“My hair is in seven braids,” Samson replied, “So if you weave my braids into the threads on a loom and nail the loom to a wall, then I will be as weak as anyone else.”
So while Samson was asleep, Delilah wove his braids into the threads on a loom and nailed the loom to a wall. Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”
So Samson woke up and pulled the loom free from its posts in the ground and from the nails in the wall. Then he pulled his hair free from the woven cloth.
WAS SAMSON DROPPED AT BIRTH?
NOW I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I THINK SAMSON MUST HAVE BEEN ONE DUMB-ASS IF HE WASN’T CATCHING ON TO DELILAH’S INTENTIONS BY NOW. I MEAN, LOVE IS GRAND AND EVERYTHING, BUT JUST HOW FAR WAS HE WILLING TO GO BEFORE HE STOPPED THIS GAME THAT WAS BOUND TO LEAD TO HIS CAPTURE AND DESTRUCTION? HOW COULD HE NOT RECOGNISE DELILAH’S TRUE INTENTIONS? MEN WITHOUT THE INDWELLING OF YAHUSHA'S SPIRIT CAN BE THAT BLINDED BY A SEDUCTIVE FEMALE, THEY’RE SUCKERS FOR OUTWARD BEAUTY AND SEXY FLIRTATIONS.
EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE MAJOR RED FLAGS IN THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WE’LL STILL PURSUE IT BECAUSE THE LAUNCH SEQUENCE HAS BEEN STARTED AND WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO STOP IT. SEX IS MAYBE THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE THERE IS BETWEEN HUMANS. IF SAMSON HAD A FAMILY FRIEND WHO WAS A GIRL, OR MAYBE HAD A SISTER, SHE WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY SEEN THROUGH DELILAH’S INSINCERITY. BUT SAMSON DIDN’T SEEM TO HAVE ANY OF THOSE; HE WANTED SEX AND NOT TOO MUCH ELSE FROM A WOMAN. SO WE DON’T EVER READ OF SAMSON HAVING ANY FRIENDSHIPS WITH HEBREW WOMEN BECAUSE THE INSTRUCTIONS OF MOSES DON’T STAND FOR ILLICIT SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE.
“Samson,” Delilah said, “You claim to love me, but you're fullof it, you don’t mean what you say, just full of lies! You’ve made me look like a fool three times now, and you still haven’t told me why you’re so bloody strong.”
So Delilah started nagging and pestering him day after day, until he couldn’t stand it any longer, and finally, Samson told her the truth. “I have belonged to Yahuah ever since I was born, so my hair has never been cut. If it were ever cut off, my strength would leave me, and I would be as weak as anyone else.”
And Delilah realised that he was telling the truth, so she sent someone to tell the Philistine rulers, “Come to my house one more time. Samson has finally told me the truth.”
So the Philistine rulers went to Delilah’s house, and they brought along the silver they had promised her. Delilah had lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap. Then she signalled to one of the Philistine men as she began cutting off Samson’s seven braids.
And by the time she was finished, Samson’s strength was gone. So Delilah tied him up and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”
And Samson woke up and thought, “I’ll break loose and escape, just as I always do.” But he did not realise that Yahusha had stopped helping him.
HE HAD QUITE AN EGO DIDN'T HE, SO FULL OF HIMSELF THAT HE DIDN'T EVEN REALISE THAT YAHUSHA HAD LEFT HIM.
BAD HAIRCUT ?
