SENIOR
AGE
GROUP: 14 - 15 YEARS
STANDARD
(GRADE): IX & X
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LESSON – 14
SAMSON AND DELILAH
The
Judges
The
Israelites entered the land of Canaan under the Leadership of Joshua. They
captured the Canaanite cities and made their home in the promised land. Many
years passed, Joshua became old and died. After the death of Joshua, the
leadership of Israel was taken over by the judges. Judges were similar to Kings
who ruled the other countries. They were chosen and revealed by God. They led
the Israelites in battle, in addition to serving as judges and prophets.
Although Moses and Joshua both judged Israel, the period of Judges is usually
counted from the time Othniel started to judge Israel after the death of
Joshua. The period of Judges lasted for about 350 years and it ended with
Samuel.
Samson – “Of the Sun”
After Joshua died, the Israelites started to sin against God. Soon the nearby nations attacked Israel and caused a lot of destruction. Whenever it happened, the Israelites would renounce their sins and cry out to God for help and God would raise a Judge to deliver the Israelites. Once it happened that the Philistines repeatedly attacked and harassed the Israelites for almost 40 years. It was during this time that Samson was born. Samson’s father was Manoah from the tribe of Dan. Samson was special because he was born after an angel appeared to his mother, who could not conceive a child for a long time and informed her of his birth and his Nazirite separation. (To know more about Nazirite vow and separation please read Numbers 6). He was named Samson by his mother, which meant “Of the Sun”. It was foretold by the angel that Samson would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson was endowed with extraordinary supernatural strength from God.
Samson – The
Strongest Man Ever
The Scriptures tell many stories involving Samson’s strength. Once while Samson was on his way, a lion pounced on him. He grabbed the lion with his bare hands and tore it to pieces.
Another instance, Samson told the men of Judah to bind him and take him to the Philistine camp. The Philistines were overjoyed and rose to capture him, but at that moment he tore off the cords as though they were burnt flax. Grabbing the first thing he saw, a donkey’s jawbone, he killed a thousand men.
Another time, Samson went into a city, and word went out that
Samson was there. His enemies set a watch to seize and kill Samson. Samson did
something astounding. He got up at midnight, simply removed the gates by
uprooting the posts to which they were hinged and then lifted them onto his
shoulders. He carried the gates out of the city to a hill overlooking Hebron.
Samson’s
Downfall
Samson’s
downfall began when he began to make foolhardy choices and started to give into
temptations. The Israelites were set apart as a holy nation and were given
distinct rules for living through the Law of Moses as part of God’s salvation
plan. Samson was specially consecrated and set apart to be a Nazirite from
birth. Even though the Nazirite vow can be done within a limited period of
time, Samson was made a Nazirite for his whole lifetime (Judges 13:5). But he
started to break his religious obligations and Nazirite vow by going near and
touching the carcass of dead animals and wanting to marry a gentile Philistine
woman from the neighbouring town of Timnah. Later, he became fond of another
Philistine woman named Delilah. Samson strayed away from God and fell into the
Philistines’ trap.
Delilah’s
Trap
The
Philistine rulers came to know about Samson’s friendship with Delilah and
wanted to take advantage of it to defeat Samson. They came to Delilah and offered her eleven hundred pieces of silver to
find out what made Samson so strong. Delilah was excited about the offer
and was determined to find the secret of Samson’s strength. She went home, made
Samson comfortable and asked him the secret of his extraordinary strength.
Samson responded that if he was tied up with seven new bowstrings (green
withes) that had not been dried, he would lose his strength. Bowstrings or
withes were made from sinews or intestines of dead animals; an undried
bowstring came straight from a carcass (1) (2). Based on his previous
experience Samson might have been confident that touching something from a dead
body would not take away his strength. But the truth was that he had revealed
one secret of his strength.
Delilah
went and told the Philistine rulers who instructed her to tie up Samson in his
sleep. To Delilah's surprise, Samson had tricked her and was able to break
free. Samson again told that he would lose his strength if tied up with new ropes
but that they had to be new and never used. Samson
was a Nazirite and the Spirit of God was upon him. Still Samson let himself be
humiliated by the Philistines by being bound. Delilah tied up
Samson with new ropes while he slept but he was able to break free.
