DB Week 1

Chapter 8

Facing Your Weaknesses:

Making Them Your Strengths

“WINE, WOMEN, and food,” Bill said, shaking his head. “That’s what most men struggle with.” He paused for a few seconds and added, “And maybe sports, too!”

It was quite an admission from a guy who wasn’t used to self-analysis. In fact, it took everything he had to say that much. Of course, he left off a whole list of other problem areas: pride, arrogance, materialism, anger, jealousy, envy, greed, and self-indulgence. But it was a start.

Bill’s wife had already made a similar observation. “If he can’t eat it, drink it, kick it, or sleep with it, he’s not interested in it,” she said.

After discussing these issues for a while, I asked Bill, “What are you going to do about these temptations?”

He pulled back in his seat as though I had hit a sensitive nerve. He scowled, grimaced, and said, “Hey, everybody’s got weaknesses! Why should I be any different?”

Now, that raises an important question: What difference does it make if we have a few weaknesses? We all fall short, don’t we?

The battle with temptation is not unique to you. It is a universal problem. Everyone faces temptation in one form or another. For some, the struggle is internal: guilt, fear, worry, or depression. For others, the struggle is external: sex, money, fame, and fortune.

The Bible reminds us: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). You’re not the only one struggling with temptation. We all face it! For some, it is a daily struggle. For others, it’s an occasional battle. But for all of us, the battle is a reality of life.

One reason we don’t deal with temptation more effectively is our refusal to admit we have a problem with it. The Scripture says, “But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed” (James 1:14). This puts the blame entirely on me. It’s my fault when I am tempted because I am the source of the temptation.

Bill didn’t like where this discussion was going. So he blurted out, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! That’s my philosophy,” he insisted.

“Yes,” I agreed, “but remember, all too often we don’t die. We just live to suffer the consequences of eat, drink, and be merry!”

We live in a nation filled with alcoholism, gluttony, and sexual indulgence. Excessive self-gratification has people on the fast track to self-destruction. The real tragedy is that many people refuse to admit it. They won’t slow down long enough to take a good look at what they are doing to themselves.

A Biblical Parallel

One of the most memorable stories in the Bible is that of Samson. He was born into a poor Jewish family in the remote outskirts of the Valley of Sorek. It was a rural area near Beth Shemesh that snuggled up to the border of the Philistines during the days of the judges.

Times were tough for the Israelites. They had struggled for more than two hundred years to keep their foothold in the Promised Land. Now they had a new problem: Philistines. These European “sea people” had sailed across the Mediterranean and landed on the coast of Israel in about 1200 b.c. The Israelites retreated to the hill country and tried to survive as best they could. The tribe of Dan was under the most pressure as the Philistine land bordered its land. Dan was also the weakest of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Things were so bad that the Danites gave up their tribal inheritance and fled north (cf. Judges 18), which left only a few families dwelling in “refugee camps” along the edge of the Valley of Sorek. It was into one of these families that Samson was born. Ironically, the strongest man who ever lived came from the weakest tribe Israel ever had.

Samson’s name (Hebrew, shimshon) means “sunny” or “of the sun.” It may reflect the name of nearby Beth Shemesh (“house of the sun”). In any case, he was a bright young man with a brilliant future. Despite his family’s poverty and his tribe’s weakness, the Spirit of God endowed Samson with incredible, superhuman strength.

Even as a boy growing up in the refugee camp, Samson showed unusual feats of strength. The Bible says, “The Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan” (Judges 13:25, KJV). But this unusual Hebrew hunk remained relatively unknown until he was a young man.

By the time he was about twenty years old, Samson commonly wandered freely across the border into Philistine territory. On one of these jaunts, he fell in love with a Philistine girl in Timnah. His major weakness now became evident: He had an eye for the ladies.

A Nice Jewish Boy Like You?

The wanderer had a wandering eye. He fell so hard for the young girl from Timnah that he virtually lost his mind.

“I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah,” he told his Jewish parents. “Now get her for me as my wife” (Judges 14:2).

A Philistine! They were horrified. “Isn’t there an acceptable woman … among all our people?” they said. “Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” (verse 3).

Samson’s mind was made up. His heart was smitten. His hormones were aroused. His genes were calling. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Get her for me. She’s the right one for me,” he said.

Whenever we put pleasure ahead of principle, we are headed for trouble. It is only a matter of time before disaster strikes.

Samson’s selfishness, lust, and pride would eventually become his downfall. Before he was born, the angel of the Lord appeared to his mother and announced that he would be a Nazirite (“separated one”). The Nazirite vow included three strict prohibitions:

1. 1. Do not touch or eat anything “unclean.”

2. 2. Do not drink wine or other fermented drink.

3. 3. Do not cut your hair.