WHY DID LOSING HIS LONG HAIR END HIS STRENGTH? IT WAS BECAUSE HE HAD LOST THE FINAL SYMBOL OF HIS SET-APART AND UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA. I SAID SYMBOL BECAUSE THE EXISTENCE OF HIS HAIR ITSELF WAS NOT MAGICAL NOR DID IT CARRY SOME KIND OF MYSTICAL OR COSMIC CONNECTION TO YAHUSHA PER SE. JUST LIKE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES, WHEREBY THE BLOOD OF BULLS AND GOATS CARRIED NO INHERENT POWER IN IT BUT RATHER IT WAS THE DOING OF THESE RITUALS IN ACCORDANCE WITH YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTIONS THAT WAS THE ISSUE, IT WAS THE SAME WITH SAMSON’S HAIR. IT WAS A MATTER OF OBEDIENCE TO YAHUSHA FOR SAMSON TO KEEP HIS LONG HAIR. WHEN A MAN DISOBEYED YAHUSHA, CONFESSED IT TO YAHUSHA, AND BROUGHT HIS SACRIFICE OF ATONEMENT (WITH A GENUINE REPENTANT HEART) TO THE ALTAR IT WAS ALL ABOUT OBEDIENCE, NOT MAGICAL POWER. A NAZIR HAD PRECISE YAHUSHA-ESTABLISHED OBSERVANCES WRITTEN DOWN IN THE TURAH THAT HE WAS TO FOLLOW: EAT NO GRAPE PRODUCTS, DON’T TOUCH A HUMAN CORPSE, AND DON’T CUT YOUR HAIR. DON’T OBSERVE THESE AND THE NAZARITE VOW IS BROKEN. LET ME PUT THAT ANOTHER WAY: BREAK THE TERMS OF THE VOW AND THE PERSON IS NO LONGER A NAZARITE. THE SPECIAL AND SET-APART RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA IS DISSOLVED AND WITH IT WHATEVER POWER OR SPECIAL ANOINTING THAT COMES FROM IT.
WHEN SAMSON’S HAIR WAS SEVERED FROM HIS HEAD, YAHUSHA DEPARTED FROM HIM. YAHUSHA WAS HIS STRENGTH, ALTHOUGH I’M NOT SO SURE SAMSON UNDERSTOOD THAT AT FIRST. UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION: YAHUSHA HAD IMBUED SAMSON WITH SUCH AMAZING STRENGTH THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE FORCIBLY TAKEN THE SYMBOL OF HIS NAZARITE RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA FROM HIM (A SYMBOL THAT YAHUSHA ESTABLISHED AND HE WANTED IT TO BE USED). BUT SAMSON TOYED WITH IT; HE USED THAT DIVINE SYMBOL OF UNCUT HAIR AS PART OF A DANGEROUS AND FRIVOLOUS GAME WITH A GIRL WHO WAS ESSENTIALLY A WHORE AND WORKING FOR THE ENEMY. AND HE SO ALLOWED HIS LONG HAIR (AS A SYMBOL OF HIS OBEDIENCE) TO SLIP AWAY FROM HIM BECAUSE HE HAD DEVALUED IT SO MUCH.
WHEN SAMSON’S INSATIABLE LUST FOR SEX AND BEAUTIFUL PAGAN WOMEN FINALLY OVERWHELMED HIM IN THE PERSON OF DELILAH, HE REACHED THE POINT OF NO RETURN. IT WOULD JUST BE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE WAS WILLING TO MAKE THE ALL-IMPORTANT SYMBOL OF HIS SPECIAL AND SET-APART NAZARITE STATUS BEFORE YAHUSHA (HIS LONG AND UNCUT HAIR) SOMETHING HE WAS WILLING TO RISK LOSING IF IT MEANT HE COULD CONTINUE IN HIS FLESHLY PLEASURES. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT CONSCIOUSLY HE NEVER THOUGHT THAT LOSING THAT SYMBOL (AND WITH IT HIS SET-APART RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA) WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN; BUT NEITHER DID HE ANY LONGER VALUE IT SO MUCH THAT HE WOULD PROTECT IT AT ANY COST, BEGINNING WITH ALTERING HIS BEHAVIOUR.
