April 6, 2025 • 17 mins
In this Bible Story, Samson’s shows weakness for Delilah, leading him to reveal the secret to taking away his strength. Samson is then bound and captured by the Philistines. Samson, with one final push with the strength of God, topples the Philistine temple and kills 3,000. This story is inspired by Judges 16. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.
Today's Bible verse is Judges 16:6 from the King James Version.
Episode 69: In spite of his massive ego and foolishness, God had been using Samson, as His chosen instrument, against the Philistines. But Samson’s lust would be his downfall. The Philistines noticed that his only weakness was his lustfulness, so they hired a beautiful woman named Delilah to seduce him into revealing the secret of his strength. After being lied to by Samson on three occasions, he finally caved in and gave her the truth. Teaching us that we should be careful not to flirt with sin or abuse the favor God has given us, otherwise, like Samson, we may make a choice we deeply regret.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, and Delilah said to Samson, tell me
I pray thee wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith
thou mightest be bound to afflict thee Judges sixteen six.
Dear God, as the story of Samson rings in my ears,
(00:21):
it helps me to learn the valuable lessons that lie
within the words of Judge sixteen. Through Samson, I too
realize that the strength of my abilities and the power
of my moving on my behalf only come from my
obedience to You and your word. I come against any
thinking or behavior that would have me rely on my
(00:44):
own understanding, causing me to believe that I can accomplish
great things apart from You, Lord. I choose to walk
in the truth that I am simply because You are.
As I continue on my journey to fulfillment and purpose,
I will become self correcting and aware of the moments
(01:08):
I step off the path. Through your health, Holy Spirit,
I declare that I live and stay in alignment. I
will not sacrifice my anointing for the simple comforts and
pleasures that can lead to my downfall. I am locked
in and ready to finish the race of purpose before
(01:31):
me in Jesus name. Amen, thank you for praying with
me today. Continue listening for an incredible Bible story brought
to you by Bible in a Year dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Samson's downfall. In our last story, we saw Samson's streng
and pettiness on display. He developed a rivalry with the
Philistines over his wife, and out of anger and revenge,
he burned their crops and slaughtered one thousand of their
men with the jawbone of a donkey. God used Samson's
(02:16):
strength and foolishness as a weapon against the enemies of Israel.
Now we see Samson's descent into his own sin. His
foolishness abounds, and he finds himself captive to a witch
in the armies of the Philistines. As inspired by the
Book of Judges.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack grayeb with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
saw how Samson used his strength both to exact his
own revenge and as a tool in God's hand to
push back the oppressive Philicites. His anger and quick temper
left a trail of destruction and death across the region.
(02:57):
But God used even Samson's failures to winek in Israel's enemy. Ultimately,
Samson was filled with God's spirit and righteously defended his
fellow Israelites, leading to him being judge over the people
for twenty years. But tragically, Samson's lust, disobedience, and foolishness resurface,
and rather simply compromising with danger, he plunges headlong into sin.
(03:22):
Entangled with an evil woman, his strength will be no
match for her hold on his mind. It is a
tragic tale of unchecked sin, but still God will use
Samson to ultimately win a victory over the Philistines. So
listen to today's reading.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
It was dark and the city of Gaza had fallen asleep.
The only lights came from the dim candles illuminating the
small room where Samson and the prostitute lay. Their shadows
moved against the walls as they moved to one another's bodies.
Throughout the night, Samson drowned out his sorrows and insecurities
(04:01):
in the sheets of the prostitute woman. The Gazites had
caught word that Samson was staying in the city. They
surrounded the prostitute's home and set up an ambush at
the gate of the city, and Casey escaped. They kept quiet,
planning their attack for when dawn broke they slept, not
knowing that Samson escaped out the window at midnight. Stealthily,
(04:25):
Samson moved through the alleys of the city towards the
front entrance. Samson stood in front of the gate. The
gate was looming over Samson, four times his size and
made of pure steel, The gate stood as a barrier
between him and freedom. Samson gripped the steel beams of
the gate and began pulling. Samson's arms were hard as stone,
(04:49):
and his legs were planted firmly in the ground for support. Slowly,
the steel began to rip off its hinges, and the
gate lifted from its foundation. Samson rose the gate above
his head and began to walk out of the city.
