Samson and Delilah (Part B)

Also, it is a message to us, this is no reason to abandon your principles. It is no reason to depart from what you know is right, being pestered.

The moms might have a little guilt about that if you have a bunch of little ones, because they will pester you until they get that popsicle or whatever it is they're after. But the principle remains, the lesson is there. That's not reason to give in.

And these things aren't easy, else the stories wouldn't have to be told to us. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Rick is currently teaching through the book of Judges.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Today Pastor Rick will continue teaching through his message called Samson and Delilah, taught from Judges chapter 16. Verse 5, And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said, So once again we see that the strong men cannot be beaten by strong men, but they can be taken out by the women.

It's a fact of life, and the feminists may not like to hear it, but who cares what the feminists like to hear or what they don't like to hear. What we care about is the Word of God and what it is telling us, and that is the purpose of the student of the Word, which is to be every believer, is we come to the scripture, we read it, and we don't try to fit into what we're reading, what we want it to say, or what we want it to believe it says. We're trying to understand what it is telling us, what's coming out of the scripture, and that's how you get people misusing the scripture. The cults do that. What's so cultic about them is they use the Bible, the same Bible we use, but they're not listening to what it's saying. They are dictating to it, looking for it to tailor fit some goofy belief, and that's why context is so critical to settling disputes as to the meaning of the verses. Now these five lords of the Philistines, they travel to Sorek from the various major towns, Gaza, Ashkelon, that the Philistines held because they wanted Samson that badly. They went out of their way to come to this valley of Sorek to find someone who could take, well they had spies out there or people who would pass information to them, hey Samson's in Sorek and he's likely living with Delilah because she pestered him daily.

And anyway, these are the voices of the devil. They came to her and said entice him that we may find out where his great strength lies and by what means we may overpower him, we may bind him to afflict him. So she knows what this is about.

It's not like, oh you're just going to arrest the bad boy. She knows they're going to do damage to him. In the story, she is the flesh. She's that selfish instrument, but there's a greater enemy behind that selfish instrument. Our flesh, of course, is an instrument of hell.

It's that sinful nature that we're born with and that's where the war is. Find out where his great strength lies. They knew where his weakness was. His weakness was with the Philistine women. They just didn't know where his strength was. I tell you, life, the more I think about it is rock, paper, scissors.

It's just so many things that are just alternate victors, you know, what can beat you over here, can't over there, and it always goes around in a circle. Asking such a question as this, where does his strength lies, indicates that he did not look strong because if he looked strong nobody would ask the question. He's unusually large. Like no one would say to Goliath, where does your strength lie? So, how would you like to be a Goliath's armor bearer? What? No. That shield is heavy.

Get me somebody else. Anyway, also if he looked strong, his wife probably would have went to him under duress. Hey, they're trying to get to you through me.

Can you go beat them up? Though he probably looked like everybody else. None of these Philistine women, or we could put it this way, because I think this is good for ministry to the lost souls of the world. Where was the Rahab and Ruth of the Gentile world in these areas? Why didn't a Rahab stand up and say, no, no, these are God's people and we know what they're going to do. Or Ruth, Ruth 1.17, where you die I will die and there I will be buried.

Yahweh do so to me and more if anything but death parts you from me. Imagine if Delilah said that to Samson. Imagine if he had enough respect for women to see them as helpmates. And I must add, in a marriage, in a good Christian marriage, there is no greater helpmate than the one assigned by God. This is the role of the woman which Satan is committed to destroying and we are seeing it in our society. And men are committed to abusing it.

Well, we are supposed to be grounded in our understanding of God's design in the world that is fallen. He says here in verse six, every one of us will, these are the Philistine lords, there were five of them and probably their, of course their assistants, every one of us will give you 1100 pieces of silver. That is a great deal of money. So much so when we get to the story of Micah in the next chapter, chapter 17, he gets 10 pieces of silver plus free room and board for a year.

So that was an attractive, you know, 10 pieces of silver. What she's getting, 5500 pieces of silver, if it's the same standard, which we cannot be absolutely sure, but if it is, these, they're going to make her rich. Even if it's not the identical standard, it's enough for her to say, I'll do it. Why don't they say to her, we'll kill you if you don't do it.

