Welcome back to my favorite weekly column – the Bible’s not boring. Where my goal is to make the Bible your favorite book of the year. I honestly believe that so many people talk themselves out of reading scripture because they’re not sure where to start. Well if you’d allow me the opportunity, I would like to apply for the position to be your spiritual tour guide. Showing you some of the highlights, giving you some fun facts, but mostly inspiring you to continue to learn more! So grab your Bible (or open it on your phone) and lets get ready for another adventure. We’re going to be hanging in Judges. *This post will have verses written in the New Living Translation (NLT) but please read whatever version makes the most sense to you.*

We are going to be covering the infamous story of Samson and Delilah. If you’ve ever been in a relationship that was clearly not the move, have a crazy ex-boyfriend/girlfriend story, or are a fan of watching dating tv shows and yelling “choose the other guy!!” at the screen to the characters hoping that they’ll hear you… I have great news for you. This is a story you’re really going to be into. Let’s introduce our main characters. First up, the man, the myth, the legend – Samson.

Like any great story, it all started with a miracle.

² In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. ⁴ So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.^[a] 5 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” Judges 13:2-5

So Manoah’s wife (aka Samson’s mom) did what I think any of us would – she ran and told her husband what she had seen! They asked the angel to come back another time and share with them further instruction for how to raise their son. God had set apart Samson from the beginning to rescue Israel from the hands of the Philistines. Honestly the terms aren’t so bad right? No drinking while pregnant, don’t eat any forbidden food, and never give your son a hair cut. If you follow all of those rules, then your son will rescue an entire nation. Their is just one hiccup in the plan, Samson has a bad reputation of falling for the wrong girls.

One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. ² When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.” ³ His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” ⁴ His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time. Judges 14:1-4

After getting absolutely played by that girl, he left her behind and went back to live with his parents. Little did he know, after he moved home she ended up getting married again. To who you ask? TO THE GUY WHO WAS THE BEST MAN IN THEIR WEDDING. No really – read Judges 14:20. Told you the Bible’s not boring, talk about a plot twist. Just like any messy breakup, their were some repercussions that came out of this decision. In fact, this would turn out to be the catalyst of the deep hatred and all out war between Samson and the Philistines.

 Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.” ⁴ Then he went out and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. ⁵ Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the grain fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the sheaves and the uncut grain. He also destroyed their vineyards and olive groves. ⁶ “Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “Samson,” was the reply, “because his father-in-law from Timnah gave Samson’s wife to be married to his best man.” So the Philistines went and got the woman and her father and burned them to death. ⁷ “Because you did this,” Samson vowed, “I won’t rest until I take my revenge on you!” ⁸ So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam. Judges 15:3-8

A wild response from Samson. He found out his father in law was responsible for his wife getting married off to his best man and he retaliated by finding 300 foxes, tied their tails together, attached torches to them, and DESTROYED the Philistines crops. Seems a bit over the top right? I thought the same until we hear that the Philistines response to this was to MURDER his wife and her father. Samson wanted revenge and the Philistines wanted Samson dead. Tensions are high.

After killing another 1,000 Philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey (crazy right?!) Samson seems to have found his groove. He’s consistently defeated the Philistines and is confident in his abilities. That is, until he meets his next love interest. Everyone say Hey There to Delilah. (If you get my joke we’ll definitely be best friends) Anyways let’s see if he picked the right girl this time!

Some time later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. ⁵ The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1,100 pieces^[b] of silver.” Judges 16:4-5

Samson really knows how to pick them huh? Delilah was willing to sell out the man who loved her for some silver. She began to manipulate Samson into telling her what it would take to actually overpower him and where his strength even came from. And in each answer she would do exactly what he said and pretended that the Philistines were coming.