These were external signs of his internal commitment to God. This was no ordinary child. He was a “holy child,” uniquely dedicated to God. And the Holy Spirit uniquely endowed him with great human strength. His strength was only an outward symbol of God’s calling on his life.

Samson’s parents reluctantly agreed to go with him to Timnah to meet the girl’s parents. While they went on ahead, Samson lingered at the vineyards outside the town. Before we move on, let’s ask a question: What grows in vineyards? Grapes. What is Samson supposed to resist? Wine. So what is going on here? He is lingering in a place of temptation and vulnerability.

Samson was probably thinking, Grapes! Look at all those grapes! I wonder what they taste like. One little grape can’t hurt anything.

The grapes weren’t the problem, but Samson’s curiosity was. His curiosity led him to the place of temptation. So, God sent an interruption to get his attention.

A lion leaped out of the vineyard and attacked him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he “tore the lion apart with his bare hands” (Judges 14:6). It was an incredible feat of strength! But the Bible says, “He told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.” Why? He didn’t want to admit his vulnerability.

The Slippery Slide

Samson tossed the lion’s carcass aside and went into town. It must have been a very difficult day for his Jewish parents. They felt forced into making the wedding arrangements with this Gentile family. If you have ever attended a wedding between a believer and a nonbeliever, you can imagine the tension and heartache. It was the beginning step in the wrong direction.

Later, when Samson returned to marry the Philistine girl, he came upon the vineyards again. Out of curiosity, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass. To his surprise, a swarm of bees had settled into the dehydrated carcass and filled it with honey.

Without hesitating, Samson scooped out the honey and ate it (Judges 14:8, 9). He even gave some to his parents. But he didn’t dare tell them where it came from. Why not? Anything that was dead was considered “unclean” by the Mosaic law. Samson had just violated the first stipulation of the Nazirite vow.

This incident gives us a glimpse into the soul and character of the person. Samson let his feelings control him. Though he possessed great strength, he could not control his own appetites. He lusted after the girl. He flirted with temptation. He disregarded his spiritual heritage. He violated his religious vows. And he broke his promises.

It wasn’t long until one violation led to another. It was customary for Philistine bridegrooms to throw a “drinking feast” (Hebrew, mishteh) for the groomsmen. It was like a bachelor’s party and beer blast the night before the wedding. Interestingly, modern archaeologists have uncovered hundreds of Philistine wine bottles, beer jugs, and whiskey flasks. They were notorious drinkers. Samson became one of the boys that night.

If Samson threw the party (cf. Judges 14:10), we can safely assume he drank at the party. Thus, he violated the second stipulation of the Nazirite vow. The holy man got drunk. The unique Nazirite was a regular “party animal.” Like many believers, he stepped over a line he said he would never cross.

Think of the times in your life when you said, “I would never do that.” And yet you went right ahead and did it! Once we break our promises and violate our vows, we are filled with guilt. Guilty people become arrogant, negative, critical, and even hostile. One wrong step leads to a slippery downfall.

One Good Turn Deserves Another

Samson felt guilty, so he took it out on the Philistines during the wedding festivities. He gave them a riddle in order to expose their ignorance regarding the honey in the lion’s carcass: “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet” (Judges 14:14).

The Philistines had no idea what he was talking about. Who had ever found honey in a lion? They were totally stumped. So they went to his wife during the seven-day wedding reception and threatened her.

“Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death” (Judges 14:15).

Instead of confiding in her new husband, Samson’s wife pressured him to tell her the riddle. She badgered him and nagged him the entire seven days of the wedding reception. He wouldn’t budge.

“You hate me!” she whined. “You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer” (verse 16).

Then Samson said something very revealing to his new bride: “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother … so why should I explain it to you?”

Brilliant! He put his parents above his wife. Great move, Samson. Now you’re really in trouble!

She cried and hollered all the more. Refusing his every advance, she nagged him until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Finally, he broke down and told her on the last day of the reception. Then she ran and told the Philistines, and they “guessed” the riddle at the last possible moment. “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” (verse 18).

Samson immediately knew he had been betrayed. “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle,” he said.

He had been married only one week, and he was already calling his wife names! In anger, he stormed out of the reception before the wedding ceremony was officially consummated. Following the custom of the day, the girl was married off to the best man (“friend of the bridegroom”) in Samson’s absence.

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right

When Samson finally returned to Timnah, he was shocked to find his “wife” married to someone else.

Samson blew up! He couldn’t believe it. He stormed out angrier than ever. He gathered three hundred foxes (or jackals), tied their tails together, lit them on fire, and let them loose in the wheat fields. The frightened animals ran everywhere, lighting the fields ablaze. The fire spread out of control and burned up the Philistine vineyards and olive groves.

