Losing Spiritual Power

Samson had been specifically chosen by God as a judge to set Israel free of Philistine domination and get the people to serve God.  Unfortunately, he was more interested in associating with the Philistines than with driving them out or serving God.  Prostitution was illegal in Israel, so Samson went down the Philistine city of Gaza and hired a prostitute, as Judges 16:1-2 describes.  “Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.  And 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.”  Knowing and fearing Samson, the Philistines were afraid to attack in the dark when they wouldn’t be able to see who they were fighting, so they decided to just lock the gates so he couldn’t get away and wait till morning to kill him. 

Waking up about midnight, Samson decided to go home.  When he found the gates locked, he just ripped the entire assembly including the post they were attached to out of the wall and carried them off, according to Judges 16:3.  “And 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.”  The gates were designed to withstand an army, and must have weighed several hundred pounds.  Samson carried them a couple of miles before deciding they were too heavy.   I am sure the Philistines were relieved that he got away. 

Several years later, Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman named Delilah.  The Philistine leaders offered her a great deal of money if she would help them arrest and kill him, as Judges 16:4-5 tells us.  “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.  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.”

She cared a lot more about the money than she did about Samson, so she began to nag him to tell how he could be destroyed.  At first, he was cautious, not telling her the truth, but he was so afraid of losing her that he eventually gave in even though she had repeatedly made it clear she was willing to destroy him, as we see in Judges 16:15-21.  “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.  And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That 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.

And 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.  And 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.  And 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.”

As a result of his sin, the Holy Spirit was no longer empowering Samson, but he didn’t realize that fact, just assuming he would save him like he had in the past.  Sadly, many Christian leaders fail to realize their sin has come between them and God and they no longer have the Holy Spirit’s power in their lives.  Without the Holy Spirit’s power Samson was easily defeated, and he wound up doing a donkey’s job and being jeered by the Philistines, as Judges 16:21-25 tells us.  “But 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.  Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.  Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.  And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.” 

In the past Samson had been respected and feared.  After the Philistines put out his eyes, he was just a joke, and he resented it and wanted to get even, as Judges 16:26-30 tells us.  “And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.  And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.”

God had called Samson to deliver Israel and had given him special abilities for the purpose, but he really didn’t care about what God, wanted.  His whole focus was on getting what he wanted at the moment.  God used his selfish and rebellious attitude to create conflict with the Philistines and get him to kill them.  Even when he attacked the Philistines, it was not to please God, but to get even with them for something they had done to him.  He literally committed suicide in his effort to get back at the Philistines, but in the process, he killed their leaders, putting their government into disarray and freeing Israel as a result.   His failure to lead Israel properly would have serious impact for years to come.