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely.” ⁷ Samson replied, “If I were tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I would become as weak as anyone else.”⁸ So the Philistine rulers brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them. ⁹ She had hidden some men in one of the inner rooms of her house, and she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But Samson snapped the bowstrings as a piece of string snaps when it is burned by a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰ Afterward Delilah said to him, “You’ve been making fun of me and telling me lies! Now please tell me how you can be tied up securely.” ¹¹ Samson replied, “If I were tied up with brand-new ropes that had never been used, I would become as weak as anyone else.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the inner room as before, and again Delilah cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But again Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread.

¹³ Then Delilah said, “You’ve been making fun of me and telling me lies! Now tell me how you can be tied up securely.”Samson replied, “If you were to weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle, I would become as weak as anyone else.”So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric. ¹⁴ Then she tightened it with the loom shuttle.^[c] Again she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom and the fabric. Judges 15:6-14

Now, Delilah was losing her patience at this point. She had tried to get the answer from Samson but he didn’t seem to trust her enough to tell the truth. (Gee, I wonder why?) Nevertheless, she gave it one more shot. Hoping to nag her way into riches.

¹⁵ Then Delilah pouted, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t share your secrets with me? You’ve made fun of me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!” ¹⁶ She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it. ¹⁷ Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. “My hair has never been cut,” he confessed, “for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.”

¹⁸ Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come back one more time,” she said, “for he has finally told me his secret.” So the Philistine rulers returned with the money in their hands. ¹⁹ Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down,^[d] and his strength left him. ²⁰ Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him. Judges 16:15-20

Samson thought this would be just like every other time, only this time he had let his guard down. He trusted a woman who did nothing but manipulate him and now here he was, getting captured by the people who have been been hunting down for years. They captured him, blinded him, and imprisoned him. It seems as though all hope should be lost. But my favorite verse in this story comes next.

²² But before long, his hair began to grow back. Judges 16:22

Samson hit rock bottom. His love betrayed him, his enemy had him captured, his power had left him and yet, his hair began to grow back. The thing that tied him to the power of God, began to grow back. Hope is still to come.

The Philistines thought that their long awaited victory had finally come and they were ready to party. They believed their false god had given them the win over their longest standing enemy. So as they celebrated, they began to get a little too confident. They demanded that Samson come out so they could further humiliate him. Little did they know, God wasn’t done with Samson yet.

²⁶ Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, “Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them.²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, ³⁰ he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. Judges 16:26-30

Talk about an ending. His last act of strength destroyed more Philistines than he did in his entire lifetime. God granted him the power to end the battle.

So what do we learn? Samson was set apart, gifted to be able to do things that other’s couldn’t. Samson was also a terrible judge of character. He constantly pursued women who would trade him in a second in order to get what they want. He put his trust in the wrong people. But if we are being honest, it is so easy to read about Samson and think that could never happen to us. But I wonder how many of us have compromised who we are called to be in the name of finding acceptance or love in the wrong people? How many of us have lowered our guards and allowed the enemy to gain territory on areas that were never his to obtain? Big sis moment for you: the people in your life will make or break you. Be wise, don’t settle.

Here’s the deal. Delilah cut Samson’s hair and in turn cut off his power and connection to God. Scripture even said that Samson didn’t realize yet that the Lord had left him. He was blinded and bound but then, before long, his hair grew back. I mentioned this was one of my favorite verses in this story. Well that’s because Samson wouldn’t be able to see it, but his strength was coming back. The Lord as with him. I just think someone reading this needs to hear this: You may be at rock bottom. It may feel like there is no hope. But before long, your strength will come back too.

I know that because God loved us so much that he sent Jesus on our behalf so that we could be redeemed. Why does that matter? Because now we have an all access pass to the Father. The Lord does not and will not leave us. So maybe you feel like you don’t have a lot of strength anymore. Well I have some relief for you, God can be your strength if you let him.

Here again we find ourselves at the end of story time! My prayer is that you realize the Bible is not boring, it’s essential. It’s alive and active. It still teaches and instructs. It is relatable. It is for you.

Until next time,

Joy