The Fall Of A Judge

We all know the story of Samson and Delilah, how a great and Godly man was destroyed by his sexual temptation. Not just a man, but a man chosen by God to be a judge over Israel. We sit back, thinking that we would never give into that kind of temptation. We think about how much of a fool that he was. You can find the whole story in Judges 13-16, but I just want to touch on a few verses.

"Later he loved a woman by the name of Delilah in the valley of Sorek. Them the lords of the Philistines came to her. 'Coax him,' they told her, 'and find out what makes him so strong and how we can overpower him, tie him, and make him helpless. Each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.'"
Judges 16:4-5

Delilah did what they asked. The Bible doesn't say a lot about her, it doesn't say if this was really something that she wanted to do or not. All that is really said about her is that Samson loved her, and not merely in the physical way. There is a distinction made between that sort of love. In verse one of chapter 16, it says, "Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there and had sexual relations with her," a clear difference between "Later he loved a woman by the name of Delilah."

Three times Delilah came to him,asking how he was so strong and what could be used to tie him, what items might be strong enough. Now, if I was Samson, I would understand wanting to know the secret of my strength, but asking how to tie me up would make me suspicious. Especially when the Philistines showed up. This happened three times. How much does it take to make Samson realize he can't trust her, that he should leave? Did he think that it was just coincidence that the Philistines showed up right at that moment to attack him?

Then came the fourth time. "How can you say, 'I love you,' and not tell me your secret." - 16:15. She guilt tripped him until he gave in to her incessant nagging. The Bible says that "he got tired to death" and told her. For finally giving in, he lost his strength, his freedom, his eyes, and, eventually, his life. He also lost her. In trying to keep her, he gave her the one thing that let others take him away.

He lost everything to try and keep her.

"Love your life and lose it, but hate your life in this world, and you will keep it for an everlasting life." John 12:25

In the end, God gave him back his strength. Despite his failings, his sins, his putting this woman before his God, God was still there with him.

Sound familiar? It should. We are the same as Samson. We often love the world more than our God. By doing this, we give the world the ability to hurt us. We give it to them. We don't have to show our weakness to the world. We don't have to love the world. It keeps hurting us and we keep going back to it, but that is just what we do. We are persistent, stubborn, because we think we can make it work. We will figure it out.

Stop it. Stop before you get so compromised that you don't see the ropes that bind you. Before you end up with the enemy laughing at you, making jokes about how you used to be so strong, and now they have you just where they want you. Don't wait to call on God until you are in that position. He is with you even now.

Sam