Judges 13:3-5 ESV
Judges 13:7 ESVF
Judges 16:4 ESV
Judges 16:5-6 ESV
Judges 16:7 (Sampson’s strength from Fresh bowstrings)
Judges 16:11 (new ropes)
Judges 16:13 (seven locks of hair)
Judges 16:15 ESV
Judges 16:17 ESVn
Judges 16:18-20 (Delilah paid by the Philistines)
Judges 16:21 ESV
Judges 16:22 (Sampson’s hair started to grow back)
Judges 16:23-27 (Sampson’s hands placed on the pillars)
Judges 16:28-30 (Sampson asked God to restore his strength)
Judges 16:31 ESV
Sampson was judge over Israel at a difficult time when the Philistines oppressed Israel. We learn in Judges 13:3-5, “And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines."
Specifically Sampson’s mother was told by the Angel in Judges 13:7, “the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
The Hebrew word nazar (Nazirite) means a consecrated one who abstains for a purpose.
We are told in Judges 16:4 that Sampson, “loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.”
The Philistines figured she could be his weakness so they conspired with Delilah to find out what made Sampson so strong. We learn in Judges 16:5-6, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” Notice the text says EACH of them would give her 1,100 pieces of silver. It doesn’t say how many Philistines went to her, but 1,100 pieces of silver times several men would have been a tidy sum!
But Sampson told Delilah his strength came from seven fresh bowstrings (Judges 16:7), then he told her it came from new ropes (Judges 16:11), then he said his strength came from seven locks of his hair woven (Judges 16:13) but each time Sampson was able to break lose from the Philistines.
Finally, Delilah urged Sampson in Judges 16:15, “And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.”
And so in Judges 16:17, “he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
In Judges 16:18-20 the Philistines paid Delilah money and as Sampson slept a man came and his head was shaved and his strength left him.
Delilah sold Sampson’s secret of his weakness; she became his piranha of love (https://www.freethesaurus.com/Piranhas). Delilah made it so Sampson be would be attacked in exchange for the money.
After Delilah sold Sampson’s secret we are told in Judges 16:21, “And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.”
The part of his secret that Sampson didn’t tell Delilah was that the Angel told Sampson’s mother in Judges 13:7 that the child would be a Nazirite from the time he was in the womb until his death.
In Judges 16:22 we learn in prison Sampson’s hair began to grow back.
Yea…remember the promise was for all the days of his life.
So in Judges 16:23-27 the Philistines brought Sampson before the crowd in the arena so he would entertain them. Since he was blind he asked to have his hands placed on the pillars.
Judges 16:28-30: Sampson prayed and asked for his strength back and the place crumbled and killed more people than he had killed before.
In Judges 16:31 we are told that Sampson died that day and “He had judged Israel twenty years.”
Even though Delilah sold Sampson’s secret to his strength, God kept His word to Sampson and to Israel and He allowed Sampson’s strength to return.
God kept His promise.
Spiritual Practice: Name a Promise
Name a promise from scripture and claim it for yourself. God will keep His promise to you. You can also practice listening to God by asking God to give you a scripture promise.
In God, Deborah
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