“A Lethal Weapon Named Delilah”
Judges 16:1-5 & 29.
The phrase Spiritual Warfare is not found in the Bible; however, the Bible is loaded with scripture that let us know that there is indeed a battle that is being fought and we are to be prepared in order to be able to fight in this battle and be victorious. Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The word wrestle means to struggle or fight against, understand that we are not fighting against a humanistic force, but a supernatural force. The supernatural force that we are wrestling with is the devil and his demons. Within this spiritual warfare the devil uses weapons against us. These are not weapons like a gun or a bomb, these are spiritual weapons. According to the dictionary a weapon is something used against someone in either a defensive or offensive manner. The Bible also says that we have been given weapons to counter attack the adversary for in 2nd Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of stronghold; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” STRONGHOLDS are the weapons that the devil uses to fight this spiritual battle against us. A stronghold is a mind set that is impregnated with hopelessness that causes a person to accept as unchangeable something in their lives even though they know it goes contrary to the will of God.
Just like in the natural there are weapons that don’t kill but stun or disable a person for a while, and then there are weapons that are lethal. The word Lethal = capable of causing death. A lethal weapon is something that is used against someone that is capable of causing death. Someone may say well okay, but what does that have to do with the portion of scripture that you read. Well turn to someone and say “A Lethal Weapon named Delilah.”
Out of all the judges that ruled over Israel there is none whose legacy has stood the test of time like that of Samson. If I asked you who were Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Deborah, Barak, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, or Abimelech I believe very few would be able to tell who they were and the part in history they played, but if I say Samson, everyone knows about Samson. The drug dealer knows about Samson, the crack-head knows about Samson, the businessman knows about Samson, the Sunday school child knows about Samson, everyone knows about Samson and his lethal affair with a woman named Delilah.
Delilah is every woman’s nightmare. She is in most cases every man’s wildest fantasy, but if we were to take away the stimulating façade, the tantalizing temptation, we would find out ever so quickly that the fantasy would metamorphosize into a nightmare and become a horrific reality. Regardless of how sensuous and sexually stimulating she may be we must realize that Delilah is the most treacherous, wicked and most lethal weapon you will ever have to face in your life.
Everyone has a Delilah to face in their life.
If you believe that Samson and Delilah is a story of a one time affair, a momentarily lack of control, a oops with a wild woman then you have misunderstood the meaning of this scripture.
(Look at someone and say it’s deeper than that.)
If you think this scripture deals with the sexual encounter of two ships that pass in the night, or is a story of two people that happen to succumb to the wiles of passion, who needed to exhale in each others arms searching to get their groove back. Then you have missed the importance of this scripture. We must understand that there is more at steak than the sexuality involved, there is a deeper meaning than the satisfying of the flesh in a heated, passionate, sensual, lust fantasy, there is a deeper meaning a lethal exploit involved here.
We must understand people of God that this incident is not just added into scripture so God can warn you of the pitfalls of promiscuity. It is not just added to mention the traps of a lack of sexual control. However it is in the Bible to make us aware that Delilah is not just some kind of extra curricular activity, she is not some kind of late night booty call, but she is infact Samson’s terminator that was determined to destroy him. Just like Arnold Schwartznegger, in the movie “The Terminator”, she was on a mission of the termination of Samson. Pink slip in hand she was came to Samson.
Understand Delilah does not have to be a woman, she could be a man. She could be an attitude, a weakness, she could be that thing that causes you to cross that line of decency and morality and cause you to do that thing that you said you would never do. Delilah can be a spirit that causes you to feel depression, hopelessness, discouraged, lonely, frustrated, and suicidal. Delilah is dangerous. “A Lethal Weapon named Delilah.”
Understand that the Bible doesn’t give a description of Delilah. It doesn’t mention how beautiful she was. It doesn’t say that she was fat or skinny, bucked toothed, or ugly. It doesn’t say that she was chocolate brown, with hazel eyes, with an hour glass shape, and legs as long as I-95, it doesn’t give any description of her at all. Therefore she can become whatever she needs to be or what you want her to be or what you think you need her to be in your life in order to destroy you.
She can be money, power, prestige, she can be position, she can be drugs, or sex she can be whatever she needs to be in order to get you to fall for her. She may look like Hallie Berry, Denzel Washington, she may have 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and a 3 car garage. Whatever she needs to be in order to cause your destruction she can be. She is dangerous, she is toxic, she is lethal, she is a spirit, she is a lethal weapon named Delilah.
We find that this chapter begins with Samson in a sexual dilemma with a prostitute in Gaza, whom he spent the night with and at midnight jumped up out of her bed, ran out of the city carrying the gates of the city to the top of a hill facing Hebron which was some 40 miles away, escaping the Gazites that were laying in wait to kill him in the morning time, right into a discussion about this woman named Delilah.
Nevertheless don’t believe that just because there are two women that it is dealing with the same thing, don’t be lulled into believing that because sexual activity is involved in both that it’s dealing with the unfaithfulness and fornication of Samson, don’t think that this part of history with these two different women involve the same thing, WHY, because he was able to jump out of the bed of the prostitute and run away but when he got to messing around with Delilah he wasn’t able to get away from her, she is toxic, treacherous, perilous, lethal, she is not just an experience, but a spirit, she is Delilah.
