Living for Christ is a Confused and Confusing Age

A Study of the Book of Judges

Sermon # 11 

“Toying With Temptation.”

Judges 16:1-22 

       “Some people fall into temptation, but some walk into it with their eyes wide open and some even make plans for disaster ahead of time. They are like the little boy

who’s father ordered him not to swim in the canal. ‘Ok Dad,’ he replied. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening. ‘Where have you been?’ demanded the father. ‘Swimming in the canal,’ answered the boy. ‘Didn’t I tell you not to swim there? asked the father. ‘Yes, Sir,’ answered the boy. ‘Then why did you do that? the father asked. ‘Well, Dad,’ he explained, ‘I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.’ ‘Why did you take your bathing suit with you?’ he questioned. ‘So I’d be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted,’ he replied…. Whenever we play with temptation, it is easy to drift into great danger. A woman was bathing in the Gulf of Mexico. She was enjoying the comfort of relaxing on an inflated cushion that kept her afloat. When she realized that she had been swept about a half a mile out from the beach, she began to scream, but no one heard her. A coast guard craft found here five miles from the place where she first entered the water. She did not see her danger until she was beyond her own strength and ability.”  [www.bible.org/illus/temptation]

Judges chapter sixteen has a lot to tell us about the subject of temptation, but there is one all encompassing principle that we need to note. “Samson did not fail because the temptation was too strong, he did not fail because the temptation was inescapable; he failed because he toyed and trifled with sin, until finally, he gave in.” [Gary Inrig. Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay. (Chicago: Moody, 1975) pp. 243-244]

Chapter sixteen begins by revealing Samson’s involvement with a prostitute in Gaza (vv. 1-3). We will pass over this incident except to say that there is some irony here. In Judges 14:2 we were told Samson “saw” a Timnite woman, and then in 16:1 we are told he “saw” a harlot in Gaza. When he is captured by the Philistines, they poke out his eyes so he won’t be “seeing” any more women.

There are a couple of unique features to the story that we now read. In Judges 16:4 we read for the first time that Samson fell in love with a woman. For the first time it is recorded that Samson felt a deep emotional attachment to a woman. In all of the Samson story, while women played critical roles this is the first time that we have a name, Delilah.  Verse four says, “Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. (5) And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

The five rulers of the Philistine principle cities come to Delilah with a bribe, and they tell her - find the source of Samson’s strength and we will pay you handsomely.

       Three things I want you to see with me today regarding “Toying with Temptation!”  

First, A Danger We Need to Recognize

Gary Inrig in his book “Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay” notes three important principles about temptation revealed in the Samson story. [Gary Inrig. Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay. (Chicago: Moody, 1975) pp. 247-249]

(1) Moral compromise makes us vulnerable to temptation. If Samson had never entered into a sinful relationship with Delilah he would have never been open to this temptation.

(2) Temptation comes to us in attractive packages. When sin comes, it will not present itself as something ugly and destructive but as something desirable that we think we cannot live without. John Piper has said sin “gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.” [quoted by Erwin Luzer. “Putting Your Past Behind You.” (San Bernadino, CA: Here’s Life, 1990) p. 54]

Lauryn Hill said this way, "We have an enemy inside of us who tries to convince us that there is something out there that is better than what God wants for us, but that's not true. Every day I remind myself that what God is providing is always the best thing for me."

(3) Temptation comes when we choose the wrong company. There is nothing that shapes our character more than the people with whom we choose to spend our time. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits” or as the New Living Translation puts it, “bad company corrupts good character.”

       Four times in the following verses Delilah tries to extract the information from Samson. The first time is recorded in verse six, “So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you."

       Samson should have immediately sensed the danger, refused to answer and gone home. It would be the equivalent of the banker’s girlfriend asking him, “Oh, by the way how do you disarm the security system and what is the combination to the vault?” Surely the question that comes to mind is, “Exactly why do you want to know?”

       There is not only a Danger we need to Recognize but … 

Secondly, A Desire We Need To Flee

When Delilah began to probe for the secret to his strength, Samson should have sensed the danger and like Joseph in Gen 39 fled as fast as possible. In fact there are three things that Scripture explicitly warns us to flee; immorality (1 Cor 6:18), idolatry (1 Cor 10:14) and greed (1 Tim 6:10-11). In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we are warned, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” The key is to flee. But Samson did not flee. He toyed with her and played with temptation.