We're not told, we can only guess. Perhaps they wanted, I would say that they wanted to give her incentive to do a good job. She would have come back, I just can't, he won't tell me, or we blew it, but now, you know what, let's really make this attractive to her. Verse six, so Delilah said to Samson, please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to afflict. So little respect for the meathead that she just comes right out, what's your pin number? I mean, it just, this is how he had to have carried him.

You know, there's certain people, you know, you don't ask, you don't treat them the way you might treat somebody else, because they won't put up with it. You know, you'd be looking at a fat lip, and so he must have carried himself in such a way that she felt, you know, he's dumb, he's, you know, I'll ask him anything. And she comes right out and says, where's your strength that I can get to it so you can be harmed?

You'd think he would have said, you know what, I will not be back tonight. Yes, you say, could she possibly have been that direct? Yes, because he was that dumb, and the story guarantees us that he was. His stupidity was born out of arrogance and recklessness.

The only thing dumber than the question is the one being asked the question. Samson. They wanted, and the affliction by affliction is to be conquered, and that, the implications were clear. So lust for her, arrogance for himself, and shallowness before God, that's the recipe that made him ripe pickings for the devil. Incidentally, if I didn't say it already, there's nothing good about Delilah. There's no redeeming feature in the story. You cannot make a love story out of this without butchering the text, which is to butcher the story.

And for that, just make up other names and do other things. Why give people the impression that the Bible is telling some sort of love story here? And Samson said to her, verse 7, if they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings not yet dried, that's important, it's really not, but, then I will become weak and be like any other man. Samson is, of course, the story that is warning all of us of our folly, that it's, you don't joke with the enemy, because they're, by definition, being the enemy, they're not joking with you. Samson thought that sin was something you toy with.

Three times we will hear him in the story say that I will be like other men, in verse 7, 11, and 17, and we'll probably cover it again as we get closer. Verse 8, so the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now, it's unclear, you know, how much time is passing before these things, but you would think Samson would say when he realizes what's happened, where did you get the seven, you know, bowstrings not yet dried?

Where did you get them? I mean, is there something a lady carries with her? I mean, you would think in the story that these things would register with him, and they don't. It's a nice girl like you doing with seven fresh bowstrings not yet dried. Silly Samson, having too much fun to think. What a lesson there for a child.

Fun, you know, we all like fun, but we have to be sober with it. Anybody, anybody close to this story would have been able to say, Samson, she's making a fool of you. Well, first off, who would dare? Well, secondly, he probably didn't have again. There's no indication he had anybody close to him. Verse nine, now men were lying in wait, staying with her in her room, and she said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson, but he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. Now for someone to learn that she had to have told this story, or he might have told the story too. When he was blinded and in jail and some time went by before his end, he could have told a story, which he very likely did.

I've not been incarcerated, but my understanding is a lot of them like to talk about what happened, their version at least. But this is, this verse nine is suggestive of Satan's ambush. The men lying in wait, right there, just and out of sight, just out of sight, but very ready to pounce. Verse 10, then Delilah said to Samson, look, you've mocked me and told me lies. Now please tell me what you may be bound with.

It's just ridiculous that he even participates in this. How do I enslave you, you big dummy? A man of God. She is accusing this man of God, of lying to her.

You didn't tell me the truth. You're mocking me. You're making fun, because to him it was just all a joke. His consecration, everything was a joke.

And so she wants to get this over with so she can get the cash. Samson, you know there's 5,500 pieces of silver just waiting for me if you would just tell me, how do we destroy you? Verse 11. Now, pause, maybe she wasn't a Philistine and he was that foolish to think that therefore she's not collaborating with the enemy. It doesn't matter. She could have been Jewish.

She could have been a neighbor or I wouldn't have told anybody this. Verse 11. So he said to her, if they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. There's the second statement realizing that we understand that he understands that he's not like any other man at this point in his life.

Remember, he's 20 years into his judgeship. Verse 12, therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. And the men lying in wait, staying in the room, were lying in wait, staying in the room, but he broke them off of his arms like a thread. Again, it's not dawning on him. He thinks she can't get to his strength and no one else can either. He's already given up secrets in the past.

