Judges 16 commentary

JUDGES 16 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
The rest of the story of Samson, unless you are interested in the slaughter of Philistines, is
a great disappointment. Our expectations about Samson as a judge of his people are
dashed. He leads no Israelite into battle. He marries a foreign woman. He attends drinking
parties with the enemy. He spends the night with a foreign prostitute. He engages only in
personal vengeance with no sense of serving God or working for the well-being of Israel.
He gives in to Delilah's begging to know the secret of his strength, which leads to his
imprisonment, torture and blindness. He breaks all of his vows as a Nazirite. Samson is
impetuous, conceited, boastful, boorish, a lone ranger, nearly directionless except for his
desire to kill his enemies. He's a combination of Rambo and Hulk Hogan, turning to God
only when he's in trouble.
If you're looking for a hero or a role model, look somewhere else. Samson seems to have
been the embodiment of all that was wrong with the Judges, all their weaknesses. And he
is the last of the Judges. Perhaps one message of this book as a whole is that this type of
leadership left Israel in worse shape than where it began after the conquest of Canaan. He
also seems to symbolize all that was wrong with Israel in seeking to rely on their own
strength instead of putting their trust in God. Samuel L. Pendergrast
RICHARD TOW
Is he a saint or a sinner? He doesn’t fit very neatly into our religious categories. We love
to be able to classify people, put them in a little box and call them either bad or good. But
Samson defies our categories and challenges our understanding of how God works. In
some ways he leaves us with more questions than answers.
I personally don’t like Samson as a hero. He’s not a good example for the kids. He’s
gifted; his anointing is undeniable. But why in the world would God call a person like
Samson to this ministry. Couldn’t God foresee the weakness in his moral fiber? I can
understand God’s choice of Joseph or Daniel. These are men I like to preach about.
They do not disappoint us. They refuse to bow to temptation and will not compromise
their principles. “God, You made a good choice when You called Joseph and when You
called Daniel.” But I don’t find it easy to agree with God’s choice of Samson. This guy is
a gross embarrassment. None of us would want this kind of leader in our movement. We
wouldn’t know what to do with him. He’s anointed but he’s a mess.

BRIAN BILL
We won’t have the time this morning to hit all the highlights, or lowlights, of his life, but
I do want to touch on some significant details in Judges 13-16. Samson’s feats are
legendary but it’s his flaws that prove to be fatal. His two greatest weaknesses were
revenge and romance. In fact, his weakness for women often led him on the road to
revenge. He was extremely gifted, but certainly not godly. He was strong on the outside,
but had no control on the inside.
Hercules was both the most famous hero of ancient times and the most beloved. More
stories were told about him than any other hero. Samson was the Hebrew Hercules, or the
Atlas of his day. Heros who were exceedingly strong were popular the world over, and we
have plenty today with superheroes like Superman and Spiderman. The world over has
superheroes like the ones so popular in our country, for all people love them.
Ed Williams has been toying with the idea of creating a local superhero and writes in a
column, "I’ve started wondering if I could create a superhero. A superhero who’s
different, a Southern superhero, and more specifically, a Georgia superhero. A superhero
that we Georgians can claim as one of our own. And, if I think really hard about it, if I
think of all the unique things that Georgia has to offer, and if I think about the kind of
superhero that would excite me enough to go out and buy a comic book, one potential
superhero fits the bill. Readers of this column, y’all are about to be the first people ever to
hear about our newest superhero, yes, our first ever Georgia superhero - ladies and
gentlemen, let me proudly introduce you to....
Red Clay Man!
Yes, that’s right, Red Clay Man! Faster than a man who’s just eaten a large helping of
aged jalapenos! More powerful than a Okefenokee gator in heat! Able to leap tall fire ant
mounds in a single bound!
Tarzan was local for jungle heros.
But Samson was not into exercise and building up his muscles, for he was strong not by
human muscles but by the Spirit of God. He could do wonder without effort and is no
model for the bodybuilder type.
From Wired 15.01: The Perfect Human - Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes’ 12 Secrets
to Success.
3. FLIRT WITH DISASTER
In 1995, Karnazes ran his first Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile trek

that starts in Death Valley, California, in the middle of summer and
finishes at the Mt. Whitney Portals, 8,360 feet above sea level. After
running 72 miles in 120-degree heat, Karnazes collapsed on the side of
the road suffering from hallucinations, diarrhea, and nausea. He had
pushed himself to the point of death to find out whether he was strong
enough to survive. He was. Though he didn’t finish the race that year,
Karnazes came back the next and placed 10th. He won it on his fifth
attempt, in 2004. “Somewhere along the line, we seem to have confused
comfort with happiness,” he says.
9. GET USED TO IT
If you’re going to explore the boundaries of human endurance, you’ll
have to learn to adapt to more and more pain. To prepare for the
searing heat of the Badwater race, Karnazes went on 30-mile jogs
wearing a ski parka over a wool sweater. He trained himself to urinate
while running. He got so he could go out and run a marathon on any
given day – no mileage buildup or tapering required. This training made
the extreme seem ordinary and made the impossible seem the next logical
step. Eventually, when he grew accustomed to the pain, it stopped
hurting. “There is magic in misery,” he says.
“Throughout the course of history, there have been some great love stories told.
Literature has given us some great classics, such as William Shakespeare’s
"Anthony And Cleopatra" and "Romeo And Juliet." Virgil’s "Aeneas And Dido"
and "The Beauty And The Beast." The Bible tells us of the affairs of Samson and
Delilah, David and Bathsheba, and Hosea and Gomer. Modern history, television
and the news media have presented us with the sagas of Bonnie and Clyde, Luke
and Laura and O. J. and icole!”
The paradox of love stories are that they so often involve, not only sex, but violence,
and even death. Such is the case with the romance of Samson and Delilah.
“Every great love story also has within it the element of tragedy. Something terrible
usually happens! In Shakespeare’s "Romeo And Juliet" and in Virgil’s "Aeneas
And Dido," both Juliet and Dido commit suicide! ot being able to be with their
lovers in life, they chose to die instead! And then, every great love story has within it
the element of sacrifice Something must be given up for the sake of the love affair!
Samson gave up his hair and his strength. David gave up his good name and peace
in his own family! Yes! Every great love story contain these elements; antagonism,
tragedy and sacrifice!”
“The greatest love story ever told depicts, not a love affair between a man and a
woman, but rather the love affair between God and His creation! It tells of the on-
going saga of God and man! And just like the other great love stories, the greatest
love story ever told also contains the elements of antagonism, tragedy and sacrifice!

As you recall, antagonism is the element that always seek to separate or keep the
lovers apart! It is that obstacle the lovers must overcome in order to be together!
Well, in the greatest love story ever told, the element of antagonism is sin! The Bible
tells us that when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, man became
separated from God! Isaiah 591,2 says, "Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; But your iniquities
have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from
you, that he will not hear." (KJV) In order for the lovers in the greatest love story
ever told to be together, the antagonistic element of sin had to be conquered.”
“By the time Samson meets and falls in love with Delilah, he has
already had a disastrous marriage with a Philistine woman who
nagged him for a secret of his so that she could betray his trust to
her people, who were enemies of Israel in general, and of Samson in
particular. Her betrayal had led to dozens of deaths, most of them
inflicted by Samson in revenge on the Philistines for their betrayal
of him. This led to a cycle of revenge, in which the Philistines killed
Samson's wife and her father, and in turn Samson killed even more
Philistines, eventually, the story says, killing a thousand men with
the jawbone of an ox. Now, all of this was good for the Israelites, who
rejoiced at anything that made their Philistine overlords weaker.
But to modern eyes, it looks like one sick relationship.”
“Unfortunately, Samson did not learn from his mistakes. In our
story, he falls in love with Delilah, another Philistine woman, who
proves just as treacherous as the one Samson had married earlier.
No sooner has Samson hooked up with Delilah than the Philistines
are at her to find out the secret of Samson's strength so that they can
subdue him.”
“Judges is a very interesting book. It is structured in seven cycles, each cycle complete in
itself, and each basically the same. The nation of Israel would sin, would begin to worship
idols, and so God would place them under the dominion of one of the neighboring
nations. They would be in bondage to one of these enemies for a period of time. They
would then repent of their sin and call upon Jehovah for deliverance. He would raise up a
deliverer, in the person of one of the judges, and set them free. For a while there would be
peace and prosperity--until the judge died. As soon as he was gone the children of Israel
would apostatize again and go back into idolatry, and the cycle would begin all over. The
story of Samson occurs in the seventh and last of these cycles.” David Roper
Even the mighty have an Achilles heel that can make a heel out of them, and Samson’s
was sex. The weaker sex is no longer weak when you are dealing with a sex drive that
controls a man. She has the upper hand at that point. He was so strong that he never
raised an army like the other judges, but just handled things on his own, but he was too
weak to overcome the charms of a woman. She changed his hair style and his whole life
to boot.

The strongest man is the man who has self-control, and Samson lacked this and so was
really just a muscle bound weakling. Jesus was strongest of all, for he could have called
ten thousand angels to his rescue, but he chose to be weak and die for the sake of the
world of sinners that they might be saved. He was strong beyond imagination, and
nobody else with such power could have stayed on the cross. Samson’s life was a
success, however, in that the goal was that the world might have more people like his
godly parents and fewer like himself, and this he did by ridding the world of himself and
the Philistines.
Samson and Delilah
1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a
prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.
GAZA Was the largest city of the Philistines and so Samson was going into the large
city away from his own people because he thought that what happened in Gaze
stayed in Gaza. Little did he know that God was going to see that his immoral
behavior was going to be plastered in headlines for all the world to see for the rest of
history. If there is any embarressment in heaven then we can assume that Samson is
the reddest man in heaven. He thought he could sneak down to Gaza and have a
little fun and nobody back home would be the wiser, but God would not cooperate
with his plan. This part of the Bible is much like the scandal sheets that are
published showing celebrities in embarrassing situations where the whole world can
see. We have here a page out of the Gaze Gazette, and there is all but the pictures
due to Philistine lack of technology. God's plan has been picked up by the Chicago
Police Department for they have started putting the names, pictures and addresses
of Johns who have been arrested for soliciting prostitutes. They hope that the
humiliation of it all will reduce the customers. Many cities are now using this tactic,
and in Oakland, California they actually put the names up on a billboard.
Unfortunately for Samson, he did not live long enough to learn from his portrayal in
the Bible. Had he lived to see it, he may have changed his ways out of sheer
humiliation.
It is hard to believe that one of God's key leaders of his people was a John. Samson
was a John, for that is the slang term used in orth America for those who solicit
prostitutes. It is because it is the most common name in English speaking countries
and it is used to maintain anonymity. Samson was not the last to go to Gaza for sex.