So the Philistines grabbed Samson and poked out his eyes. IRONICALLY HIS EYES WERE THE PORTALS OF HIS LUST. HE ALWAYS DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES AND NOW YAHUSHA’S HARSH JUSTICE AND GREATEST MERCY DEMANDED THAT THOSE FLESHLY EYES BE BLINDED TO THE THINGS OF THE WORLD IN ORDER THAT SAMSON COULD FINALLY SEE YAHUSHA.
The Philistines took Samson to the prison in Gaza and chained him up, putting him to work, turning a millstone to grind grain. But they didn’t cut his hair any more, so it started slowly growing back.
GRINDING GRAIN WAS CONSIDERED WOMAN’S WORK AND FOR SUCH A MANLY MAN TO BE REDUCED SUCH A THING, MADE HIM UTTERLY IMPOTENT AND LAUGHABLE TO HIS ENEMIES.
BUT WHILE HE WAS LANGUISHING AWAY IN PRISON, SOMETHING ELSE WAS HAPPENING: HIS HAIR BEGAN TO GROW BACK. IF ONE GIVES IT A LITTLE THOUGHT A GOOD QUESTION WOULD BE: WHY WOULD THE WRITER OF JUDGES RECORD SUCH AN OBVIOUS AND TRIVIAL THING AS THE VERY NATURAL ACTION OF SAMSON’S HAIR GROWING BACK? AFTER ALL THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE UNDER ALMOST ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. OF COURSE THE ANSWER IS THAT THE INSPIRED WRITER HAS SOMETHING MORE IN MIND HERE AND IT IMPLIES A
RE-EXAMINATION BY SAMSON OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA AND RECOGNITION OF HIS PERSONAL FAILINGS. SAMSON WAS READY TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIS WICKEDNESS AND WAS GOING THROUGH THE TERRIBLY PAINFUL PROCESS OF TRUE REPENTANCE. AND REPENTANCE WOULD LEAD TO SOME DEGREE OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTHENING AND SOME AMOUNT OF RESTORATION OF HIS NAZARITE STATUS. THIS IS A PATTERN FOR US TO ALL BE ACUTELY AWARE:
1) IF WE ARE DISOBEDIENT, OUR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH WILL DETERIORATE.
2) AS OUR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH DETERIORATES OUR USEFULNESS TO THE REIGN OF YAHUSHA AND HIS PURPOSES FOR US BEGINS TO EVAPORATE.
3) WHEN WE HAVE BECOME SO UNTRUSTWORTHY AND DISONEDIENT (WE CROSS A LINE KNOWN ONLY TO YAHUSHA) AS TO CAUSE YAHUSHA TO REACT, YAHUSHA CAN CHOOSE TO DEPART FROM US (AT LEAST IN THE SENSE OF BEING AN ACTIVE PROTECTOR OR INFLUENCE IN OUR LIVES).
4) AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS OUR FALL OR DESTRUCTION IS VERY CERTAIN.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT EVEN WHEN WE HAVE FINALLY COME TO DESTRUCTION, IF WE RECOGNISE OUR WICKED BEHAVIOUR, AND SINCERELY REPENT AND CHANGE, THEN YAHUSHA WILL FORGIVE US AND EMPOWER US ONCE MORE.
DAGON IS USUALLY DEPICTED AS IN THE FORM OF HALF-MAN, HALF-FISH (AFTER ALL THE PHILISTINES WERE CALLED THE SEA PEOPLES AND THEIR TERRITORY CRAWLED ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA). HOWEVER DAGON’S FUNCTION WAS AS THE DEITY OF GRAIN AND HARVEST, SO FERTILITY ALSO PLAYED A ROLE IN DAGON’S SPHERE OF INFLUENCE. NO DOUBT IT WAS AN AGRICULTURAL FESTIVAL OF SOME SORT THAT WAS UNDERWAY IN PHILISTIA. WHAT IS EVEN SADDER THAN SAMSON’S PITIFUL CONDITION IS THAT THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL WAS SEEN BY THE ENEMIES OF YISHARAL AS DEFEATED BY DAGON THE DEITY OF THE PHILISTINES; AND YAHUSHA IS ALWAYS CONCERNED THAT THE ACTIONS OF HIS SET-APART PEOPLE NOT REFLECT BADLY ON HIM OR GIVE HIS ENEMIES FALSE CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION. DON’T THINK ANY OF THAT HAS CHANGED.
