Samson and Delilah

Samson's life began with a divine promise. An angel appeared to his barren mother, announcing she would bear a son who would be a Nazirite from birth—set apart to God with special vows including never cutting his hair. This son would begin to deliver Israel from forty years of Philistine oppression. Samson grew up filled with God's Spirit and blessed with supernatural strength that allowed him to tear apart lions, defeat armies single-handedly, and perform incredible feats.

But Samson had a critical weakness: he was drawn to Philistine women and repeatedly compromised with Israel's enemies. He married a Philistine woman from Timnah, against his parents' wishes. When the Philistines betrayed him through his wife, Samson retaliated by catching three hundred foxes, tying torches to their tails, and releasing them in Philistine grain fields. This began a cycle of vengeance—the Philistines killed his wife, and Samson slaughtered many of them in return.

The Philistines grew desperate to capture Samson. When he fell in love with a woman named Delilah from the Valley of Sorek, they saw their opportunity. The Philistine rulers approached Delilah, offering her an enormous sum—eleven hundred shekels of silver from each ruler—if she could discover the secret of Samson's great strength. Delilah agreed to betray the man who loved her for money and loyalty to her people.

Delilah repeatedly asked Samson, 'Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.' Three times Samson lied to her, giving false sources of his strength—fresh bowstrings, new ropes, weaving his hair into a loom. Each time, Delilah tested his answers while Philistines waited in hiding, and each time Samson easily broke free. Yet incredibly, he continued to trust her despite her obvious betrayal.

Delilah wore him down with her nagging day after day. Finally, 'tired to death,' Samson revealed everything: 'No razor has ever been used on my head, because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.' Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth and called for the Philistine rulers with their silver.

While Samson slept on her lap, Delilah had someone shave off the seven braids of his hair. Then she called, 'Samson, the Philistines are upon you!' He woke up thinking he would shake himself free as before, but the most tragic words in Scripture followed: 'He did not know that the Lord had left him.' The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and set him to grinding grain in prison—humiliating work for women or animals.

But while Samson was imprisoned, his hair began to grow again. The Philistines gathered for a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, celebrating their victory over Samson. They brought him from prison to entertain them, mocking the man who had terrorized them. About three thousand people crowded onto the roof to watch. Samson, positioned between the two central pillars supporting the temple, prayed to God one final time: 'Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more.'

Samson pushed against the pillars with all his might, praying, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' The temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus Samson killed many more Philistines in his death than he had during his life. He was buried between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father, having judged Israel for twenty years. His story is a sobering reminder that great gifting without character leads to tragedy, but also that God's mercy extends even to those who squander their potential.