- Judges 16:20 offers one of the saddest commentaries in the Bible. Delilah
had Samson's hair shaved off. Then, in her usual way, she cried out,
"the Philistines be upon thee, Samson." He promptly woke from
sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times before, and shake
myself," Then, he sad commentary is given, "and he wist not that
the Lord was departed from him. "The scene of Samson going out to face
the Philistines, unaware that he was powerless is heartbreaking.
It seems that he thought he could live anyway he wanted to live for as long
as he wanted to live that way and still have God's strength and blessings.
When God's strength was gone, he didn't even know it. Oh, how like so many of
us he is! We have no power with God, and we don't even know it. We keep going
through the motions: going to church, giving our money, teaching our classes,
praying prayers, and acting like a Christian; but there is no power in it.
It's mechanical, lifeless, and without heart. We speak of power, but don't
have it. Other people look and see that we're just like any other man. There
is no obvious evidence of the power of God in our lives; not in our preaching;
not in our teaching; not with our children; not in our life on the job; not in
our home; nowhere. In every phase of our lives, we're just like other men;
void of any divine power. I'm not talking about the apostolic power of
miracles, healing, and tongues. I'm talking about a strong testimony; I'm
talking about obvious, God blessed prayer; I'm talking about a power that gets
right things done in churches, homes, and business: a power that bristles with
courage, enthusiasm, vitality, tenacity, love, and compassion. And, I tell you
that when a person has this, it will be obvious to everyone around. But, once
a person, family, or church loses this power, that too will be obvious to
everyone around, just as it was to the Philistines when Samson lost it.
- Believer, have you looked lately to see how much power you have in the
Lord? Like Samson, you can not live a selfish, sensuous life; and still have
the power of God upon you. Lie and cheat in your business; hit and miss the
services of the Lord's church; cheat on your separation by a little
drinking, smoking, and gambling; let your heart wander after strange women;
and you'll have no power with God. God's exhortation is, "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." II
Corinthians 6:17-18. It is II Chronicles 7:14 which says, "If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Power with God
is no mystery or accident. Those whose hearts and lives are surrendered to
God have it; those who are worldly, sensuous, and selfwilled eventually lose
it, or never have it in the first place.
J. Samson's power was gone, so the Philistines took him to their gristmill in
defeat and shame:
- Listen to the cruel, harsh words of Judges 16:21, But the Philistines took
him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with
fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. " They
"put out" his eyes. The Hebrew is "naqar" (naw-kar')
meaning "to bore. " Custom in those days was for enemies to stick
red hot iron needles or lancets into the eyes, twisting until the pierced
eye was ripped or bored out. No doubt with excruciating pain and agony to
Samson, both his eyes were gouged or bored out. And what an object lesson
from God. For a long time, Samson's spiritual sight had been gone. God is
now illustrating that fact by removing Samson's natural eyes.
Furthermore, the Philistines "brought him down to Gaza. It was there
that he spent the night with a harlot, then left at midnight taking the gate
of the city with him. Now, the Philistines mock him by taking him back to the
scene of a former embarrassment to them by him. Now the shoe is on the other
foot. Samson is back in Gaza; not in power, but in shackles.
As Verse 21 puts it, they bound him hand and foot with brass fetters, and
made him "grind in the prison house." Brass is the Bible symbol of
"judgment." Samson is now facing God's judgment. God is using the
Philistines as his vehicle for judging Samson. And Samson is in the world's
prison house grinding like a woman at menial work, which was a cultural
humiliation. My, what a vivid picture of where sin always leads. Pursue a life
of sin, and the prison house is up ahead. So many of God's people are in
bondage to a sinful habit, a drug, or a bad marriage. With others it's
economic bondage, bondage to guilt, or bondage to hate and revenge. Many are
now just grinding out life. Every day is drudgery; no joy; only labor and
travail. You who would live like Samson lived should take a long look at where
it got him.
- Although, Verse 22 says, "Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow
again after he was shaven." In the prison house bound hand and foot,
Samson was in no position to pursue his selfish, sensuous lifestyle. His
ending prayer indicates that he spent some time thinking of the Lord in
realization that his power had come from the Lord. His hair began to grow,
symbolic of a return of God's power. Why the Philistines did not recognize
this growth and keep his head shaven is a mystery. Perhaps it did not occur
to them that this blind, fettered, weakling could ever be strong again.
The return of Samson's hair anticipates the return of Samson's strength.
And, he becomes a point of hope for all who have lost the power of God in
their lives. It can return. Perhaps it will not be as it once was, and you may
not be able to use it as you once did; but a return to God can signal a return
of Godly power in your life.
- At some future point, the Philistines gathered for a great celebration of
their victory over Samson. Verse 23 says they credited their god Dagon, for
giving them the victory. He was the chief god of the Philistines, and the
one whom they credited for the success of their corn and other vegetable
crops. He was known as the corn god. It appears from Verses 23 and 24 that
they actually brought Dagon to the celebration. When the Philistines beheld
their god, they went into a frenzy of rejoicing and praise of him saying,
"our ,god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the
people saw him, they praised their god: for they Said, Our god hath
delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country, which
slew many of us," verses 23 and 24.
A very large group of Philistines had gathered for this celebration. It was
a national, not regional, event, evidencing Samson's great impact against
them. The temple at Gaza. was probably on the order of other recently
excavated heathen temple cities of the region. The officials and Lords of the
Philistines would have been in a slightly raised covered grandstand
overlooking a courtyard where Samson was to make sport for them, much as a
strongman in a modern booth at a fair. Wooden pillars would rise from the
stone foundation of the grandstand to support a heavy roof where about 3000
spectators gathered. Listen to Verse 27, "Now the house was full of men
and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were
upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson
made sport.
- Samson was called to make sport or entertainment for those celebrating
heathens. For a while Samson amused them as they derided and mocked this
"has been" strongman. Then for some reason un-explainable except
through the providence of God, they brought Samson to the area where the
huge pillars stood supporting the roof. Perhaps the dignitaries wanted a
closer look. Samson was apparently aware of the construction design of the
temple, and immediately recognized the possibilities, even though he was
blind. Samson prayed to God for divine strength, then "took hold of the
two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up,
of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson
said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his
might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were
therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he
slew in his Life," Verses 29-30. As the two main supporting pillars
were displaced off their stone bases, the roof, heavy with the weight of
3000 or more spectators, collapsed killing not only hundreds of those on the
roof, but also crushing the Philistine lords and other high officials. The
exact number of Philistine casualties is not stated, but it is said that
Samson killed more of them by this one act than he had killed all total
before. We know he had killed 1000 at one time, 30 another time, plus the
"hip and thigh" slaughter of Judges 15:8.
- As the huge roof collapsed, it fell on Samson, killing him along with the
Philistines. Verse 31 says that his Danite brethren came for the corpse, and
buried him in the family burial grounds between Zorah and Eshtaol. There is
no evidence of resistance by the Philistines who were probably in a great
state of shock and disarray at the time over deaths and probable multiple
injuries at the temple collapse at Gaza.
- Verse also says the length of Samson's judgeship was 20 years. In spite of
the weak morals and tragic end, Samson's efforts were not in vain. He had
succeeded in drawing the attention of Israel to the peril of complete
domination posed by the Philistines. Though he was now dead, attitudes
toward the Philistines would never again be the same. A constant effort
would continue against them until they would ultimately be conquered by King
David.