One day the Philistine rulers threw a big party and sacrificed a lot of animals to their deity Dagon. And the rulers said: “Samson was our enemy, but our deity Dagon helped us capture him! And everyone there was having a good time, and they shouted, “Bring out Samson, he’s still good for a few more laughs!”
WHILE IT WAS NOT FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF MOCKING SAMSON THAT THEY ASSEMBLED, THEY DID OFFER UP THANKS TO DAGON FOR HANDING SAMSON OVER TO THEM.
So the rulers had Samson brought from the prison, and when the people saw him, this is how they praised their deity: “Samson ruined our crops and killed our people. He was our enemy, but our deity Dagon helped us capture him”.
So they made fun of Samson for a while, then they told him to stand near the columns that supported the roof. A young man was leading Samson by the hand, and Samson said to him, “I need to lean against something. Take me over to the columns that hold up the roof.”
Then the Philistine rulers were celebrating in a temple packed with people and with three thousand more on the flat roof. They had all been watching Samson and making fun of him.
IN THOSE DAYS IT WAS TYPICAL THAT SUPPORTING PILLARS WERE NOT ONE LARGE CARVED PIECE, BUT RATHER WERE SOME SMALLER CYLINDRICAL SECTIONS STACKED UP TO FORM A PILLAR. SO SAMSON WAS ABLE TO PUSH ONE OF THOSE SECTIONS ON EACH PILLAR FAR ENOUGH ASKEW THAT THE COLUMN’S STONES NO LONGER LINED UP AND SO THEY CRUMBLED. MANY EXAMPLES OF THAT ERA OF ANCIENT TEMPLES IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE BEEN FOUND AND CATALOGUED, AND IT WAS COMMON FOR THEM TO BE QUITE LARGE. IT WAS ALSO COMMON THAT THE ROOF WAS USED FOR THE REGULAR FOLKS TO GATHER (LIKE THE OVERHANG ABOVE A PORCH) AND WATCH THE CEREMONIES BELOW AS CONDUCTED BY PRIESTS AND DIGNITARIES. IN THIS CASE WE’RE TOLD THAT THE CHIEFS OF THE PHILISTINES WERE THERE, MEANING AT THE LEAST THE KINGS OF THE 5 MAJOR PHILISTINE CITIES, THE SAME ONES WHO HIRED DELILAH TO DECEIVE SAMSON.
Then Samson spoke to Yahusha, “Please remember me, my Alahim Yahuah. The Philistines poked out my eyes, but please make me strong again one last time, so I can at least take revenge for my eyes!”
Samson was standing between the two middle columns that held up the roof and he felt around and found one column with his right hand, and the other with his left hand.
Then he shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!”
And he pushed against the columns as hard as he could, and the temple collapsed with all the Philistine rulers and everyone else still inside. And Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he had killed during his entire life.
SAMSON DIED IN A STATE OF FAVOUR BUT AS A BROKEN AND SHAMED MAN BECAUSE OF HIS OWN BEHAVIOUR AND CHOICES. SAMSON COULD HAVE BEEN HONOURED TODAY AS KING DAVID IS HONOURED; BUT INSTEAD SAMSON CHOSE THE WAY OF THE FLESH AND PREFERRED FELLOWSHIP WITH YAHUSHA’S ENEMIES RATHER THAN WITH YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE. SAMSON HAD SO RUINED THE UNIQUE GIFT THAT YAHUSHA HAD GIVEN HIM THAT ALL THAT WAS LEFT FOR HIM WAS TO LOSE HIS LIFE IN ONE FINAL ACT OF PERSONAL REVENGE; AN ACT THAT AT LEAST SERVED A PURPOSE IN YAHUSHA’S REIGN. YES, JUST AS IN THE PAST, IT WAS ALWAYS SAMSON’S PASSIONS AND LUSTS THAT LED TO THE CONFLICTS HE CAUSED,
AND THEN AVENGING AND REVENGING THAT CYCLED BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN HE AND THE PHILISTINES, EVEN AT HIS DEATH IT WAS NOT YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTIONS FOR HIM TO KILL ALL THOSE PHILISTINES, IT WAS A PERSONAL ACT OF ANGER AND PAYBACK FOR THEIR TREATMENT OF HIM.
