Words of the Day: Beautiful and Sensual
Beautiful: having beauty; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind. Excellent of its kind.
Judges 13–16
In this story, we will talk about a woman named Delilah. She lived in the Valley of Sorek, a small village near the town of Samson. Of course, we need to talk about him, the child raised by godly parents who wanted to have what was forbidden. She might have been from one of the prostitute temples. The Bible doesn't tell us much about her background, and we don't know for sure if she was from the Philistine location, but the Lord has a story to tell us through her life, behavior, and choices.
The Bible tells us in chapter 13 that the Philistines have oppressed the Israelites for forty years. When David killed Goliath, the Israelites had the task of fighting the Philistines.
There was a man named Manoah whose wife could not bear a child. The angel of the Lord came to visit her and told her that she was going to conceive a son but also gave her specific instructions: I. not to drink any wine, II. nor strong drink, and III not to eat from any unclean thing. I would assume she knew what the angel of the Lord was talking about (kosher meal, found in the book of Numbers). He also mentioned that no razor should come on his head, for the child was to be a Nazarite unto God. Samuel and John the Baptist also made this vow or commitment. God's plan was for this child to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines. When Manoah came, his wife told him about the angel of the Lord's visit and what he had said to her, so Manoah prayed that he would come again to teach them how to raise their son. The angel of the Lord came again and just said for them to follow the directions he had previously given to his wife. When Manoah took an offering, the flame went toward heaven, and the angel of the Lord ascended, and he did not appear anymore.
Finally, Samson was born. He grew, and the Lord blessed him. Samson went down to Timnath and saw a daughter of the Philistines, and this is when Samson started to show sadness to his parents. He wanted to make this woman his wife; he forgot why the Lord had brought him into this earth: to fight the Philistines, not to co-exist with them. His parents reminded him about the Israelite's daughters, but he said: "Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well." So that woman became his wife, and he threw a feast just like the world's young men. Yes, we are talking about Samson, the man who God chose. Even before he was born, God had a plan for him. This story shows us that the Lord knew us before we were born and that He also gives us a will. Samson is one example of how we change God's plans for us. During that feast, Samson started saying riddles for the Philistines (his guest) to guess the secret, which consisted of where his power came from. After the seventh day of the feast, his guest could not tell what the riddle was. So, they enticed his wife to declare the riddle. This woman of Timnath ended up betraying him. She threw a fit, complaining that she did not know the secret to the riddle. Samson responded that he had not revealed the secret to his father or mother, and "I shall tell it you?" Later, the Bible says that Samson was denied his wife by her father because her father had given her to Samson's companion. Still, Samson Samson was given the younger daughter, the sister of the woman of Timnath.
The story continues; this is when Delilah comes into the picture. Once again, he fell in love with a woman he was not supposed to. The lords of the Philistines also came to her to entice him to tell her where his great strength came from, and in exchange, each one of them will pay her eleven hundred pieces of silver. So, she did exactly as the woman of Timnath. She persuaded him to tell her, believing he could trust her, so she sold him to the Philistines. Samson poured his heart and revealed that no razor had come upon his head; he said in Judges 16:17 …for I have been a 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. She betrayed him by revealing the secret to the Philistines. As wives, future wives, daughters, and the list goes on; we need to be careful about this matter. Sometimes we act the same way as Delilah, and I am not talking about betraying someone we love, but by being naggers, we could change the course of the person the Lord has placed in our lives to watch over us. Samson could not resist a beautiful woman and paid a high price for his disobedience to his parents and, most notably, the Lord.
Once the Philistines had Samson in prison, they gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their lord Dagon. They called Samson out of prison to entertain them and hung him between two pillars. The house was full of men and women, including the lords. Samson tied to the pillars, made a prayer to God, and Samson called unto the Lord, and said, Judges 16:28 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. Samson pulled the pillars with all his might; the house fell upon the lords and all the people there. During this event, he killed more people than during the days of his life.
Conclusion: Samson teaches us that he was physically strong but morally weak. Woman persuaded him, and the lust of his flesh conquered in his walk. He married a Philistine and visited a prostitute. He broke the three aspects of the Nazarite vow: he touched a dead body, attended a drinking feast, and had his hair cut. I hope this post brings awareness to all of us. Please don't forget to read your Bible, as you will get more from your Bible than from this blog.
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