Judges 16:18-21 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. 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. 20 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 {Did not know} that the Lord was departed from him. 21 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.

Sin Can Cause A Believer To Be Castaway

People today think that what God says is “sin” is nothing at all. In fact, some demand the right to sin. We have become so enamored of sexual sin in America that the month of June is “Pride Month”. The first “Pride March” was held on June 28, 1970 in New York City. We have decided to be “Proud” of what God has said is against nature (Romans 1:18-27), a natural result of unrestrained idolatry.

Samson was the twelveth Judge of Israel mentioned in the Book of Judges. Two other Judges, Eli and Samuel, are discussed in 1 Samuel. The Judges were to save Israel from their enemies and to lead them toward obedience to God. As Judges go, Samson was the strongest – but he was probably one of the most disobedient to God. Though a Nazarite from birth (Judges 13:5) from Danite parents, Samson toyed with sexual sin and disobedience. Though Samson is held up as a man of faith in the New Testament:

Hebrews 11:32 (ESV) And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

Samson took his faith in God for granted. He did not stay true to his Nazarite vows. Christians are to stay true to their vows before God. The day you were saved, you were “set apart” to serve God, not yourself. The Apostle Paul warns the Church:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

I wonder is Paul was thinking of Judas Iscariot or Samson when he wrote these words? Samson did not take his Nazarite vows seriously. One of the requirements of the Nazarite was:

Numbers 6:6 (ESV) All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.

And yet Samson ate honey out of a lion’s carcass (Judges 14:8-9), and killed 1000 Philistines with the freshly killed jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15). He was supposed to avoid dead bodies! Yet Samson toyed with his vows.

In Gaza, a Philistine stronghold Samson hired a prostitute (Judges 16:1). It was not long after this that Samson went from an unnamed prostitute to a betraying Delilah.

Samson told Delilah – after some time – that the secret to his strength was his long hair. One of the key provisions of the Nazarite was that “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long” (Numbers 6:5). When Samson told Delilah that part of his vow to God was that his hair not be cut, he fell asleep on her lap. It is possible that Delilah drugged Samson, for the Scripture tells us that Delilah MADE SAMSON SLEEP. He was in such a deep sleep that Delilah was able to call a barber …

Judges 16:19 she called for a man, and she caused him
to shave off the seven locks of his head

Delilah had a barber shave Samson’s head – she didn’t do it herself. Perhaps she felt less guilty doing it this way, or perhaps she was just cold blooded. When his head was bare, Delilah cried out “The Philistines be upon thee, Samson”. As Samson woke up, he didn’t panic. The Bible says that

Judges 16:20 {Samson} {Did not know} that the Lord was departed from him

These are some of the saddest words in the Bible. Samson thought that he could play with sin, wake up, and shake it off like he did so many times before. But the devil crept up on him. You may get away with sin for a time, dear soul, but it will eventually catch up to you.

Illustrate: I heard about two boys who loved to eat duck, but were too poor to own a gun. These boys tried swimming up to the ducks in the local pond to try and catch them, but try as they might the ducks would see them coming and take off. One day they thought … let’s get some pumpkins and toss them into the pond. They did this, and the floating pumpkins bobbed in the water for several days until the ducks got used to them. Then the boys hollowed out two pumpkins, put eye holes in them, and eased themselves into the water. In a short time the boys had caught all the ducks they could possibly eat!

Sin is just like this. Satan is just like this. He sneaks up on us, and bobs around like a floating pumpkin. Then one day … LOOK OUT! Samson thought he would do as before, but this time the Philistines were ready – for God was no longer with Samson!

Sin BLINDS, Sin BINDS, and Sin BLINDS

Judges 16:21 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.

This verse is a natural three part sermon! Look what sin did with Samson.

Sin BLINDED Samson.
Sin BINDED Samson.
Sin GRINDED Samson.

The Bible says in Numbers 32:23, “be sure YOUR SIN will find you out”. Samson played with sin for 20 years, for he judged Israel for 20 years before the Philistines got him. Many of you think that God will be mocked. There was a time when you were faithful to God, but then you drifted, skipping the fellowship of the Saints, making up lies to justify why you no longer worship the Lord with others. And just like Samson every day you wake up, feeling safe in the arms of Delilah, thinking everything will always be fine.

Sin BLINDS you!

