Judges 16:4-21 "Samson And Delilah"

Our text this morning Judges 16:4-21 can be divided into the following points.

• Samson loves a woman named Delilah (4)

• Delilah receives a lucrative offer (5)

• Delilah accepts the offer (6)

• The game begins (7-17)

• Samson Loses the game (18-21)

Samson loves a woman- Delilah (4)

Verse 4 says, “After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.” In each of these three scenes about Samson’s life there has always been a woman.

• In Judges 14-15 Samson wanted to marry a Philistine woman.

• In Judges 16:1-3 Samson was with a prostitute in Gath.

• In Judges 16:4-21 Samson loves a woman named Delilah.

This is the first time that we have been given the name of one of these three women. We have had to wait until the very last scene to be given the name of one of these women. And now we are given her name in the opening sentence of this story.

This is the first time that we’ve been told that Samson loved one of these women. In the first story (Judges 14-15) there was an opportunity for Samson to express his love for his wife but he did not do it. In Judges 14:16 his wife says, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” In response Samson could have said, “I love you. You know that I love you because I tell you this all the time.”

Notice the difference between what Samson’s wife said in Judges 14:16, “You only hate me; you do not love me...”, and what Delilah says in Judges 16:15, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me?” The opening words of our text, ‘After this he loved a woman’, implies that Samson spent a lot of time with her ‘in the Valley of Sorek’ where he fell in love with her.

Samson has fallen head over heals in love with a woman named Delilah. Samson, like Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10, has always felt more at home among the world, and over time he has allowed himself to fall in love with the world. The world has gotten most of Samson’s time and affections. As a result, Samson’s conscience has become hardened against sin and his affections are becoming more enlivened to forbidden things. He had kept back his love for these things in the past, but now he gives his heart away to the world which means his fall will be inevitable. (16:18)

Application: Samson shows us how important it is to be holy, consecrated, and set apart even as we live in this world. If we do not do this, like Samson, we will eventually be like the world and more in love with the world than with the things of God. The apostle Paul would have to speak of us as he did to the Corinthians, sayings, “I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:1)

Delilah receives a lucrative offer (5)

Delilah lived in a small town in the valley of Sorek. Samson is comfortable in big towns or small ones, but he must have felt very safe and free from danger in a place like this. He did not know, however, that the Philistine lord’s had been keeping track of his whereabouts. We read about this in Judges 16:5, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.’”

To give some perspective about how much Delilah was being offered. In Judges 17:10 we read these words, “And Micah said to him, ‘Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes.’” The Levite accepts Micah’s offer for 10 pieces of silver a year so this must have been a good salary. Delilah is offered 5,500 pieces of silver!

Delilah does not shrink back from this offer even when they confess to her what they intend to do, “Seduce him (to entice, persuade, deceive), and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him (prevail against him), that we may bind him (imprison, tie) to humble him (to afflict, to oppress, humiliate).” (5)

Delilah accepts the Philistines lord’s offer (6)

There is no break in the text between their offer and Delilah’s response in verse 6, “So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.’”

When Delilah speaks to Samson she uses the same language as the lords had spoken to her. Samson is so used to living in that world that he doesn’t see this warning. For example,

• Delilah asks Samson where his ‘great strength lies’. Same language was used by the lord’s. (5)

• Delilah asks Samson how he can be ‘bound’. This also was spoken to her by the lords.

• Delilah asks Samson to reveal how he can be ‘subdued’. Same word that the lords used, saying, “...by what means we may ‘overpower’ him.”

The devil is deceitful and crafty (Gen. 3:1), He is the father of lies (John 8:44), but Satan does not have to be subtle around Samson. If a person flirts with sin and cultivates their affections for the things of this world, then their heart and their conscience will be easily persuaded. Things that at one time would have pricked the conscience, troubled the spirit, and brought a warning sign for Samson will now go undetected. They will believe the lies, but they will reject biblical truth and wisdom. (8:45)

Delilah talks clearly and plainly to Samson; and yet, he does not perceive the danger.

• Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you. (5) The Philistines are upon you, Samson! (9)

• Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound. (10) The Philistines are upon you, Samson! (12)

• Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound. (13) The Philistines are upon you, Samson! (14)

• How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies. (15) The Philistines are upon you, Samson! (20)

Application: What is your heart inclined toward? Is your heart inclined to hear and respond to the things in this world or to the word of God? Is it inclined towards wisdom or foolishness? Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Let the games begin (7-17)

As we come to verses 7-17 the stage is now set for the game to begin. Samson has no idea that if Delilah wins this game she will get 5,500 pieces of silver, the Spirit of the LORD will depart from him, and the Philistines will humiliate him.

