Judges 16:5 says, And 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. The lords of the Philistines came to Delilah to bribe her to find out the source of Samson’s strength and tell them what it was. People have always been willing to reward people to betray God if they believe it will benefit them. Verse six adds, And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. Delilah was willing to betray Samson, either because of the money offered or because she was more loyal to the Philistines than she was to her husband, so she asked him the source of his strength. Other than God, no one should be more important than a spouse, and we should never put material things above them. Verse seven continues, And 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. Samson gave her an answer, but he lied to her. I guess he saw it as a game, but we should never play games when it comes to our relationship with God. Verse eight states, Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. The Philistines brought Delilah the specified things that Samson had said would remove his great strength, and she bound him with them. He had to have willing allowed this to happen, because he knew it would have no effect on him. We should never allow things to happen to us simply because we don't take the threat to our faith seriously enough. This can lead to self pride, which can lead us to fall. Verse nine adds, Now 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. Some Philistines were lying in wait for Samson within his chamber, so Delilah must have let them in. We should not be totally surprised if those we believe to be closest to us one day let us down, but we as followers of Christ should never be the one to let others down. Samson broke the binding cords as though they were nothing. Verse ten continues, And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. Delilah told Samson that he had mocked her and told her lies, which he had. Of course, seeing what happened after he told her, you would think that Samson would have asked her why she wanted to know, and told her not to bother asking again. We may need to look to a person's motive if they are asking us questions about our faith. Verse eleven says, And 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. Samson told Delilah another lie about the source of his strength. Again, it seems that Samson saw this a game and simply wanted Delilah to quit bothering him. If asked for the source of our strength as Christians, we should always give the credit to our relationship with God. Verse twelve adds, Delilah 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. Once more there were Philistines lying in wait for Samson after Delilah bound him the way that he had said would take away his strength. When she again sounded the alarm, Samson once more easily broke the bonds. By now, he should have really been questioning why Delilah was asking this question, but I believe that he had so much faith in himself that he wasn't looking to God for guidance in the situation. We as followers of Christ can never afford to reach the point that we believe that we can handle any situation on our own, so we do not ask God for guidance. Verse thirteen continues, And 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. Delilah once again accused Samson of lying to her, and he did so once more. We should never be guilty of lying to others, especially about the fact that God is our source of strength. Verse fourteen states, And 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. Once again Delilah did what Samson said would rob him of his strength, sounded the alarm that the Philistines were there, and once again Samson had not lost his strength. By now, we must truly ask why Samson had not quit providing her with answers, even false ones. Verse fifteen adds, And 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. Delilah then accused Samson of not loving her since he had lied to her, not questioning the fact that she was lying to him in order to betray him. We may find people accusing us of betraying them today because we will not give up our relationship with God, which is the source of our strength. Verse sixteen continues, And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; Delilah daily nagged Samson to tell her the source of his strength, and his soul was vexed. This may have been a constant irritation to Samson, but if he were really looking to God for the answer, it wouldn't have been enough to cause him to give up his faith. No matter how persistent people may be in attempting to get us to give up our faith in God, we must never do so. Verse seventeen concludes That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor 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. Samson then told Delilah the truth as he saw it. It was the fact that his hair had never been cut and that he had been a Nazarite since birth that was the source of his strength. Of course, this was really just an outward sign of Samson’s obedience to God, Who was really the source of Samson’s great strength. We should never believe that anything other than our relationship with Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the source of our strength as Christians.
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