With the strength of an elephant and the stealth of
a cat, Samson stole Gaza's main form of protection and
(05:11):
escaped into the mountains. Meanwhile, the Philistines were planning their
attack against Samson. The lords of the Philistines plotted and
schemed as to how they would topple the mighty Man
of God. Clearly, no army large or small could come
up against him, and they knew no other way to
bring him to his knees. They did, however, know of
(05:34):
one weakness. Samson had a weakness for beautiful women. They
sent for a woman named Elilah and paid her one thousand,
one hundred pieces of silver to seduce him. She came
to Samson with smooth lips and a sharp tongue. She
stroked his hair and kissed his neck. Samson, in an instant,
(05:55):
fell deeply in love with Delilah. Her seductive voice and
clever words words lured Samson into a daze of passion
and vulnerability. She whispered in Samson's ear, where does your
strength truly lie? She leaned against him. Samson could smell
her hair. She was intoxicating to him. How would anyone
(06:18):
be able to capture you? Samson was enraptured by her,
but still in his right mind to toy with her.
Samson answered her and said, the secret is seven fresh
bow strings that have not been dried. Once they bind me,
have become weak like any other man. So Delilah playfully
(06:38):
bound Samson up, while the Philistines lay in secret waiting
to ambush him. Then Delilah tested the strings and yelled
quick Samson. The Philistines are coming, and in an instant,
Samson broke through the strings, ready for battle. So the
secrets of Samson's strength were still a mystery. Delilah was
(06:58):
upset with Samson, but Samson continued to toy with her.
Three times she bound him, and three times he escaped,
for he thought they were playing as lovers do. But
Delilah only loved one thing, silver, and she would not
receive it unless Samson was captured. Delilah wept in front
(07:19):
of him, saying, how could you tell me you love
me when your heart does not trust me? She cried, yelled,
and pressed up against him and begged. Day after day,
she wore him down, and Samson became vexed beyond all reason.
All of Samson's inhibitions melted like candle wax against Delilah's flame.
So he told her the source of his strength. I
(07:42):
am a Nazarite by birth. A razor has never shaved
my head, and if it did, my strength would leave me.
Delilah was satisfied in the secrecy of nights. She had
Samson rest on her lap. She stroked his hair. As
Samson fell into a deep sleep, Delilah smiled as she
(08:03):
looked at Samson, although she did not smile out of
affection or love for him. No, she smiled because the
Philistines were waiting just beyond the walls of her bedroom.
With her silver she nodded towards the door, and a
man approached Samson with a blade in his hand. Together,
they shaved off seven locks of hair from his head.
(08:24):
She tormented him, whispering lies and curses into his ears.
Then with a loud shriek, she yelled, Samson, the Philistines
are here. The Philistines sprung on to Samson and tackled
him off the bed on to the floor. Samson struggled,
waiting for a burst of strength to send the men
flying through the wall. But he had no strength. You see,
(08:47):
Samson's strength was not in his hair, but in the
favor of God. Samson had spent most of his adult
life straying from God, and he had now broken his
last vow. The Jenes bound him and pulled his head back.
The Philistine lords looked down at Samson with cackles. Samson
looked behind them as Delilah counted her silver. Tears streamed
(09:12):
down his face as he pulled and kicked in futility.
Samson looked at one of the men standing above him.
He turned to the fireplace and pulled out an iron rod.
Its tip was orange from the flames. He slowly approached
Samson and drove the tip of the rod into his eyes.
Samson wailed in pain, and his screams woke up the
(09:34):
entire city. The men drug him out of the house
and shackled him to the wall of the Philistine Temple.
Samson knelt in total darkness. Weakness was new to him,
and he yelled in pain through the night. The lords
of the Philistines gathered together at the temple to make
sacrifices to their gods Dagon. Together, three thousand Philistines gathered
(09:57):
to celebrate the capture of Samson. They drank, danced, and
reveled in victory. The fire raged in the center of
the large hall, and Samson could hear the snickering of
Philistines passing by him. The Philistines called for Samson to
be chained in the middle of the great hall to
entertain the guests. Their hearts were merry and drunk, and
(10:19):
they laughed at Samson and threw things at him as
he was being brought to the center of the temple.
They chained him between two pillars that held up the
temple roof, and all three thousand men and women mocked him.
The music grew louder, and they worshiped Dagon into the
middle of the night. Samson was lost in his thoughts.
(10:40):
He was supposed to be the deliverer of Israel, and
here he stood, blind and bound. It was not the
Philistines that trapped him there, but his own pride and
lack of obedience to God. Samson raised his head to Heaven.
Unable to see, he took a deep breath. Oh, Lord Lord,
he shouted, remember me in strengthen me, just this once,
(11:05):
and then Samson began to pull on his chains that
were attached to the two pillars. The Philistines noticed and laughed.