I mean, to his wife there in Timna, told his parents about the lion. He held the secrets for a while but he couldn't keep them. And that's a good lesson. You know, someone may confide in you. It's not supposed to be a shelf life on that. Okay, tell me the secret.

It'd be good for a year and five days. Once you say it's a secret, it's supposed to be until the other person can tell you, okay, you can tell the story or it comes out. And then even then you've got to be careful and wise. You don't want to be a gossiper and join ranks with those who are. I shall become weak like any other man. Verse 13, Delilah said to Samson, until now you have mocked me and told me lies.

Tell me what you may be bound with. And he said to her, if you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. I mean, that's just like asking for a headache.

It's so stupid. I would, well, he's having a grand old time on the way to the slaughter. Up to now you've been trying to destroy me, he should have said.

That's what he, his reply should have been. But, you know, Samson, tell me how I can afflict you. If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. So now he is letting her toy with the emblem of his devotion. Now it's getting serious in the spiritual realm. But there is a spiritual warfare.

It's indisputable. Paul makes it clear, Daniel makes it clear, around us are spiritual forces. When we don't understand why God is not doing this or that, it is because there are laws within the spiritual realm of war that we do not know about. And what we do know is that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual.

Prayer, the word, the fellowship, the communion with Christ. There are things we can do, but they're not guarantees because it is still a war. There are uncertainties as to the results.

But our response to the results are always supposed to be faith-based. And so he jests with her, he jokes with her about the entanglement of his hair. Because he's entangled in pride. I mean, these little, quippy little sayings, they work.

He makes them easy. Entangled with the hair, entangled with pride. Because that's what was happening. It's not corny preaching.

It's a fact. Verse 14, so she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the batten of and the web of the loom. So he wrecked the furniture. He wrecked it. He just tore it up. I don't know.

Was it worth it from Celila? So, by this time, I think, she knows she can get to him. She's still got him on the hook. She's very determined. The fresh bow strings, not yet dried. The new ropes, the seven locks. Verse 15, then 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 have not told me where your great strength is. Excuse me, sister, where is it written that I have to tell you? No, he's not that kind of man with her. He would have been that kind of man with a man. He would have said, Well, who tells you?

I got to tell you anything. But not with, not with Delilah. And anyone who would use love to manipulate or to exploit someone, they don't love you. We don't use love to take advantage. Now, of course, you know, there's some margin in there, human relationships.

I don't want to act to, you know, try to say, you know, figure it out. But certainly not to the harm of the other person. Not to the harm of the other person saying, If you love me, hurt yourself. And, of course, Delilah passionately loved herself, as do those who manipulate someone whom they say they love, but of the whole time are doing them damage. When your heart is not with me, that is the trip she's laying on him.

Define what you mean by that. Verse 16, And it came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so his soul was vexed to death. Again, she's determined to get that money. She's already got it planned what she's going to do with it.

She's going to write a book, a bestseller book, you know, how I got the keys from Samson. This again, being pestered daily, suggests that he is living with her. And also, it is a message to us, this is no reason to abandon your principles. It is no reason to depart from what you know is right. Being pestered.

The moms might have a little guilt about that, if you've got a bunch of little ones, because they will pester you until they get that popsicle or whatever it is they're after. But the principle remains. The lesson is there. That's not reason to give in. And these things aren't easy, else the stories wouldn't have to be told to us. No fight against sin is easy.

There's a brand out there that has got our name on it. So, do those who nag care about the person that they are nagging? It's a question. She didn't care about him.

It says, with words. In other words, she wouldn't shut up. She wouldn't let it alone. You would think he would say, you know, something's wrong with you.

You're just obsessed with this. And I can't take this anymore. No, he has no, as articulate as he is, that does not come into the story. Now, Delilah wanted to be taken seriously.

Well, that's fine, but not to my destruction. And Proverbs 7 21, with her enticing speech, she caused him to yield. With her flattering lips, she seduced him. And it says, and pressed him. She just kept going.

I'm getting annoyed reading it. I'd like to jump in and say, Samson, let me just handle this, all right? But I want you to sign here that you're not going to hurt me if I put this woman in her place.

For you. That won't happen, because when a man loves a woman, turns his back on his best friend if he puts her down. That's how the song goes, because it's a fact of love life.

