Love at first sight
In this article, I would like us to consider the fall of a strong man—Samson.
Our journey begins and ends in Gaza where we find Samson who, after having been a Judge over Israel for 20 years, decides to go. In Gaza he finds a harlot and sleeps with her (Judges 16:1) for reasons best known to himself. After some time, Samson meets a beautiful Philistine woman by the name of Delilah whom he supposedly falls in “love” with (Judges 16:4). Was it true love? Well we shall soon find out. The leaders of the Philistines, knowing the power of persuasion possessed by women, decided to bribe Delilah to lure Samson into revealing the secret of his strength. For what purpose? So that they could afflict him, or humble him, as it says in the margin. He is too “arrogant, too boastful with his strength, let us bring him down”, they said. In order to do this they use a “weaker vessel”, a woman (Judges 16:5).
Does Delilah accept the bride to betray her “man”? Gladly! She seemingly is not allergic to money! She just cannot resist the offer of 1,100 shekels of silver from each one of the Philistine lords. Delilah then asks Samson, “Darling, what is the secret of your strength?” She even tells him the reason why he should reveal the secret of his strength—so that he may be “afflicted” or “humbled” (Judges 16:6). Unbelievable! Obviously, Samson does not suspect evil intentions from Delilah. Unfortunately, his infatuation has blinded him already. He does not realize that the devil does not love anyone else apart from himself. When he shows you a smile, it is because with that smile he wants to get hold of you, and once he does, the smile changes into a mile to hell. If Samson had immediately separated himself from this woman, or at least cut off discussion upon this subject, he would have saved both himself and his country and especially the honour of God. But he, like Eve, decides to play games with the devil; he cheats Delilah three times. First he says, “tie me with seven green withs” (Judges 16:7) which did not work. The second time he says, “no, no, no, I was just kidding last time, tie me with new ropes” (Judges 16:11), but it still did not work. Notice that the third time he gets closer to the secret, he says, “weave the seven locks of my head”, but this does not work either.
Gotcha!
Delilah then decides to change her strategy. Instead of using reason, she decides to appeal to Samson’s feelings; his emotions towards her. Maybe she knows that this was what worked for Eve with Adam! Anyway, she stages a funeral where she is the sole mourner and the deceased is “Samson’s love for her” so she claims (Judges 16:16). Days go by and the funeral continues. Samson cannot bear it any longer. At last, the mighty are fallen! The conqueror is conquered; the strong brought down by the weak. Samson decides to open up to her and reveal the secret of his strength. He says, “Chop off my hair and I’ll be weak like any other man” (Judges 16:17). Delilah knows she has got him this time. Before she even cuts off his hair, she sends for the lords of the Philistines, telling them to bring the payment for a job well-done by both her cunning and patience (Judges 16:18). She then makes Samson sleep on her lap like a baby. How Samson fell asleep, we may not know, but let us say that perhaps Delilah sung him a lullaby. So Samson fell asleep while some Philistine man was busy shaving off his hair—the sign of his obedience to God which was the secret of his strength. Immediately after this, Delilah decides to awaken Samson and fulfill just what she had promised him the moment he would reveal his secret, and what was that? Affliction! (Judges 16:19). She exclaims, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He wakes up thinking, “Aah, I’m the strongest man, let me go out and attack them just like the other times.” What he does not realize is that the LORD has left him (Judges 16:20). The Philistine lords are extremely happy and cannot afford to waste any more time lest his hair miraculously grows so quickly that they do not even have a chance to arrest him. They do to him physically what Delilah has done to him spiritually—they blind him (Judges 16:21). They then take him to Gaza where they make him grind the grain in their prison house (Judges 16:21). How tragic but true! Here was a man who, instead of going to Gaza to deliver the Israelites, went there to grind for the enemies of God’s people. Not because he wanted to, but because he had created a way for this to happen. The end of the journey. Whew! What a journey it was.
Are you like Samson today who had forgotten his calling and lost himself in his infatuation for Delilah? Have you forgotten your obligations to your own family, your church and your God? Have you betrayed the secret of your strength?
Where is the strength of a Christian?
There is no doubt that the secret of the strength of any Christian is found in union with Christ. This union is brought about and maintained in several ways. The apostle Paul says, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10. (see also verses 11–18). “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30. How do we grieve the Spirit of God? It is by disobedience and refusing to hearken to His call. One common saying goes like this, “To be strong like a bull, you must not eat the bull, but eat what the bull eats.” To be strong in the Lord and be strong like the Lord, you must eat what the Lord eats. Jesus once said, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.” John 4:34. If this is what you digest every day—God’s will and His work—you will be strong in the Lord and you can say like Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18–19
A closer look at You and Delilah
Delilah mentioned something very important which is written in Judges 16:15, “How can you say you love me, when your heart is not with me?” Luke 12:33–34 reads “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I tend to think that the Lord would ask the same question, “How can you say that you love Me when your heart, when your treasure, is not with Me?”
