Judges 16:4 – And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

Hello readers, back with another blog today, and once again blogging from the life of Samson. This blog sort of brings me to a point at the end of Judges that I will hopefully be blogging a little more on… the theme of Judges, which is stated repeatedly throughout and in the final verse of the book, and which summarizes the times of the judges … Judges 21:25 – In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. This is the time we are living in today, and hence the lives of the judges take extreme relevance to us today, in the days preceding the coming of the king, as David’s life typified as he became king in the next book, 1 Samuel. This verse from Judges applies to Christians and non-Christians alike, and the condition of Israel at that point in history was very similar to the pre-flood world condition in Genesis 6 with unrestrained, rampant, unashamed evil and corruption. Judges dealt with Israel, and we see that by the end of Judges, the sin and wickedness in Israel, God’s own nation, was despicable and blatant. Not outside Israel, but IN Israel. The sin of God’s people today, people professing Jesus (or rather “a” Jesus), rivals the times of the judges today. In Judges 19, we see that Israel had become the new Sodom.

The setting of Samson’s life is the times of the judges of Israel, and he was one of the last judges. These judges were ultimately inadequate, as all of humanity is, they were men of great faith, but also greatly flawed like we are… they like us had such great potential but rarely realized it, rarely lived like it, they like Samson’s name “Sun child” suggests, were flickering lights for the nation of Israel as they descended into severe moral decline and departure from God. The Bible says as saved people we are the light of the world, but Samson was only a light “at times”, we are told in the last verse of Judges 13 that the Spirit of the Lord began to move him “at times”.  Samson is a true picture of a born again Christian in so many ways (I will be doing a blog on his Nazarite vow soon), but his life shows that although saved, we can often live very low, we may be separated and sanctified by the new birth (by God! it is God that calls us and it was God that called Samson from the womb, separating him unto himself), but we can live like the world, love the world, and do like the the world. We can be infants in the faith, we can never quite grow up in the faith, we should be able to eat meat instead of still be drinking milk.

But today I will be looking at Samson and Delilah. Samson’s name seems synonymous with Delilah’s name, they are a famous duo from the Bible. Samson’s life had been building to the famous run in with Delilah. Who doesn’t know about Samson and Delilah? Israel’s mighty deliverer, brought to nothing, brought to shame by a woman, a woman whose bewitching weapons of charm, enticement, seduction were greater, mightier and deadlier than anything the Philistine army could muster against Samson. Delilah was Samson’s strange woman, and we can learn a lot from the story of Samson as it applies in many different ways for us. We will encounter the strange woman in our lives, the strange woman physically, and the strange woman spiritually… both are so deadly. In Proverbs, we learn that the strange woman lurks around every corner, we must be aware and able to deal accordingly. The strange woman is enticing, pleasing to the eye, pleasing to the flesh, pleasing to the mind, pleasing to the intellect, but her ways lead to death. The Bible says her guests are in hell.  Proverbs has a lot to say about the strange woman, and what Solomon wrote is immeasurably true in a physical and spiritual sense. God warns us of the strange woman, and Samson stands as a testament to the high price that fraternizing with and being entertained by the strange woman brings. Delilah was the strange woman of Samson’s life, and like Samson, we will be tested by the strange woman. What will we do? By God’s grace may we avoid Samson’s fate.

Samson is a “right in own eyes”, “on off”, “at times”  Christian example for us today, and that path leads to destruction. Many “Christians” in fact are not truly saved at all, just because you bear the “Christian” title, just because you were born into a “Christian” home doesn’t mean anything, just because you “live right”, just because you were baptized doesn’t save you, just because you go to church every Easter and Christmas makes you no more saved, no more closer to heaven than anyone else. The heart reality is either there or it is not, you are either born again or not, you are either saved by grace through faith or not, you either believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or not. Samson’s life warns us of cuddling up the the strange woman of false religion.

In Revelation 17 and 18, we see the strange woman unmasked, because this is the strange woman that is out to get us. Mystery Babylon, The Great… the hooker on the street, the woman that you’ve had your eye on may cause you to commit fornication and harm your physical life and witness and testimony, but the strange woman, Mystery Babylon, will take you to hell if you make your bed with her. The  strange woman is false religion, worldly religion, all idolatrous belief and worship systems of the world, anything apart from the pure, true religion of the Bible. The strange woman gets you in different ways, we need the light of God’s word, God’s word which reveals mysteries, which sheds light on our Delilah’s. False religion, false worship, idolatry, “world meets church” will get you in the end. Satan knows how to present his deception, his invitation plays to our feelings and rationalizations, but the end is bitter. We can be like Samson and think we are above being taken down by the strange woman. We can think “that would never happen to me”, the problems, the dangers, are out there, far away… maybe there’s no danger there at all, but Delilah will get you. Delilah is Satan’s trump card. The Bible is our light in the darkness of this world, if we are enticed away from truth, we are done. Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It is no wonder that in 1 John, John wrote that he had written these things (the things he wrote about in the book) concerning them that seduce you. The believers John was writing to were being seduced, enticed by false doctrines, false teachings, worldly compromises, by the spirit of antichrist and the spirit of error.