Samson continued, and small cracks began to form around the
foundation of the pillars. Samson screamed as he tore at
the pillars. The philistines smiles began to fade, and Samson
(11:26):
whispered to himself, let me die with the Philistines. And
in that moment he bowed with all his strength and
pulled the pillars apart. The entire temple floor fell from
the sky, and the walls toppled on top of all
three thousand Philistines. Below. Flames erupted from the center of
the temple as stones crushed the backs of God's enemies.
(11:50):
A cloud of smoke covered the wreckage. Dawn had broke,
and the sunrise peaked above the hills. In the middle
of the wreckage. Among the bodies of the Philistines lay
Samson's dead body. In that moment, Samson accomplished more in
death than he ever could during his life. The strongest
(12:11):
hero Israel had ever known, experienced more victory and sacrifice
than he did selfishness. The story of courageous self sacrifice
would be perfected later on in another hero. God said
his sacrifice would topple the greatest enemy of them all.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Our reading begins with Samson giving in to the cravings
of his flesh. This Nazarite man, born with such promise
and set apart for God, was anything but wholly and separated.
As he wandered into Gaza, Samson made arrangements with a
prostitute and took her to bed to satisfy his lust.
His sin was not hidden either, because word got out
(12:56):
about the Hebrew strong man and hero in the Philistine city.
It was the chance they had been waiting for to
defeat the one man that stood between them in total
dominance over Israel. But Samson snuck out under the cover
of night, taking with him the whole city gate, which
he ripped from the ground. The Philistines attempt to defeat
(13:16):
Samson had been thwarted again, but it wouldn't take long
before an even better opportunity arose for the Philistines. Samson
became enamored with another Philistine woman named Delilah, and she
was trouble with the capital t Delilah captivated Samson, and
the leaders of the Philistines saw their chance to pounce.
(13:38):
They summoned Delilah and paid her to seduce Samson and
get him to give up the secret to his strength.
They knew that without his might, Samson was just another man,
easily defeated. Delilah happily obliged her eyes on the prize
of silver a payoff, so she asked him how he
could be defeated, How could he be subdued? What is
(13:59):
the of his strength? Now? Samson was not completely stupid.
He wouldn't give up his secret easily, but he can
still have some fun. And we see how clever Samson
can be. And he no doubt knows that pridefully thinking
nobody can get the better of him. No wonder, the
Bible tells us that pride comes before a fall. Three
(14:21):
times he gives her a wrong answer, and each time
she tries and fails to subdue him. Finally, she tells him,
if he loves her, he will tell her his secret. Tragically,
Samson reveals that his head must never be shaved. That
very night, his head was shaved, and with the breaking
of the Nazarite vows, God's favor departed along with his strength,
(14:42):
and for the first time ever, he was powerless, but
not because of his hair, but because of his broken
relationship with God. The Philistines bound Samson, mocked him and
goused out his eyes. Blind and bound, Samson was imprisoned
and made to turn at a millstone over and over.
Here we see the blinding and the grinding power of sin.
(15:05):
He could hear his captors worshiping their god Dagon. Not
only were they mocking Samson, but mocking the god who
gave him his strength. Samson's physical blindness and bondage were
a direct consequence of his spiritual blindness and bondage to
sin that had put him in this terrible place. And
as he turned the mill, Samson must have talked to
(15:27):
God and seek forgiveness for his sin. His hair began
to grow back. It became again an outward sign of
an inner renewal of his faith in God. So when
Samson is paraded into the Sinner to the temple to
be mocked, he asked to lean on the columns, and
then he cries out to God in Judges sixteen twenty eight,
(15:49):
Oh Lord, God, please remember me and please strengthen me.
Only this once, o God, that I may be avenged
on the Philistines for my two eyes. He prays for
one more opportunity to glorify God. God fills Samson once
more with superhuman strength, and he pulled down the pillars,
destroying the pagan temple and killing three thousand Philistines. Samson
(16:11):
sacrificed his own life to defeat the enemy. It is
a powerful story of renewed faith and repentance. And no
matter how far we may have fallen, God will pick
us up if we trust in Him and once again
find our strength to go forward. Dear Lord, we thank
you for your forgiveness. We know, like Samson, we have
(16:33):
failed you many times, but we also know that when
we trust in you and revive our hearts in you
through repentance in faith, we can be restored. God, restore
our hearts in you, and may we repent of every
sin that we may stand strongly for you in Jesus's name. Amen.
(16:53):
Thanks for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download Theprey dot
com app and make prayer a priority in your life.
If you enjoy this podcast, share it with someone you love.
