Lessons from Samson to Live (or Die) By

“Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah” Judges 16:4.

Most people have probably heard the story of Samson and Delilah. But, in case you haven’t, here is a short synopsis from Christianity.com.

To read the account from the book of Judges, click here. Delilah was a Philistine. She was therefore an enemy of God’s people and represents sin or temptation. Our only true enemy isn’t the devil or other people. It is sin.

Samson lacked wisdom. He flirted with temptation and didn’t know himself well enough to know he would be ensnared by it. A wise person certainly would not have had such an intimate connection with someone who was clearly his enemy.

As mentioned earlier, she was a Philistine. They were enemies of God’s people. And she didn’t even try to hide her malicious intent toward him.

Lessons From Samson: He Flirted with Temptation

Ultimately, he was destroyed by this enemy he loved and was intimately involved with. I think this account illustrates the danger of flirting with temptation. And supposing we’re strong enough to withstand it.

It’s a picture of someone with a drinking problem who’s trying to stay sober. But he hangs out with alcoholics. Or he allows himself to have a drink or two now and then. Or he stops going to his support group.

It’s a picture of a woman with an eating problem, who buys cake mixes because they’re on sale. Or she keeps the kids snacks a little too accessible. Or she goes to party’s and events where she knows she’ll be tempted.

It’s a picture of a guy battling a lust problem who continues to spend time with and flirt with an attractive woman at work. He refuses to be open and honest about the problem and hold himself accountable.

He frequents places (or websites) where he knows they’ll be attractive, perhaps scantily clothed women. “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty” Proverbs 27:12.

I think the root of Samson’s problem was pride. He thought he could have an intimate relationship with his enemy who was clearly trying to destroy him, and not be ensnared. But he was deceived. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” 1 Corinthians 10:12. 

In the same way, we are proud and don’t really know ourselves when we think we can flirt with temptation and not be overcome by it. Maybe we won’t be mastered the first or second time, but eventually we will be, just like Samson.

If We Flirt with Sin Long Enough, Our Strength Will Leave Us

A friend of mine was so sure she wouldn’t have sex with her boyfriend that they spent whole nights together and even slept in the same bed. Eventually, they succumbed to the temptation, of course.

As the old adage goes, if you play with fire, you will get burned. If we continue to flirt with temptation, it will eventually “bind you with shackles” as the Philistines did Samson (vs. 16:21).

And we will also be enslaved to this sin we thought we had such power over. We will be imprisoned by this misdeed we thought we were in control of. If we flirt with sin long enough, our strength will leave us.

And we will be rendered powerless over what we thought we had a handle on. It will enslave, imprison, and eventually destroy us. Just as it did Samson.

Lessons From Samson: Sin Blinds Us to the Truth

Once our strength leaves and we are overcome by sin, our eyes will be “gouged out”, so to speak. In other words, we won’t be able to see. This represents a lack of wisdom or understanding. Once our sin takes hold of us, we will be blind to reality.

Blind to the truth. Rather than putting up even feeble resistance to temptation, we will begin to excuse, justify and rationalize our sin. Until we become enslaved and imprisoned by it.

But, as long as we’re still resisting temptation, we still have the wisdom to see and know the foolishness of it. But, once our strength leaves and we’ve given it to it, we no longer see the truth.

And that’s why we start to convince ourselves that it’s okay. “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” John 7:17.

In other words, as long as we’re still putting up resistance, we will have the Spirit of Truth to guide and protect us. But, once we yield to the sin, we lose the Spirit of Truth and we begin to walk in darkness.

Here’s the progression: flirt with temptation >be lulled to sleep by temptation (relax, don’t be watchful) >give in to temptation (lose strength) >become blind (lose wisdom) >become bound and imprisoned by sin >destroyed by sin.

Temptation Overtook Samson Because It Lulled Him to Sleep

Temptation could not have overtaken Samson if it had not first lulled him to sleep. To sleep represents to relax and not be watchful of temptation. It also represents not using wisdom, since to be wise means “to see”. At that point, he still had wisdom (eyes), but he wasn’t using it.

The first thing sin does to us once we lose our strength and yield to it is gouge out our eyes. We no longer have the Spirit of Truth to lead and guide and protect us. We no longer have wisdom. And we can’t see the truth or reality of our situation.

I know this is true because I’ve lived it. I learned more about how to be a Christian in three years after I overcame my sin than I did in the previous 20!

This is at least in part because for those 20 years I had a sin problem that I continually yielded to. I had an out of control tongue and temper. I think this is a big reason I didn’t understand many of the basic principles of the Christian life. But, once I overcame my sin, I quickly understood them.

Samson Would Not Have Been Destroyed Had He Stayed Awake

The first thing that happens when we yield to sin is we begin to walk in darkness. Samson loved someone who had nothing but ill-will toward him. She sought to destroy him. This is how our sin that we love and refuse to give up is toward us. It has nothing but ill-will toward us.

This is despite the fact that when we are entertaining it, it is pleasant and pleasurable. In the end it will destroy us, just like Delilah destroyed Samson. But sin soothes and comforts us. Much the way Delilah did Samson. It relaxes us and lulls us to sleep.

When we look to put our trust in our sin to meet our needs, we are no longer watchful of it. And destruction is at the door. “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly. . . ” 1Thessalonians 5:3.

Samson would not have been overcome by his enemies- by temptation-had he stayed awake and been watchful.