He has, it's not the first time he's been down this road. Judges chapter 14 verse 17, speaking of his wife and Timnah. Now, she had wept on him seven days while their feast lasted, and it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much.

Then she explained a riddle to the sons of her people. So she pressed him to get it out of him. He couldn't walk away. He probably found something, it was adorable, it was cute. But he's playing with fire, and you can't take fire to your bosom without your garments going up in flames.

And that means you're going with him. So that his soul was vexed to death. If it wasn't such a tragic story, it would be a comedy. He was a fool to subject himself to this. Now back to the question, you know, so this can sound, you know, as though the Bible is, God is saying, only women nag.

That's not so. Second Kings chapter two, this is a story when Elijah, the prophet, is being taken up on a chariot of fire. He's gone now. So Elijah, the disciple, comes back, and there's these, the school of the prophets, the students of the prophets, you know, the college students, the seminary students in this case. They couldn't find a place to riot, so, and, you know, to get out of class. All right.

I was rooting for the cops in the 60s, and I'm rooting for them in the 2020s. It's the way it is. Anyway, Second Kings, so Elijah comes back, and they say, where is Elijah? He's gone.

You're not going to find him. Oh, come on, it kept bugging him. So here we go. Second Kings, chapter two, verse 17. But when they urged him, till he was ashamed, he said, send them.

Therefore, they sent 50 men, and they searched for three days, but did not find him. They just, they just made him ashamed. It's like, good night. How many times do I tell you? He's gone. Okay, fine. Go.

Go look for him. And they go out for three days. They were obsessed. We can't let, we cannot let Elijah be right. We've got to find Elijah so we can go back.

I can't go back and say, okay, you're right. What a mess. Well, anyway, we need to all guard against that.

You want something too much. It's a problem. Sin did not vex his soul. The nagging woman did. And that is what, another strike for Samson. Some suppose, and I think there's a lot of merit to this, otherwise I wouldn't be bringing it up, that she was withholding herself from him.

And that's where the breakdown really, you know, what do I got to do to get this reversed and use that also. Human nature cannot rule that out. Verse 17, that he told her in all his heart and said to her, no razor has ever come upon my head for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb.

If I am shaven, my strength will leave me and I shall become weak and be like any other man. There's the third time he says it and it seals his fate. What a blessing to have a mom and dad that would lay this out for him. He knew because they told him. They raised him the right way. That he is behaving like a beast, that's on him. That is not on Manoah, Mr. and Mrs. Manoah.

It's totally on Samson. They were good, godly people. And you read that thirteenth chapter of Judges and you just love those two. You want to know more about them. Such a little tag team, the way they interact with each other, the way they interacted with the angel of the Lord.

What will be the child's way of life? Manoah, you're wrong. If you see God and die, we'd be dead.

I mean, just a dear story. No, he has no one to blame for himself and he'll be thinking about this. He was not tricked incidentally by Delilah. He was just stupid.

That's what it is. And said to her, no razor has ever come upon my head. Now we all know, if we know our Old Testament, we know that there was a law in Israel that no tool, no iron instrument was to be lifted over the altar. In fact, in the building of the temple when they used the tools to quarry the stone for the temple, you did to do it off site.

When you got to the temple grounds, no tools, no iron tools were to be used. And that altar is to be dedicated to God. The altar that was not victim of iron tools was dedicated to God. And of course, the Nazarite was a man. It didn't have to be a man, we know that, but an individual dedicated or consecrated to God. So no iron tool, no razor was to touch the head.

The altar was not to have iron make contact with it. His unshorn locks spoke of his dedication, the source of his strength. They were signs of devotion. They weren't, they actually, it wasn't, his hair wasn't actually, you know, there was no strength in the hair, nor was there strength in just having long hair, like Absalom. And even in the story, when his hair grows back, he still has to ask for strength.

It doesn't just come. He says just this one time. That was his prayer as he's blinded, but his hair has grown back. We'll get that, of course, in the next session of the same chapter. Thanks for tuning in to Cross-Reference Radio for this study in the book of Judges. Cross-Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you'd like more information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website crossreferenceradio.com. You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there, and we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app, or just follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. That's all the time we have for today. Join us next time to continue learning more from the book of Judges, right here on Cross-Reference Radio.