A Type of Christ, Set Aside For God
New International Version (NIV)
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[c] And his strength left him.
20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shave
COMMENTARY
Delilah conquered Samson.
How? He told her all his heart. God left Samson to himself
to do this foolish thing, to punish him for indulging himself in the lusts of
uncleanness. The angel that foretold his birth said nothing of his great
strength, but only that he should be a Nazarite,
and particularly that no razor should come upon his head, (see Judges 13:5) His consecration to God
was to be his strength, for he was to be strengthened according to the
glorious power of that Spirit which wrought in him mightily,
that his strength, by promise, not by nature, might be a type and figure of the
spiritual strength of believers. Therefore the badge of his consecration was
the pledge of his strength; if he loses the former, he knows he forfeits the
latter. “If I be shaven, I shall no longer be a Nazarite, and then my strength
will be lost.” The making of his bodily strength to depend so much on his hair,
which could have no natural influence upon it either one way or other, teaches
us to magnify divine institutions, and to expect God’s grace, and the
continuance of it, only the use of those means of grace wherein he has
appointed us to attend upon him, the word, sacraments, and prayer. In these
earthen vessels is this treasure.
Consequences of Sin. The fatal consequences of Samson’s recklessness
in betraying his own strength; he soon paid dearly for it. A whore is a
deep ditch; he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. In that
pit Samson sinks.
Note:
1. Delilah made sure of the money for herself. She now supposed, by the way of
his speaking, that he had told her all his heart, and the
lords of the Philistines that hired her to do this base thing are sent for; but
they must be sure to bring the
money in their hands,(see Judges
16:18). Oh, the wages of unrighteousness are accordingly produced, unknown to Samson (or any of us). It would have grieved one’s heart to have seen one
of the bravest men in the world, at that time, sold and bought, as a sheep
for the slaughter; how does this instance smear and dishonor all the glory
of man, and forbid the strong man ever to boast of his strength!
2. The course Delilah took to deliver Samson up to the Philistines according
to the bargain. Many in the world would, for the hundredth part of what was
here given Delilah, sell those that they pretend the greatest respect for. Trust
not in a friend then, put no confidence in a guide. See what a treacherous
method she took (see Judges 16:19)):
She made him sleep upon her knees.
Josephus says, She gave him some intoxicating liquor, which laid him to sleep.
What opiates she might steal into his cup we know not, but we cannot suppose
that he knowingly drank wine or strong drink, for that would have been a penalty
of his Nazariteship as much as the cutting off of his hair.
Delilah
pretended the greatest kindness even when she designed the supreme mischief,
which, yet she could not have compassed if she had not made him sleep. Realize
the fatal consequences of security. Satan
ruins men by rocking them asleep, flattering them into a good opinion of
their own safety, and so bringing them to mind nothing and fear nothing, and
then he robs them of their strength and honor and leads them captive at his
will. Never forget that when we
sleep our spiritual enemies do not.
When Samson was asleep Delilah had a person ready to cut off his hair, which he
did so silently and so quickly that it did not awake him, but naturally
afflicted him; even in his sleep, his spirit manifestly sunk upon it.
3. Many have lost the favorable
presence of God and are not aware of it; those have provoked God to withdraw
from them, but are not sensible of their loss, nor ever complain of it. Souls weaken
and grow fragile, their gifts wither, every thing goes cross with them; and yet
they impute not this to the right cause: they are not aware that God has
departed from them, nor are they in any care to reconcile themselves to him
or to recover his favor. When God has departed we cannot do as at other times.
4. The Philistines took Samson, when
God had departed from him. Those that have thrown themselves out of God’s
protection become an easy prey to their enemies. If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands
of the Philistines of today. It is probable that it was promised Delilah that
his life would be spared, but they took an efficient course to disable him. They
put out his eyes, by applying fire to them, says the
Arabic version. They considered that his eyes would never come again, as
perhaps his hair might, and that the strongest arms could do little without
eyes to guide the, and therefore, if now they blind him, they for ever blind
him.
His eyes were the inlets of his sin: he saw the harlot at Gaza, and went in unto her (see Judges 16:1), and thus his punishment began there.
Now that the Philistines had blinded
him he had time to remember how his own lust had blinded him. They bound
him with fetters of brass that had before been held in the cords of his
own iniquity, and he did grind in the prison, work in their bridewell,
either for their profit or his punishment, or for both. The devil does thus by
sinners, blinds the minds of those who believe not, and so
enslaves them, and secures them in his interests. Poor Samson, how hast thou
fallen! How is thy honor laid in the
dust! How has the glory and defense of Israel become the drudge and triumph
of the Philistines! The crown has fallen from his head; woe unto him, for he
hath sinned. We must take heed
of Samson’s fall, being mindful to preserve our purity, and to watch against
all fleshly lusts.
Kingdom Dynamics
16:17 I have been a Nazarite: Samson finally revealed the source of his strength. His strength came from the supernatural empowerment of the Spirit of the Lord. This divine enabling was associated with his consecration to God as a Nazarite, which was symbolized by his unshaven hair.
16:20 The Lord was departed from him: Samson was discharged from his role as a judge for this ultimate violation of his vow.
16:22 Dagon, a grain and fertility god, was the chief god of the Philistines and was worshiped at the famous temples located in Gaza and Ashdod.
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/President/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
www.biblestoriestheatre.org
info@biblestoriestheatre.org
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