Judges 16:4-21 And it came to pass afterward, that he (Samson) loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
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.
Every one of these men would give her 1100 pieces of silver.
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
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.
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
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.
(These men were in the chamber with Delilah, waiting to do Samson harm. It is amazing to me that they could be there in that room with them waiting.)
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
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.
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.
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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.
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 (knew not) that the Lord was departed from him.
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21-31 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.
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
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Dagon: god of the Philistines
I Samuel 5:1-5 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
If your god is God, then he should be able to set himself in place without human hands. In fact, if your God needs you to set him up, then you show yourself to be god over him.
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
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If your God has no power to overcome other gods, why do you keep him as god?
Prove all things: Hold fast that which is good. I Thessalonians 5:21
Some in today's churches trust in certain things, such as lighting of candles to help with prayer, crossing themselves to "bless" themselves, praying to people who are dead ... Prove all doctrines through Bible ... Where is that in New Testament? If it is not in New Testament, stop bowing down to that doctrine. To bow down to something which is not in New Testament is to worship an idol.
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16 And when the people saw him (Samson), they praised their god (Dagon): for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
Dagon can't even deliver himself.
People set up the most amazing things thinking these things have some kind of power.
On television, I happened upon a game of baseball being played in the College World Series. I was shocked to see people wearing bananas on their heads. The announcer explained it was "for luck". These were adult aged people trusting in bananas for their "luck".
In war movies, I've often seen men, who are about to go into battle where they could die, reach up to their throats and put their hands on a medallion or a cross necklace, trusting in that. Or they cross themselves thinking to bless themselves. I would want something more powerful than that which I could do to bless me, especially at the point where I might die.
John 4:23-24 Jesus said: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship HIM. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship HIM in spirit and in truth.
One woman told me she was offered a job in Baghdad. She went to a friend's house and noticed, on a coffee table, a book about Baghdad. She thought that showed her to go to Baghdad.
I would want "a god" that I felt more stable about than they show in these things.
Many years ago, I was friends with a young man who was 10-years younger than I. He was dating a divorced woman. He prayed, asking God to have the next car he met on the road blink if he was to marry this woman. The car blinked and Bill married the divorced woman.
A few years after that, I saw the following scripture:
Jesus said: Matthew 5:32 whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
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I know all scripture is inspired by God. I believe God can lead me by HIS Spirit. I feel stable trusting in the God who we cannot see with natural eyes. I pray to this God, the God who created heaven and earth, the God who is a spirit and cannot be seen ... But this God, our God, can make Himself known to us by HIS Word which is carried to our minds by the Holy Spirit today! This is a sure God.
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Judges 16:17 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. (3,000)
And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines.
And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein.
So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father.
And he judged Israel twenty years.
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Proverbs 31:10-12 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
The two women Samson chose were incredibly awful, yet I think it is not unusual for women to be terrible.
The first woman, sold out Samson for favors. She trusted other men. When threatened she yielded to the threat. Yet she was married to one of the strongest men who lived on the earth? If she turned to her husband, Samson, and told him of their threat, couldn't he protect her?
The second woman, Delilah, sold Samson for money.
Yet it was all of God, for God wanted occasion to deal with the Philistines.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to HIS purpose.
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