By Jay T. Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Mobile
COMPROMISE
Judges 16:16–31
No study in Judges is complete without investigating Samson. The angel of the Lord had appeared to his barren mother and announced that she and her husband would have a son and that he was to be raised as a Nazarite. The Spirit of the Lord was with Samson, and he was a judge in Israel for 20 years.
Strength Departed (16–20)
Samson had a history of flirting with disaster. In Judges 14, Samson had married a Philistine woman, but the marriage didn’t survive the wedding feast. Then he foolishly went to Gaza to visit a prostitute. This visit to the prostitute casts him in the role of a fool destined for destruction.
By now we expect episodes in Samson’s story to revolve around women. This time he fell in love with a woman named Delilah. The leaders of the Philistines went to her to convince her to discover the source of Samson’s great strength in exchange for 1,100 pieces of silver from each.
Delilah’s love for money far exceeded her supposed love for Samson. She asked him about the source of his strength three separate times, and he toyed with her each time. Each time she set the trap, he easily broke free. But she nagged him daily until he finally told her the truth.
While he slept with his head resting on her lap, Delilah had a man slip in and shave his hair. She then woke Samson, and he attempted to escape the trap once again, but this time he was helpless and weak. The greatest tragedy was the fact that Samson did not realize the Lord had left him.
It was not Samson’s hair that had given him strength. It was the Lord Himself. His uncut hair was a sign of his being set apart to the Lord as a Nazarite. The Lord withdrew His strength from Samson.
Samson Defeated (21–25)
The man who lived his life by the lust of his eyes had his eyes gouged out. The Philistines brought Samson down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. They humiliated him by forcing the mighty man to grind grain in the prison.
But his hair began to grow again. The Lord was committed to completing the work in Samson to “begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines” (13:5). God’s plan had not changed.
All people — even unbelievers — are religious because we are all created in the image of God. The Philistine leaders gathered their people together to offer their god, Dagon, a great sacrifice because they believed he had delivered their powerful enemy into their hands.
They decided it would be even more enjoyable if Samson were brought to the party to entertain them.
Philistines Destroyed (26–31)
Led by the hand of a young man, the mighty warrior asked to be positioned so he could lean on the pillars supporting the Philistine temple.
Then Samson called out to the Lord and asked for Him to act on his behalf and strengthen him so he could get vengeance on the Philistines for gouging out his eyes.
Samson then leaned onto the two middle pillars supporting the temple and brought it down, killing thousands of Philistines.
Even at the end of his life, Samson did not understand his role as Israel’s deliverer. His concern was merely personal revenge, which motivated him so strongly that he was willing to surrender his own life to achieve it.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The Sunday School lesson outlines are provided by Lifeway.
Share with others: