THE CONSEQUENCE OF LAYING YOUR HEAD ON DELIAH’S LAP

Portions of the words that God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5,10 can also be seen in the life of Samson, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. Instead of a prophet, God chose Samson to be a Nazarite and judge in Israel, and he was to pull down the Philistine nation by delivering Israel out of their hands.

Samson’s parents followed God’s instructions on how to raise Samson; however, when Samson became an adult, he was driven by the lust of the eye and flesh. When he saw honey in the carcass of a lion that he had killed, he ate some of it and gave some to his parents. He did not share the fact with his parents that he was doing something forbidden by the laws of God.

When he saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, he coerced his parents to arrange for her to be his wife and when his parents voiced their concern, he insisted that they make the arrangements. Regrettably, this arrangement ended in the death of the intended bride and her father.

Years later, Samson became intimate with a Gaza harlot, again putting his life in danger, but he escaped his enemies due to his strength.

His final, fatal act was with Delilah from Sorek. When the Philistines found out Samsom was regularly visiting her, they arranged with her to betray him for eleven hundred pieces of silver. In Judges 16:6, Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.” Three times Samson lied to her about this, and he was able to escape the trap to ensnare him. Unfortunately, after being continually pestered by Delilah, Samson told her the secret of his strength. She was able to lull him to sleep as he laid his head on her lap, and while asleep, she had the seven locks shaved off of his head. When she prompted him to wake up and said, “The Philistines be upon thee, Samson,” he did not realize his hair and strength were gone. Consequently, the Philistines finally captured him, put out his eyes, and made him their slave.

In his lifetime, Samson made costly mistakes, and despite his mistakes, God still used him to kill the Philistines. However, I believe if he had followed God’s laws, God’s purpose for his life would have still been fulfilled without the tragic end.

Samson’s life warns us of the following:

• Lusting after the wrong thing eventually imprisons you.
• You are deceived when thinking violations of God’s laws are permissible.
• The enemy will find out your vulnerabilities and attack them.
• The enemy will strip you of your strength and take your vision.
• Compromising God’s plan for your life leads to consequences.
• Feeling comfortable laying your head in the lap of a temptress reveals your naivety.