Two wrongs don’t make a right. The Philistines were so angered by this devastating loss that they blamed it on the girl and her father and burned them to death in their house. The very fate she sought to avoid by revealing the riddle happened to her anyway. She failed to confide in her own husband, and it cost her life.

In the meantime, the Philistines chased after Samson. His own countrymen from the tribe of Judah handed him over to the Philistines. But when they came to get him, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power” (Judges 15:14). The “Hebrew Hulk” broke loose, grabbed the jawbone of a donkey, and slew one thousand Philistines.

When the day ended, dead bodies were everywhere. The rest had fled for their lives. And Samson stood victorious, holding the jawbone. There was only one problem. It was “unclean!”

Will We Ever Learn?

The Bible states that after Samson’s first encounter with the Philistines ends he judged Israel for twenty years (Judges 15:20). The same thing is repeated after his infamous encounter with Delilah (Judges 16:31). It is generally assumed, therefore, that twenty years have passed between his marriage to the girl at Timnah and his affair with Delilah.

The ultimate tragedy in Samson’s life was that he never learned his lesson the first time. He had annihilated enough Philistines to make them all afraid. He wandered about unrestrained, even taking forays into various Philistine cities such as Gaza, whose gates he ripped off (Judges 16:1–3).

But the old weaknesses were still there: a lustful heart, a wandering eye, and selfish desires. During those twenty years the Philistines left the Israelites alone for fear of Samson. He was like a one-man army. And the Philistines kept their distance. At about age forty, Samson fell in love with a notorious Philistine beauty named Delilah. She was not a novice, like the first girl. Delilah was a mature, sensuous, selfish woman. She knew how to use her feminine wiles to get exactly what she wanted from men.

Their romantic affair drew national attention. Before long, the Philistine leaders paid her a visit. They each promised to give her 1,100 shekels of silver if she could deliver Samson to them. Historians tell us that the Philistines were ruled by five “lords” (Hebrew, tseren). That would mean they were offering her 5,500 pieces of silver—a huge fortune in that day.

A Deadly Lover’s Game

I have always pictured Delilah as a Joan Collins character: mature, beautiful, sexy, crafty, selfish, and downright nasty. One only has to read the biblical text to get the same idea. She didn’t even hesitate to agree to their deal to deliver Samson to them. She quickly began the deadly lover’s game that would cost Samson his life.

“Tell me the secret of your great strength,” she suggested, “and how you can be tied up and subdued” (Judges 16:6).

This simple request soon became part of a daily game between them. She would admire his great strength and then ask, “How could little ol’ me tie up big Samson?”

Surprisingly enough, he went along with the whole thing. “If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man,” he said (Judges 16:7).

Thongs were used in warfare, and she didn’t have any. So the Philistines brought her the thongs. She tied him up while he was asleep. Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” Samson jumped up and snapped the thongs effortlessly.

“You have made a fool of me,” Delilah said. “You lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied” (Judges 16:10).

So the game continued, probably over a period of several days or even weeks. Every time he came to see her, she would ask him how she could tie him up.

“If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man,” he said (Judges 16:11).

She had ropes. She tied him up herself.

“Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” she shouted.

Again, he awoke and snapped the ropes. And again, she protested. Perhaps she pouted. Perhaps he teased her. She finally insisted, “Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied” (Judges 16:13).

Her request implied an element of trust. “Don’t you trust me enough to tell me your secret?” In other words, how could he make love to her, take advantage of her, and not tell her his great secret?

Compromise always leads to capitulation. Once we start down the slippery slope of sin, it is difficult to recover.

Lowering Your Guard

Samson began to weaken. “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man” (Judges 16:13).

It still wasn’t the truth, but it was dangerously close. I’m convinced she knew it was, too. She was an experienced woman. She could probably tell he had been lying to her all along. That’s why she kept probing to find the secret.

In ancient Near Eastern homes, there was usually a weaving loom attached to a crossbeam in the ceiling.

Every woman of status had one. It was usually her pride and joy. Whether Delilah ever used hers much may be debatable. She went right to work braiding his hair and weaving it into the pattern on the loom.

That hair, she may have thought. What’s with all this hair, anyway? Finally, it’s done!

“Samson,” she shouted again, “the Philistines are upon you!”

This time he awoke, jerked his head, and “pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric” (Judges 16:14).

“That’s it!” she may have shouted. “You’ve wrecked my sewing machine!”

She apparently threw a fit and told him off. Then he tried to console her and tell her that he loved her. But she was too angry to respond. She evidently pushed him away.

“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me?” she demanded. “This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength” (Judges 16:15).

Now she had him on the defensive. She kept pursuing him day after day. The Bible actually says she nagged him to death (Judges 16:16). He couldn’t take it anymore. He finally broke down and told her everything.

