The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.
They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”
The City door is lost, and really embarrassing Judges 16: 3
But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate,
together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all.
He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
The love of Samson Judges 16:4-5
Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength
and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him.
Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
The trick of a beautiful girl Judges 16:15-16
Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me?
This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”
With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
Love makes our eyes blind Judges 16:17-21
So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb.
If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines,
“Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.
After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.
And his strength left him.
Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that theLordhad left him.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.
Summary
1. God gives us good health under His great plans
2. Do not lose your strength over something that is irrelevant, and give attention to others more than to God
3. Do not allow people to lure and trick us into doing wrong.