50,000 women have been forced into prostitution because of the war in Iraq, and
many of them have ended up in Gaza where prostitution is a thriving business.
Ordinarily when a leader is known to frequent prostitutes it becames a national
scandal, but nobody seems to have raised an eyebrow when the Judge of Israel is
sleeping with a Philistine prostitute. Even God does not speak a word of
condemnation about this man with mighty muscles but mindless morals. Later on
when David and Solomon were sexually immoral there was clear condemnation, and
today when a leader of Israel is caught in immoral behavior we read headlines like
this one: "Israel's president resigns over sex crimes. Israeli President Moshe Katsav
resigned today, a day after admitting to sex crimes against women employees in a
case that has brought unprecedented disgrace on an Israeli head of state. When his
resignation from the largely ceremonial post takes effect on Sunday, the speaker of
parliament will be president for two weeks." It just seems like Samson was a
product of his corrupted times and does not stand out as being that bad in the light
of his culture, and so he is accepted as is-damaged, but still useful to keep the
Philistines in line.
Samson never passes up an opportunity to kill or kiss a Philistine. Sleeping with the
enemy was a popular movie in our culture, and it was a popular pastime with
Samson. Killing their men and sleeping with their women was his work, his hobby
and his pastime. Someone said, "The two most dangerous drugs in the world are
testosterone and stupidity." Unfortunately Samson liked to overdose on both, and
this chapter reveals just how dangerous it can be to be hyped up on these two things.
Samson's philosophy of life can be summed up like this: " othing in moderation,
and everything in excess." He was an extremeist when it came to sex, and could be
called the greatest sexaholic in the Bible. He could say with Oscar Wilde, "I can
resist anything except temptation." Samson represents the modern day man of God
who just cannot resist pornography. A good many of God's servants get obsesses
with it and fall into immoral sex relationships because they cannot, or will not,
control their sex drive. The lust of the eyes made Samson a slave to female beauty.
In 14:1 he saw a Timnite woman, and here he saw a harlot in Gaza. When he saw a
beautiful woman he had to have her sexually. The Philistines knew this about
Samson and so the first thing they did when they captured him was to put his eyes
out and make sure he could not lust after any more of their women. It could very
well be that this was God's way of seeing that Samson reaped what he sowed and
had to pay dearly for his lustful eyes.
Samson is one of the most popular characters in Bible Stories told to children, but,
of course, nothing is said is such stories about his sex life. You wonder about why
God allowed this type of thing to be recorded about one of the great heroes of God's
people? We are his children, and yet he did not hide this from us as believers. He
lets his children see the immoral behavior of a great man. By doing so he does not
encourage such behavior, but shows just how foolish the best of men can be when
they let lust be their guide. But it also show us that some men have such great value
in other areas of their lives that their sexual behavior does not rob them of their
popularity and honor. We have this same thing in our own history as a nation.
Stanley K. Schultz, Professor of History gives us this brief account of President

Jefferson: " o sooner had Jefferson taken over as President than a number of
journalists began to publish accounts of the Virginianâs own lack of moral restraint
around attractive women. Labeling the new President a "libertine" since college
days, the writers reported that Jefferson had tried to seduce the wife of a close
friend and neighbor (Jefferson later admitted to "improper" behavior toward the
beautiful young woman), had carried on illicit affairs with two different married
women while serving as a diplomat in Paris, and had fathered children by one of his
own African-American slaves, a young woman named Sally Hemings (which the
master of Monticello apparently had done). These accusations did not destroy
Jeffersonâs political career, nor did the outlandish claim of the President of Yale
University that the Presidentâs reelection in the campaign of 1804 "would make our
wives and daughters the victims of legalized prostitution." Jefferson won office for a
second term. He remains firmly enshrined in the pantheon of the nationâs great
heroes." His value to the nation outweiged his vices, and so he was not thrown out in
disgrace as lesser men would be. This does not justify his sins, but it explains his
acceptance in spite of them. The same thing is true of President Clinton whose
sexual immorality is known by all, and yet he is among the most liked of former
Presidents.
In the campaign of 1884 Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate was charged
with fathering an illigitimate child by a Buffalo, ew York prostitute while he was
mayer of that city. He confessed to it and said he was supporting the prostitute and
the child financially. You would think such a scandal would lead to him dropping
out of the race, but instead he pressed on and won the election, and later when he
ran again in 1892 he was again elected. Some men are immediately forced out of
public life by a sex scandal, and others are not hurt professionally at all by sex sin
that is truly scandelous. Warren G. Harding was a Samson copycat and gave free
rein to his sexual urges thoughout the years of his Presidency. He had at least two
relationships outside of his marriage and bribed one of the women to be out of the
country during the campaign of 1920. He also supported a child born to one of the
women. We could go on and on for it seems that leadership and strong sex drive go
hand in hand. We see it in leaders in the church as well, for many a godly leader has
been sexually immoral, and more than a few have visited prostitutes. Sexual
immorality is clearly an occupational hazard for those in positions of leadership.
The Bible and history demonstrate it, and, therefore, anyone in leadership needs to
take special precaution in how they satisfy their sexual drive. Sexual sin has
destroyed many lives and ministries, and even those who do get by with it suffer
negative consequences that are not publically known. Samson got by with it, but his
craving for sex led him into relationships that finally spelled his doom. Delilah was
such a great sex partner that he fell for her and could not see that she just used him
to make money. She was just another of his prostitutes, but he was blinded by lust
and could not see it, and so he trusted her with his life. She betrayed him and sent
him to his death. He sex drive finally drove him beyond where he could recover.
It is funny that the author does not try to cover up the immoral behavior of Samson.

The mystery is where does Samson get the money to pay these professionals? We
never see him go to work a day in his life. He must bum some dough off dad. Maybe
dad gave him an allowance and that was his sex money. They were not cheap as we
see by studying prostitutes in the Bible.
There are those who justify Samson's going to prostitutes, for they say he was a
single man with no wife and he had sexual needs. The fallacy of this is that many
live full and satisfying lives without going to prostitutes for sex, and that includes
Jesus. Samson was single, but he wanted to marry. He tried once and now he is on
the lookout for another woman, and he fell in love with Delilah. But he never really
had a wife, and never had any children that we know of. It may be just as well, for
he was one of a kind and not one that was worthy of breeding.
One evening my neighbor's little boy was sent to bed because of being so naughty.
The little boy knelt to pray and his mother said he should ask God to make him a
better boy. He prayed accordingly, and near the end he said, "But don't worry if
you can't, God, because I'm having a good time the way I am."
GAZA FROM THE Jerusalem Post
There is no counting the number of geopolitical showdowns that took place around
Gaza over the centuries. The Hasmoneans razed it, thus marking their kingdom's
southern extent; Pompeii the Great conquered it for Rome; the Crusaders were
dealt here blows from which they never recovered; the Ottomans took Gaza en
route to their conquest of Egypt; apoleon captured here 2,000 Turkish soldiers;
General Allenby broke here a major German- commanded defense line in World
War I; and the IDF saw here some of the Six Day War's most pitched battles.
Judges 13—16 presents a jarring contrast of solemn theological affirmation and
ribald humor. For instance, 16:1-3 seems to have been told sheerly for fun (at the
expense of the Philistines).
It is this dimension of folk memory that accounts for the staying power of a story
like Judges 16:1-3. It differs from locker-room humor in that, by passing along this
story of Samson, a human community is defining a certain "us" over against a
certain "them." Israelites and Philistines laugh at different places when they hear
this story. Such anecdotes may have been wholly local in character, at the outset,
supporting the folk identity of a single clan or tribe (perhaps the Danites, as 13:2
recalls). At that stage, telling a Samson story with proper gusto was an element in
accounting for who the community is and what it hopes for. A community inclined
to tell such stories and cherish them in tradition cannot be counted on, indefinitely,
to put up with Philistine tyranny. "Some day," the stories say, "Samson's jokes on
the Philistines will all come true in a new way." As resistance stories, the earliest
Samson anecdotes already betray a strong, this-worldly, political element. One
gathers that they were not first told to stimulate a fiery peasantry to similar deeds.
The bizarre character of Samson's exploits removes the Philistine problem from the

realm of direct action to the realm of the imagination. The ribald humor provides a
low-risk outlet for anger, fear, and hope among people who had little means to press
their cause against the Philistines (cf. I Sam. 13:19-21). evertheless, the "memory"
crystallized in the early Samson stories embraces not only the ribald and the
bizarre, but also the politically charged human realities of the community that
preserved them.
Story and Affirmation in Judges 13—16 JAMES A. WHARTO
Professor of Old Testament
The Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
"Everything in excess! Moderation is for monks and old ladies. To taste the spice of
life, take big bites." This is the Samson philosophy of life.
"The two most dangerous drugs in the world are testosterone and stupidity."
A man of God and a leader of God’s people, and he spends the night with a
prostitute. The best of men are men at best, and that means they have sexual desires
and may be tempted to satisfy them by means not acceptable to God or society. She
was no doubt attractive.
“ otice that Samson's temptation with Delilah was attractive. The Philistines didn't
hire TUGBOAT A IE! Temptations are rarely grotesque. They are something we
really want. Satan knows how to attract good people to do evil things. He places his
poison in the middle of chocolate lush and invites you over for dessert. Samson's
arms were bound by Delilah's charms.”
A man is being tailgated by a stressed-out women on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the
light turns yellow, and he stops at the crosswalk. The tailgater hits the roof and the
horn, screaming in frustration as she misses her chance to get through the intersection
with him. As she is still in mid-rant, she hears a tap on her window and looks up in to
the very serious face of a police officer. The officer orders her to exit her car with her
hands up. He takes her to the police station where she is searched, fingerprinted,
photographed and placed in a cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approaches the cell and opens the door. She is
escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer is waiting with her
personal effects.
He says “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while
you were blowing your horn, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘choose
Life’ license plate holder, the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, and the chrome
plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.”

