Samson’s Secret

Judges 16:15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. 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. 22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

Samson was a judge of Israel. Not much is written about many of them. What is said is that God used them. He gave them what they needed to judge and protect Israel. What is written is good. They served the Lord. Samson’s story begins a few chapters earlier than Judges 16. There are many details about him. If he had not failed and betrayed the secret, his story would have been shorter.  Because of his failings much more is said about him. We’d be better off to live only a few years for the Lord than to live a long time and in our later years backslide on God and return to sins. We have to maintain our commission. When God saved us it was through a power like never before. Even Samson’s birth was unlike others. Israel was in sore need of a judge to help. The Philistines were plaguing Israel. Each judge was raised up to keep the adversary at bay. We’ve seen a lot of people go on from this church; it’s not their responsibility to keep this church going. It’s ours! It depends on you and me. We need each other serving and being faithful. Be servant minded as Christians. This is a private thing but it’s also to be shown to others. It’s not every person for himself.

This is the secret. The devil knows it. We were in darkness of sin and blinded but the Lord saved us; he brought us into the Light. The world doesn’t understand. We’re labeled as religious or a church goer. Don’t just be that. Some say their religion is Buddhist or Islam. Christianity is not a religion. It’s a fact. It’s the only way to get from under the enemy. The Philistines got along with other nations; they too worshiped idols. The children of Israel served the invisible, living, eternal Almighty God. As they trusted, we do. By faith in Jesus Christ we are saved.  Do not treat Christianity as a religion, a little part of our lives. We’re saved to be a Christian. Just as sure as men are men and women are women. Be a man. Be a woman. If you’re a Christian, be a Christian. Treat your salvation as you do your gender. Be one!  

The devil knew Samson’s secret but the Philistines did not. The devil used Samson to let the secret out. The Philistines were bigger than Israel. The devil is bigger than you and I are. There are more on the broad road to destruction than the narrow way to life and heaven. Our goal is to get them off that broad road and onto the narrow road. Jesus didn’t save us to put us back on the broad road. That was Samson’s mistake. God forbid we put ourselves in harm’s way by playing around with our spiritual life. Samson didn’t even realize the Lord had left him. Peter tells us seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. What kind of life could Samson have had if he had stayed where he should.  Psalms 91:1 says He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Christianity is not seasonal. The leaves of a Christian should always stay green. Our secret is turning to and relying on God.  Samson showed this by never cutting his hair. In a Nazarite vow he did this and had nothing to do with anything dead or any type of strong drink. His reliance on God helped him live a different life. We’re able to be a different person because of our relationship and reliance on God. Whatever bound us before we were saved is not binding us now. We’re not obligated to sin. Samson didn’t have to sin. The more he did, the more he was tempted. He thought he could keep going on as he was. What a big dummy!  

He had killed a lion. The devil kept the flies and buzzards away and brought in the bees. They made honey and when Samson saw it, he ate never thinking about the rottenness below. He broke his Nazarite vow by eating of the rottenness of the decay of this lion. The devil may sweeten sin with honey but there is deadness underneath. Samson walked on thin ice. God was showing him lots of grace and mercy. If you’re walking on thin ice, you’d better come back. Thin ice breaks. Samson fell. We know what happened. He married a wife of the Philistines instead of a woman of Israel. He went to harlots. Once you step in, it gets deeper and deeper until you’re over your head. God stepped in. He gave victory one after another but Samson’s spiritual life was running on fumes. God said if that’s what Samson wanted he would reap it. We all fall short but we need to confess our sins. Samson could have loved any of the women of Israel. We have to stop flirting around with worldliness.  If you eat of what Satan offers there will be deadness in the honey. God kept telling Samson to stop but he kept going on. You can’t be a Christian and do anything you want. 

He loved a Philistine woman named Delilah. He lowered his standards thereby lowering his guard. You’ll betray your secret when you do this. It will get you to stop depending on God, stop going to church, stop reading your Bible as you used to and you’ll get back to the crowd God saved you from. We’ve all been there. As long as we’re in this world we’ll have our Philistines. If Samson had put his foot down he’d have been okay. Delilah kept on and on. Watch it or you and I can be knocked down. Samson joked about his secret. He made riddles. She whined because he wasn’t telling her the truth. She nagged him so bad he broke down and told her the secret: no razor had ever touched his hair. If it was cut he would lose his strength.  So she told his secret and set in motion his downfall. His hair was cut while he was asleep. The loss of his hair was the token whereby he lost it all. Don’t say no to God and yes to the devil. It starts with a little thing but gets bigger. You cannot be okay with God and go back to what you were. Samson’s eyes were taken from him and he was captured, used as a slave by the Philistines. The devil will put you in his prison house if you’re not careful and watchful. 

One hope. Samson’s hair began to grow again. He knew all this was his fault. He prayed to God for strength to defeat the Philistines one more time. He lost his life but he was back where he needed to be with God.  Don’t give anything to the devil. Make your life count for Jesus!