My first thought was, “What an idiot”! Everything is going well for him, why did he just blow it all off. Clearly it is because of his weakness for women, especially Philistine women! If only he had read Prov 5.
Samson failed miserably in the hands of women and hence the tragedy. He failed to realize his calling and commitment in his everyday walk. However, he remembered God and called to the Lord for help. Indeed, the Lord helped but he had to face the consequences.
Again it’s very hard to accept the fact that such a powerful man who is chosen by the Lord can fall for women this easily.
Samson’s calling was to be a nazirite. He did not live up to his calling. His weakness for women led to his downfall. Samson, a man without common sense.
1. Bond Samson: . A lonely hero, has secret ‘hidden weapons’, lured by a women, enters the enemy’s territory and wins against all the odds. The stuff of James Bond stories. But this Judges 16 is more than mere suspense. It carries with it so many themes and content that such heights of tension and sudden reversals shows the very character of Samson and if not Yahweh’s as well.2. The best theme that captures the whole chapter is the idea of sight and seeing.
Samson is unable to “see” beneath the Women ( Timnite and Deliah) and their loyalty to their people of their tribes. He sees attractiveness. Likewise, the Philistines are unable to “see” Samson. They see a merely a strong man not Yahweh’s strength . Even after Samson fall they still think he is a failure but are unable to “see” Yahweh behind all of this.
The books of Judges itself as we saw in “seven-minute seminary” on Friday is showing us the utter depravity of how people first start doing evil in the eyes of the Lord descend to doing right in their own eyes.
Samson lost his physical eyes but got his spiritual sight on Yahweh back. In fact his prayer is specially as a revenge for his eyes. he seems to be learning. Not the Philistines. Their God Dagon failed them. of course, he/she will.
He dies with the Philistines as one among them. But when he is buried he is buried as an Israelite. The chapter ends his life in a high note. Samson is a hero of faith, a hall of fame-r, as we know from Hebrews 11.
Because Yahweh may tie the hands of his children, may put our back against a pillar and we may lose our eyes but Yahweh ears are never closed to our prayers and his arms are everlastingly open – on his cross. He is a God of glory and will not let Dagon win.
The power triangle: Samson is at the center of a triangle where 3 important powers try to compete with each other from the three corners of the triangle:
Physical Power, Intellectual thinking Power and Emotional Power.
At any given moment of time, Samson’s action is driven
by one of these three power centers that is dominant. God wanted to use Samson’s Physical Power to put down Philistines,
but Alas, his Emotional Power drags him down with the desire for the women. Sampson is dumb as an idiot to entertain the requests of the girl.
Emotion completely overtakes his Intellect in that incident. His Emotion feeds on the images captured by his eyes, the beauty of the girl.
Once Sampson’s eyes were plucked out, Emotion does not have anything to feed on, so it subdues. Right then, his Intellect wakes up and
makes a final prayer to God. His prayer is answered and sure enough God gives him the full strength again to beat his enemies.
We should be careful to monitor what energizes our Emotions.
Proverbs 4:20-23
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are LIFE to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, GUARD YOUR HEART,
for everything you do flows from it.
John 16:8 And when He has come , He will convict the world of sin , and of righteousness , and of judgment: – Spirit of the Lord gave power to Samson but doesn’t seem to convict him of sin.
– there are differences between Spirit of the Lord worked in human before Jesus Christ and works now after Jesus Christ.
– may be the role of Holy Spirit (Helper) is different than Spirit of the Lord referred here?
Samson was with a prostitute first in Gaza and still Gods power on him was not taken (V:3). He had no reason to turn back to God at the beginning as Gods power was still with him and so going after the next one, Delilah. Gods immediate punishment is better than delayed wrath. Do we do things which doesn’t pleases God and still HIS blessings are continuing?
(v. 17) Samson said “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb”.
-With the Spirit of the Lord powerfully upon him, Samson should have been a “super man” of Israel. But, for some weird reason, unexpectedly, he happened to be a “James Bond”!!!