“ aturally, I assumed you had stolen the car
Sensuality
The gods had given me almost everything. But I let myself be lured into long spells of
senseless and sensual ease...Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the
depths in search for new sensation. What the paradox was to me in the sphere of
thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion. I grew careless of the lives
of others. I took pleasure where it pleased me, and passed on. I forgot that every little
action of the common day makes or unmakes character, and that therefore what one
has done in the secret chamber, one has some day to cry aloud from the house-top. I
ceased to be lord over myself. I was no longer the captain of my soul, and did not know
it. I allowed pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible disgrace.
William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, p. 100. Written by Oscar
Wilde.
james jordon
The first verse of this chapter has the same form as the formula,
“ ow Israel played the harlot with some false god” (Jud.
2:17; 8:27, 33; and many other places in Scripture). At the end of
each deliverance, we read that the Judge judged Israel for x
number of years, and then he died, and then Israel went whoring
after some other gods. The same thing is seen here. Samson
delivered Israel. Then the text says he judged for 20 years. The
next thing we read is that Samson went whoring after a Philistine
prostitute. Samson as the anointed judge is a picture of
Israel as a whole. His failures are theirs.
There is a literary parallel between this verse and the first
verse of chapter 14, a parallel designed to bring out irony:
14:1 And Samson went down to Tlmnah, and he saw a
woman in Timnah. . . .
16:1 And Samson went to Gaza, and he saw there a woman,
a prostitute. . . .
In the first story, Samson acted honestly, with pure motives.
Here the seeing has a different culmination.
DR. SPOTTS
. Possibly no part of the Bible has given occasion for more rail-
lery than the book of Judges. And perhaps no name in
that book has given point to more infidel jests than that of
Samson. " His character is indeed dark and almost inex-
plicable. By none of the Judges of Israel did God work

so many miracles, and yet by none were so many faults com-
mitted." As no Bible hero is so remarkable for strength,
so none are so remarkable for weakness, as Samson. His
faults and passions were like himself. The Apostle, how-
ever, in Hebrews xi, settles the question as to his personal
piety and salvation at last, by enrolling him in the list of
heroes distinguished for faith and glorious deeds. But as
an old writer has said, he must be looked upon as "rather
a rough believer." A recent Scotch author (Rev. Dr. Bruce
in his biography of Samson) divides his life into three peri-
ods. The first, his youth, when all was prosperous and he
was truly pious. This period extends to his marriage, when
his second period begins, which is marked by his fall, and is
very dark. In which period, like David, he made sad ship-
wreck of the faith " and strangely enough from the very
same blinding, and beguiling, and peculiarly brutalizing lust;
and yet like David also, and some others, he escaped at the
last as by a hair's breadth the Lord forgiveth his iniquity,
whilst yet he took vengeance on his inventions." The
third period he denominates the period of his penitence,
recovery, and triumphant death. This period, the revival of
his graces and gifts as a child of God, begins with the grow-
ing of his hair in the prison.
We must carefully discriminate in his life
between what God moved him to do, and what his sinful pas-
sions moved him to.
LLUST OF THE EYES
Farmer John told the sheriff, “Speeders are killing my chickens.” The next day
workers erected a sign near the farm: Slow-school crossing. Three days later John
called again and said the sign was not helping or people ignored it. So the sheriff
sent out workers with a new sign-children at play. Three days later farmer John
called again and asked if he could make his own sign. Three weeks later the sheriff
called farmer John to ask how the new sign was working. “Great!” The farmer
replied. “ ot one chicken has been killed since I put it up.” Thinking such an
effective sign might be useful elsewhere the sheriff went to see it. The new sign
read: udist Colony-go slow and watch for chicks.
VICTOR YAP
1988 was a disaster waiting to happen for evangelical Christianity. Two of the
biggest TV evangelists - Jimmy Baker and Jimmy Swaggart - had a very ugly,
public fallout that reverberated till today. They were Christianity’s media darlings,
biggest fundraisers, and the most charismatic, powerful, and visible stars. First, Jim
Bakker made a stunning announcement that he was stepping down as head of PTL
and Heritage USA in anticipation of a newspaper’s revelation of a tryst Bakker had

with a church secretary. America’s first televangelist paid some $265,000 to cover
up the affair in vain. Later he was convicted of misspending millions of followers’
dollars. Rival preacher Jimmy Swaggart called the Bakker scandal a cancer.
ext to fall was Jimmy Swaggart, the Pentecostal preacher who preached to 7,000
weekly in his congregation. A short three months after Bakker’s fall, Swaggart was
photographed entering and leaving a ew Orleans motel where, it was later
divulged, he had hired a prostitute to pose nude for him. The woman who later
posed for Penthouse magazine said of Swaggart, “He was “kind of perverted...I
wouldn’t want him around my children.” Two years later Swaggart was stopped by
the police in California, again with a prostitute in his car.
The Chinese have a saying, “A hero has difficulty overcoming a woman’s beauty.”
Samson had no problem resisting power, fame or money; sex, lust, and temptation
undo him. He lived a life of decadence, excess, and indulgence. In private and
public, he was promiscuous, vulgar, and depraved. He was the master of men but
the slave of women. He was a man-beater with Philistine men but a pussy cat with
their women. He had robust physical strength but fatal moral weaknesses.
Samson’s steps took him to sleazy places, dirty beds, and narrow, crooked, and run-
down streets, where a fast buck would buy him a cheap thrill and a night’s rest.
Worse, he had no sense of decency, guilt or shame. He did not even wear a hat, a
wig, or a cloak to conceal his identity or cover his tracks. He did not know, wonder,
or care if others knew. Discretion, propriety, and secrecy did not cross his mind and
were not his concern. He was a man of low morals, bad taste, and poor choices.
Samson had an insatiable fondness for Philistine ladies. His dead wife was a
Philistine. He visited a prostitute in the Philistine city of Gaza, and he fell in love
with Delilah who was probably a Philistine.
Beyond the critical observation
of the elders of Dan he could take his fill of sensual
pleasure. ot without danger of course. In some
brawl the Philistines might close upon him. But he
trusted to his strength to escape from their hands, and
the risk increased the excitement. We must suppose
that, having seen the nearer and less important towns
such as Ekron, Gath and Ashkelon he now ventured to
Gaza in quest of amusement, in order, as people say, to
see the world.
where amid the lures of the midnight streets there is
peril of the gravest kind. Those who are restless and
foolhardy can find a Gaza and a valley of Sorek nearer
home, in the next market town. Philistine life, lax in
morals, full of rattle and glitter, heat and change, in

gambling, in debauchery, in sheer audacity of move
ment and talk, presents its allurements in our streets,
has its acknowledged haunts in our midst. Young
people brought up to fear God in quiet homes whether
of town or country are enticed by the whispered coun
sels of comrades half ashamed of the things they say,
yet eager for more companionship in what they secretly
know to be folly or worse.
SUPERHEROES HAVE THEIR BAD SIDE I OUR CULTURE TOO. There are
flaws in the best of them. He lies to Lois Lane continuously about his identity.
Three drunks are standing on top of the Empire State Building.
The first one says to the other two, "You know, it's a funny thing about these wind
currents. A person could jump off of this building right now and not even hit the
ground; the wind would carry him right back up to the top of the building!"
The second drunk says, "You're crazy!"
The first drunk says, "I'm serious! Watch!" The first drunk jumps off of the
building, and the wind carries him right back up to the top!
The second drunk says, "Let me try!"
So the second drunk leaps off of the building and promptly falls to the street below,
landing with a hideous SPLAT!
The first drunk smiles, clearly amused. The third drunk looks at him and says,
"You know, Superman, you can be a real Jerk When you're drunk!"
He still feels some insecuity for he stands still as the bullets hit him in the chest, but
when the crook throws his gun at him he ducks.
Samson. To be honest, I really dreaded writing this sermon about Samson. I had a
problem in finding anything of redeeming value in the life of Samson. I was so
perplexed that I went to the great sermons of Charles Spurgeon from 1875 and
London, England. These sermons are available on the Internet. I found Spurgeon’s
sermon on Samson, and I was tempted to drop it on you as if it were my own. But to
be honest, I didn’t like Spurgeon’s sermon. It was the Word for the Lord, but for
another day, another situation. EDWARD MARKQUART
I get a kick out of how some seek to justify Samson and make it as if he was just
staying with a prostitute as if she was running a bording house.
One wrote, "Samson went down to Gaza. We are not told the reason for the visit.
The unfortunate rendering by the KJV discussed above could easily lead to an
assumption that it was lust since he chose the house of a harlot for his rest (Jud.
16:1). othing in the account, however, supports such a conclusion. Apparently it

was not uncommon in that day for the houses of harlots to function as inns, just as
in the days of Joshua when the spies stayed with Rahab in Jericho (Josh. 2:1). There
was probably a very practical, but less sensational, reason for the visit.
Sister Brigid was teaching her young students one day and she asked each of them
what they would like to be when they grew up. She came to a little girl who
responded, "When I grow up I want to be a prostitute."
Shocked, good Sister Brigid fainted on the spot. Her students rushed to revive her.
When she came around, Sister asked the little girl, "What did you say you wanted to
be when you grew up?" The little girl replied, "A prostitute."
"Oh thank goodness," the relieved nun replied "I thought you said a Protestant."
“Some people fall into temptation, but some walk into it with their eyes wide open
and some even make plans for disaster ahead of time. They are like the little boy
who’s father ordered him not to swim in the canal. ‘Ok Dad,’ he replied. But he
came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening. ‘Where have you been?’
demanded the father. ‘Swimming in the canal,’ answered the boy. ‘Didn’t I tell you
not to swim there? asked the father. ‘Yes, Sir,’ answered the boy. ‘Then why did
you do that? the father asked. ‘Well, Dad,’ he explained, ‘I had my bathing suit with
me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.’ ‘Why did you take your bathing suit with
you?’ he questioned. ‘So I’d be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted,’ he
replied….
RAY PRITCHARD
He couldn't control his emotions.
This is a key point. When we read Samson's story, we tend to think that his problem
was all in the sexual area. Actually, his problem is not in the sexual area at all. His
most basic problem was that he never learned how to control his emotions.
First he is filled with lust and then he is filled with anger. Then he's full of lust
again, then anger again, and then lust and then anger again. He's riding an
emotional roller-coaster, from the peak to the valley and around a sharp corner, and
then he does it all over again. He's over here, then over there, then over here again.
That's why he continually would get out of trouble, then get right back into trouble
again.
He never learned to control his emotions and so they controlled him completely.
Proverbs 16:32 could have been written about Samson: "Better a patient man than
a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." In his day

