Read Judges 16:1-31
We continue with the story of Samson and it is much the same as before. Samson is no great example of moral integrity and again we see him with a prostitute. The Philistines get to know of his whereabouts and gather to kill him, but Samson, as ever, deals with them. God is achieving his ends through Samson even though Samson himself is doing nothing but acting selfishly.
Then Samson falls in love with Delilah; another poor choice. Delilah is working with the Philistines to try to discover the secret of Samson’s strength. Not suspecting any collusion Samson teases Delilah by giving her lots of wrong answers and then spectacularly showing that they weren’t vulnerabilities at all and that he had retained his strength all along. Finally, he tells her about the Nazirite vow and how a razor must never touch his head (Judges 13:5). A-ha – Delilah has Samson’s hair cut off and he has lost his strength. But are things quite as simple as that? We know that Samson was dedicated to the Lord by this Nazarite vow since before he was born. But is that what gave him his supernatural strength? Several times in the previous chapters we read that when Samson was in trouble and in danger for his life, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Judges 14:19. 15:14) and that was what gave him his strength. The long hair may have been a visible symbol of the fact that Samson was set apart for service to the Lord, but it was not the source of his strength. After having his hair shaved off, we read that Samson was captured and he didn’t have the strength to escape his captors. But the reason for his lack of strength is in v20, ‘he did not know that the Lord had left him’. Samson’s strength – our strength too – comes from the Lord our God.
Samson’s swansong is the destruction of the Philistine temple and the cream of Philistine society. Having been captured at last, Samson is blinded and put on display for the amusement of the crowds. But Samson has one last act to carry out; to bring down the temple on the assembled company by pushing out the pillars that support the roof. This is an action that requires great strength and we see this time quite clearly where Samson’s strength comes from. He prays, ‘O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more’. God honours Samson once more even though Samson, as ever, seems to be motivated by revenge rather than any sense of service to the Lord. Samson finishes his plea to the Lord with, ‘Let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes’.
Despite all Samson’s shortcomings God worked powerfully through him. Samson may not have had a great sense of serving the Lord or of keeping his laws and statutes, but the Lord had work to do and he used Samson to do that work. It is a reminder that it is not for us to judge who the Lord calls into service, for we all are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).