A Case Of The Bald Head
If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me.
Judges 16:17
The names “Samson and Delilah” live in popular imagination as a romantic ideal. One only needs to read the Bible to learn that this is simple not true. Samson did love Delilah, but it is hard to say exactly what Delilah felt for Samson. She played Samson for a fool—repeatedly—with tragic consequences.
In his commentary on the Book of Judges, Australian scholar Barry Webb suggests the story of Israel is mirrored in the story of Samson. Israel was set apart from other nations by God’s election, Samson was set apart from other people by his Nazirite vow. Israel went after foreign gods, Samson went after foreign women. Samson wound up blind, which is a fitting description of Israel as Judges comes to an end.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 prohibited intermarrying because the future of the nation was at stake. Samson knew this, but he could not help himself. Delilah was his undoing, or, more accurately, the shaving of his hair which cancelled his Nazirite vow was his undoing. Although he was supposed to deliver Israel from the Philistines, he mixed with them constantly. He never acted like he wanted to be set apart. The result is that, unlike the other judges, there is no rest for the land under Samson. He failed to deliver Israel, and all he really accomplished was to kill a few Philistines. After Samson’s death, Israel’s downward spiral continued, and got worse.
It is good, from time-to-time, to have a spiritual examination, to weed out anything sinful that has crept into one's life; Anything that might lead to our downfall.
Bible Reading
Judges 16:15-20.
Prayer
Eternal Father, strong to save, help me to be aware of things that can distract me from the Christian life and thus You. In Jesus name. Amen.
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