Samson had taken more than one city. But he never learned to control his temper.
He never learned how to rule his spirit. He never knew the first thing about self-
control. In the end his runaway emotions ran away with him.
The key to the story is found in the last verse of Judges 15. " ow Samson led Israel
for twenty years in the days of the Philistines." (15:20) That's exactly the kind of
verse which we would tend to pass right over, but it's very crucial to properly
understand the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson, from such a great beginning,
went down, down, down and then came back and won that great victory and
delivered his people. He was about 20 years old when he burst on the scene. This
verse is telling us that he led Israel for 20 years. From the time he was 20 until the
time he was about 40: twenty years of peace, twenty years of prosperity, and twenty
years of relative freedom from the Philistines. So it was that Samson, as he
approached the mid-life years, began to feel restless. He began to feel ill at ease. He
began to wonder if there wasn't more to life. And Samson at the age of 40 begins to
take a turn for the worse.
ot that it appeared obvious. I imagine his old friends looked at him and said, “At
last he has conquered his problems.” They would have said, “When he was growing
up, he had quite a temper. Back in those days, you didn't want to get him mad at
you.” And when his old buddies would get together, and talk would turn to the old
days, someone was bound to say with a snicker, “He used to be the biggest skirt-
chaser in town.” They would laugh and then somebody would say, “I guess he just
grew up or something.” It truly looked like Samson had finally put all his problems
behind him.
The Hardest Thing You Will Ever Say
The truth of the matter is, Samson hasn't put all his problems behind him. He’s
covered them up. He's ignored them. He's played them down. He's pushed them
away. He's managed to live a pretty straight life. Samson, you see, never really dealt
with the problems that plagued him way back there at the beginning. And now at
the end of twenty years, those same problems are about to come out and trip him
again. Only this time they're not just going to trip him. The same problems he
refused to deal with are the same problems that are going to bring him down now.
So Samson leaves his own people again. He goes to the capital city of the Philistines
and there he sees a prostitute. He went in, the Bible says, to spend the night with
her. By the way, Samson is the only man in the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews ll,
who ever slept with a prostitute. This famous man of God went in to spend the night
with a prostitute.
The word got out. o surprise. When the people of Gaza found out that Samson was
in their city, they surrounded the place where he was and they lay in wait for him all
night at the city gate. It’s not hard to read their thinking. They think Samson's
going to go in, do his thing, and when it's all over he's going to sleep all night, so
they're going to get him at dawn. Verse 2 says, “They made no move all night
saying, ‘At dawn we'll kill him.’” But Samson crossed them. He stayed with the
prostitute only until the middle of the night.

BAR ES, “Gaza - About 8 hours from Eleutheropolis, and one of the chief strong-
holds of the Philistines.
CLARKE, “Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot - The Chaldee,
as in the former case, renders the clause thus: Samson saw there a woman, an inn-
keeper. Perhaps the word ‫זונה‬ zonah is to be taken here in its double sense; one who
keeps a house for the entertainment of travelers, and who also prostitutes her person.
Gaza was situated near the Mediterranean Sea, and was one of the most southern cities
of Palestine. It has been supposed by some to have derived its name from the treasures
deposited there by Cambyses, king of the Persians; because they say Gaza, in Persian,
signifies treasure; so Pomponius Mela and others. But it is more likely to be a Hebrew
word, and that this city derived its name, ‫עזה‬ azzah, from ‫עזז‬ azaz, to be strong, it being a
strong or well fortified place. The Hebrew ‫ע‬ ain in this word is, by the Septuagint, the
Arabic, and the Vulgate, rendered G; hence instead of azzah, with a strong guttural
breathing, we have Gaza, a name by which this town could not be recognized by an
ancient Hebrew.
GILL, “Then went Samson to Gaza,.... One of the five principalities of the
Philistines, which was ten miles from Ashkelon, as Sandys (q) says; who also describes
(r) it as standing upon an hill environed with valleys, and these again well nigh enclosed
with hills, most of them planted with all sorts of delicate fruits; and, according to
Bunting (s), forty two miles from Ramathlehi, the place where we last hear of him; see
Gill on Amo_1:6, Zep_2:4 what he went hither for is not easy to say; it showed great
boldness and courage, after he had made such a slaughter of the Philistines, to venture
himself in one of their strongest cities, where he must expect to be exposed to danger;
though it is highly probable this was a long time after his last encounter with them:
and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her; the Targum renders it an
innkeeper, one that kept a victualling house; so Kimchi, Ben Gersom, and Ben Melech
interpret it; into whose house he went for entertainment and lodging, and very probably
in the dusk of the evening; and the woman that kept this house might herself be an
harlot, or, however, Samson saw one in her house, with whom he was captivated, and
went in unto her, or had criminal conversation with her; it seems as if he did not turn in
thither with any such wicked design, but on sight of the person was ensnared to commit
lewdness with her; and, as Lyra says, there were many hostesses in some places, and so
here, who too easily prostituted themselves to their guests.
HE RY 1-3, “Here is, 1. Samson's sin, Jdg_16:1. His taking a Philistine to wife, in the
beginning of his time, was in some degree excusable, but to join himself to a harlot that
he accidentally saw among them was such a profanation of his honour as an Israelite, as
a Nazarite, that we cannot but blush to read it. Tell it not in Gath. This vile impurity
makes the graceful visage of this Nazarite blacker than a coal, Lam_4:7, Lam_4:8. We
find not that Samson had any business in Gaza; if he went thither in quest of a harlot it
would make one willing to hope that, as bad as things were otherwise, there were no
prostitutes among the daughters of Israel. Some think he went thither to observe what

posture the Philistines were in, that he might get some advantages against them; if so, he
forgot his business, neglected that, and so fell into this snare. His sin began in his eye,
with which he should have made a covenant; he saw there one in the attire of a harlot,
and the lust which conceived brought forth sin: he went in unto her. 2. Samson's danger.
Notice was sent to the magistrates of Gaza, perhaps by the treacherous harlot herself,
that Samson was in the town, Jdg_15:2. Probably he came in a disguise, or in the dusk of
the evening, and went into an inn or public-house, which happened to be kept by this
harlot. The gates of the city were hereupon shut, guards set, all kept quiet, that Samson
might suspect no danger. Now they thought they had him in a prison, and doubted not
but to be the death of him the next morning. O that all those who indulge their sensual
appetites in drunkenness, uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts, would see themselves thus
surrounded, waylaid, and marked for ruin, by their spiritual enemies! The faster they
sleep, and the more secure they are, the greater is their danger. 3. Samson's escape, Jdg_
16:3. He rose at midnight, perhaps roused by a dream, in slumberings upon the bed
(Job_33:15), by his guardian angel, or rather by the checks of his own conscience. He
arose with a penitent abhorrence (we hope) of the sin he was now committing, and of
himself because of it, and with a pious resolution not to return to it, - rose under an
apprehension of the danger he was in, that he was as one that slept upon the top of a
mast, - rose with such thoughts as these: “Is this a bed fit for a Nazarite to sleep in? Shall
a temple of the living God be thus polluted? Can I be safe under this guilt?” It was bad
that he lay down without such checks; but it would have been worse if he had lain still
under them. He makes immediately towards the gate of the city, probably finds the
guards asleep, else he would have made them sleep their last, stays not to break open the
gates, but plucks up the posts, takes them, gates and bar and all, all very large and strong
and a vast weight, yet he carries them on his back several miles, up to the top of a hill, in
disdain of their attempt to secure him with gates and bars, designing thus to render
himself more formidable to the Philistines and more acceptable to his people, thus to
give a proof of the great strength God had given him and a type of Christ's victory over
death and the grave. He not only rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre,
and so came forth himself, but carried away the gates of the grave, bar and all, and so left
it, ever after, an open prison to all that are his; it shall not, it cannot, always detain them.
O death! where is thy sting? Where are thy gates? Thanks be to him that not only gained
a victory for himself, but giveth us the victory!
JAMISO , “Jdg_16:1-3. Samson carries away the gates of Gaza.
Gaza — now Guzzah, the capital of the largest of the five Philistine principal cities,
about fifteen miles southwest of Ashkelon. The object of this visit to this city is not
recorded, and unless he had gone in disguise, it was a perilous exposure of his life in one
of the enemy’s strongholds. It soon became known that he was there; and it was
immediately resolved to secure him. But deeming themselves certain of their prey, the
Gazites deferred the execution of their measure till the morning.
K&D, “His Heroic Deed at Gaza. - Samson went to Gaza in the full consciousness of
his superiority in strength to the Philistines, and there went in unto a harlot whom he
saw. For Gaza, see Jos_13:3. ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ּוא‬ⅴ is used in the same sense as in Gen_6:4 and Gen_
38:16. It is not stated in this instance, as in Jdg_14:4, that it was of the Lord.
BE SO , “16:1. And saw there a harlot — Although the Hebrew word ‫,זונה‬ zoneh,

