Today we reach the end of the Samson story, and instead of exactly re-telling the story of Delilah and the temple of Dagon and the pillars, which most of us know, I want to tell you what to learn from it, which is what these narrations are for. So let's set the story. After humbling himself before the Lord in his hour of thirst, he was blessed by God with an apparently peaceful 20 years of judging Israel. But then, something happened to him that happens to most of us- he revisited an old sin:
Jdg 16:1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.
He let his weakness for fallen, evil women strike again. And this is NOT Delilah; this is a 3-verse section of a 31-verse story, but the point is, it was a start. He might never have found himself entrapped by Delilah had he not chose the "harmless sin" of going to this prostitute. It only takes that one small step to bring the whole structure down, ask any addict- for that's what Samson was. Samson once again abuses his gift of strength to escape this trap, but thus weakened he fell into the much greater one:
Jdg 16:4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Allow me some speculation here. I looked into the names, and "Sorek" comes from a term that describes a place where the best, richest grapes are grown; And Delilah comes from a word meaning "languishing", which Keli and Delitzsch translate to "the weak or pining one". I'm going to go out on a limb to say that this girl was no common whore, but the daughter of a rich vinter who made money from the Philistine overlords (remember, Samson gave them pause, but Israel hadn't overthrown them), used to luxury, and used to what the Philistines could give her. Against a woman like this, Samson- who had enough problems with lesser women- had no chance.
So Samson falls into sin. I want to verge away from the story and look at the consequences of the sin. By story chronology:
1- By any definition, sin leads to death.
Jdg 16:2 The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here." And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, "Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him."
This is from the first story. The first consequence of turning back to his sin was a threat on his very life. God preserved him, but the consequences weren't over.
2- Sin doesn't lead you to trustworthy people.
Jdg 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver."
And for a girl like the Delilah I speculated on, this would be a no brainer. Thing is, Samson had already been down this road...
3- Sin won't look for new avenues when you let old ones keep functioning.
Jdg 16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you."
And once again, Samson doesn't stop to think, "Why exactly would she even want to KNOW this?" Instead, he just plays with it by telling little lies- he thinks it's amusing to play with sin at first.
4- Sin knows just how to wear you down.
Jdg 16:16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.
Eventually, the game wore thin, and instead of getting out of its way, he let it run him over. Once again, he allowed himself to listen to the same old, "If you really loved me..." But he was cocky from earlier escapes from sin. He told himself it didn't matter, he'd call on God in time and escape once again. God had went from a protector to a genie in a bottle, a 'clean-up man'. And sometimes, God just lets the consequence happen.
5- Sin, if you're a Christian, can't destroy you. But, it can torment you.
Jdg 16:19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
Now, where's that love and pleasure sin promised? Sin is only your friend till it gets what it wants. Then it's an accuser, a mocker.
6- Sin will take away your ability to see the truth.
Jdg 16:21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
It doesn't always do this by gouging out your eyes; sometimes it does it by making you feel too ashamed to come to God, to pray, to read the Bible. And one more thing to remember from this story about sin...
7- You don't 'play with sin', sin plays with you.
Jdg 16:25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson, that he may entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.
His choice of sin ended up making him into a clown in front of his enemies. But yet there was hope, because God is always working behind the scenes...
Jdg 16:22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Note that this isn't something out of the ordinary; hair grows back. But this was God renewing his place, bit by bit, in Samson's heart. Then God takes something as gutter-level low as this and turns it into an opportunity...
Jdg 16:26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."
Jdg 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.
And if we are tuned to the opportunity, and recognize that we cannot succeed without God...
Jdg 16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes."
...then we too can do miracles! But, like Jesus said, it involves dying to self...
Jdg 16:29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.
Jdg 16:30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
So now the choice is ours. Do we want to be a shaved-headed, blinded clown to sin... or be what God made us to be from birth? God, that I might have the image of Samson in chains- and his victory through You- at every occasion of sin.
A good read
ReplyDeleteAnd a big lesson for me...
Delete