Judges 16:7-217And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. 10And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. 11And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 12Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. 13And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. 14And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 18And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. 21But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. (Judges 16:7‑21)
Samson told Delilah that if he were bound with seven green cords he would become weak like others. Delilah then bound him and told him that the Philistines were going to take him, but Samson broke the cords as thread in the fire, and his strength was not known.
Delilah then told Samson that he had mocked her and lied to her, and so it was, for a believer cannot be true to Christ and to the world at the same time. In trying to show love to his partner he acts what he is not—like one of the world. What a miserable home was Samson’s—and what a miserable home every home is where there is the unequal yoke, unless the believer sinks down to the level of his or her unsaved partner, and even in that case the believer is inwardly miserable.
Delilah was not easily thwarted. She kept at Samson until he told her another plan. He suggested she bind him with new ropes, and so she did, but when she threatened him with being taken by the Philistines, he broke the new ropes like thread.
When she still persisted, he came a little closer to the real truth and told her to weave his hair with a web. She did this and fastened it with a pin, but he took the pin, web and all, with him, as soon as she told him that the Philistines were coming. And so his strength was not known, and they could not take him.
His hair, however, was the sign of his Nazariteship, which was the secret of his strength, and at last he became weary of his wife’s persistence. He could not continue refusing her requests, for she vexed him to death, and so at last he gave in. He told her all his heart — that heart that had once been given in devoted separation to the Lord, was now given to a daughter of the Philistines. How sad! How humiliating to behold! Such are our hearts when we get away from the Lord. Oh, may the Lord keep us, for let us remember that these falls do not come about all at once—they are the result of a course pursued. May any of our readers who are treading this dangerous and slippery path be warned in time, for such a course is like the dance floor, which is waxed to help those who use it to slide down the faster!
Delilah put Samson to sleep on her knees. He had given her his heart, and now he could sleep on her knees—poor Samson. She then called for a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. This long hair was the sign of his Nazariteship, as we have remarked, — the secret of his strength— and so now he becomes weak as other men. Samson did not, however, realize that the Lord had departed from him, and that his strength was really gone. He went out to shake himself as before, but only to discover to himself that he no longer had any power against the Philistines.
The Philistines did not waste any time in binding poor Samson, and then they put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza where they made him grind in the prison house. When a believer has given up his path of separation to the Lord, he has no spiritual strength to walk for Him here, he has no spiritual eyesight to discern the path, and he often becomes worse than the world, for he actually becomes their prisoner, as Samson did. What important lessons are these and how needful for us all.
ML 12/27/1953