For the third time Delilah forced Samson to reveal the secret of his strength, Samson told Delilah that if the seven braids of his hair were woven into the fabric on the loom and tightened with the loom shuttle, he would become weak. According to the Nazirite tradition, not even a single strand of their hair should be plucked (3); by letting his hair to be tightened with a loom shuttle, he allowed himself to be weakened. God was still patient with Samson. When the Philistines came back, Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom and the fabric. Delilah felt cheated yet again by Samson for the third time.
Cut Hair
& Broken vow
Delilah was frustrated that she couldn’t find Samson’s strength. She emotionally blackmailed Samson by crying and questioning Samson’s love for her since he could not share the secret of his strength. The next day Delilah asked Samson continually about his strength and tormented him with her nagging that he couldn’t take it anymore. Samson finally revealed everything about his Nazirite vow - that he was given his strength at birth by God and that if his hair was cut and his Nazirite vow broken, he would lose his strength. Delilah quickly summoned the Philistine rulers to her house.
When Samson was asleep, one of the men cut his locks off, and then Delilah cried: "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" Samson sprang up to defend himself. He thought that he could subdue the Philistines as usual, without knowing that the Divine strength he had possessed had departed from him. Samson had tested God many times before, but God who is slow to anger was patient with him. But this time his Nazirite vow was completely broken and the Holy Spirit and his extraordinary strength had left him, without him even realizing it. The Philistines easily overcame him, gouged out his eyes and led him to Gaza in chains. They bound him with bronze shackles and set him to grind grain in the prison. Samson finally had to face the consequences of his actions. Days passed and Samson's hair had begun to grow back, but the Philistines did not take him seriously any longer.
Samson’s
make-believe Love
Little children play a game called make-believe. Make-believe is a game of imagination where they imagine that they are living in a part of the world they have never seen or travelled like the Sahara Desert or Amazon Rain Forest. They make backgrounds of that place, wear the dresses worn by the people, eat dishes and snacks from that place. It is quite fun too. Make-believe is fun only in play and not in real life. Samson had an imaginary make-believe love with Delilah, when her actions showed that she still treated him as an Israelite enemy. Samson imagined Delilah’s love for him, while Delilah was spreading a trap for him. Samson’s make-believe love blinded his mind that he shared the secret of his strength which resulted in his capture, humiliation and ultimate death. Samson never questioned Delilah’s motive and determined effort to find the secret of his strength. Further, Delilah thrice used the information provided by him to try and subdue him, while Samson stayed ignorant and blind to her actions. Samson’s mind opened only after his physical eyes were gouged out by the Philistines.
Lust Vs
Love
Lust is generally described as an inappropriate and intense
feeling of physical attraction toward another person, but it is possible to
lust after or covet just about anything: power, money, property, objects, and,
of course, other people. It is an intense feeling that dominates the thoughts
and can result in actions against better judgment in order to satisfy the
cravings. Lust towards another person generally occurs due to hormonal rush,
without care or concern for the wellbeing of those involved or the future
consequences. Lust compels people to desire things contrary to God’s will or
desire to possess things in a manner that is contrary to His will. At the core
of lust is selfishness and lack of self-control. Genuine love is a feeling that
is driven by a desire to provide for, nurture and care for the other person’s
needs, whereas lust is driven by an ungodly desire to provide for, nurture and
care for ones’ selfish and sinful passions. Lust results in discontentment,
guilt, and despair in life. Genuine love leads to happiness, blessings and
fulfillment in life.
The Four
Loves
The Four
Loves (1968) is a book written by the Great English Author and theologian C. S.
Lewis in which he identified four types of love. Humans are able to feel
different kinds of love, depending on the situations and relationships
involved.
1)
Storge (from the Greek word storge), is an empathy
bond between family members such as the love between a mother and a child.
2)
Philia is the friendship bond.
3)
Eros or romantic love
4)
Agape is the unconditional love. It is a selfless
love which does not wax and wane with situations and circumstances. (4)
Throughout the journey of our lives, we communicate love in different ways and with different levels of intensity depending on the person who is receiving our love. Storge, Philia and Eros are natural love. Natural love is an emotional response felt by our heart towards individuals we care about. It enables men and women to live in a good and harmonious way with their fellow men and women. Agape is a divine unconditional love, which is often contrary to our human nature and inclinations. The natural love displayed to others are at their deepest and most meaningful level when they grow out of agape and a love for God first.