You think you are Heaven bound, but you have none of the characteristics of the Child of God. The Child of God has two royal laws that MUST be followed:

Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV) {Jesus} said … You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

The first commandment is that you are to love God with your ALL. If Samson had loved God with his ALL, he would not have laid in the arms of Delilah. The second commandment is that you are to LOVE OTHERS the way that YOU WANT TO BE LOVED. It is NOT to be selfish, nor to be a liar. The Nazarite vow was to NOT CUT YOUR HAIR, but to dedicate yourself to God. The Christian vow is to dedicate yourself unto God. What does the Scripture say?

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sin BINDS you!

Judges 16:21 {the Philistines} brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass

Samson liked beautiful, bejeweled women. It is poetic that he was bound with shiny “fetters of brass”, like jeweled bracelets!

When Samson was blinded, he was also bound and brought right back where he first started chasing prostitutes. It was in Gaza that he met a prostitute, and it was from Gaza that Samson went onward (or downward) to find Delilah and the devil. Our Lord Jesus told us:

John 8:34 (ESV) … Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

There are no exceptions.

The alcoholic became an alcoholic by taking the first drink.
The sexual sinner became bound to their lusts the first time
they experimented with the flesh.
The drug addict took a “sample”, that led to the horrors of addiction.
The murderer shed first blood, and would not repent.

EVERYONE who “practices sin is a slave to sin”. The Apostle said:

Romans 6:16 (ESV) Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

When you abandon your Church and ignore God, you become a servant of sin. There are many antichrists in this world that have no function other than to entice you to evil. Peter warned the Church to be careful of these false prophets, saying …

2 Peter 2:14-19 (ESV) They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

Sin would make sport of Samson, just as sin makes sport of you now. There will come a day when – unexpectedly – the Philistine of death will bind you. Will God be with you – or will you meet death without the Lord?

Sin GRINDS you!

Judges 16:21 … and he did grind in the prison house.

Word Study: People think that sin is fun, but it is not fun. It GRINDS, then it KILLS. The word translated “grind” here is the Hebrew ṭāḥan, which means “to crush, to subjugate, to chew up, to make into a concubine”. Samson spent his days when he should have been glorifying God chasing after prostitutes and Philistine women. Now he has become a statistic in human trafficking. He is the devil’s whore. “Do not be deceived – God is not mocked: whatsoever you SOW, you shall also REAP” (Galatians 6:7-8). Samson has become a plaything of the enemy.

But Thank God Our Lord Is Gracious!

Judges 16:22-25 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 23 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. 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 25 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.

I have heard professing Christians say, “What does it matter – who am I hurting but myself?” You are hurting the cause of Christ when you let yourself chase sin and sloth. The Philistines had a party with Samson. After abusing Samson in the prison, grinding his body and soul down daily, they had a national celebration saying “Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand”.

In America We Have A “Pride” Month. The Philistines Had A “Samson” Month. How Did That Turn Out?

Dagon was the true God, and Jehovah but a hoax! Samson was grinding wheat in the prison, wheat that fed the bellies of the unbeliever. Now they brought Samson out so they could celebrate their great victory!

Judges 16:26-27 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. 27 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.

As Samson was led out and chained to the pillars of the Coliseum – a place where the Philistines could mock and celebrate – he asked a young boy to put his hands upon the columns. He claimed that he was too weak to stand, so they lengthened the chains so he could grasp what held him. The Bible tells us that:

Judges 16:28-31 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. 29 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. 30 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. 31 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 burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

Samson never repented of his infidelity to God, but he prayed that God would allow him to punish the Philistines for taking his eyes. Samson was willing to die as long as the enemy died with him – he was like a modern day suicide bomber, or a Japanese Kamikaze pilot from World War II. My commentary notes:

“Samson was a hero, even mentioned among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 (Hebrews 11:32). Yet there is no glorification of Samson and his end … Instead, Samson was a tragic hero, whose life should have ended much differently.”