here rendered harlot, also means a woman that keeps an inn, it seems evident, on
the face of the story, that this woman really was what our translators have taken her
to have been, a harlot. Samson, it seems, going into a house of public entertainment
to refresh himself, saw there this woman, and by giving way to look upon her was
insnared.
ELLICOTT, “(1) Then went Samson to Gaza.—Rather, And Samson, &c. The
narrative is brief and detached. Gaza is near the sea, and was the chief town of the
Philistines, in the very heart of their country. It is useless to inquire how Samson
could venture there in safety, or whether he went in disguise, or what was his object
in going there; to such side-questions the narrative gives us no reply.
COFFMA , “Verse 1
THE TRAGIC STORY E DS WITH THE DEATH OF SAMSO
We are annoyed by the RIDICULOUS assertions of some scholars, claiming that:
"The Samson story terminated in Judges 15:19, and that in Judges 16 is a `later
addition'";[1] or that, "The attitude of the Deuteronomic editor is reflected here in
what he did not say."[2] either comment can be accepted because, "Whoever
heard of the story of any man, much less that of a hero like Samson, ending
BEFORE his death?" As for that alleged Deuteronomic editor, no such person is
known. The author of the Samson story was inspired of God, and a possessor of
God's Spirit, and if that had not been the case, we could never have received the
exact words of Samson's prayer as recorded upon the occasion of his death. As we
go further and further into this remarkable narrative, the opinion of Sir Isaac
ewton appears more and more attractive - that the inspired Samuel must be
received as the author of it.
This narrative of Samson is an unmitigated tragedy. " o potential saviour-figure
offered MORE promise than Samson, or delivered LESS. Israel had sunk to a new
low; and these two final incidents fully expose Israel's plight."[3]
It is difficult indeed to imagine a more shameful situation for God's Chosen People
than that in which their Judge and accepted leader was blinded and made to do the
work of a donkey, grinding wheat in the mill of the Philistines, and suffering the
humiliation of being compelled to entertain his captors at the very festival where
they were celebrating Samson's defeat.
With the story of Samson, the era of the Judgeship in Israel was concluded. Samuel
indeed judged Israel for awhile, but it was he who anointed Saul as Israel's first
king, thus bringing in the institution of the monarchy. It is not hard to understand
why many in Israel began to clamor for a king.
Many writers of Biblical commentaries have spoken of Samson, and even John
Milton, the great English poet, wrote "Samson Agonistes," which, is in general an
excellent commentary on this remarkable character. "Just as Samson's love for a
daughter of the Philistines had furnished Samson with his great opportunity to show

God's superiority over the pagan deities of the Philistines, just so, it was the
degradation of that love into animal lust that supplied the occasion for his fall and
death."[4] It is this shameful development which the sacred author narrates in this
chapter.
SAMSO CARRIES AWAY THE GATES OF GAZA
"And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And it
was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in,
and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night,
saying; Let be till morning light, then we will kill him. And Samson lay till midnight,
and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked
them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the
top of the mountain that is before Hebron."
"Samson went down to Gaza" (Judges 16:1). "Gaza was the last coast town on the
way down to Egypt and was about thirty miles from Samson's home."[5] The city is
still there, sustaining a population in excess of 10,000. "It is located two miles from
the Mediterranean coast."[6] "
We agree with Hervey that this episode "came many years after Samson's victory at
Lehi, near the latter part of Samson's twenty-year judgeship."[7] This appears to be
evident from the mention of that 20-year interval in the last verse of Judges 15, that
being the purpose of its mention there, and not the indication of "separate sources,"
as some vainly suppose. As Keil said regarding Judges 15:20, "It is impossible to
draw any critical conclusions from the position in which this remark occurs, as to a
plurality of sources for the story of Samson."[8]
The alleged "confusion" and "improbabilities" spoken of by some writers are non-
existent here. Strahan stated that, "Judges 16:2b does not agree with Judges 16:2a,
because there would be no need to keep watch by night when the gates were
closed."[9] Hervey explains what is said here. "`Laid wait for him all night' is
merely a reference to the ambush they planned in the city gates."[10] These liers-in-
wait did not stay awake all night, supposing it to have been unnecessary. The text
clearly states that, "They were quiet all night," meaning that they went to sleep, of
course. They no doubt slept, "In the guardroom by the side of the gate."[11] The
ambush had been planned the previous evening in anticipation that Samson would
leave early the next day.
"Samson arose at midnight" (Judges 16:3). We are not told just why Samson
decided to leave at midnight. We might suppose that he had become suspicious of
the harlot he visited, and that he suspected her of telling the Gazites of his presence
in that city, but Samson, as we may judge from the rest of the narrative, was
incapable of suspecting his various female companions. It could be that this
particular harlot warned him of his danger. "The doors of the gate of the city, the
two posts, bars and all" (Judges 16:3). Superhuman strength indeed would have
been required to load such a mass upon one's shoulders and carry it away.

"He carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron" (Judges
16:3). There are two ways of looking at this. "That is before Hebron" can be
interpreted as, "in the direction of Hebron," or as meaning one of the foothills of the
mountain near Hebron. Accordingly, Keil gave the distance that Samson carried the
gates as about " ine geographical miles,"[12] but Strahan gave it as "Forty miles";
Armerding made it "Thirty-eight miles";[13] and Kyle Yates wrote that, "Samson
was able to lift the gates of the city, with their posts and the bar which fastened
them, and carry them forty miles to the vicinity of Hebron."[14]
TRAPP, “16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in
unto her.
Ver. 1. Then went Samson to Gaza.] ot by a call from God, but of his own mind, as
some think, presuming upon his strength, and therefore justly deserted and foiled.
Or if by some weighty occasion, as others hold, yet not purposely to see and have
this harlot; for that had been to "make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts
thereof," [Romans 13:14] which scarce befalleth a godly man to do. But accidentally
casting his eyes upon this Circe, he was enchanted by her, finding her fair face to be
like a glass, wherein, while larks gaze, they are taken in a day-net.
“ Quid facies faciem Veneris cum veneris ante!
on sedeas, sed eas: non pereas per eas. ”
And went in unto her.] Carried away by human infirmity, forgetting God and his
high calling, this Iudex et Senex falleth into the foul sin of fornication.
“ Laenam non potuit, potuit superare leaenam:
Quem fera non potuit vincere, vicit hera. ”
PETT, “Introduction
Samson the Deliverer
God’s Sixth Lesson - the Rise of the Philistines - God Raises Up Samson (Judges
13:1 to Judges 16:31).
The story of Samson is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. It demonstrates
quite clearly that God can use the inadequacies of a man within His purposes. When
God raised up Samson from birth He knew the propensities that he would have for
good or evil. He gave him every opportunity for success but knew that he would
eventually fail. Yet from that failure He purposed to produce success. Samson is an
encouragement to all, that if the heart is right, God can use a man, even in his
weakness, in His purposes.

Chapter 16. Samson’s Decline, Downfall and Final Triumph.
By including Judges 15:20 the writer deliberately divided his story into two halves.
The first part was, as we have seen, a story mainly of triumph against the odds, the
second will be one of triumph in the face of disaster. The first began with him going
in to a respectable Philistine woman with a view to responding to the Spirit of
Yahweh (Judges 14:1 with Judges 13:25), and constantly speaks of His activity by
the Spirit. The second begins with him going in to a prostitute with a view to
following the lusts of the flesh (Judges 16:1). There is no mention of the Spirit of
Yahweh in this section, only of the final departure from him of Yahweh (Judges
16:20). But in the end it is ‘Yahweh’ Who acts through him for he is partially
restored to his vow.
Furthermore Judges 16:1 can be seen as parallel to previous times when ‘Israel went
a-whoring after strange gods’ (Judges 2:17) and ‘did evil in the sight of Yahweh’
with the Baalim and Ashtaroth (Judges 2:11; Judges 3:7). This would then signify
good times followed by bad. But Samson’s gods were women. Samson had lost his
effectiveness.
The account begins with his going in to a harlot in Gaza, and his subsequent
removal of the gates of Gaza, followed by his dalliance with Delilah who tempts him
to divulge the secret of his strength. This is followed by his subsequent arrest and
blinding, and his being committed to hard labour in the prison mill. But the
regrowth of his hair strengthens his faith and he finally destroys a packed Philistine
Temple killing many of the enemy hierarchy.
Verse 1
Chapter 16. Samson’s Decline, Downfall and Final Triumph.
By including Judges 15:20 the writer deliberately divided his story into two halves.
The first part was, as we have seen, a story mainly of triumph against the odds, the
second will be one of triumph in the face of disaster. The first began with him going
in to a respectable Philistine woman with a view to responding to the Spirit of
Yahweh (Judges 14:1 with Judges 13:25), and constantly speaks of His activity by
the Spirit. The second begins with him going in to a prostitute with a view to
following the lusts of the flesh (Judges 16:1). There is no mention of the Spirit of
Yahweh in this section, only of the final departure from him of Yahweh (Judges
16:20). But in the end it is ‘Yahweh’ Who acts through him for he is partially
restored to his vow.
Furthermore Judges 16:1 can be seen as parallel to previous times when ‘Israel went
a-whoring after strange gods’ (Judges 2:17) and ‘did evil in the sight of Yahweh’
with the Baalim and Ashtaroth (Judges 2:11; Judges 3:7). This would then signify
good times followed by bad. But Samson’s gods were women. Samson had lost his
effectiveness.
The account begins with his going in to a harlot in Gaza, and his subsequent

