This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:
Bruce McGee,Pastor
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HERE
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books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.
JUDGES
CHAPTER 16
1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
2 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.
3 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.
Samson, like many Christians, fell to the sin of lust. He went to the Philistine town of Gaza, and joined himself to a harlot.
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
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 was delivered, but allowed himself to be drawn into the magnetism again. We should learn from our mistakes.
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.
7 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.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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.
15 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.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor 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.
18 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.
19 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.
20 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.
Probably, Samson was aware of the plot, but his imprisonment to the desires of self kept him there with Delilah. He first fended off Delilah's ploys.
The Bible says, "...he wist not that the Lord was departed from him" (verse 20).
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.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 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.
24 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.
25 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.
26 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.
27 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.
28 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.
29 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.
30 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 was reduced to a BLIND SLAVE, and the enemy gloated over his inability.
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 burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Samson had been an influence on all Israel for over 20 years.
Please continue to follow along with us in Bible Study.
Proverbs says of the harlot:
"Her house is the way to hell (grave), going down to the chambers of death." (Proverbs 7:27)
Samson fell under the spell of lust, and when lust conceived it brought forth sin (James 1:15). Now this Nazarite was guilty of fornication - and his honor was desecrated before man and God.
He was in that place until "midnight" the darkest hour (verse 3). It is a "dark" hour when saved people fall to sin.
But at midnight he arose, and realized his predicament. The Philistines had closed the gates thinking to keep him prisoner there.
Lust is a city which holds many prisoners. And it is awful to fall under the BARS of it. Any sin can hold one prisoner: drunkenness, gossip, gluttony, gambling, etc.
But escape is possible with the LORD!
"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee: when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee." (Proverbs 6:20-22)
Samson, under the power of God - ESCAPED! ANYONE can do the same!!
"Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from thee." (James 4:7)
Notice that Samson took the gate, posts, and bars and carried them some 37 miles from Gaza to Hebron. ONLY the power of GOD can give such deliverance from such an evil force as lust.
This time, we can be sure, that the devil was using Samson's weakness against him. Proverbs 6:26 says, "..the adulteress will HUNT for the PRECIOUS life."
Many a great person of God has been brought down by this sin. For the devil certainly has made lust a part of the world today. And nothing makes him happier than to ruin a Christian with this sin.
Delilah was the object of Samson's desire. And she was used by the Philistines to capture him. They offered her 1,100 pieses of silver apiece (5 of them = 5,500 pieces of silver, or about 170 pounds!! Around $10,000!!)
But finally, she manipulated him so greatly that "..he told her all his heart." (Verse 17)
When we continue in sin, and do not beg God's forgiveness and depart from the sin, we impair the part of our relationship with God that gives us strength.
When even a saved person departs from the faith, listens to seducing spirits, they they begin to sear the consicence with a hot iron (1Timothy 4:1-2).
All Christians who fail to CONTINUE IN THE WORD are reduced to blind slaves. For they refuse to learn the TRUTH THAT SETS FREE!
Through the tragedy, Samson still believed in God, and God was working in his life. ((MAN cannot undo GOD'S salvation!))
God caused Samson's hair to grow back, unnoticed by those who imprisoned him. The strenghty and power of God in His people is unnoticed by those who would gloat over our servitude.
Samson was summoned to appear at a great "part" so the people could make "sport" (or fun) of him. But Samson again called upon the Lord, and God restored his strength.
He pulled down the main supporting pillars of the great house, and all in it were killed - even Samson himself.
Samson did not count his life dear unto himself, but gave it willingly in servitude to God (See Acts 20:24 and Revelation 12:11).
All the masters (lords) of the Philistines were killed, and their god, Dagon was put to shame. Samson's original purpose had been to "..begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines" (See Judges 13:5).
Because of his laxness in the faith, and his bent toward sensuality - it was only through death that Samson accomplished his God-given purpose.
He was a MAN and a SINNER. He was not THE SAVIOR. But his life was a depiction or prophetic outlook upon the Savior Who would eventually deliver man from the slavery and blindness of sin.
Thanks be to God Who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For when He bowed His Holy head at the cross and died, His cry was heard throughout eternity: "IT IS FINISHED!!" (John 19:30).
Jesus had through his willing death, destroyed Satan and all his cohorts. And one day, He will prove Who is the ONLY King Eternal!
"Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."(1Timothy 6:15-16)
And it is sad to say, but this believer had not left a good influence - as we shall see.