There is an important fact about Delilah that you need to understand and that is that Delilah didn’t come on her own, but she was sent. Just like a hunter that looks through the scope of his shot-gun, sees the deer perfectly in his cross-hairs, squeezes the trigger, sending the slug penetrating into the heart of the deer and killing him, Delilah was sent to Samson with the same aspiration and intention to kill him. She was sent by those that served the idol god Dagon. 5 Philistine lords came to her and gave her about $8000.00 for the sole-purpose to destroy Samson.
For the Bible says in the 5th verse: - “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and everyone of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” Realize that we are dealing with a group of men that wanted to destroy the man of God. Eventhough he got caught up in many different situations he was in fact a man of God, that God had chosen to deliver the children of Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. He was the promise of the Angel of the Lord to his mother who had been barren and his father Manoah, Samson was a man of God in a natural and spiritual battle.
The Philistines made every attempt to destroy him, but failed constantly. He was causing havoc in their kingdom and vowed to destroy them for what they had done to him and destroy everything that was not like God, His purpose was to deliver the children of Israel and for 20 years he was able to do just that. So these men conspired against him to kill him and there weapon of choice was a lethal one named Delilah.
Understand people of God that there is conspiracy to destroy you. Your Delilah never just comes into your life but she is sent into your life at a precise time in your life for a specific purpose in your life. Your Delilah is the manifestation of a meticulous, strategically spiritual plan by an adversary who is utterly determined to destroy you before you are able to reach that level that God has destined for you. Understand that she is sent into your life to assassinate those that have the potential of tearing the kingdom of the devil down.
For some she may come in the form of a cigarette. For someone else she may come in the form of an alcoholic beverage. For someone else she may be crack cocaine. For someone else she may be a job, a house, a car. Oh baby she may come in any of many different forms, but her name is Delilah and her mission is to terminate you.
Understand that the devil knows exactly what to send you. He has studied you and calculated up the statistics and knows just what to send your way. He has been studying you all your life and he knows what it could take to cause you to cross that line. So many times people try to play patty cake with the devil, thinking it’s some kind of game or that they are able to win in a game of tug-o-war by trying to say oh it’s okay if I just do it this one time, but understand that the devil is not playing a game. The Bible says in Revelation 12 : 12 “…Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Because he knows his time is short He is not going to waste his time on spitballs, but he is going to come with lethal weapons.
Realize that the devil will not offer you something that you wouldn’t want to have. If you have never had a problem with alcohol then he will not use alcohol to try to terminate you, because he knows that it will not affect you. However he has a specially made weapon that is perfectly tailored for you just like he did for Samson. He has a bullet with your name on it.
Understand that sexuality was not what was going to cause Samson to fall, because he had been in that mess and was able to get up and run, but Delilah was the manifestation of a meticulous conspiracy that had lethal ramifications to it. The Bible says that the lords of the Philistines said Entice him. The word entice means to seduce, to persuade to be disobedient or disloyal. Then once you entice him talk to him and find out where his great strength lies..
You see it was more than just sex, that was simple, but entice him allure him, stroke that ego. You see there is something about that ego of a man. Ladies if you want your man to do something for you stroke that ego. Come home from the grocery store and when your man is carrying in the groceries and he has 4 or 5 bags in his hands, men don’t hate me, but say oh boo you sure are strong how can you carry all those bags. He will say girl shoot that ain’t nothing and he will go and grab 2 or 3 more, talking about hey baby how you like me now, WHY, because you have stroked that ego.
Then once you entice him talk to him and find out where his great strength lies. Ladies we loved to be talked to, not during the game, but we loved to be talked to, WHY, because when we are talked to you make us feel as if you need us and everybody wants to feel needed and when he feels needed and is opened up find out his secret, and once you find out his secret, once you find out what is in his heart, once you find out his most inner emotions, then we will be able to bind him, overpower him, and afflict him, Why, because she has meticulously penetrated his heart, she has been sent in with the purpose to kill him.
In this spiritual warfare there are weapons that have been meticulously formed against you, that are being sent to you to penetrate your heart and kill you, for their purpose is to kill, steal and destroy.
Have you ever wondered why at one point in of your life you have everything going the way it should be going, everything is coming up roses as they say, but at the other end all hell is breaking loose.
I have, my marriage was and still is doing great, the sparkle is still strong in our eyes, there is passion, understanding, carrying, and most importantly there is love, everything is going just fine, God has given unto me the desires of my heart in Brenda, but on the other end I was unemployed, I couldn’t find a job, money wasn’t coming in like it used to, she was working and I was trying to find a job, struggling to make ends meet. I began to get complacent, I began to get discouraged, and I began to feel less than a man. My mind began to think a man that doesn’t work doesn’t eat. Depression began to weigh me down. Like one writer said my foot almost slipped. I almost gave up. I couldn’t understand it, I had gone to every church service, I had paid my tithes, and I fasted, prayed, studied. In my book I had done all the things a man of God is required to do. Yet I was sinking deeper and deeper into spiritual depression.