Delilah is found in the valley of Sorek. Sorek means choice vine, and throughout the Bible we see that there is a false vine, and a true vine. It is no wonder Jesus said in John 15, I am the true vine. Because there is another vine, a false vine, there is the vine of Sodom – Deuteronomy 32:32. What vine are you plugged in to? Jesus said for us to abide in him, and we abide in him by being saved, by abiding in his word. But down in the valley of Sorek you will find a false vine. But it is a vine that has a lot more of a worldly allure than the true vine. It is a vine that the flesh loves, that the eyes love … as Samson loved Delilah. The false vine appeals to your eyes, and we read that Samson saw. He saw, and “Samson saw” got him in trouble all his life. John wrote in 1 John that all that is in the world is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Samson’s eyes got him in trouble, and it does with us too. We see, we lust, we covet, we get jealous, envious, we sin. Jesus says in Revelation that he will anoint the true believers eyes, we need Jesus to be in control of our eyes. We need our spiritual and our physical eyes under God’s control, by his grace. We need him to open our eyes, that we may see. Because we can see, but not see, it is Jesus that opens our eyes, our minds, our understanding. Sorek not only refers to a vine, but it is a “choice” vine, it is very tempting, very alluring, it is choice. The word choice is ironic, because we as human beings love to choose our god, a god amenable to us, a god subject to us, a god that our imagination carves out … not the true God who we are subject to, who is not subject to us… his creation, who is Lord of all. The fact is, though, that Jesus is who he is, not who we make him to be, what we want him to be, he is not a “choice” god, he is The God. Idolatry is when we make a god up in our minds, idolatry is worshipping and serving and believing in anything or anyone other than the one true God. Sorek is a place of idolatry, of lust, of feelings, emotions, senses… and many nonbelievers and believers spend time in, and never leave this valley in their lifetime. They sleep in the false comfort of Delilah’s lap, they wake up too late, they find themselves powerless in the hands of the Philistines.

Delilah means “low” and she brings you low, she causes you to sleep, she sets the Philistines upon you. She wants to bind you up, and she wants you powerless to break out of the cords she has bound you with. Christians today are bound up by the doubt of false, uncertain, ambiguous words of new Bibles, bound up in worldly worship, intellect, compromise. Delilah caused Samson to sleep, and so Christians today have been caused to sleep. In one of Jesus’ parables, Jesus said that while men slept, the enemy came in and sowed tares. Samson slept, and we so easily sleep, as in the night. Slumbering, heavy eyes, no faith, no watching, no praying, departing from the faith, quickly going out of the way, saying “Up, make us gods” while Jesus “tarries” (he is not tarrying, he is returning soon as he promises, and right on time).  We see Christianity today full of tares, we see false seed being sown, the enemy has come in like a flood… while men slept. Delilah brings us low, she brings our morals low, our lives low, our families low, our testimonies low, our impact low… us low… bound and powerless. She is found in the valley of Sorek, and takes us even lower than the valley… far from a mountaintop experience with God. Delilah is after money, and she wants money at your expense. Paul warned us not to be made merchandise of, Paul said that love of money is the root of all evil. Follow the money trail they say, when solving crimes. “Churchianity” today is full of money grubbers, they are after your money, they are after money, and they will make their moves not based on faith and obedience to God’s word, but where the money is. Pastors today are hirelings, they follow the money. Delilah sets the Philistines on you. She repeatedly set the Philistines on Samson. She said, The Philistines be upon thee Samson. And they got him. And what is upon you? Will you finally awake from your sleep one day to find the Philistines upon you? And what is upon you? Is your sin upon you, or is it upon Christ and has no strength on you? The trap was sprung, and Samson had been duped completely, he paid a high price for his low living. The devil, the world, his flesh got him.

