Resisting Satan's Snares

Judges 16:1-21 - Episode 141

Samson’s weakness was women. He could not resist them for long. But the lesson here is not to resist the wiles of a seductress but the wiles of the devil. Satan tries to convince us that we have no other choice, and even worse, that God will rescue us from the consequences of our disobedience and betrayal. He tells us the Lord understands. He presents us with a binary choice and then says that God doesn’t expect us to live in such an unhappy state. He will not punish us for our disobedience or feel hurt by our betrayal because He knows we are miserable. The Lord loves us, after all, and only wants us to be happy. But this is a lie! His path is always available to us.

Samson and Delilah - Judges 16:1-21

The Philistines were ruling over the Israelites, and Samson would become their next judge. He had been set aside for this purpose from the point of conception. He demonstrated his dedication to God by not drinking alcohol, cutting his hair, or coming in contact with dead bodies. Because of this, the Holy Spirit provided him with superhuman strength. His fight with the Philistines began over an argument that broke out at his wedding to a Philistine woman. As a result, they killed his wife and her family, and Samson killed over 1,000 of their men.

But, after their initial feud died down, Samson went back to their land and slept with a prostitute. When they found out he was in Gaza, they surrounded the place, and put men at the city gate in case he slipped away unnoticed. But Samson was unconcerned and stayed there until midnight. Then, he got up and left the city, picking up the doors of the gate, with its bar and two posts that had been buried deep in the ground. He carried the gate on his shoulders almost 40 miles up the hill just outside of Hebron. So, the strength of the Lord had saved him again.

After this, Samson fell in love with another Philistine woman named Delilah. When the Philistines saw his love for her, they devised a plan to take him down. The five Philistine rulers offered Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver each to seduce him and find out the secret to his great strength so they could take him captive. This would have probably been over 100 pounds of silver, which obviously was a great sum of money.

So, Delilah began her quest to get Samson to tell her why he was so strong and how he could be robbed of that strength, allowing someone to bind and control him. What a blatant request! What purpose could Samson possibly believe she had for asking that except that she wanted to hand him over to her people? To ask him to tell her the secret to his strength seems like a normal request for him to open up to the woman he loves. But she must have been extremely confident in her seductive skills to add that she wants to know how she might constrain him in such a way that he was powerless to resist.

In the beginning, he gave her fake reasons for his strength. The first time he told her that if he was tied with seven bowstrings that had not been dried, he would be like any other man, too weak to break free. The next time he told her that he could not break free if he was tied with brand new ropes. The next time he got closer to the truth, but still deceived her, by saying that if she wove his hair into the loom in seven locks and fastened them with a pin, he would be as weak as any other man. Each time, she bound him in his sleep and called the Philistines in to capture him. But he broke free every time. She acted hurt after every incident, calling him a liar and saying he was mocking her. She had a point. He had been lying to her. But even worse, he was mocking her. After the first time, he knew she would use what he told her to try to give him over to the Philistines, and he also knew that it would not work. So, each time he was making her look stupid and laughing at them all. If only he had continued this tact until she gave up!

After being lied to and looking ridiculous three times already, you would think she might give up. But this woman was relentless! She played the same card as his wife had years before, trying to make him feel guilty for keeping things from her and making her feel unloved. After a while, her persistence wore him down. He thought it would be better to be dead than to deal with this every day, so he finally told her. What about just leaving her, Samson? Did you ever think of that? She’s not your wife. You have made no promise to stay with her forever. She does not care about you. She is trying to have you killed! You have more than two choices! Get away from the Philistines! They ALL want to kill you. The women you love do not love you back! You cannot trust any of them!

Samson told her everything. He said that he had been set aside to God from birth. No razor had ever touched his head. If his hair were to be cut, he would be as weak as any other man. What was he thinking? She was going to cut his hair and call in the Philistines. Would he really rather be dead than listen to her every day? Or did he just think his strength wouldn’t leave him? Could he break his vow to God and still keep the power He gave?