Judges 16:1-61Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. 4And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. (Judges 16:1‑6)
Here we find Samson associating himself with a harlot at Gaza. The Philistines now thought they had Samson in their power, but again the Lord strengthened him and he took the gate of the city, bar and all, and carried it to the top of a hill. But, as we have remarked before, the inward strength was waning, and soon the link with the enemy was to become a permanent thing, through his marriage with Delilah. Then his power against them would be gone, for “no man can serve two masters.” Matthew 6:2424No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24).
What sad and solemn lessons these, and how often repeated in the lives of God’s children, giving us fresh warnings down through the years. Moreover all this has a collective lesson too, for how aptly it portrays the Church’s history, showing how the enemy is continually seeking to bring the people of God into association with the world and then into bondage to it. One feels that in this day, when so many who profess to be in separation to Christ are being lured into these worldly associations, we do well to take notice of these solemn lessons. It was when Samson loved Delilah, put his head into her lap and fell asleep there, that his downfall came. He did not intend to get so low, but we cannot retain an outward position of separation without inward communion and power.
It was Eve, who led Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit; it was because of the charm of beautiful Bathsheba that the sword never departed from David’s house, and it was through a young damsel that Peter denied his Lord. And so here, Samson’s love for this daughter of the Philistines named Delilah, led him to give up his Nazariteship. The devil knows whom to use against the Christian, and many strong men, who have been valiant for the truth, have gone down to utter defeat before the pretty face and winning smile of some young woman. Dear reader, whether boy or girl, man or woman, let us not forget to pray from our hearts the daily prayer of the dependent One, “Preserve Me, O God: for in Thee do I put My trust.” Psalm 16:11<<Michtam of David.>> Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. (Psalm 16:1). We are not stronger than Samson or David, or Peter—indeed we are absolutely “without strength” in ourselves, and God has said, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Proverbs 28:2626He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26).
Of course Samson never intended to give up his Nazariteship—not at all. When he first loved the woman at Timnath it was to get “an occasion against the Philistines.” Since then too, he had won many victories against them and he thought he could win again. But Delilah had been offered a huge sum of money by the Philistines to deliver up Samson into their hands, and she was not going to be easily overcome. Here God gives us an insight into a home with the unequal yoke. There is no peace nor joy there, unless the believer gets down to the level of the unbeliever, for one thing is certain, the unbeliever cannot come up to the level of the believer, for he has no heart for Christ. Delilah therefore undertook to drag Samson down, asking him what would take away his Nazarite strength, for she did not like a separated husband. No worldling wants a separated partner! Oh, what sorrows we make for ourselves when we walk in disobedience to the Word of God.
ML 12/20/1953