This bet is more consequential than the bet that Samson entered into 20 years earlier. (14: 10-14) This game begins in verses 7-9, “Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.”

Did your parents ever say something like, “Did you actually hear what you said?” This is what I want to say that to Samson when he says, “If they bind me…”. I want to ask Samson, who is the ‘they’ that you are referring too? The ‘they’ he speaks of is the Philistines who want to overpower him, bind him, and humble him. Delilah mentions Samson’s enemy by name over and over again! (9,12,14,20)

Observation: Samson has made the enemy vague, nameless, and incompetent; but the Scriptures keep referring to this threat by name- the Philistines. In another sense, our text for the very first time has also given Samson’s enemy another name- Delilah!

Application: Do you know who your enemies are, or have you made them less threatening than they really are? Are you comfortable being in the presence of the enemy as you fail to see the danger?

The game continues in Judges 16:10-12, “Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.’ And he said to her, ‘If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.”

The game continues in Judges 16:13-14, “Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.’ And he said to her, ‘If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.’ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.”

Notice that the longer this game goes on the closer Samson is getting to revealing the true nature of his strength. Samson is now talking to Delilah about his hair. The game continues in Judges 16:15-17, “And she said to him, ‘How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.’ And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, ‘A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.’”

Gospel Moment: When Delilah says, “You have mocked me these three times”, we are reminded that this game has been going on for a while. Three times she has tempted him and these temptations are becoming more intense. Samson is getting weaker, but Delilah is becoming more determined and resolute! Samson will succumb to this pressure and there will be great consequences for it.

This makes me appreciate Jesus’ temptation. What He endured must have been very difficult and tremendously intense. For forty days Jesus was pressured by Satan to sin but He did not! If Jesus had sinned the consequences would have been far worse than anything we see with Samson. Because Jesus endured these temptations He is able to save Samson and anyone else who repents and believes upon Him.

As Samson is beginning to buckle under this pressure Delilah hits Samson where he is most vulnerable by questioning his love for her, saying, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me?” On top of this she tells Samson that he has mocked her (deceived and trifled with her) and presses him hard day after day until his soul became vexed unto death.

At this point in the story Samson is struggling. We are told that Samson was ‘vexed unto death’. Last week in Judges 15 Samson found himself in a similar situation. After Samson defeated 1,000 Philistines he was exhausted and thirsty and his soul was ‘vexed unto death’ (15:18). In that moment, however, he cried out to the LORD and the LORD delivered Him.

This time when Samson’s soul is ‘vexed to death’ he does not cry out to the LORD. Instead he reveals the secret of his strength, saying, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Paul says that God always provides a way out of a temptation that we may endure under it. The book of Judges has always emphasized what this provision for endurance is: the Word of God and Prayer. (1 Cor. 10:13) If we fail to avail ourselves to these things we will fall just as Samson will do now.

Samson is the looser (18-21)

Samson does not pray; instead he takes the quick and easy way out. He gives into the pressure, he gives up the fight, he does not flee, does not pray; instead, we read in 18-20, “When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

Delilah, who has pressed Samson hard day after day, and who had urged him and vexed his soul to death, now made Samson fall fast asleep on her knees. (What a picture of what sin does!)

Delilah ceased accusing him, pressing him daily, vexing him unto death; Instead she allowed Samson to enjoy a brief reprieve. Delilah comforted him at her knees till he fell asleep. Then she called someone in to shave his head. Then we are told that she began to torment him (trouble, afflict, mishandle, humble). As a result of this torment Samson was awakened and we read these words in v.21, “And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles.”

As we see these things done to Samson my mind goes back to something that is in Joshua 23:11-13, “Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of the nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.”

Like Samson, all of us, Jew and Gentile, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and we deserve to be punished for it. (Roman 3:23) But God sent His only Son into the world. Jesus was careful to love the LORD His God with all of His heart, mind, soul, and strength. He associated with sinners, but never in their sin.

He took upon Himself our judgment and condemnation. He was whipped for sinners and wore a crown of thorns on his head and for a time He perished. But by these things all nations can be saved through faith and repentance in Him.

In this text, Samson is experiencing the consequences of his sinfulness, but next week he will call out to the LORD who will save him from his sins and deliver him into His kingdom. Let us look to Christ today and take refuge in Him who has saved us, sanctifies us, and one day will glorify us in His eternal kingdom.