       There are in fact four rounds in their sparring, four attempts by Delilah to wheedle the information out of Samson, four false responses by Samson and four actions by Delilah to test the information given her. Time after time she used her considerable skill to try to draw out his secret, but he lied to her each time. We will not read the whole story in its entirely but let me give you a summary.

The first time (vv. 6-9), Samson said that if he were bound with seven bowstrings made of twisted gut he would be rendered without strength. But she soon discovered that was a lie. The second time (vv. 10-12), he told her that new ropes would hold him, again another lie. The third time (vv. 13-14), he told her that he would be powerless if she wove seven locks of his hair together in the loom but it was not so.

Now it would seem to me that if every time I woke up that I discovered that Debbie had tied me up, I might get a little suspicious. As Gary Inrig comments “Samson thought playing with Delilah was a game. It turned out to be Russian roulette, and he bought the bullet. You cannot trifle with sin in your life. If you are like Samson, flirting with Delilah, believing that you can keep sin in bounds, let me warn you that you are playing with a lion. You may stick you head in it mouth once and get away with it….. But one of these times, that lion is will shut its mouth, and you will lose your head, once and for all.” [Gary Inrig. Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay. (Chicago: Moody, 1975) p. 251]

Delilah kept asking Samson the secret of his strength until he grew tired of hearing her nagging and gave in. You have to admit that is a pretty pitiful excuse for disobed-ience.  Verse sixteen reads, “And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, (17) that he told her all his heart ….”

       It is obvious that Samson loved Delilah and just as obvious that Delilah not only did not love Samson. She did not even like him and in fact her actions prove that she loathed him. In verse eighteen we read, “When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart." So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand.”

       There is a Desire We Need To Flee and … 

Third, A Cost We Need To Consider (vv. 19-21)

       This morning I want you to consider with me what Samson lost by yielding to sin.

1. He Lost His Dedication (v. 19) “Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head…”  Numbers 6:7 reads literally “because the consecration of his God is upon his head.” His uncut hair was the lone remaining symbol of dedication of his life to the Lord, but in reality his dedication had long since been abandoned. His Nazirite vow was a like a three strand link to God. Ecclesiastes 4:2 refers to the progressive strength found among brothers, “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (NKJV) The cutting of Samson hair was not something magical. It was simply the last of the three-strand links to God that he had systematically cut, one strand at a time. He drank wine (probably repeatedly) he had contact with a dead body and now he had finally divulged the secret to his strength. Samson has finally broken every part of his Nazirite vow. God had tolerated his disobedience until now. Samson had stepped over the line. But in so doing Samson lost a lot more than just his hair!

2. He Lost His Strength (v. 19) “… and his strength left him.” The most tragic scene in this story of Samson’s tragic fall is Samson’s rising to meet his foes only to discover that the power of God had departed from him.

The ultimate in rude awakening occurs in verse twenty. “And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.”

3. He Lost His Fellowship With God (v. 20)

       I want you to take the time to underline in your text what has to be some of the saddest words in the Bible.  “But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.”

The phrase “departed from him” had only reference to service, not salvation. “Departed” meant powerlessness in service for God.

It is one thing to lack the presence of the Lord in your life, it’s quite another to be so out of fellowship with God that you do not know that you do not know that you lack his presence in your life.

       Samson had moved progressive away from God. Now for the first time he knew what it felt like to be abandoned by God. When people stubbornly, willfully and persistently suppress the truth, God may give them over to their own way. In New Living Translation rendering of Romans 1 we read beginning in verse twenty-four ^?, “So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. …(26) That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other…. (28) When they refused to acknow-ledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done.”

4. He Lost His Light (v. 21a) “Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes….” They blinded him but in fact he had been blinded by sin long before.

       5. He Lost his Liberty (v. 21b) “… and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters….” They bound him but he was already bound by his slavery to sin.

       6. He Lost His Usefulness (v. 21c) “…. and he became a grinder in the prison.” The once mighty man of Israel ended up grinding the corn of his enemies instead of fighting to deliver his people he was helping to provide food for the enemy. Think of what Samson could have done for God if he had used his talents and abilities for the Lord… He could have done so much…

       7. He Lost His Testimony (v.23) He and his God were made the object of contempt. Their idol, Dagon, was given the glory belonging to God.