If we give in to or are “seized” by temptation (vs 21), we will lose our wisdom. So, if we want wisdom, if we want to know the truth, if we want insight and revelation, we must not yield to sin. We have to be strong.

The reason I believe the gouging out of Samson’s eyes represents the loss of wisdom is because when the serpent in the Garden of Eden spoke of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said this: “The day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened”.

Are You Like Samson?

After Adam and Eve partook of the tree of wisdom, Genesis 3:7 says: “Then the eyes of both of them were opened. . . “ So, we can see from these passages that open eyes are a metaphor for wisdom. By implication then, to lose your eyes would represent the loss of wisdom.

When Samson slept in the lap of temptation, he wasn’t using wisdom since his eyes were closed. But when his eyes were gouged out, he no longer had wisdom to use.

Has the Lord ever told you something about yourself that was less than complimentary? I was pretty surprised recently when I felt like the Lord told me I was once like Samson. I would’ve been much happier to hear I was like Abraham or king David or the apostle Paul, but Samson?

Not exactly a stellar example of Christian devotion. I was pretty taken aback though after I realized how many similarities there are.

Like Samson, I had supernatural strength. Not the kind of strength to kill 1,000 Philistines with a jawbone of an ass though. Let me explain. In my young adult years I was miserable all the time. You see, I had a rough childhood.

My father abandoned me when I was an infant. And he left me in the care of a mentally ill mother who was not even able to care for herself, much less small child. I also had an alcoholic abusive stepfather who was meaner than the proverbial junkyard dog. I could go into a lot more detail, but I think you get the picture.

Infused with Strength as I Prayed

I was a Christian at the time. And I would go into my prayer closet every morning feeling weak, depressed, hopeless, overwhelmed and come out an hour later infused with strength, hope, peace and joy!

“Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” Isaiah 40:31.

This infusion of strength enabled me to accomplish my daily duties as a wife and mother. Otherwise, I’m quite sure I would’ve been too depressed to even function. Now, from a human perspective, it doesn’t make much sense that going into a dark room by myself with the door closed for an hour would change me so dramatically.

The Lord was giving me strength by His Holy Spirit. Powerful evidence of this supernatural strength lies in the fact that despite being so miserable and depressed, I never medicated my pain with alcohol or drugs or food or shopping or anything else.

I also worked hard at not being angry or rebellious, bitter or full of self-pity. And believe me, I had plenty to medicate and be bitter about. One example is that my mom’s boyfriend raped me when I was six years old. Another example is my mom put me in the oven, turned it on and held the door shut once when she was drunk.

When I’m Weak, Then I’m Strong

I also stayed in a marriage from hell for 19 years until he finally left. At the time I perceived my husband to be the source of all my woes. I have since realized this was not the case, but at the time it took what felt like Herculean (or Samsonian?) strength to stay. That’s because in my mind I would never get my need to love and be loved met in that marriage.

So, the first way I was like Samson was the supernatural strength. Let me emphasize if it wasn’t for this supernatural ability the Lord was giving me in prayer, there is absolutely NO WAY I would’ve been able to accomplish any of the above. I was the weakest person I ever knew, period! Maybe this is why the Lord was pleased to strengthen me in this way.

Full of Mixture

The second way I was like Samson is that I was out of control. I was not enslaved to lust like Samson, but to a bad temper. Here’s one example. I punched my then husband in the face and gave him a black eye. These types of angry outbursts didn’t just happen occasionally. It was a daily occurrence, though almost always more verbal than physical.

I called the neighbor boy names, broke doors down and threw a fork at my teenage son’s head. This was all the while I went to church, read my Bible and was being infused with supernatural strength in my prayer time every day. I was full of mixture, just like Samson.

The next way I was like Samson is I was vengeful. Samson’s motives for destroying the enemies of God never rose any higher than vengeance. I’m ashamed to admit this now but the discipline of my children was often nothing more than thinly veiled revenge.

I just wanted to get them back for making me mad. Especially in the early years, I was often too angry when I disciplined them to do it in a way that would truly benefit them.

Lessons from Samson: Within A Razor’s Edge of Death

The final way I was like Samson can be summed up in one word: death. My youngest son Sam was diagnosed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when he was ten. It relapsed when he was 13 and he had to have a bone marrow transplant. He came within a razor’s edge of death.

In fact, if it wouldn’t have been for the prayers of a multitude of saints, I’m convinced he would’ve died. And so were his doctors.

There was continual fighting between family members. He was also relentlessly bullied by his older brother. The constant stress and strife in our home weakened Sam’s immune system.

The connection between stress and the immune system isn’t my idea. This is a well-known medical phenomenon. And I think the reason it struck him and not one of the other kids or Dave or me is because he was predisposed.

I was inadvertently exposed to radiation when I was pregnant with him. And he was born with a genetic defect. These predisposing factors in addition to the constant stress set him up for childhood cancer.

The Lord Wants to Keep Us from Evil

This strife and stress in our home was largely the result of my bad temper. Said another way, it was the result of my sin. It’s very true that the wife and mother sets the emotional tone for the whole family. This is why the Lord doesn’t want us to sin, friends!

It’s not to keep something good from us, but something evil! To read the whole story of Sam’s cancer see Big Promise, Big Giant. To read another post similar to Lessons from Samson to Live (or Die) By, see The Prodigal Son: From Give Me to Make Me. Thank-God, I’ve been delivered of my slavery to sin before it resulted in actual death as it did with Samson.

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