his vow of
separation as a Nazirite involved his hair.
This I believe is the reason that Samson felt that if his hair were cut
that the Spirit of the Lord would no longer strengthen him and use him against
the Philistines.
5. VS 16:15-19 - “15 Then 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.” 16 It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and
urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. 17 So 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.”
18 When 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. 19 She
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.”
- Samson finally breaks and tells
Delilah all of the secrets of his heart including the fact that if his hair
were cut he would not be empowered by the Lord any longer
5.1.
Samson underestimated the power of a woman’s tears. After Delilah’s continual crying, begging,
and manipulating Samson to tell her the secret of his power, Samson finally
gives in.
5.2.
Foolishly, Samson trusted Delilah with his very life. Samson not only lusted after Delilah, he also
loved her truly from his heart. However,
Delilah was a woman with a divided heart, and she loved money and the finer
things in life more than any man. She
would betray Samson even to his death if it meant great gain for her.
5.3.
Evidently Samson was quite the sleeper and whenever he slept he went
into deep sleep. When Samson has finally
fallen asleep on Delilah’s knees, Delilah has the Philistines come and cut off
his seven locks of hair.
5.4.
Then, to test Samson’s strength Delilah began to inflict him with
injuries to see if he still regained his strength, but Samson’s strength had
now left him.
6. VS 16:20-21 - “20 She 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. 21
Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought
him down to
6.1.
Notice here how sad a thing it is that Samson didn’t know that the
power of the Lord had now left him since his hair had been cut off. Samson was now out of fellowship with the
Lord and therefore the Lord would not come upon him any longer and give him
great strength as he had done at other times.
6.2.
After flirting with sin for many years and compromising time and again
his Nazirite vow, with his hair cut Samson now had nothing remaining intact of
his Nazirite vow of separation from the world and unto the Lord.
6.3.
How pathetic it is now to see Samson, our hero, bound with chains in
the prison and working as a grinder (probably of meal).
6.4.
Preachers have often preached about how what we see here with Samson is
the grinding, binding, and blinding power of sin.
6.4.1. When we give ourselves over
to our lusts and live in sin, the result is a “grinding” and wearing
down of us. Sin gradually sucks the very
joy of living right out of a person.
6.4.2. When we give ourselves over
to our lusts and live in sin, the result is also that we find ourselves “bound”
in our sin. Whatever a man submits
himself to he becomes the slave of, and if it is sin then he becomes “bound”
as a slave to sin. A person may think
that he has control of his lusts, however when he begins to give himself over
to them they begin to control him and slowly destroy his life.
6.4.3. When we give ourselves over
to our lusts and live in sin, the result is yet again that we become “blind”
to reality, “blind” to the truth, “blind” to our real condition
and the real condition of the world around us.
7. VS 16:22-25 - “22 However, the hair
of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off. 23 Now the
lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their
god, and to rejoice, for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into
our hands.” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, for
they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hands, Even the destroyer of
our country, Who has slain many of us.” 25 It so happened when they
were in high spirits, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.”
So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they
made him stand between the pillars.” - The
Philistines call a great feast and they send for Samson so that they can
torment and torture him and amuse themselves thereby
7.1.
This calling of Samson to the feast by the Philistines in order to
amuse themselves by torturing him reminds me of what the Romans did when in the
first 300 years of the church they persecuted Christians. In the coliseum in Rome they would make the
Christians fight to the death wild animals, gladiators, or even each other, all
to the cheer of the blood thirsty and sadistic crowd. Thousands of Christians were killed in this
way in the first 200 years of the church.
7.2.
The Philistines were a “sea
people” who had originally come to the
7.3.
The Philistines were exulting here that their god was more powerful
than the God of the sons of
7.4.
We aren’t told how that the Philistines tortured or taunted Samson to
the crowd’s delight, however it must have been the most humiliating experience
imaginable for Samson.
7.5.
We see here that Samson’s hair began to grow, and we can guess that
Samson had now also come to that place of realizing that he was just like the
prodigal son of Jesus’ parable who had become estranged from his heavenly
Father and living among the pigs and actually eating the food of the pigs.
7.6.
Because Samson’s hair had begun to grow and because Samson had also now
surely repented of his sins and asked the Lord’s forgiveness for his sins, he
is now in fellowship with the Lord, and thus the Lord will use him again.
7.6.1. Isn’t it wonderful how that
the Lord uses a man or a woman again after they have fallen into sin?
7.6.2. What grace is seen in this
story, and this grace comes from the God of grace who is willing to restore all
who have fallen into sin and then just like the prodigal son of Jesus’ parable
have confessed and repented of their sins.
7.6.3. When we as Christians fall
into sin we only need to confess our sins and repent and the Lord because of
His grace can and will begin to work through our lives yet again.
8. VS 16:26-31 - “26 Then Samson said
to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the
house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was
full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And
about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.
28 Then Samson called to the Lord
and said, “O Lord God, please
remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once
be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Samson grasped
the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against
them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with all his might
so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the
dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his
life. 31 Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down,
took him, brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb
of Manoah his father. Thus he had judged
8.1.
This is the second and final prayer that Samson prays in the book of
Judges, and it is a prayer in faith to the Lord to give him the strength to
destroy a huge number of the leading men and women of the Philistines. Samson knew also that in performing this feat
that he would die with the Philistines.
8.2.
The Spirit of the Lord one last time comes upon Samson and he pushes
two foundational pillars apart causing the roof to collapse upon the 3,000
Philstines gathered together, killing all of them.
8.3.
One author I read mentioned at this point that Samson’s death here was
really the death of a martyr since Samson was now in fellowship with the Lord
and the Lord granted this request of his, and I guess that I agree with this
assumption.
8.4.
The Lord was using this opportunity to significantly alter and weaken
the Philistines inner civil structure and aristocracy.
8.5.
Samson’s family finally come and take home his body.
8.6.
What a tragedy it is that this man who could not control his own
passions and lusts had to die at such a young age and in such a pathetic way.
8.7.
When we closely look at Samson’s life we have to realize that from him we
need to learn what not to do in life, for there are really few positives that
we can point to. His life is an enigma
and a life lived of unfilled potential and wasted opportunity.
9. CONCLUSION:
9.1.
Learning from Samson’s life, we Christians must commit ourselves to
becoming disciplined believers, people who have learned to control our own
passions and lusts.
9.2.
We must all realize that we cannot expect to flirt with temptation
without being burned. Temptation must be
fled from not flirted with.
9.3.
When we look at Samson’s life we see that the Lord worked through his
life, but worked in spite of him, and we wonder what great things the Lord
could have done in his life if he had truly been surrendered to the Lord and
obedient from the heart to the Lord. May
each of us determine to be people who are in line with God’s will and purposes
so that if He should choose to use our life that He wouldn’t have to work
around or in spite of us.