Judges 16

18–20 Delilah called the Philistine rulers back, received her silver, and then put Samson to sleep, perhaps by means of a drug. Then she cut off his hair. With his hair cut off, Samson was easily seized. The saddest moment came when Samson realized that the LORD had left him (verse 20). The Lord, through His Spirit, had been the sole source of Samson’s strength.

But perhaps there was an even sadder moment: right after Samson awoke, says the writer, he did not know that the Lord had left him. This is the experience of many Christians today. Through a gradual slide into sin and worldliness, they have lost the presence and power of God in their lives and they are scarcely aware of it. They have provoked God to withdraw from them, and they do not sense His absence. These are the people who persist in thinking all is well when, in fact, all is not (see Revelation 3:17–20). God may have to “shake them up”—let’s hope more gently than He shook up Samson!

21–22 The Philistines seized Samson, gouged out his eyes, and took him to Gaza, the city whose gate he had carried away earlier (verses 1–3). There they condemned him to grind grain in a prison for the rest of his life. But the writer adds a final note: the hair on his head began to grow again—pointing ahead to the final act of Samson’s life.

The Death of Samson (16:23–31)

23–24 Some time later, the Philistines held a great celebration to honor their god Dagon, who, they said, had delivered Samson into their hands. How wrong they were! The God of Israel had delivered Samson into their hands—and for this very purpose: to demonstrate that He alone was God. And God would demonstrate this by having Samson topple Dagon’s temple down upon the heads of the Philistines. Yes, God had temporarily left Samson because of his sinfulness; but He would return to Samson in time to fulfill that for which He had raised up Samson in the first place: to begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). More battles with the Philistines were yet to come, but this demonstration of the supremacy of Israel’s God laid the foundation for Israel’s final victory over the Philistines during the reign of David.

25–31 During the celebration the Philistines called on Samson to amuse them with feats of strength. We are not told if Samson’s strength had already returned at this point; perhaps the people merely wanted to mock him for his lack of strength. But “amuse” the people Samson surely did—by bringing the temple of Dagon down upon their heads. Three thousand Philistines died, in addition to Samson himself. Even at the end, Samson was focused on personal revenge (verse 28). But God used him that day to gain for Israel a great spiritual victory.

What are we to think of Samson? It is easy to condemn his obvious weaknesses: his self-centeredness, his lust, his anger, his lack of self-control (Galatians 5:23). He was a man of great potential, but he failed to live up to it. Yet, in spite of all this, God was pleased to use him. And the writer of Hebrews ranked him among the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:32).

Do we not see something of ourselves when we look at Samson? Our sins may be different, but we too fail to live up to our potential. And yet, with the Holy Spirit’s help and with the frequent confession of our sins, we too will be used by God for His glory. And that is the ultimate purpose of our lives.