I would preach God will make a way, but over here I was saying how long Lord how long, why hast thou forsaken me. But what that was, was that Delilah spirit. The devil sent that spirit to me trying to say see you are not a man your wife is taking care of you, you must go to your parents and ask for help, what kind of man are you, why don’t you just kill yourself and then you don’t have to bear the shame of being a failure. See I made it through the cigarettes and the devil knew that I wouldn’t come to that temptation, the alcohol I had been there and done that and he knew that that was not going to effect me. But he knew that my ego was something else, so he sent that Delilah spirit to destroy me. It was a tailored made, meticulously manifested lethal weapon, that had the name Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr. on it. It was just for me. I became discouraged and depressed.
I told my wife and my brother I said you don’t realize how hard it is to stand in the pulpit and tell the people that God will and that God can, yet in still I look at my own situation and must ask the question when and how God myself. It was a lethal weapon that was formed against me that was sent for the sole purpose to destroy me.
I can say this now, but there were times when I have even said Lord if you’re not going to make a way for me in this situation then you might as well go on and take me out of here. I was becoming depressed and discouraged, but it was only Delilah.
There is a lethal weapon that might have been formed against you. For someone it may be that you feel as if you are less than a man, for someone it may be you feel as if you have lost control of your life, for someone it may be low self-esteem, for someone it may be drugs, sexual activity, sexual confusion, homosexualism, unemployment, for someone it may be loneliness or well no-one believes that God has called me. Whatever that weapon is that has been formed against you remember what the Bible says “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
However, there is something very important that you need to understand and that is this is a promise from the Lord to you, but God’s promises are conditional, unless you follow the instructions you will be terminated.
Samson didn’t follow the instructions. Samson kept playing around with the devil. Baby you can’t play with the devil, you can’t party over here and praise over here if you try to do this you are setting yourself up for the kill. The Bible says come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord. You gotta follow the instructions. Why, because the devil has a bullet with your name on it that he wants to send and penetrate your heart and destroy you with. Follow the instructions.
The Bible says in “Ephesians 6:11 says to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” What are the wiles of the devil, they are the lethal weapons of spiritual warfare. Verse 13 says “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Verse 14 Stand therefore having, your loins girt about with truth, your loins is that section between your belly button and your thighs, it is the section that controls our passions and our sexual desires. When you have your loins girt about with truth you will understand that sexual relationship is a covenant between a husband and a wife, therefore when your loins are girt about with truth then you will say you can’t go there unless you’re my husband, you can’t go there unless you’re my wife and that’s the truth. Then it goes on to say having on the breastplate of righteousness, when you have on the breastplate of righteousness, Delilah can’t penetrate your heart, that silver bullet with your name on it is unable to get to you, why because you followed the instructions and put on the breastplate protecting your heart. It goes on to say and you feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Your feet or very important, when your feet are shod with the preparation of peace then they will not be able to run to Delilah house, but will be established by the word of God. It goes on to say above all having the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. A shield is something that protects you, it absorbs all the stuff that comes your way every fiery dart, and every missile of destruction that the enemy shoots at you God is standing there taking every blow. Saying come on my child everything is going to be all right all you gotta do is follow the instructions.
Finally Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. The helmet is the mind of Christ, Let this mind that is in Christ be also in you, if you have the mind of Christ the enemy can’t penetrate your mind and find out your deepest secrets, the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. I said earlier that God gives us weapons to counter attack the adversary well here it is the word of God. Our weapons are, 2nd Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of stronghold; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Samson didn’t follow the instruction and because he didn’t follow the instruction Delilah was able to penetrate his heart, then the Philistines bound him and the first thing they did was to take away his eye sight, WHY, for the enemy understands that without a vision the people perish. Baby the devil wants to take your vision, don’t let Delilah get your vision. When you lose your vision you end up on a downward spiral into the depths of sin. That’s what happened to Peter when he was walking on the water, he took his eyes off of Jesus Christ, which means he lost his vision and began to sink in that very stuff that he was just walking over.
It’s a terrible thing to loose your vision. Samson lost his vision and was placed in fetters and made to be a grinder in the prison, but while he was in prison his hair began to grow back, see he had been wounded but he wasn’t dead yet, he was in prison and the Philistines began to rejoice and said “Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy and the one who multiplied our dead. They became merry and said bring Samson unto us and let him make us sport.
When Samson was brought to the temple he told the lad who held his hand, (they shall be lead by a child) and said “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple.” And they stationed him there between the pillars he was in position (It’s all about Position). Then in verse 29 the Bible says “And Samson took hold of the two pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left.”
What are you saying preacher: Baby you may have fallen victim to the wiles of the devil, you may have even lost your vision, but you are not dead yet, what you need to do is do like Samson and grab hold of the devil and tell the devil Satan I going to tear your kingdom down. Tell the devil you may have won the battle but the war is not over yet, flip the script on him for those that like movies and say like Arnold Schwartznegger said Terminator 3 I’m Back and tear his kingdom.
A Lethal Weapon named Delilah, but NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST YOUR SHALL PROSPER.
Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr
Boanerge Ministries
“The Qohelet”
