Snip snip poke poke

1. Snip Snip Poke Poke
Delilah’s Barber and Optometry
School
Text- Judg 16:1-21
1Then went Samson to Gaza,
and saw there an harlot,
and went in unto her.
2And 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 the night, saying,
In the morning,
when it is day,
we shall kill him.
3And Samson lay till midnight,
and arose at midnight,
and took the doors of the gate of the city,
and the two posts,
and went away with them,

2. bar and all,
and put them upon his shoulders,
and carried them up to the top of an hill
that is before Hebron.
One mighty act, does not a sanctified Saint make. He is
escaping the harlots house.
Delilah, corrupted by the Philistines, entices Samson
4And it came to pass afterward,
that he loved a woman
in the valley of Sorek,
whose name was Delilah.
 Delilah is the only woman named in a long list of
Samson’s unholy relationships.
 Samson loved her, but was blind to the fact- she did
not love him.
5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her,
and said unto her,
Entice him,
and see wherein his great strength lieth,
and by what means we may prevail against him,
that we may bind him to afflict him:

3. and we will give thee every one of us
eleven hundred pieces of silver.
 They knew he was much stronger than they, but
rather than enlist him as an ally they want to kill him.
 They set a snare for him through subtly not through
strength. “Entice him”
The deceiver deceived three times
6And Delilah said to Samson,
Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth,
and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
 Wherein; wherewith
 A wicked companion can not be trusted to keep
confidences “tell ME, I pray thee” (it was US not ME)
 Samson was charmed by a smooth soft voice, the
words were clear, but the tone was enticing and
deceptive.
Entrapment # 1
7And Samson said unto her,
If they bind me with seven green withs

4. that were never dried,
then shall I be weak,
and be as another man.
 He did not tell her “whereIN”, he skipped right to
the “whereWITH”
 “they bind me” Samson is now playing the game
with full knowledge, but without wisdom.
 “weak… as another man”. His strength was in
being Different than any other man.
 All men of this world in their natural state are
week
o Power is not in the pursuit of pleasure;
but in the discipline of discharging
duty.
o Power is not in wielding control; but in
the strength of submission.
o Power is not in excess; but in the valor
of restraint.
8Then the lords of the Philistines
brought up to her seven green withs
which had not been dried,
and she bound him with them.
It turns out “they” were less involved than “she”.

5. 9Now there were men lying in wait,
abiding with her in the chamber.
And she said unto him,
The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.
And he brake the withs,
as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire.
So his strength was not known.
10And Delilah said unto Samson,
Behold, thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies:
now tell me, I pray thee,
wherewith thou mightest be bound.
 This is true he is a liar just as she. “How can two
walk together except they be agreed?”
 She is no longer interested in ‘where’ his strength
comes from, just how to stop it.
 “wherewith thou mightest be bound”. It had
already happened.
 The four-fold cord of sin was coiling around Samson
and he couldn’t see it.
11And he said unto her,
If they bind me fast with new ropes
that never were occupied,

6. then shall I be weak,
and be as another man.
13And Delilah said unto Samson,
Hitherto thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies:
tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.
And he said unto her,
If thou weavest the seven locks of my head
with the web.
16And it came to pass,
when she pressed him daily with her words,
and urged him,
so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17That he told her all his heart,
and said unto her,
There hath not come a razor upon mine head;
for I have been a Nazarite unto God
from my mother's womb:
if I be shaven,
then my strength will go from me,
and I shall become weak,
and be like any other man.

7. 20And she said,
The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.
And he awoke out of his sleep, and said,
I will go out as at other times before,
and shake myself.
And he wist not that
the LORD was departed from him.
The first cord of Samson’s choosing was 7 withs.
The next lasso he layers is “new Ropes”
Next all these cords of sin become braids for the 7 locks
of his head.
And like a padlock his doom is secured by a daily diet
of Delilah’s discourse, till finally he signed his own
death warrant.
21But the Philistines(they)
took him,
and put out his eyes,
and brought him down to Gaza,
and bound him with fetters of brass;
and he did grind in the prison house.
The checks Samson was writing on the account of
God’s long-suffering and mercy finally ran out.

8. Instead of a friendly reminder on the last page to
order more checks; the message was…
“…He wist not that the LORD was departed from
him.”
For all of Samson’s strength there were things he could
not do:
 He could not pursue the pleasure of sin and
retain the Power of God.
 He could not reclaim the wasted opportunities of
this past.
 He could not arrest the penalty to be paid for
forsaking God’s law.
Andneithercanwe.