Judges 16:5-21 – The Fall of Samson

⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

⁶ And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

⁷ And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

⁹ Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

¹⁰ And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

¹¹ And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

¹² Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

¹³ And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

¹⁴ And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

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.

Samson’s sin has finally caught up with him! Four times Delilah, his lover, asks him where his strength comes from so that the Philistines can capture him (Samson didn’t know that part at first). The truth of the matter, is that Samson’s strength came from the Lord, but he kept telling her different things like what kind of ropes needed to be used or that his strength came from his hair. Samson kept this going even after three failed attempts by the Philistines to take him prisoner.

On a side note, guys, be careful with girls! There are plenty of good ones out there, bu there are also plenty who couldn’t care less about you as a person (same thing goes for you, girls! Watch out for the guys!) Be careful who you date!

Back to the passage, finally the Spirit of God left Samson (although Samson didn’t even notice that the Lord was not with him anymore). Samson tried to fight his way out, but his strength was gone.

For us Christians, the principle is that our sins will find us out. Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” If you continue in sin (like Samson did) and continue ignore all the warning flags (she sold Samson out to people who wanted him dead!) your sin will catch up to you. There are always consequences for our actions which we can’t control, but we CAN control our actions.

Life Step: Think about it…

Have you ever known someone whose sin and consequences that caught up to them? (No Names)

What are some unexpected consequences of sin?

Samson had several red flags about his actions (from his parents disapproval to Delilah trying to have him taken prisoner). What kind of red flags to we see for our sins?