removal of the gates of Gaza, followed by his dalliance with Delilah who tempts him
to divulge the secret of his strength. This is followed by his subsequent arrest and
blinding, and his being committed to hard labour in the prison mill. But the
regrowth of his hair strengthens his faith and he finally destroys a packed Philistine
Temple killing many of the enemy hierarchy.
Judges 16:1
‘And Samson went to Gaza and there he saw a prostitute and went in to her.’
Gaza was the southernmost of the five major cities of the Philistine confederacy,
near the coast to the south. Some years had possibly passed since the previous
incidents, and many Israelites would visit the city, so that he was not necessarily
expecting problems, although it was always going to be risky. Again he ‘saw a
woman’. But this time she was a prostitute and he went in to her.
Perhaps he was now a disillusioned man as far as women were concerned so that all
that they meant to him now was sex. It was a sign that his dedication to Yahweh had
dimmed and that he now felt that he could do as he wished, although his strong
sexual desires may have been overruling his will. But if so, that could only happen
because of the dimming of his dedication. This time it would appear that the wrong
spirit was moving him. He was no longer the man he was. Possibly it was the middle-
age syndrome.
It may be that he used the woman in order to gain information about the city, or his
intention may from the start have been to destroy the gates about which he needed
knowledge, but there was no excuse for his behaviour, which was contrary to his
vow. On the other hand any who have known strong sexual desire will understand
the temptation, and appreciate her drawing power to him if she was very desirable.
Even azirites were men, and the constant nagging of sexual desire has led many
good men astray. But he knew his own weaknesses and it was something that he
should have guarded against, as should we.
EXPOSITOR’S BIBLE COMME TARY, “PLEASURE A D PERIL I GAZA
16:1-3
By courage and energy Samson so distinguished himself in his own tribe and on the
Philistine border that he was recognised as judge. Government of any kind was a
boon, and he kept rude order, as much perhaps by overawing the restless enemy as
by administering justice in Israel. Whether the period of twenty years assigned to
Samson’s judgeship intervened between the fight at Lehi and the visit to Gaza we
cannot tell. The chronology is vague, as might be expected in a narrative based on
popular tradition. Most likely the twenty years cover the whole time during which
Samson was before the public as hero and acknowledged chief.
Samson went down to Gaza, which was the principal Philistine city situated near the
Mediterranean coast some forty miles from Zorah. For what reason did he venture

into that hostile place? It may, of course, have been that he desired to learn by
personal inspection what was its strength, to consider whether it might be attacked
with any hope of success; and if that was so we would be disposed to justify him. As
the champion and judge of Israel he could not but feel the danger to which his
people were constantly exposed from the Philistine power so near to them and in
those days always becoming more formidable. He had to a certain extent secured
deliverance for his country as he was expected to do; but deliverance was far from
complete, could not be complete till the strength of the enemy was broken. At great
risk to himself he may have gone to play the spy and devise, if possible, some plan of
attack. In this case he would be an example of those who with the best and purest
motives, seeking to carry the war of truth and purity into the enemy’s country, go
down into the haunts of vice to see what men do and how best the evils that injure
society may be overcome. There is risk in such adventure; but it is nobly
undertaken, and even if we do not feel disposed to imitate we must admire. Bold
servants of Christ may feel constrained to visit Gaza and learn for themselves what
is done there. Beyond this too is a kind of adventure which the whole church
justifies in proportion to its own faith and zeal. We see St. Paul and his companions
in Ephesus, in Philippi, in Athens and other heathen towns, braving the perils which
threaten them there, often attacked, sometimes in the jaws of death, heroic in the
highest sense. And we see the modern missionary with like heroism landing on
savage coasts and at the constant risk of life teaching the will of God in a sublime
confidence that it shall awaken the most sunken nature; a confidence never at fault.
But we are obliged to doubt whether Samson had in view any scheme against the
Philistine power; and we may he sure that he was on no mission for the good of
Gaza. Of a patriotic or generous purpose there is no trace; the motive is
unquestionably of a different kind. From his youth this man was restless,
adventurous, ever craving some new excitement good or bad. He could do anything
but quietly pursue a path of duty; and in the small towns of Dan and the valleys of
Judah he had little to excite and interest him. There life went on in a dull way from
year to year, without gaiety, bustle, enterprise. Had the chief been deeply interested
in religion, had he been a reformer of the right kind, he would have found
opportunity enough for exertion and a task into which he might have thrown all his
force. There were heathen images to break in pieces, altars and high places to
demolish. To banish Baal worship and the rites of Ashtoreth from the land, to bring
the customs of the people under the law of Jehovah would have occupied him fully.
But Samson did not incline to any such doings; he had no passion for reform. We
never see in his life one such moment as Gideon and Jephthah knew of high
religious daring. Dark hours he had, sombre enough, as at Lehi after the slaughter.
But his was the melancholy of a life without aim sufficient to its strength, without a
vision matching its energy. To suffer for God’s cause is the rarest of joys, and that
Samson never knew though he was judge in Israel.
We imagine then that in default of any excitement such as he craved in the towns of
his own land he turned his eyes to the Philistine cities which presented a marked
contrast. There life was energetic and gay, there many pleasures were to be had.
ew colonists were coming in their swift ships, and the streets presented a scene of

constant animation. The strong eager man, full of animal passion, found the life he
craved in Gaza, where he mingled with the crowds and heard tales of strange
existence. or was there wanting the opportunity for enjoyment which at home he
could not indulge. Beyond the critical observation of the elders of Dan he could take
his fill of sensual pleasure. ot without danger of course. In some brawl the
Philistines might close upon him. But he trusted to his strength to escape from their
hands, and the risk increased the excitement. We must suppose that, having seen the
nearer and less important towns such as Ekron, Gath, and Ashkelon he now
ventured to Gaza in quest of amusement, in order, as people say, to see the world.
A constant peril this of seeking excitement, especially in an age of high civilisation.
The means of variety and stimulus are multiplied, and ever the craving outruns
them, a craving yielded to, with little or no resistance, by many who should know
better. The moral teacher must recognise the desire for variety and excitement as
perhaps the chief of all the hindrances he has now to overcome. For one who desires
duty there are scores who find it dull and tame and turn from it; without sense of
fault, to the gaieties of civilised society in which there is "nothing wrong," as they
say, or at least so little of the positively wrong that conscience is easily appeased.
The religious teacher finds the demand for "brightness" and variety before him at
every turn; he is indeed often touched by it himself and follows with more or less of
doubt a path that leads straight from his professed goal. "Is amusement devilish?"
asks one. Most people reply with a smile that life must be lively or it is not worth
having. And the Philistinism that attracts them with its dash and gaudiness is not
far away nor hard to reach. It is not necessary to go across to the Continent where
the brilliance of Vienna or Paris offers a contrast to the grey dulness of a country
village; nor even to London where amid the lures of the midnight streets there is
peril of the gravest kind. Those who are restless and foolhardy can find a Gaza and
a valley of Sorek nearer home, in the next market town. Philistine life, lax in morals,
full of rattle and glitter, heat and change, in gambling, in debauchery, in sheer
audacity of movement and talk, presents its allurements in our streets, has its
acknowledged haunts in our midst. Young people brought up to fear God in quiet
homes whether of town or country are enticed by the whispered counsels of
comrades half ashamed of the things they say, yet eager for more companionship in
what they secretly know to be folly or worse. Young women are the prey of those
who disgrace manhood and womanhood by the offers they make, the insidious lies
they tell. The attraction once felt is apt to master. As the current that rushes swiftly
bears them with it they exult in the rapid motion even while life is nearing the fatal
cataract. Subtle is the progress of infidelity. From the persuasion that enjoyment is
lawful and has no peril in it the mind quickly passes to a doubt of the old laws and
warnings. Is it so certain that there is a reward for purity and unworldliness? Is not
all the talk about a life to come a jangle of vain words? The present is a reality,
death a certainty, life a swiftly passing possession. They who enjoy know what they
are getting. The rest is dismissed as altogether in the air.
With Samson, as there was less of faith and law to fling aside, there was less
hardening of heart. He was half a heathen always, more conscious of bodily than of
moral strength, reliant on that which he had, indisposed to seek from God the holy

vigour which he valued little. At Gaza, where moral weakness endangered life, his
well knit muscles released him. We see him among the Philistines entrapped,
apparently in a position from which there is no escape: The gate is closed and
guarded. In the morning he is to be seized and killed. But aware of his danger, his
mind not put completely off its balance as yet by the seductions of the place, he
arises at midnight and, plucking the doors of the city gate from their sockets, carries
them to the top of a hill which fronts Hebron.
Here is represented what may at first be quite possible to one who has gone into a
place of temptation and danger. There is for a time a power of resolution and action
which when the peril of the hour is felt may be brought into use. Out of the house
which is like the gate of hell, out of the hands of vile tempters it is possible to burst
in quick decision and regain liberty. In the valley of Sorek it may be otherwise, but
here the danger is pressing and rouses the will. Yet the power of rising suddenly
against temptation, of breaking from the company of the impure is not to be
reckoned on. It is not of ourselves we can be strong and resolute enough, but of
grace. And can a man expect divine succour in a harlot’s den? He thinks he may
depend upon a certain self-respect, a certain disgust at vile things and
dishonourable life. But vice can be made to seem beautiful, it can overcome the
aversion springing from self-respect and the best education. In the history of one
and another of the famous and brilliant, from the god-like youth of Macedon to the
genius of yesterday, the same unutterably sad lesson is taught us; we trace the quick
descent of vice. Self-respect? Surely to Goethe, to George Sand, to Musset, to Burns
that should have remained, a saving salt. But it is clear that man has not the power
of preserving himself. While he says in his heart, That is beneath me; I have better
taste; I shall never be guilty of such a low, false, and sickening thing-he has already
committed himself.
Samson heard the trampling of feet in the streets and was warned of physical
danger. When midnight came he lost no time. But he was too late. The liberty he
regained was not the liberty he had lost. Before he entered that house in Gaza,
before he sat down in it, before he spoke to the woman there he should have fled. He
did not; and in the valley of Sorek his strength of will is not equal to the need.
Delilah beguiles him, tempts him, presses him with her wiles. He is infatuated; his
secret is told and ruin comes.
Moral strength, needful decision in duty to self and society and God-few possess
these because few have the high ideal before them, and the sense of an obligation
which gathers force from the view of eternity. We live, most of us, in a very limited
range of time. We think of tomorrow or the day beyond; we think of years of health
and joy in this world, rarely of the boundless after life. To have a stain upon the
character, a blunted moral sense, a scar that disfigures the mind seems of little
account because we anticipate but a temporary reproach or inconvenience. To be
defiled, blinded, maimed forever, to be incapacitated for the labour and joy of the
higher world does not enter into our thought. And many who are nervously anxious
to appear well in the sight of men are shameless when God only can see. Moral
strength does not spring out of such imperfect views of obligation. What availed

