Captured By The Philistines

 

God had chosen Samson to deliver Israel from the Philistines, but Samson wanted to hang around with them instead.  Sexual promiscuity was forbidden under the Law, as described in Deuteronomy 22, but he had little concern for God’s commands or his Nazarite vow, as was apparent in his marriage to the girl from Timnath.   He only took action against the Philistines when he was angry about something, but like many selfish people he was quick to take offense, and reluctant to forgive those who offended him.  

 

After the fiasco over his marriage, Samson went to a Philistine prostitute,  again ignoring God’s command, as described in Judges 16:1-3.  “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.  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.”

 

After he killed a thousand Philistines with the donkey’s jawbone, the Philistines left him alone, but they had not forgotten that or the thirty philistines he murdered and robbed.  They also remembered how many farms had burned as a result of his setting fires to their fields.  When they heard he was involved with the prostitute, they locked the gates as normal, and posted guards to warn them when he tried to go home, hoping to catch him by surprise.  When Samson found the Gates shut, he didn’t waste any time , simply taking the huge gates, including the locks and gate posts and carrying them about a half mile.  It would take several men to bring back the gates and reinstall them and the men of Gath were probably relieved he had gotten away before they could engage him. 

 

Confident in his own strength, Samson learned nothing from the incident.  He continued to hang around the Philistines, and fell in love with another woman in Judges 16:4.  “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.”   The Philistines recognized Samson as a serious threat, sought Delilah’s help in getting rid of him, in Judges 16:5.  “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.”

 

Delilah was far more interested in the reward money than she was in Samson, so she agreed to betray him, by getting him to tell why he was so strong and what could make him weak.  Not fully trusting her, Samson initially lied to her, in Judges 16:6-9.  “And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

 

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.

 

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.   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.”  When the limber vines fell off his arms like a piece of twine  burned by fire, the Philistines stayed hidden and Samson never knew about her betrayal. 

 

When she asked him again, he told another lie, in Judges 16;10-12.  “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.

 

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.   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.”

 

The ropes just broke off his arms, when she shouted at him, and the Philistines stayed hidden.  Now Delilah accused him of lying to her, and to to placate her, Samson told a story that was closely related to the truth, in Judges 16:13-14.  “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.  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.”  This time when Samson jumped up, he took the entire loom with him, and it was obvious he was still strong. 

 

Determined to get the reward money, Delilah accuse Samson of not telling her because he didn’t love her.  Anxious to convince her he did, he finally told her the truth, in Judges 16:15-18.  “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.”

 

Fearing she wouldn’t stay if he didn’t tell her the truth, Samson ignored the fact that three times before she had acted on his statements in an effort to weaken him, he opened up to her completely, even though he should have known she probably would act on what he told her.  There is an old saying, that “love is blind.”  I Corinthians 13:6 tells us love “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.”  Real love accepts the person as they are, instead of maintaining some imaginary view of them.  Samson was infatuated and ignored the truth. 

 

Convinced He had told her the truth, Dlilah had the Philistine s come in and arrest him, in Judges 16:18-20.  “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.”

 

The scariest part of this whole story is that Samson had become so confident in the power God gave him he didn’t notice that the Lord was no longer with him.  He was no longer trusting God to do what was best, but was depending on his own judgment and strength.  As a result, he was captured and imprisoned, according to Judges 16:21.  “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.”  Like Samson, many times we get caught up in our own ideas and desires and ignore God, and are stunned when he is no longer with us.