Judges 16
You know that when you buy a new car it is not going to cost the advertised price. You know there are hidden costs, right? The advertised price is not going to mention the sales tax, title registration fee, license tag, documentation fees, undercoating, warranty package, destination and delivery costs and service fees.
What the price the new car was advertised at may be very different than what you spend to get that car. Your actual mileage may very. Your actual price will definitely vary. If someone bought a car only on the advertised price without considering the hidden costs it could ruin them financially.
If buying a car has hidden costs, then you can be sure there are hidden costs to sin. These are never advertised in the temptation. Samson found that out. He was never told his sin of lust would lead him to blindness, shackles, and total ruin of his life.
Samson was the strongest man in the world. He was not strong enough to stop the disastrous consequences of his sinful passions. The tempter might say, Samson you are the strongest man in the world. You are destined to do great things for God. The Lord already told your parents this. Go ahead Samson, fulfill your sinful desires.
Go ahead and marry a Philistine woman who worships the god Dagon. Samson just disregard your Nazarite vow. Never mind you are set apart for a special purpose of God. Mary a Philistine and then go spend the night with a prostitute. These momentary pleasures might cost you a little, but it will be worth it (the tempter would say).
Samson is not told his sin will cause him to lose his strength, get his eyes gouged out and lose his freedom, his dignity his reputation. The price tag of his sin was very high. How did Samson get himself into such a position.
His destruction began with wrong priorities. He was attracted to the Philistine woman focused on the outward beauty of her. Samson had passions that could have been fulfilled in the will of the Lord. He ignored the Lord’s commands for the Israelite people to be separate from the idol worshipping Philistines.
Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.” 3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.) (Judges 14:1-4)
Samson ignored his Nazirite vow also. He even more should have kept from an idol worshipping wife because of his special Nazirite vow. He touched the dead lion carcass in violation of the set apart standard the Nazarite is held too. He slept with a prostitute and opened himself up to the Philistine enemy to know where his weakness lay.
They were never going to match Samsons strength. Because his weaknesses were so open and obvious, they did not have to match his strength. They only needed to exploit his weakness, his lustful passions to destroy him.
All of this happened to Samson before Delilah comes into the picture. There are four chapters about Samson (Judges 13-16) and the first three tell of Samsons slide in sin and destruction all before he meets Delilah, we read that in Chapter 16.
Chapter 16 begins with Samson in Gaza spending the night with a prostitute. They waited all night to defeat Samson, but no. They tried to match Samsons strength. He tore the city gate off the hinges and carried it up the hill. Samson’s strength was supernatural. It was because the Holy Spirit came on him and gave him supernatural strength.
Then Samson was in the Valley of Sorek and saw a beautiful Philistine woman there, Delilah. The Velley of Sorek means the valley of grapes. He is forbidden to have grapes because of his Nazirite vow. This is no place for a weak-willed Nazirite. Samson is playing with the fire of temptation on many levels.
Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. (Judges 16:4)
So far Samson has broken about every aspect of the Nazirite vow except no razor on his head. There he lay reckless with his head on the lap of Delilah.
The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” (Judges 16:5)
Samson is getting closer and closer to the final break with his Nazarite vow. No razor to his head. His hair was the most important outward symbol as part of his vow. Delilah pressed Samson to find his weakness and betray him.
Samson had been on a slippery slope to his destruction and here he goes again. Three times he told Delilah falsely what his strength was. All the time he was getting closer and closer to disclosing the true secret of his strength.
Delilah pressed Samson. He told her. If his head was shaved his strength was gone. He slept and she shaved his head. She called out to the Philistines. He thought he could overpower them as before. Not this time. He had gone too far.
Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Samson was in a sad state. The Lord had left him. His strength was gone. His eyes were gone. The great cost of sin had ruined Samson. The Holy Spirit left him.
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon the Lord’s servant for a time. David prayed, take not your Holy Spirit from me. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is present in every believer. The Holy Spirit never leaves us.
But in the Old Testament and New Testament alike sin destroys us. The believer can lose spiritual power. Sin damages our relationship with God. Our sin can leave us blinded slaves like it did to Samson. It can destroy what God intended for us.
Samson was blinded and put in bronze shackles grinding away as a prisoner. How cruel the enemy was to this fallen leader. His strength left him. But God had not forgotten Samson.
We see the tragic results of sin around us. Men and women who never calculated the actual price of their sin. They only saw the advertised cost. There was no mentioned beforehand of the broken families, broken health, or the lost joy of the Lord.
What about Samson or us, when we have been led down the path of sin? What about everyone who was taken in and now they are imprisoned by the enemy? God can use them. Even if Christians have rejected them, God is there for them. He did not forget Samson. He has not forgotten us.
Of course, we have sinned. It’s not just Samson. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is good news for Samson. There is good news for you. Not only has God not forgotten you but he can use you.
There may be qualities in your life because of the brokenness that came with the hidden costs of sin. God used Samson more in his weak pathetic disgraced state than he did when he was strong. Now Samson is humble and crying out to God. In four chapters about Samson, we never saw that humility in Samson before.
Samson was strong, but weak in character. That is until he was destroyed by sin. Then he was physically weak, but in humility cried out to the Lord. When he was weak his character became strong. He was used more mightily of the Lord as a blinded slave than a handsome impressive strongman.
In his weakness Samson needed God. He was no longer strong. In his weakness he cried out to God in faith. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul expressed this for himself. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Samson cried out to God. Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” (Judges 16:28)
Samson’s prayer is of a humble man needing the help of God. Samson begs God to remember him. Don’t worry Samson, God will never forget us. This is the humble prayer that put Samson in the faith hall of fame, Hebrews Chapter 11. Samson conquered a kingdom. But he did it when he was blind and in shackles.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. (Hebrews 11:32:34)
They made sport of Samson now blind and in shackles. That is when he cried out in faith. In prison his hair grew back. The outward symbol returned. Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. (Judges 16:27)
It was like the Angel of the Lord told Samsons parents. You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (Judges 13:5)
The one whose name is beyond understanding already said Samson would deliver Israel from the Philistines. The Lord Jesus Christ said this would be so. Samson put an end to the Philistine oppression of Israel. He died and received an honorable burial.
God’s grace is greater than all our sin. Real strength is humble faith in God. The broken man humble crying our to God is able to do something great for God. Seek God in humble faith.