A Haircut in the Devil’s Barbershop

“No razor has ever been used on my head,” he explained, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man” (Judges 16:17).

This time she had him, and she knew it! She realized he was finally telling her the truth. The tone of his voice and the look on his face gave it away. The King James Version says he told her “all his heart.” A woman can tell when she’s being lied to, and she can tell when a man is being honest with her. All the rest had been a game, but this was the truth.

Delilah immediately sent for the Philistine rulers and instructed them to bring the silver with them.

“Come back once more,” she urged them. “He has told me everything” (Judges 16:18).

While Samson was asleep on her lap, a man crept into the room and shaved off his hair. Then Delilah began pounding on his chest, shouting, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

However, she was the only Philistine afflicting him. She hated him! Perhaps she hated all men. She was tired of being used, and it was her turn. She was now rich and free. Many men have lost their dignity over a woman, but Samson lost far more.

I’ll go out as before, Samson thought, and shake myself free. But he did not realize that God had departed from him (Judges 16:20).

There he stood … totally bald. His beautiful hair was gone. He rushed at the Philistines in naked stupidity.

This time, the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. Then they bound him in bronze shackles and led him off to the prison house in Gaza. He was taken back to the very city whose gates he had stolen. But this time he was bald, blind, and bound. The “Hebrew Hulk” had been subdued.

Dealing with Temptation

Samson failed to deal with temptation and paid a terrible price for it. The Bible reminds us that with every temptation, God provides a “way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13, KJV). But we have to be willing to take it. The following are some practical steps for dealing with temptation:

1. 1. Take a good look at yourself. Honest self-analysis is the first step toward progress. If your life is going to be renewed, you must be honest with God and with yourself.

2. 2. Admit you have a problem. Rationalizing your sins will never cure them. Confess your faults to the Father, and stop denying the obvious. Face up to your weaknesses, and determine to do something about them.

3. 3. Believe that God can make a difference in your life. Doubting believers are never victorious believers. God has promised to deliver those who will trust in Him. You need more faith, not more self-effort.

4. 4. Make a total commitment. There are no halfhearted victories in the battle with temptation. Total surrender to the will of God is the key to victory. You must come to the point where you let God take total control of your life.

5. 5. Renewal is a full-time job. Live out your new commitment daily: read the Word, pray to the Father, be filled with the Spirit, live like a believer, and let God make the difference in your life.

6. 6. Take the “way of escape!” Stay away from the source of your temptation. Don’t hang out in vulnerable places with questionable people. When God’s Spirit convicts your heart, listen—then leave!

Each one of us has a “window of time” to take the “way of escape.” Samson waited too long and paid dearly. The consequences of his sin were humiliation and defeat. The Philistines took him to Gaza and shackled him to a grinding mill. The man who had been betrayed by a woman was sentenced to do a woman’s work.

When You’re Out of Options

In the meantime, the Bible notes that Samson’s hair began to grow again (Judges 16:22). But his strength did not return because his strength was not in the length of his hair. His strength came from the Spirit of God. Remember, the hair was only an outward symbol of his inner dedication. Since he had earlier violated the other stipulations of the Nazirite vow, his long hair was the only one remaining. When it was cut, the power of the vow was completely broken.

If Samson’s strength had returned when his hair began to grow, the Philistines would have buzzed his head regularly. But they didn’t have to. Instead, they tried to make sport of him by putting him on display during the festival of Dagon, the Philistine grain god. So they tied him to the temple pillars while three thousand men and women laughed and jeered in his face.

It was then that Samson truly repented for the first and last time. “O God,” he prayed, “strengthen me just once more … Let me die with the Philistines!”

There was little else a blind warrior could do. He had no following, no soldiers, and no army. Remember, he had always been a one-man army. But now he could no longer see the enemy. Killing thousands of Philistines in his own death was all he could do.

In fact, it was the only unselfish thing he ever did. His death was an act of self-sacrifice on behalf of those he had failed.

Reaching for the pillars of the Greek-style temple, Samson slid them off their stone bases. The weight of the stone roof shifted, and the whole structure fell like a deck of cards. An earthquake could not have been more devastating. The wreckage was strewn everywhere with thousands of twisted, screaming bodies crushed beneath the building’s stones.

Thousands of Philistines were dead, and so was Samson. His family, like the other mourners, dug his body out of the rubble and took it home for burial. It was a dark day in Israel’s history. Their greatest warrior was dead. And their hopes and dreams died with him.

The promise never seemed bleaker than it did in those days. Moral compromise led to political collapse and civil catastrophe. By the end of the book of Judges, the writer could only say, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25).

God, however, had not forgotten His promises. He was still in the business of turning weaknesses into strengths. He could still bring sunshine out of darkness.