Judges 15:1-2- But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
Samson thought that he could bring a present and everything would be okay. But, it wasn't. His fiance's father tried to let him marry his other daughter, but Samson's anger got the best of him again.
Judges 15:3-5- And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
Somehow, Samson was able to catch 300 foxes! Then he ties their tails together and put a hot coal between them. Boy, he was a mean person when he was angry! He then let the foxes go into the Philistines corn fields. The corn caught on fire, and the fire also got the grape vineyards and the olive trees. Samson had done a lot of damage.
Judges 15:6- Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
The Philistines killed his fiance and her father because of his actions. Do you think Samson learned anything? Nope. He just got madder!
Judges 15:7-8- And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Samson killed a whole bunch of them. He was starting a war!
Judges 15:9-10- Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
The Philistines got all their army together and went to fight with the Israelites. The Israelites didn't want war! So they asked how to avoid an all out battle.
Judges 15:11-13- Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
The men of Judah went to Samson and said that they didn't want a war. Samson didn't want them to have to die, so he said that he would allow them to tie him up and give him to the Philistines, so long as they promised they wouldn't kill him themselves.
So, they tied him up and led him away.
Judges 15:14-17- And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
Samson was filled with God's strength and he picked up a bone and killed a thousand Philistines. But, Samson didn't give God the glory.
He gave himself the glory- I have slain a thousand men.
God was going to have to try get Samson's attention again. He let Samson get really thirsty.
Judges 15:18- And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
After he was quite thirsty, he gave God the glory and asked for a drink a water. All God wants is for us to acknowledge him!
Judges 15:19-20- But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
This revival changes something in Samson. He willingly gave God the glory, and he started trying to do things God's way for a while. He judged Israel for 20 years!
But, the devil never gives up. He always knows what will stop us from doing God's will. And he knew that Samson could be sidelined by a pretty face.
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.
Once Samson allowed himself to sin, the devil knew that he could take Samson down for good. All he needed was the right tool.
Judges 16:4- And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Delilah. Samson would be deceived by a pretty face once more. Only this one was very tricky! She would pretend to be what Samson wanted just long enough to find out how to destroy him.
Many times, Christian boys and girls allow themselves to "fall in love" with someone who pretends to be good. They don't ask God what He wants. And, if God tells them that He doesn't want them with this person, they follow Samson's example and ignore Him.
Samson started out by going to her city. He started to feel comfortable in her house. And then, he made the mistake of trusting her.
Christians shouldn't go to the world's churches. They shouldn't feel comfortable compromising God's Word with changed versions to get along with the world. They shouldn't be comfortable listening to the rock and roll music of the compromising churches. And they should never make the mistake of trusting the world instead of obeying God.
Samson was going to find out just how bad a decision turning his back on God and taking what he wanted would be. He was going to find too late how much disobeying God and compromising with the enemy would cost!
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.
Samson may have loved Delilah, but she didn't love Samson.
Judges 16:6- And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
She was going to wear Samson down. Each time Samson answered her he got a little closer to revealing his secret.
Judges 16:7-14- 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. 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. 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.
Each time he would tell her something she would try it. And then she would wake him up to the threat of the Philistines capturing him. You think that he would have figured out if he told her the truth she would do it! But, Samson was now blinded by his desires, and they would lead him to the paths of destruction!
Judges 16:15-17- 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.
More Christians have fallen to the snares of an ungodly person than any other. Samson had just told a woman he loved about his strength, but this woman didn't love him back! She wasn't going to keep his secret. In fact, she would be the first person to attack him once she had what she wanted.
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 shewed 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.
That may just be the saddest verse in the whole Bible- he didn't even know that the Lord had left. Here he was surrounded by enemies and he was completely alone.
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.
They blinded Samson, put him into a prison house, and forced him into slave labor.
I think this story would've ended differently if Samson had only asked God to show him the person that he should've married. Instead, Samson decided to find that person on his own and it led to his demise.
Judges 16:22-25- 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.
The Philistines had a great party. They gathered together and ate and drank and worshipped their false god because they thought that it had delivered Samson. Did the false god defeat Samson?
No. Samson defeated himself when he trusted someone other than God.
During this party, the Philistines had Samson brought in and they all made fun of him. Then, they made him stand there as they partied.
But, God wasn't finished with Samson. Samson still had a job to do.
Judges 16:26-30- 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.
Samson prayed that God would give him strength one last time. And he used that strength to destroy the temple to the false god and everyone inside of it.
What a sad end for Samson! He judged Israel for 20 years. Who knows how long he could have judged Israel for if he had only stayed faithful to God! Perhaps, he could have even destroyed the Philistine nation so that Israel would have never had to worry about them again.
But, Samson wanted his way, and it cost him his life.
Judges 16:31- Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