Samson’s fidelity to the azarite vow when by another gate he let in the foe?
The common kind of religion is a vow which covers two or three points of duty only.
The value and glory of the religion of the Bible are that it sets us on our guard and
strengthens us against everything that is dangerous to the soul and to society.
Suppose it were asked wherein our strength lies, what would be the answer? Say
that one after another stood aside conscious of being without strength until one was
found willing to be tested. Assume that he could say, I am temperate, I am pure;
passion never masters me: so far the account is good. You hail him as a man of
moral power, capable of serving society. But you have to inquire further before you
can be satisfied. You have to say, Some have had too great liking for money. Francis
Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England, notable in the first rank of philosophers, took
bribes and was convicted upon twenty-three charges of corruption. Are you proof
against covetousness? because if you can be tempted by the glitter of gold reliance
cannot be placed upon you. And again it must be asked of the man-Is there any
temptress who can wind you about her fingers, overcome your conscientious
scruples, wrest from you the secret you ought to keep and make you break your
covenant with God, even as Delilah overcame Samson? Because, if there is, you are
weaker than a vile woman and no dependence can be placed upon you. We learn
from history what this kind of temptation does. We see one after another, kings,
statesmen, warriors who figure bravely upon the scene for a time, their country
proud of them, the best hopes of the good centred in them, suddenly in the midst of
their career falling into pitiable weakness and covering themselves with disgrace.
Like Samson they have loved some woman in the valley of Sorek. In the life of today
instances of the same pitiable kind occur in every rank and class. The shadow falls
on men who held high places in society or stood for a time as pillars in the house of
God.
Or, taking another case, one may be able to say, I am not avaricious, I have fidelity,
I would not desert a friend nor speak a falsehood for any bribe; I am pure; for
courage and patriotism you may rely upon me:-here are surely signs of real
strength. Yet that man may be wanting, in the divine faithfulness on which every
virtue ultimately depends. With all his good qualities he may have no root in the
heavenly, no spiritual faith, ardour, decision. Let him have great opposition to
encounter, long patience to maintain, generosity and self-denial to exercise without
prospect of quick reward-and will he stand? In the final test nothing but fidelity to
the Highest, tried and sure fidelity to God can give a man any right to the
confidence of others. That chain alone which is welded with the fire of holy
consecration, devotion of heart and strength and mind to the will of God is able to
bear the strain. If we are to fight the battles of life and resist the urgency of its
temptations the whole divine law as Christ has set it forth must be our azarite vow
and we must count ourselves in respect of every obligation the bondmen of God.
Duty must not be a matter of self-respect but of ardent aspiration. The way of our
life may lead us into some Gaza full of enticements, into the midst of those who
make light of the names we revere and the truths we count most sacred. Prosperity
may come with its strong temptations to pride and vainglory. If we would be safe it
must be in the constant gratitude to God of those who feel the responsibility and the

hope that are kindled at the cross, as those who have died with Christ and now live
with Him unto God. In this redeemed life it may be almost said there is no
temptation; the earthly ceases to lure, gay shows and gauds cease to charm the soul.
There still are comforts and pleasures in God’s world, but they do not enchain. A
vision of the highest duty and reality overshines all that is trivial and passing. And
this is life-the fulness, the charm, the infinite variety and strength of being. "How
can he that is dead to the world live any longer therein?" Yet he lives as he never
did before.
In the experience of Samson in the valley of Sorek we find another warning. We
learn the persistence with which spiritual enemies pursue those whom they mark for
their prey. It has been said that the adversaries of good are always most active in
following the best men with their persecutions. This we take leave to deny. It is-
when a man shows some weakness, gives an opportunity for assault that he is
pressed and hunted as a wounded lion by a tribe of savages. The occasion was given
to the Philistines by Samson’s infatuation. Had he been a man of stern purity they
would have had no point of attack. But Delilah could be bribed. The lords of the
Philistines offered her a large sum to further their ends, and she, a willing
instrument, pressed Samson with her entreaties. Baffled again and again, she did
not rest till the reward was won.
We can easily see the madness of the man in treating lightly, as if it were a game he
was sure to win, the solicitations of the adventuress. "The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson"-again and again he heard that threat and laughed at it. The green withes,
the new ropes with which he was bound were snapped at will. Even when his hair
was woven into the web he could go away with web and beam and the pin with
which they had been fixed to the ground. But if he had been aware of what he was
doing how could he have failed to see that he was approaching the fatal capitulation,
that wiles and blandishments were gaining upon him? When he allowed her to
tamper with the sign of his vow it was the presage of the end.
So it often is. The wiles of the spirit of this world are woven very cunningly. First
the "overscrupulous" observance of religious ordinances is assailed. The tempter
succeeds so far that the Sabbath is made a day of pleasure: then the cry is raised,
"The Philistines be upon thee." But the man only laughs. He feels himself quite
strong as yet, able for any moral task. Another lure is framed-gambling, drinking. It
is yielded to moderately, a single bet by way of sport, one deep draught on some
extraordinary occasion. He who is the object of persecution is still self-confident. He
scorns the thought of danger. A prey to gambling, to debauchery? He is far enough
from that. But his weakness is discovered. Satanic profit is to be made out of his fall;
and he shall not escape.
It is true as ever it was that the friendship of the world is a snare. When the meshes
of time and sense close upon us we may be sure that the end aimed at is our death.
The whole world is a valley of Sorek to weak man, and at every turn he needs a
higher than himself to guard and guide him. He is indeed a Samson, a child in
morals, though full grown in muscle. There are some it is true who are able to help,

who, if they were beside in the hour of peril, would interpose with counsel and
warning and protection. But a time comes to each of us when he has to go alone
through the dangerous streets. Then unless he holds straight forward, looking
neither to right hand nor left, pressing towards the mark, his weakness will be
quickly detected, that secret tendency scarcely known to himself by which he can be
most easily assailed. or will it be forgotten if once it has been discovered. It is now
the property of a legion. Be it vanity or avarice, ambition or sensuousness, the
Philistines know how to gain their end by means of it. There is strength indeed to be
had. The weakest may become strong, able to face all the tempters in the world and
to pass unscathed through the streets of Gaza or the crowds of Vanity Fair. or is
the succour far away. Yet to persuade men of their need and then to bring them to
the feet of God are the most difficult of tasks in an age of self-sufficiency and
spiritual unreason. Harder than ever is the struggle to rescue the victims of worldly
fashion, enticement, and folly: for the false word has gone forth that here and here
only is the life of man and that renouncing the temporal is renouncing all.
LEGGE
The Bible answer is so simple, that many have stumbled at it
because of the simplicity - what is it? Run! Run away! Flee sexual immorality, Paul
says in 1
Corinthians 6. He says to the young man Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: 'Flee also
youthful lusts'.
We see it exemplified in Joseph, Potiphar's wife pleads with him to lie with her - and
he runs
and leaves his coat with her, and says that he will not do this thing against his
master, or
against God. What a young man! He didn't toy with temptation - are we toying with
it? Am I
toying with it? As we channel-hop, sitting on the sofa; as we surf the web - are we
toying with
it? As we read The Daily Star, or The Sun - 'Oh, we're only reading the news' -
don't give me
that! I know what I would be doing if I was reading it. Do we toy with temptation in
our
relationships, in the workplace, in the church? You'll get trapped!
Secondly, he took God's blessing for granted - his parents. ' o, I'm not listening to
them'. His
vows: 'Well, I was born with them, I didn't ask for them'. The power he enjoyed,
this was a
man who experienced charismatic power, but he took it for granted, so God took it
off him.
ot only did he toy with temptation and take his blessings for granted, but he failed
to listen
and he failed to pray. We read at the very beginning of his life that God told his
parents that
he would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines - he only began the job, he

never finished
it, it remained for Samuel and David in the later years to finally defeat the
Philistines. We
read in 1 Samuel 7 that by one prayer, Samuel the prophet did more by one prayer
than
Samson did in his whole life. We don't read of him praying often, do we? We don't
read of him
listening too much? James 5: 'The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much'.
Then fourthly, not only did he fail to listen and pray, he lacked discipline. Do you
know: it is
impossible to be undisciplined and stable at the same time? I know a lot of folk who
are very
gifted, great promise - but do you know what their problem is? They squander it by
indiscipline. It's the same in this area of lust, in any area of sin. Proverbs 25:28: 'He
that hath
no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls'.
Proverbs
16:32: 'He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his
spirit than
he that taketh a city'. Samson had taken many cities, but he couldn't rule his own
spirit.
There are people who have power to conquer others and win arguments and debate
theologically, but they can't conquer themselves!
He set the Philistine fields on fire, but he couldn't control the fires in his own lust.
He killed
the lions, but he couldn't put to death the passion of his flesh. He could easily break
the
bonds of men upon him, but he couldn't get rid of the shackles of sin that gradually
grew
stronger than his soul - because he lacked discipline. Then fifthly: he toyed with
temptation,
he took God's blessing for granted, he failed to listen and to pray, he lacked
discipline - but
fifthly, he proudly thought something was special about him. 'I'm Samson!' -
Proverbs 16:18
says: 'Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall'. Do you
know what
half the battle is? Being man enough or woman enough to admit where your
weaknesses are,
ME FOR THE HOUR Pastor David Legge
132
and to put safeguards in place to protect you from them. Are you walking around
like a
peacock, with your nose stuck in the air: 'That would never happen to me!'? My
friend,
beware - you're a Samson waiting to happen, and so am I.

