The weak strong man 10.
Judges 16:4-21. 07/20/05
These last two studies in the life of Samson are dark scenes and a great warning of the danger in walking after the lust of the flesh. Samson’s disregard of the call of God in his life has led him down the street of dead end and no turning back. Samson could say as Saul said in the book of Samuel, I have played the fool.
Though Samson was a very strong man, he was also a very weak man. His weakness overcame his strength. In our study tonight, we see his weakness resulted in a razor coming into contact with his hair. His hair was the chief symbol of his Nazarite calling and when it was cut, it cut not only his hair but also his source of strength.
Now in this study, we want to consider first of all THE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE RAZOR. Look at verses 4 and 5. “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.”
This is the third unholy woman Samson has fallen in love with. I don’t think he had a track record in picking a woman for his wife. The first woman was a girl from Timnath. She betrayed him by telling the Philistines the answer to his riddle. The second woman almost got Samson killed. This time is his third strike as far as it goes with his love life and this one doesn’t work out any better.
It is odd when you get to thinking about the Philistines and Samson. They knew his weakness but did not know what gave him great strength. His weakness of course was women.
The government found out long ago that the immoral people of a nation are a security risk. Like Samson, they will tell secrets that will not only put them in danger but also an entire nation.
We see not only the circumstances for the razor but also THE CONCEALING OF THE RAZOR.
Well Delilah was very receptive to the offer of the Philistine lords and immediately begins to try to coax out of Samson the secret of his strength. Now what she was offered was 5,500 pieces of silver. This would have been worth about $140,800.00 in today’s value. In her day that would have pretty well set her up for life.
Look at verse 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.”
Now Samson’s reply was to play games with her. He would tell her something that would take away his strength but it wasn’t the truth. But it did not take Delilah long to figure out he was lying and she would say why do you mock me? Samson lied three times about the secret of his strength.
We see next in our study THE COMING OF THE RAZOR. Samson kept on lying to Delilah 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.” She used the one way that could get to Samson; she said you don’t love me because you don’t tell me where your strength lies. If you loved me then there would be no secrets between us. You can tell by verses 16 and 17; Delilah put a lot of pressure on old Samson. Evil is always aggressive. In the case of Samson as it has been with many people: Samson yielded to the pressure and told her the truth about his strength.
Look at verse 17, “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 am shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
Well as soon as Delilah heard those words, she sent for the lords of the Philistines and said he has told me all his heart. Be getting ready and I will hand him over to you shortly to do as you will. She caused Samson to go to sleep with his head in her lap and she sent for the clippers to do his hair. The devil had been after those clippings for a long time.
The devil is always after our strength. From the looks of things, he has done well in clipping the strength of many Christians.
We have talked about the circumstances for the razor, the concealing of the razor, the coming of the razor and finally, we want to see THE COST OF THE RAZOR.
Here is a haircut that cost a bunch. Probably some of the most sad words we can ever see and hear are the words, “and he wist not {knew not} that the Lord had departed from him.” Even though they are some sad words, we aren’t surprised because Samson was never one to be very concerned about the will of the Lord.
It cost him his strength. It cost him his God. It cost him his discernment. It cost him his sight. It cost him honor. It cost him his freedom.
Often people say the straight and narrow is so had to follow and stay on the path. The way of the sinner and wayward is the wide and long. But most of the time, the wide and straight are just comfortable for awhile and then it gets mighty rough. The Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard and you can bet sometime another it will be very hard and costly. It landed Samson grinding mill as a slave not the judge of Israel as God had intended him to be.
