Lessons from Delilah

Good day,

 

I am still in utter disbelief that I titled this blog “lessons from Delilah”. I mean, we all know that Delilah did Samson dirty, what could we possibly learn from the girl? So, my pastor has been teaching a series on Samson; well, it started as a teaching on the various judges but then slowly became a series on perhaps the most notable judge recorded specifically in the book of Judges: so (as I wave my hands in surrender), no shade to Samuel, I know that he was exceptional but this is solely looking at the judges recorded in the Book of Judges. Now that I am done overexplaining myself 😊, let’s get to it.

 

As I was saying, we have been learning about Samson, and Delilah is one of the key figures in the story because of the role she played in the capturing of Samson by the Philistines. Delilah is introduced in Judges 16 after Samson spots her and falls in love.

 

“4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.”

 

Just reading this verse alone makes me question Samson’s decision; please forgive me as I go off the tangent for a few seconds. How does Samson fall for a woman in the valley of Sorek? In essence Samson loved languishing (Delilah) in the valley of a vine (Sorek)? I honestly hope someone can help me understand this.

Strongs:

Delilah (H1807): meaning languishing

Sorek (H7796): meaning a vine

 

Why do I have a problem with this? Let’s go back to Judges 13 for a moment and remind ourselves of the instructions given to Manoah and his wife in raising Samson.

 

Verses 3 - 5

 ^“3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. ⁴ Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: ⁵ For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

 

Verses 12 - 13

 ^“12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? ¹³ And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. ¹⁴ She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.”

 

Let’s also take a moment and read Numbers 6 regarding the Nazarite vow. The Word of God says the following:

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: ³ He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. ⁴ All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. ⁵ All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. ⁶ All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. ⁷ He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. ⁸ All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.”

 

Samson had no business being around a vine or the products thereof. Yes, the verses above do not say that Samson should not enter a vineyard or be close to one; however, in his case, because of the stringent rule to separate from products of the vine, what good could possibly come from a vine that would benefit him? There is a saying that I love, it says, “if you do not wish to sin, stand not at the door of sin!” Why even be close to the thing you are prohibited from partaking of. What was Delilah, the Woman in the vine, carrying within her? Was Samson not impacted by the influences of Sorek (a vine) within her?

 

This just reminds me of how we, as believers, sometimes find ourselves in spaces that are not ideal or conducive for our walk of faith. We excuse our presence in those places by saying that we are not actively partaking or participating in the activities thereof e.g., spending time in a club or tavern and saying it ok because unlike other patrons, you are not drinking;  or spending time with corrupt people and saying you just prefer their companionship but you, unlike them, are not corrupt (Do we not know that bad company corrupts good character?).

 

Wow, I am so far gone from the topic at hand… 😊 (return, return, oh Happy)

 

I told you I am deviating. Ok, I am back. I guess my short-left resulted from the view that perhaps had Samson stayed away from the woman in Sorek, he would have done even greater exploits and lived a longer life. But it happened and it is in the past, all that we can do is learn from it. Anyway, back to judges 16. So, scripture tells us that the philistines came to know of Samson’s love for Delilah, thus they asked her to entice him and find out the source of his strength. Did Delilah not oblige when asked to do this? Well, she was promised money, I guess that was a good enough reason for her.

 

From this, I learnt that choosing wrong people as companions could and will most likely cost you purpose, hope and a future. Ironically, the wrong people we choose, who stifle our progression, benefit from our bad decisions. Be aware of Delilah, she will sell you and cost you your vow to God.

 

Can you believe I have yet to make my main point, here it is: the first few lessons I learnt from Delilah are persistence, perseverance, and consistency. This woman was formidable in this regard. Say what you want about how messed up she was, but she was like a dog with a bone when it came to pestering Samson about revealing the source of His strength or the probable cause for weakening him. Delilah understood the assignment and grabbed the bull by the horn. Delilah’s pursuit for the truth and the final outcome of the said pursuit are all that we need to understand that persistence and consistency pay off.

 

She asked Samson about his strength and planned ambushes for him over and over again until she wore him out; she even resorted to emotional blackmail. The Word of God puts it better. Judges 16

 

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. ¹⁶ And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.

 

She ensured that daily she asked him about his strength; you can’t tell me that her commitment to the cause is not admirable. She stayed the course until the end. Please hear me out, I am not in support of her intentions, her greed and self-centeredness, etc. I am, however, willing to learn her strategy when pursuing the truth. Her approach reminded me of the scripture that says we should pray without ceasing i.e., 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It also reminded me of the gospels i.e., Matthew 7: 7 – 8; and Luke 11: 1 – 14.