True Love
– The Agape Love of Christ
The Holy Bible teaches us the meaning of true love. True Love is the divine agape love of Christ that was modelled by him. It is the same love which Christ has for the Church. Agape is the selfless and unconditional love of God. It is love in its highest and purest form. This divine love comes from God and it is the greatest Christian virtue every Christian should strive to achieve. I Corinthians 13 explains this Christ-like love.
Anger, rage, violence, abuse, impatience, lies, envy, jealousy, betrayal are never signs of love. The world sometimes tries to convince that these are signs of a strong possessive love. But the truth is that these are signs of a selfish, controlling and manipulative character, which is not love at all. The individual is controlled and led by the flesh with selfish intentions and motivation. Controlling and manipulative individuals try to use flattering words or buy expensive gifts after an explosive rage or violence, it is nothing but a manipulative attempt to cover-up the mistakes. Friendships or relationships with such people usually end in pain, violence and tragedy.
Samson’s
End
The Philistines wanted to publicly humiliate Samson for the days of agony he had made them to endure. The Philistines brought Samson - the strongest man ever and their greatest enemy, out before a great crowd of Philistines gathered in the temple of Dagon to celebrate his capture. Perhaps, Delilah too would have been there to celebrate Samson’s downfall, since there is no indication otherwise. Blind and helpless, Samson was brought there to entertain the crowd. Samson was leaning against the pillars of the temple. Samson would have repentantly thought about his Nazirite vow, his mistakes, and his life’s mission to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson prayed and asked for supernatural strength one last time so that he might get his revenge against the Philistines. God answered his prayer. Samson pushed the supporting pillars of the temple and the entire temple came crashing down. Samson killed himself in the process along with three thousand Philistines. The destruction of the Philistines at the temple of Dagon did much to impede the oppressive actions of the Philistines and was a major factor in their downfall at Mizpah by Samuel and the children of Israel some 100 years later (1 Samuel 7:7 – 14).
Lessons
from Samson
Samson was chosen to be a Nazirite and was endowed with supernatural strength. He was considered to be one of the strongest men to have ever lived on the face of the earth. It was a privilege bestowed on him. Samson however despised his Nazirite vow and lost his strength and honor because of his lack of self-control. Self-control is possible when our desires and will is surrendered to the will of God. The plans of God for our life are always higher and better than our own plans and purposes. This realization coupled with an unwavering faith in God cultivates self-control and patience. Samson followed his eyes; it made him to wander away from the commandments of the Lord too often. In the end, Samson had to live without his eyes. Samson’s momentary decisions led to permanent consequences. Samson’s supernatural strength was lost, when his hair was cut and his Nazirite vow broken, but Samson didn’t even realize it. In the same way, our talents and natural abilities are a gift from God to be used for the expansion and glory of His Kingdom and we too will be disappointed if these God-given talents are used to satiate the desires of the flesh and for worldly glory. Samson’s life is a reminder that we are free to choose, but we are not free from the consequences of our choice.
Reference:
1. Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'WITHES, WITHS, GREEN'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.
2. Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Judges 16:7". "The Adam Clarke Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/judges-16.html. 1832.
3. Posner, M. The Nazir and the Nazirite vow. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/287358/jewish/The-Nazir-and-the-Nazirite-Vow.htm
4. Lewis, C. S. (1960). The four loves. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1960.
Holy
Bible Reference: Judges 13 - 16
Memory Verse: I John 2:16,17
ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITY
I.
Give
one-word answers:
1. The period of Judges is usually
counted from the time ……………………. started to judge Israel after the death of
Joshua.
2. Samson’s
hair was never cut because he was under the ……………………… vow.
3. Delilah
was offered …………………………. to find out the secret of Samson’s strength.
4. Samson
killed ………………………. Philistines along with
himself at the temple of Dagon.
II. Give
short answers:
1. What did Samson do when a
lion pounced on him?
2. What was the reason given by Samson for his extraordinary strength for the third time?
3. What did the Philistines do to Samson when they captured him?
4. How did Samson take revenge against the Philistines at the end of his life?
III.
Give
brief answers:
1. What are the “four loves”? Explain the divine agape love of Christ.