Delilah comes today and asks, “Where is the secret of your wealth so that I may make you poor?” She is very honest with you. Your answer will be according to Deuteronomy 8:18, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” You will also be very honest and provide an extra text like the one from Malachi 3:10–11 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Delilah will then call the powers of darkness and tell them, “Come, I have him now. He has told me all his heart.” She will then make you to lie on her lap, and sing you lullabies. She will sing one lullaby about how many problems you have to sort out and that you cannot manage to meet all your needs if you return your tithe to the Lord. With this lullaby, you will then fall asleep like Samson. What happens when you are asleep? You become unconscious of what is happening around you. In other words, sleep here signifies that you become indifferent to the requirements of God regarding you. You will not care what happens to God’s work; who gets delivered or who perishes. With this indifference, Delilah will then completely shave off your source of strength and you will become like any other man, without hope and without God in the world.
After this, Delilah will ask, “Where is the secret of your wisdom and intellect so that I may confuse your judgment?” You will answer with all your heart, “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” Isaiah 7:15. You will then go further and explain what this butter means according to Genesis 1:29. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Then you will add “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth forever.” Psalm 111:10. And to top it all off, you will tell her that Christ Jesus is the one “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3
To your response she will again sing you a lullaby with her sweet voice, “there is no need to be so strict in your diet, look at you, you look skinny! Beef up your table; come on, you are still young, enjoy life.” Then you will sleep again and become indifferent to what 1 Corinthians 10:31 states. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” You will then indulge your appetite and before you know it, God’s protection would have left you. You will be boasting that you used to be a very serious and committed Christian at one point in time and that you had committed many scriptures to memory, but now most, if not all, are gone! I say, Wake up brother, check yourself in the mirror (James 1:25), Delilah has shaved off your head. “Health is a blessing of which few appreciate the value; yet upon it the efficiency of our mental and physical powers largely depend. . . . Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind and makes it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong. We become less capable of choosing the good and have less strength of will to do that which we know to be right.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 346
Delilah will come to you and ask, “What is the secret of your distinction? Why are you not like everybody else? Why can you not unite with all these other churches?” You will honestly answer and say “lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Numbers 23:9. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14–15,17–18. You will then spice up these words with, “I pray that my brethren may realize that the third angel’s message means much to us and that the observance of the true Sabbath is to be the sign that distinguishes those who serve God from those who serve Him not. Let those who have become sleepy and indifferent awake.” –Counsels for the Church p.312 (emphasis mine)
To this, Delilah will call in the lords of the Philistines, knowing she has got you. She will sing you another lullaby, or if you are proving to be difficult she will give you some wine of Babylon. She will tell you, “There is no need to exalt one day above another. There is no need to starve your family when you can take up this job that demands that you work on the Sabbath, God will understand.” On Fridays she will make you so busy that you fail to receive the Sabbath sometimes. Even to attend church services on Sabbath will be difficult because you will be too tired. Or she will just give you things to annoy you on the Sabbath. Oh! The lullabies will be endless on this one until you fall asleep; until you become indifferent to the observance of the Sabbath, and alas! In one moment your sign of loyalty to God will be gone!
An Appeal
Dear brothers and sisters, you may be on Delilah’s lap right now, “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Ephesians 5:14. Awake before you lose your secret of strength. Once you lose the source of your strength you will, like blind Samson, be grinding for the Philistines instead of serving the Lord. You will become too busy with worldly things than the things of God. Your investments will be in this world, not in heaven. Your thoughts will be of things on earth, not of things in heaven. You will love to talk about your life here, but not of your life in heaven. But there is hope. Samson, through prayer and repentance, regained his once-lost strength. His hair began to grow back again and, not long after that, he was able to destroy the Philistines. Sad to say, though, that he perished with them in their demise. You too can regain your strength. You can buy eye salve to anoint your eyes that you may see clearly what the will of God is (Revelation 3:18). Come to Jesus and eat some B-complex vitamins to make that hair grow very fast so that you may once again conquer yourself, the world, and the devil (Isaiah 55:1, 6).
God bids you to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15–16
Mukelabai Mukelabai
(Zambia, Sweden)