Job, who was a righteous man - none other like him, God said - said in chapter 31
verse 1: 'I
made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?'. Flee! If
you're in
this trouble, seek help. If you're in this trouble, put safeguards in your life. If you're
in this
trouble, do something about it before it's too late - like all of us have, because all of
us have
had the problem.
Can I give you a bit of hope at the end to take heart? The devil tells you it's
impossible for
you to overcome - listen to God's word, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13: 'There hath no
temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful', you're not alone,
everybody is
struggling, especially in this world - but God is faithful, 'who will not suffer you to
be tempted
above that ye are able'. Don't believe the lie of the devil that you can't resist, you
can! 'He
will with the temptation also make a way to escape', there is a fire exit out of every
sin,
especially lust, 'that we may be able to bear it'.
Have you fallen? Praise God, if you repent of your sin and confess your sin, He is
faithful and
just to forgive you your sin, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. You don't need
to use
this message as another guilt trip - you're delivered! But if you're in denial, you
need help.
Praise God, that help is there. Why not ask the Saviour to help you, comfort,
strengthen and
heal you? He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through.
Our Father, we remember the words of Your blessed Son, our Saviour, the Lord
Jesus, when
He said to those religious hypocrites: 'Let he that is among you without sin cast the
first
stone'. Lord, we're not in the business of casting stones at anyone today, because I
am the
first one who couldn't cast - for every time any of us point one finger, there's always
more
pointing back at us. Lord, I know what my heart is like, and what my mind has
potential to
do. Lord, we all are surrounded in this world with so much that can cause us to fall
if we yield
to the temptations. Lord, we pray that we will, all of us, be able to admit to our
failure and
shortcomings, will be enabled to confess it, to be cleansed of it, to repent from it, and
if

necessary to seek the help to put safeguards and barriers up against it in order that
we will be
delivered from it - that we should not, like Samson, lose our crown. Lord, help us to
realise
that there's more at stake from not being consecrated to God, than the loss that we
will incur
by giving up everything to Him. Impress Your word upon all our hearts, we pray,
for Jesus'
sake. Amen.
ZEISLER, STEVE I'm convinced God deliberately put Samson in leadership as a
hollow man, a man who was all externals, a man of power and authority who had
absolutely no control of his inner life. He was buffeted by his appetites and whims.
Until the last chapter of his life he never knew anything of humility or a knee bent
before God, never knew anything of wisdom, never loved anything but himsel{ and
never cared for purity. He was a man who was telling the nation what it had
become. He also serves as an important way for us to ask questions about ourselves.
Are we, too, people whose relationship to God has everything to do with externals
and nothing to do with internals? Are we, too, impressed by dramatic displays of
power that never result in formation of character? These questions are well worth
asking.
SELF-CO TROL, cf. self-discipline
British statesman Edmund Burke argued, "men are qualified for
civil iberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put
mural chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless
a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere,
and the less of it there is within, the more there is without.
It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of
intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their
fetters. Imprimis, Vol 20, #9
LOTS OF KIDS
A man was in the hospital recovering from an operation when a nun walked
into his room. She was there to cheer up the sick and lame.
They start talking and she asks about his life. He talks about his wife
and his 13 children.
"My, my," says the nun, "13 children. A good and proper Catholic family.
God is very proud of you."
"I'm sorry, Sister," he says, "I am not Catholic. I Jewish."
"Jewish!" she replies. "You sex maniac, you."
A young American engineer was sent to Ireland by his
company to work in a new electronics plant. It was a two-year
assignment that he had accepted because it would enable him to
earn enough to marry his long-time girlfriend. She had a job

near her home in Tennessee, and their plan was to pool their
resources and put a down payment on a house when he returned.
They corresponded often, but as the lonely weeks went by,
she began expressing doubts that he was being true to her,
exposed as he was to comely Irish lasses.
The young engineer wrote back, declaring with some
passion that he was paying absolutely no attention to the local
girls. "I admit," he wrote, "that sometimes I'm tempted. But I
fight it. I'm keeping myself for you."
In the next mail, the engineer received a package. It
contained a note from his girl and a harmonica. "I'm sending
this to you," she wrote, "so you can learn to play it and have
something to take your mind off those girls." The engineer
replied, "Thanks for the harmonica. I'm practicing on it every
night and thinking of you."
At the end of his two-year stint, the engineer was
transferred back to company headquarters. He took the first
plane to Tennessee to be reunited with his girl. Her whole
family was with her, but as he rushed forward to embrace her, she
held up a restraining hand and said sternly, "Just hold on there
a minute, Billy Bob. Before any serious kissin' and huggin' gets
started here, let me hear you play that harmonica!" Bits &
Pieces, October 15, 1992, Page 17-18
SE SUALITY
1. If Sensuality were happiness, beasts wer happier than men; but human
Felicity is lodged in the Soul, not in the Flesh.
2. What is a Man,
If his chief good, and market of his time,
Be but to sleep, and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, He, that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before, and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike Reason
To rust in us unused.
The gods had given me almost everything. But I let myself be
lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease...Tired of
being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search
for new sensation. What the paradox was to me in the sphere of
thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion. I
grew careless of the lives of others. I took pleasure where it
pleased me, and passed on. I forgot that every little action of
the common day makes or unmakes character, and that therefore
what one has done in the secret chamber, one has some day to cry
aloud from the house-top. I ceased to be lord over myself. I
was no longer the captain of my soul, and did not know it. I
allowed pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible disgrace.
Oscar Wilde, quoted by Wm. Barclay, Letters to the Galatians and
Ephesians, p. 100
SEX I BIBLE
The Bible reveals a very balanced view of sex. It is God's gift to man, and it is His
idea. There is much in the Bible that is very positive and which encourages
mankind to enjoy sex. But it is also the most perverted of His gifts, and leads to all

sorts of evil and folly, so there is plenty in the Bible that is anti-sex, as well as pro-
sex.
The problem has its origin in the fact that most peoples of th world worshiped
goddesses. This had a powerful influence on God's people, and they picked up on
the practices of the pagan world where sex became a part of religious worship.
Deut. 12:1-4: The high places and under every spreading tree was the worship of
the sex goddess.
II Kings 17:7-20.
Jer. 2:20-21, 33; 3:1-10. Here we see the link of adultry and idolatry.
Ezek. 6:13
Hosea 4:10-19
What we see in the Bible is sex and religion being linked because the sex life of
men is a key factor in the determining of their religion. Solomon was wise, but sex
lead him to become a fool, for sex changed his whole religious system of worship.
See I Kings 11:1-6. Poor sexual judgments are the main reason for the fall of even
godly men.
Josiah destroyed these places of prostitution- II Kings 23:12-14.
The goddess Ashtoreth or Astarte was a very popular goddess all over the known
world of the ancients. The Jews had the same problem as Christians have always
had:
How to avoid being conformed to an conditioned by the culture.
The pagan religions had a male and female god, and so this led to sex and religion
being linked together, for sex was part of the image of God. Baal and Ashtoreh
were husband and wife, the two main deities of the ancient world of Caanan.
Judges 2:13 and 10:6; Isa. 17:7-8. This pare of gods lead to a lot of sex in religion,
and made the people very immoral.
The God of the Bible is not a sexual God, and had no mate, and so Biblical religion
divorces itself from sex as part of worship. God is the author of sex, and the Bible
has much positive to say about sex, but it is anti-sex in the realm of worship, for sex
in worship becomes an idol, as we see all through history. um. 25:1-3.
As Baal came to be associated with the sun, and Ashterah with the moon, these two
heavenly bodies became objects of worship. The moon associated with romance for
it was at night on moonlit hills that people worshipped the moon goddess in sexual
orgies.
The Jews worshipped the Queen of Heaven. They had their goddess of love-their
Venus or Aphrodite. Jer. 7:18 and 44:15-19.

The high hills of stone represent Baal, and the trees and groves represent Ashterah.
His idols were of stone, and hers of wood. I Kings 16:32-33 and Deut. 16:21-22.
Ashterah is mentioned over 40 times in the Old Testament. Archaelogists are
finding many of these female goddesses in Israel, showing that people had them in
their homes.
SEX BATTLES
There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they
had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect. One snowy,
stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their perfect car (a Grand
Caravan) along a winding road, when they noticed someone at the side of the
roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood
Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. ot wanting to disappoint any children on
the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle.
Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving
conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident.
Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the survivor?
(Scroll down for the answer.)
The perfect woman. She's the only one that really existed in the first place. Everyone
knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man...
So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have
been driving. This explains why there was a car accident.
"There is something that God put into every woman that makes her want to feel
cherished and loved. Too often men confuse sex with love. I tell couples in marriage
counseling that sex doesn't start at eleven o'clock in the evening. It begins at 7:30
a.m. when you kiss her goodbye. It begins at 3:15 p.m. when you call her from work
to let her know that you were thinking of her and just wanted to let her know you
love her. Men are microwaves, women are Crock Pots. Think about that for a
while!"
1. It is always relevant and nothing about it ever becomes obsolete. We can afford to
be ignorant about many things but sex is not one of them. It is too vital and relevant
to every human being.
1. Here is good news for those who hate jogging. Dr. Eugene Scheimann says, "A
satisfying sex life is the single most effective protection against heart attacks." This
is from his book Sex Can Save Your Heart And Life. The point is health is not only
a
matter of laborious exercise but a matter of loving exercise as well.
2. Both husband and wife risk the dangers of frigidity and impotence do to hostility

Judges 16 commentary

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Judges 16 commentary