Delilah is a power stripper, she is in the power stripping business. Delilah’s aim is to strip the believer of his/her power. She does this by getting “Christians” to deny Jesus. To deny him practically in their lives, to deny him in their doctrines, teachings, to deny him as Lord, as God, as Creator, as the Judge. Christians easily forget that they have no (zero, nada, none) power without God, it is God’s power or we are powerless. The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. Much like Balaam (Balak’s hireling) trying to curse Israel, our power is untouchable, we cannot be cursed… but we can bring trouble and grief upon ourselves. Balaam cast a stumbling block before Israel because he caused them to commit fornication and serve strange gods, and thus Israel brought the curse upon themselves, Balaam himself could not curse them. As in the previous blog regarding Achan, we have to be very careful to not partake of the accursed thing. Paul warned of the curse of anyone preaching a false gospel, a false “Jesus” … and John spoke of the utmost importance of abiding in and remaining in the doctrine of Christ. Don’t partake in cursed things. Don’t deny the Lord Jesus Christ in any way. He is called the “Strength of Israel” in the Bible, he is our strength, don’t let Delilah entice you away. Don’t be stripped of power with God, of the power of God in your life. We see today a Laodicean church that has been stripped of its power. A sleeping church full of sleeping believers, that awake to find themselves powerless, that find themselves groping in darkness, grinding corn for the Philistines as Samson did. Simon the sorcerer had the power over Samaria, but the solution was the preaching of the cross, the kingdom of God. The declaration of truth, the beautiful feet of the preacher who published the good tidings of peace. Jesus sets the prisoners free, but Delilah wants to bind you up. Jesus is all powerful, but Delilah wants you powerless. The only way out is in and through and by the Lord Jesus Christ… his power, his glory, his cross, his blood. That’s why the preaching of repentance and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ is the key, the solution.

Delilah vexed Samson sore unto death. She afflicted him. And how false Christianity, false religion vexes, afflicts, destroys it’s followers. It exploits them, defrauds them, leaves them groping in the dark as Samson was. Samson was one of the last judges of Israel, Israel continued to deteriorate, and Christianity today resembles the scene in Judges 17-21, Christianity is there. Rampant sin that is not only blatant, but excused, and justified. The Benjamites defended, and made war that cost them their lives defending the worthless lives of the sons of Belial that raped the Levite’s concubine all night. Israel was full of worthless Levites, and so Christanity today is full of worthless pastors, leaders, elders. People who sell out truth, who depart from the faith, who are like reeds shaken with the wind, they just say what people want to hear, they grease the slide to hell. They produce converts devoid of the power of God, because they sow corrupted seed, not the incorruptible, infallible, inerrant seed of the word of God. New Bibles, new words, new spirits, new music, no mention of sin, judgement, repentance, hell.The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgement … true comfort from the true Comforter comes from the ministration of truth, not the ministration of a false, feel good fake gospel, false enticing, but empty, stagnant, lifeless words. Converts and Christians with incomplete and inept deliverance, who end up in the lap of Delilah.  Delilah will sell you out, in fact that’s all she is trying to do. She is warning us today, and in full view in the pages of the scripture. Her goal is to make you reject, forsake, deny God and his Word. She may try and fail. But she tries again. And again. And again. And again. She wears you down, and she gets you. Delilah strips you of your power. She gives you a clean shave. She will shave you off your power with God, she will shave you of your witness, she will shave you of your separation and sanctification unto God, she will shave you of your birthright, your blessing, your hope … she will cost you your eyes, your power, she leaves you in darkness, hopelessness.

Samson paid a high price for his friendship with the world. He was separated from the world unto Christ, but he spent much of his life pulling in the opposite direction. The world hated Jesus, the world will hate you if you are genuinely saved. It was a steep lesson, one that we would do well to take heed to. And we can end on a positive note, because Samson was ultimately victorious. It was his death that enabled him to be victorious. And it is our death that is our pathway to life. We rarely make it to Romans 6 living, where we realize when we were saved, we died with Christ, and we are raised with him. How does it all work? By faith. Reckon it to be so, because it is so. Live in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, die to yourself and your life becomes about him. And ultimately our physical death is our pathway to eternity with Jesus, so for the true believer, death holds no fear, and has no sting. In the world you will find Delilah. She is the Philistines champion, and they will wheel her out on you, to destroy your life. She looks anything but harmful to the carnal, unlearned, unwise eyes, but she is more deadly than anything you will face.  When king Jehu came to deal with Jezebel, her son saw him coming and said… Is it peace? What is your answer? Is there peace with you and Jezebel, or will you deal with her according to the word of God, by the word of God? It takes the word of a king to dethrone Jezebel, who is another strange woman of the Bible. The word of Jehu (who was doing what God wanted him to do) was sufficient in dealing with Jezebel once and for all. Jesus is the King, he can do it, he will do it in your life, his Word is final. What you need is a heart that truly seeks him, that loves truth, that believes in and receives the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t let Delilah ruin your life, don’t cuddle up with her anymore.

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