Judges 16:4 And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek; whose name was Delilah.
Ah Friends, as the ole folks say, ‘is woman like them who does turn good man bad yes.’ Delilah’s place is assured in the annals of infamous women. But we can’t blame her for everything. Samson should have known better. He was a judge of Israel, their military leader for twenty years, and although he did great exploits, should have set a better example in his personal life. He was physically strong, but morally weak, violating all his Nazarite vows, by touching a dead body, the lion’s carcass, going to the prenuptial drinking party and shaving his locks. But it seems God overlooked his shortcomings a tad, to bring about the good will he held toward Israel. Even after killing the thousand men with the ass’ jawbone and being revived, by the Lord miraculously causing a spring to spout up from some hollow ground, Sammy continued his disobedient ways. He went to Gaza to visit a prostitute. But the Lord always seemed to be with him, for while the Gazites lay in wait outside the house and by the city gate, intending to capture him when he left in the morning, Sammy left at midnight, taking the big, heavy city gates and posts with him up to a hill in Hebron. Now it’s estimated that Gaza was thirty something miles from Hebron. Wow! It means Sammy was physically, mucho strong, but rather weak where morals, self indulgence and women were concerned. But like us all, he eventually met his Waterloo; ‘And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek; whose name was Delilah,’ whom he moved in with. Delilah was offered eleven hundred pieces of silver apiece, by the Philistine Lords to find out the source of Sammy’s strength. There were about five Lords, making the total haul fifty-five hundred pieces of silver. Friends, that’s mucho dinero, so Delilah accepted the offer and began pumping Sammy for info re his source of strength. Three times Sammy lied to her. Each time she did what he said and had the Philistines accost him, but to their detriment. But persistence, thy name is woman, and Delilah kept prodding him. Now why would any sane man stick around after she betrayed him three times and was still prodding eh? But stick around he did, and Delilah kept prodding, ‘so that his soul was vexed unto death.’ (Jdg,16:16) He got so worn down, that he finally told her the truth. She immediately called up the Lords, who came with the money, and she had Sammy fall asleep with his head in her lap, then got a man to shave off his seven locks. Sammy was a baldhead! What a pity! Then she woke him and said the Philistines were coming to get him. Poor Sammy, not realizing that Lord’s Spirit had left him, figured he’d do like the other times, but the Philistines captured, blinded and bound him in shackles, then set him to the grinding wheel in the jail. Sometime later, they all gathered in the temple to offer sacrifices and praise to their god Dagon for delivering their enemy into their hands, and they brought Samson out to make sport for them. But they all reckoned without the Most High God, Jehovah. Sammy’s hair was growing back and he was feeling his oats again, so he enticed the lad guiding him to take him to the main pillars of the temple. There, with one hand on each pillar, ‘he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.’ (Jdg.16:30) In death, Samson was selfless and victorious; avenging himself, but also by killing the Philistine rulers, substantially decreasing the threat to Israel . What does Samson’s story teach us Friends? First, disobedience will invariably be punished. Sammy enjoyed his wine, women and song, breaking all the laws he was entrusted to uphold, and he paid dearly with betrayal, blindness, servitude, and finally his life. But in all this the Lord still found a way to make him a hero, to have him accomplish the task he was born for; ‘to begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines,’ Yes Friends, the Lord always wins. Sammy learned that the hard way. Let’s try and learn from his mistakes nuh. Much LOVE!…it doesn’t pay…to disobey…
Ah Friends, as the ole folks say, ‘is woman like them who does turn good man bad yes.’ Delilah’s place is assured in the annals of infamous women. But we can’t blame her for everything. Samson should have known better. He was a judge of Israel, their military leader for twenty years, and although he did great exploits, should have set a better example in his personal life. He was physically strong, but morally weak, violating all his Nazarite vows, by touching a dead body, the lion’s carcass, going to the prenuptial drinking party and shaving his locks. But it seems God overlooked his shortcomings a tad, to bring about the good will he held toward Israel. Even after killing the thousand men with the ass’ jawbone and being revived, by the Lord miraculously causing a spring to spout up from some hollow ground, Sammy continued his disobedient ways. He went to Gaza to visit a prostitute. But the Lord always seemed to be with him, for while the Gazites lay in wait outside the house and by the city gate, intending to capture him when he left in the morning, Sammy left at midnight, taking the big, heavy city gates and posts with him up to a hill in Hebron. Now it’s estimated that Gaza was thirty something miles from Hebron. Wow! It means Sammy was physically, mucho strong, but rather weak where morals, self indulgence and women were concerned. But like us all, he eventually met his Waterloo; ‘And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek; whose name was Delilah,’ whom he moved in with. Delilah was offered eleven hundred pieces of silver apiece, by the Philistine Lords to find out the source of Sammy’s strength. There were about five Lords, making the total haul fifty-five hundred pieces of silver. Friends, that’s mucho dinero, so Delilah accepted the offer and began pumping Sammy for info re his source of strength. Three times Sammy lied to her. Each time she did what he said and had the Philistines accost him, but to their detriment. But persistence, thy name is woman, and Delilah kept prodding him. Now why would any sane man stick around after she betrayed him three times and was still prodding eh? But stick around he did, and Delilah kept prodding, ‘so that his soul was vexed unto death.’ (Jdg,16:16) He got so worn down, that he finally told her the truth. She immediately called up the Lords, who came with the money, and she had Sammy fall asleep with his head in her lap, then got a man to shave off his seven locks. Sammy was a baldhead! What a pity! Then she woke him and said the Philistines were coming to get him. Poor Sammy, not realizing that Lord’s Spirit had left him, figured he’d do like the other times, but the Philistines captured, blinded and bound him in shackles, then set him to the grinding wheel in the jail. Sometime later, they all gathered in the temple to offer sacrifices and praise to their god Dagon for delivering their enemy into their hands, and they brought Samson out to make sport for them. But they all reckoned without the Most High God, Jehovah. Sammy’s hair was growing back and he was feeling his oats again, so he enticed the lad guiding him to take him to the main pillars of the temple. There, with one hand on each pillar, ‘he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.’ (Jdg.16:30) In death, Samson was selfless and victorious; avenging himself, but also by killing the Philistine rulers, substantially decreasing the threat to Israel . What does Samson’s story teach us Friends? First, disobedience will invariably be punished. Sammy enjoyed his wine, women and song, breaking all the laws he was entrusted to uphold, and he paid dearly with betrayal, blindness, servitude, and finally his life. But in all this the Lord still found a way to make him a hero, to have him accomplish the task he was born for; ‘to begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines,’ Yes Friends, the Lord always wins. Sammy learned that the hard way. Let’s try and learn from his mistakes nuh. Much LOVE!…it doesn’t pay…to disobey…
SCRIP-BITS 