March 20 - Nº 79 Judges 16:4-31
When the Philistine leaders found out that Samson had fallen in love with Delilah, they met with her and said, “We will each pay you 1,100 pieces of silver money if you can discover the secret of his strength and share it with us. Delilah obviously wanted the money more than she wanted Samson. That night she asked him, “Samson, what is the secret of your great strength? Is there any way you can be tied up and taken captive?” Samson answered deceptively. He told Delilah that if anyone bound him with seven brand new bowstrings, he would be as weak as any other man. She immediately told the Philistines, and they gave her seven bowstrings. When Samson fell asleep, Delilah tied him up and shouted, “The Philistines are here!” Samson woke up and snapped the strings as if they were thin pieces of fiber. Delilah became angry. “Don’t make fun of me,” she said. “Tell me the truth!” This time Samson replied that the real secret was to use brand new ropes. The same scenario took place, and again he snapped the ropes like they were pieces of thread. Again, Delilah was very upset. “All you are doing is trying to make a fool out of me,” she complained. “Now tell me how you can really be taken captive.” Samson admitted that his strength was in his hair, but then he lied again. He said that if she wove his seven braids into the fabric on a loom and tightened it with the pin, he would be weak. So, once more Delilah restrained him while he was sleeping, this time weaving his braids into her loom. Again, she shouted that the Philistines were there. Again, he woke up and pulled free. And again, she was angry. “You don’t love me! Three times you’ve made me feel like a fool. Why won’t you share your secrets with me?” Delilah nagged Samson day after day until he finally told her everything. “My hair has never been cut because my parents took a Nazirite vow. They dedicated me to God before I was ever born (see #76 - March 17). If my hair is shaved off, I will lose all my strength.” Delilah called the Philistine leaders. This time she knew that Samson was telling the truth. That night, he fell asleep with his head in her lap. A Philistine came out of hiding and shaved off his braids. Delilah shouted, “The Philistines are here!” Samson did not realize that the Lord had already left him. He jumped up, but he couldn’t break free from the Philistines. His strength was gone! They poked out his eyes, shackled him, and put him in prison where they forced him to grind grain. Sometime later, after Samson’s hair had grown back, the Philistines gathered in their pagan temple to celebrate their victories—including the fact that they had captured Samson. They became drunk and brought him out to make fun of him. As he stood between the pillars that supported the temple, Samson begged God to give him strength one more time. He pushed against the pillars with all his might. The temple crashed to the ground killing all the leaders and thousands of men and women who had gathered to watch! Samson killed more Philistines in his death than he had during the 20 years he was a judge in Israel.
Do you have Christian friends in your life that you can go to for advice? Samson never did. He was a loner. He fought all his battles on his own. Most of his unwise decisions could have been avoided if he had gone to others for godly advice.