We can learn one thing from Samson – suicide is a sin, for it is self murder. Yet it is obviously NOT an unforgivable sin, as it was God the Holy Spirit Who gave Samson power to topple the beams of the coliseum. Jesus warned us as His sheep to avoid Satan, for Satan is a thief …

John 10:10 (ESV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jesus came that we might live out our lives in Him and in power. But sadly, many who profess Christ wander away from Him. They lose their power, their blessing, and sometimes their lives. When Jesus shared with us the Parable of the Vine, He warned us:

John 15:6 (ESV) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

This was the life of Samson. The twelveth Judge, he did not abide in Christ, but chased sexual sin. In the end he was thrown away like a dead branch, gathered and thrown into the fire. His end could have been so much more!

A Time Of No Judges, No Kings, And Hired Preachers

As we come to the last 5 chapters of Judges (Judges 17-21), we do not see Judges being raised up by God but the utter corruption of the people when all godly leadership is removed. Israel began to blend their faith with the false gods of the people around them. Chapter 17 starts with a man who stole from his godless mother, a man named Micah:

Judges 17:1-3 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

As we come to chapter 17 we are introduced to a man named “Micah”, the Hebrew “Mîykâhûw” which means “Who is like God”. Yet this man is NOT like God. He has stolen 1100 shekels of silver from his own widowed mother. When she found the 1100 shekels were gone (this is equivalent to what each of the five Lords of the Philistines paid Delilah to betray Samson) she “cursed the thief” not knowing it was her son that did the stealing. Micah on hearing this gave the money back to his mother. My commentary notes:

“Nearly all of the Ten Commandments are broken in Jud 17:1—21:25 (Epilogues I and II): other gods and idols are worshiped (17:3-5); Yahweh’s name is taken in vain (17:13); parents are dishonored (17:1-2); innocent victims are slain (18:27; 19:26-29; 21:10); adultery and rape are committed (19:22-25); others’ property is stolen (17:2; 18:21-27); false witness is borne (20:1-7); and what belongs to a neighbor is coveted (18:27-31; 21:8-24).”[Kuruvilla, p. 250. See also Olson, 2:864-65.] Whereas Judges chapters 3—16 record Israel’s struggles with her external enemies, chapters 17—21 document the internal conditions of the nation that made her so weak. In chapters 17—18 we see Israel abandoning God, and in chapters 19—21 we see her destroying herself.

When Micah returns the money to his mother, she reveals that the purpose of the silver was to make a graven image to worship. This may have been an image of a false god (like Baal or Ashtoreth), or it could have been an image that represented the God of the Scripture. The mother said “I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord”, whereas the word “Lord” is the Hebrew Yᵊhōvâ or Jehovah. It sounds as if she was making an image to represent the God of Scripture. Yet the Lord told us in the first of the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:4-5 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God …

When Aaron made Israel a golden calf to worship at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:4-5), it was his sincere desire to represent the God of the Scripture. But the God of the Bible demands that we worship not an image or an idol, but as Jesus said:

John 4:23 … the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

God demands that we follow Him through His Word, by what He has said for us to do. When we begin to worship images, it will not be long before we depart from God entirely. When Micah took the 1100 shekels of silver back from his mother, notice what he did:

Judges 17:4-5 Yet {Micah} restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

ALL of the money was dedicated to God, according to his mother. But when it came time to make the idol, the mother only took “two hundred shekels of silver” to make the idol. Once Micah had an idol to worship, he made more gods to follow. We read “Micah had an house of gods”. Having many gods to worship, Micah needed a priest. So Micah made some priestly clothing. He made an “ephod”, a ceremonial breastplate worn by priests as they led people in worship. The “teraphim” are tiny hand held gods or objects used in worshiping the gods. In Genesis 31 Rachel steals the teraphim belonging to her father Laban when her husband Jacob escapes. Teraphim were about the size of G.I. Joe or Barbie dolls, and were small enough to put in the pocket.

Micah creates idols to worship. He then creates the uniform and accessories of the priest. Finally, Micah creates a priest by making one of his own children to be a priest. This is absolutely in violation of God’s ordinance. The priests of Israel were to come from Aaron and his progeny:

Numbers 3:10 and you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.

Anyone not of the House of Levi was forbidden to be a priest. But Micah – a man from the Tribe of Ephraim (one of Joseph’s progeny) – made his son a priest. But Micah did not care. Why? We end with this:

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

There was “no king in Israel”. Every person determined right and wrong based on what they thought – not based on God’s Word. Sadly, this is the direction America is rapidly going. May God get hold of His people before we run off the cliff as a nation. Next week we’ll return to this study. Amen and Amen.