And his brothers and the rest of his family went to Gaza and took his body back home, burying him in his father’s tomb (OFTEN SEVERAL FAMILY MEMBERS WERE BURIED IN THE SAME TOMB), which was located between Zorah and Eshtaol. And Samson was a leader of Yisharal for twenty years.
BROTHERS & SISTERS CAN YOU SEE JUST HOW LAWLESS AND DISOBEDIENT YISHARAL HAD BECOME, THAT THIS MURDEROUS, BARBARIAN OF A MAN WAS LIFTED UP AS AN EXAMPLE, AND OBVIOUSLY TRUSTWORTHY ENOUGH (AT TIMES) FOR YAHUSHA TO EMPOWER HIM AND USE HIM AS A JUDGE OVER YISHARAL. THE INCREASE IN LAWLESSNESS AND THE DISINTEREST OF YISHARAL WITH THE DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS HANDED DOWN TO THEM BY MOSES, IS CLEARLY SEEN AFTER ONLY A FEW HUNDRED YEARS. YAHUSHA IS NOT AMONG THEM AND THEY DON'T CARE!! ISN'T THIS A SAD AND SORRY EXCUSE FOR A NATION THAT YAHUSHA ONCE HAD SUCH HIGH HOPES FOR AS HE LED THEM OUT OF EGYPT TO BE HIS TREASURED POSSESSION. CAN YOU SEE NOW WHY HE EVENTUALLY DIVORCED THEM, CAME IN THE FLESH, FIXED THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM (EVIL IN THE FLESH) AND FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR TO ALL THE NATIONS (NO MATTER WHAT LINEAGE), TO BE GRAFTED IN THROUGH BELIEF, REPENTANCE AND IMMERSION IN HIS ONE TRUE NAME FOR EVERLASTING DELIVERANCE.
Once again it needs to be said loud and clear, YAHUSHA DOES NOT CHANGE, so for Him to be so aparantly apathetic of His people's behaviour here in the book of Judges, is not at all a reflection of Him changing what He expects, but more of what Yisharal were determined to do no matter what. Again, imagine Moses, Aaron and Joshua stepping foot into this scene, knowing just how stretched and chastised and trained they'd been in order to host Yahusha's divinity through the inter-dimensional portal on the Ark, right there among them. Look how specific Yahusha was in explaining every single detail that must be done in complete obedience and behaviour, if He was to be among them - the radioactive esteem and thickness of His magnificent shekinah through the fire at night and the cloud by day, as He travelled before them and behind them ensuring their protection and victory.
SO DO YOU WANT SAMSON'S RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA, MOSES AND JOSHUA'S OR AN EVEN DEEPER, CLOSER ONE THAN THAT, NOW THAT THE PORTAL ON YOUR CIRCUMCISED HEART IS NOW OPEN AND YOU CAN HEAR HIS VOICE. THE CLOSER HE COME TO YOU, THE MORE EVIL THAT GETS BURNT UP, PERFECTING YOU AND TRANSFORMING YOU INTO HIS BRIDE.
SO COME CLOSE YAHUSHA AND BURN US IN YOUR PERFECT LOVE TO MAKE US SPOTLESS AND SHINING IN YOUR SIGHT !!