 

Luke 11 (NIV)

^“5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. ⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

 

(AMPC)

⁸ I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹ So I say to you, Ask and ^[b]keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and ^[c]keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and ^[d]keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

 

The Word of God encourages us to be persistent, to intreat the Lord about His Word, His promises, and everything. Unlike with Samson, we cannot wear God out or tire Him, He delights in our prayers. Persistence in prayer shows Him the magnitude / intensity of our desire for the things we are praying about, and rest assured, He hears us, it is not in vain. A philistine woman managed to bring down a man that leaders and esteemed philistines could not touch because of how she persisted, as well as persevered. What outcomes can be realised if we could just hold on a little bit longer? if we could stay the course? At times it feels like we are not getting there, or seeing the fulfilment of the promises of God but we should not be deterred by how things look. Press on! Steward the Word / Promises that God gave you; believe God, trust Him, pray without ceasing. What will you loose by consistently praying and waiting on God? Absolutely nothing!

 

Matthew 15: 22 – 28

“²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. ²³ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. ²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. ²⁷ And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. ²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”

 

Can you imagine what would have been had the woman above accepted defeat and walked away after Jesus’ response in verse 26. Her daughter would never have been made whole. But because she stood the course, she experience a breakthrough. She ensured that the Lord heard her and responded to her with the response that she had hoped for. The Lord Jesus Christ is faithful to answer.  There are so many stories in the Bible that show us the outcome of persistence, consistency, and perseverance. We have to decide if we are going to trust God and stand on His Word.

 

As I am writing, I am thinking about Mark 2: 3 – 5

“³ Then they came, bringing a paralytic to Him, who had been picked up and was being carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him; and when they had [a]scooped out an opening, they let down the [[b]thickly padded] quilt or mat upon which the paralyzed man lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith [their confidence in God through Him], He said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven [you] and put away [that is, the [c]penalty is remitted, the sense of guilt removed, and you are made upright and in right standing with God].

 

What the four men and the paralysed man needed from the Lord Jesus Christ was so great and important that nothing could stop them from reaching Jesus Christ: they were desperate for His intervention (their actions say it all). They did all that was within their power to get to Jesus Christ so that they could realise their desired outcome. If that is not persistence, then I am absolutely clueless about what persistence really is.

 

Delilah persevered! Delilah did not love Samson, he was a means to a desired end for her i.e., money. This woman endured Samson for the sake of what she sought to accomplish. She hung in there no matter how challenging it was for her. He lied to her consistently and therefore elongated the time she spent entertaining him. I am of the view that she went into that situation with the belief that it would not take long to find out the truth, but it took a while and she patiently endured. How many times do we find ourselves in unfavourable or difficult situations and just want to walk away? Delilah stayed. Unlike Delilah, we don’t face life alone, God is with us, what reason do we have to give up? If Delilah can endure without God, how much more we who are with the Lord in our hardships? We cannot afford to quit; it is not in the fabric our being, as children of God, to give up because of life’s challenges.

 

We, who are in the Lord do not give up. Quitting is not an option. We are people of faith, those redeemed with the precious blood of the Lamb. We are the sons of the Living God, we are not ordinary, we are exceptional. No matter what we face, we keep on standing, we remain immovable before the Living God. We hold firmly His Word and remain resilient. We ask of the Lord when in need and trust Him to answer as only He can answer.

 

The penultimate lesson I learnt from the woman in Sorek is that the pursuit of the truth is costly but worth it. Pursuing the truth about Samson cost Delilah her time, her mind (strategizing), her peace (frustrations from failure), etc. She invested so much in order to get that money that she was promised. Our pursuit of truth is the pursuit of God. Yes, Delilah did not pursue Samson, she pursued the knowledge of his strength and weakness.

 

Our pursuit for the truth, the bearer of the truth, the subject of the truth and everything about the truth all culminate in the pursuit of the Lover of our souls, our Redeemer, our everything, The Almighty God. Delilah stopped at nothing to discover the truth about Samson, can we please stop at nothing to pursue and know God. Knowing Him is everything, it is life to our bones.

 

Lastly, I learnt from Delilah that the truth should be applied in order to realise its expected outcomes. What do I mean? Every time Samson told Delilah something, even lies, Delilah made haste to implement what she heard (Judges 16: 6 – 20). Our pursuit for the truth is the pursuit of God; as a result, we immerse ourselves in the Word of God to come to the knowledge of the truth: in John 17, Jesus Christ clearly states that the Word of God is the truth. Can we apply the same? when we read or hear the word, let us make haste to implement what we learnt. You want biblical outcomes, do biblical things, this is one of my pastor’s favourite lines. If we do not apply the Word we will not accomplish or realise what the Word says.

I wish I could write about Hanna, Jacob, Isaac, Paul, etc. in relation to this subject but I really need to stop here. Before I go let’s read from the following scriptures:

 

Colossians 4:

² Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.

                      

Philippians 4:

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 

James 1:

⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

 

Luke 21:

¹⁹ By your steadfastness and patient endurance you [d]shall win the [e]true life of your souls.

 

There is so much that I feel I would like to say about this matter, but words fail me. All I can say at this point is please do not loose heart, stay the course and believe that God will make it happen when the time is right. Learn something from Delilah, press on in prayer and do not turn your back on the Word that God spoke over your life.

 

Love

Happy