Jeanie Martin Ministries

FEMALE PROMISE SEEKERS SERIES

“How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me?” – Delilah

Delilah met Samson in her hometown, the Valley of Sorek, which is modern-day Gaza. It was occupied by the Philistines in the 12th century B.C. They possessed superior weapons of iron when they began to attack the Israelites in the 11th century B.C. They were known for their innovative use of iron, which was superior to the bronze weapons used by the Israelites. However, earthly weapons cannot compete with God’s miraculous power.

The Philistine rulers heard that Samson was in town, and they devised a  plan to capture him, using Delilah as a pawn. The five lords who governed the city went to Delilah and offered her eleven hundred shekels of silver each (5,500 pieces of silver in total), to lure Samson into revealing the secret of his strength and how he could be defeated; (Judg. 16:4-5 Amp.). She accepted the assignment because of the large sum of money they offered to give her. She was well aware that the moment Samson laid eyes on her, was the day that she captured his heart.

Extracting the Truth

Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued”; (Judges 16:15).

Delilah attempted to pry Samson’s secret on three distinct occasions; (Judg. 16:7, 11, 13). Each time she inquired, Samson lied only to suffice her curiosity. She wanted to know his secret just as much as he didn’t want to reveal it to her.

Day after day, Delilah nagged and prodded him until he was sick to death of her. Prov. 21:9 tells us that it is better to live on the corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

On her last attempt, she cried and confessed her feelings, saying, “You do not love me; you have not told me where your great strength lies”; (Judg. 16:15, 16). Feeling pressured, Samson revealed the source of his strength to his wife.

“No razor has ever been used on my head, ” he said. Because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man”; (Judg. 15:17).

In retrospect,  I watched a Netflix movie about Samson and Delilah. It wasn’t scripted from the Bible, although there were resemblances, their script veered from the biblical version. The writer(s) gave an account of Samson spending time with Delilah, and being fed up with his lies, she fixed him a drink and added a powdery substance to it. Unbeknown, he drank it and laid his head in her lap, and went to sleep. The Bible does not tell its readers that Delilah added anything to Samson’s drink. However, it does confirm that Samson laid his head in her lap and fell asleep.

While You Were Sleeping

Delilah realized that her husband had finally revealed his secret to her, she called for the lords of the Philistines saying, “Come, for he has shown me all his heart.” They came to her and brought the money that they promised her.

After Samson woke up, he discovered that his seven locks had been shaved off. The Spirit of the Lord departed from him once his hair was gone, and his enemies were able to capture him because his strength was also gone. Using a fiery hot fireplace prodder Samsons’ eyes were put out, he was shackled, and taken to prison. Looking well pleased, Delilah watched her husband’s downfall.😢

One day while they were in high spirits, the enemy decided they wanted to be entertained by Samson. They called for the guards to bring him out of prison to perform for them. They placed him near two central pillars on which the temple stood. Samson braced himself, and with all his might, he pushed both columns down on the rulers and all the people in the temple. Tragically, he killed himself. Samson killed more people that day than he had murdered while he was alive; (Judg. 16:30).

IN CONCLUSION

God is the true Source of everything

Samson killed thousands of men, but in this instance, he could not conquer one woman. Delilah sought the promise of 5,500 pieces of silver in exchange for the secret to her husband’s strength. In every battle that Samson fought, the victories were already won because the Lord’s power came upon him mightily; (Judg. 14:6). Samson’s long hair was not the source of his strength. God is the source of everything.

Lust caused him to be visually impaired, and the sin of rebellion caused his death. His vision was not clear long before his eyes were put out. Delilah received what was promised to her and more. It’s possible that she was killed under the collapsed roof that Samson brought down on 3,000 men and women who looked on, laughing and cheering, as they made sport of him; (Judg. 16:27).

As a conscious reminder, be spiritually awake before you become bedfellows with anyone. Pray and get God involved first before you find yourself loving someone who doesn’t love you back. Sin can bind you and then blind you. Samson was courageous before men and weak when it came to foreign women. His passion for women was more important than God’s expressed will.

 

 

 

Scripture Reading: The Book of Judges Chapters 13 through 16

Photography: Noire 3000 Bible, by James C. Lewis

REFERENCES: Holy Bible; Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary; Got Questions.org; Biblehub.com