By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in
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(17:13):
how to know him, how to serve him and be
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which is Jack Graham dot org. We would love to
assist you in any way possible as you grow in
your journey of faith. Again, that's Jack Graham dot org.
God bless you.
Let us pray, and Delilah said to Samson, tell me
I pray thee wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith
thou mightest be bound to afflict thee Judges sixteen six.
Dear God, as the story of Samson rings in my ears,
(00:21):
it helps me to learn the valuable lessons that lie
within the words of Judge sixteen. Through Samson, I too
realize that the strength of my abilities and the power
of my moving on my behalf only come from my
obedience to You and your word. I come against any
thinking or behavior that would have me rely on my
(00:44):
own understanding, causing me to believe that I can accomplish
great things apart from You, Lord. I choose to walk
in the truth that I am simply because You are.
As I continue on my journey to fulfillment and purpose,
I will become self correcting and aware of the moments
(01:08):
I step off the path. Through your health, Holy Spirit,
I declare that I live and stay in alignment. I
will not sacrifice my anointing for the simple comforts and
pleasures that can lead to my downfall. I am locked
in and ready to finish the race of purpose before
(01:31):
me in Jesus name. Amen, thank you for praying with
me today. Continue listening for an incredible Bible story brought
to you by Bible in a Year dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Samson's downfall. In our last story, we saw Samson's streng
and pettiness on display. He developed a rivalry with the
Philistines over his wife, and out of anger and revenge,
he burned their crops and slaughtered one thousand of their
men with the jawbone of a donkey. God used Samson's
(02:16):
strength and foolishness as a weapon against the enemies of Israel.
Now we see Samson's descent into his own sin. His
foolishness abounds, and he finds himself captive to a witch
in the armies of the Philistines. As inspired by the
Book of Judges.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack grayeb with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
saw how Samson used his strength both to exact his
own revenge and as a tool in God's hand to
push back the oppressive Philicites. His anger and quick temper
left a trail of destruction and death across the region.
(02:57):
But God used even Samson's failures to winek in Israel's enemy. Ultimately,
Samson was filled with God's spirit and righteously defended his
fellow Israelites, leading to him being judge over the people
for twenty years. But tragically, Samson's lust, disobedience, and foolishness resurface,
and rather simply compromising with danger, he plunges headlong into sin.
(03:22):
Entangled with an evil woman, his strength will be no
match for her hold on his mind. It is a
tragic tale of unchecked sin, but still God will use
Samson to ultimately win a victory over the Philistines. So
listen to today's reading.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
It was dark and the city of Gaza had fallen asleep.
The only lights came from the dim candles illuminating the
small room where Samson and the prostitute lay. Their shadows
moved against the walls as they moved to one another's bodies.
Throughout the night, Samson drowned out his sorrows and insecurities
(04:01):
in the sheets of the prostitute woman. The Gazites had
caught word that Samson was staying in the city. They
surrounded the prostitute's home and set up an ambush at
the gate of the city, and Casey escaped. They kept quiet,
planning their attack for when dawn broke they slept, not
knowing that Samson escaped out the window at midnight. Stealthily,
(04:25):
Samson moved through the alleys of the city towards the
front entrance. Samson stood in front of the gate. The
gate was looming over Samson, four times his size and
made of pure steel, The gate stood as a barrier
between him and freedom. Samson gripped the steel beams of
the gate and began pulling. Samson's arms were hard as stone,
(04:49):
and his legs were planted firmly in the ground for support. Slowly,
the steel began to rip off its hinges, and the
gate lifted from its foundation. Samson rose the gate above
his head and began to walk out of the city.
With the strength of an elephant and the stealth of
a cat, Samson stole Gaza's main form of protection and
(05:11):
escaped into the mountains. Meanwhile, the Philistines were planning their
attack against Samson. The lords of the Philistines plotted and
schemed as to how they would topple the mighty Man
of God. Clearly, no army large or small could come
up against him, and they knew no other way to
bring him to his knees. They did, however, know of
(05:34):
one weakness. Samson had a weakness for beautiful women. They
sent for a woman named Elilah and paid her one thousand,
one hundred pieces of silver to seduce him. She came
to Samson with smooth lips and a sharp tongue. She
stroked his hair and kissed his neck. Samson, in an instant,
(05:55):
fell deeply in love with Delilah. Her seductive voice and
clever words words lured Samson into a daze of passion
and vulnerability. She whispered in Samson's ear, where does your
strength truly lie? She leaned against him. Samson could smell
her hair. She was intoxicating to him. How would anyone
(06:18):
be able to capture you? Samson was enraptured by her,
but still in his right mind to toy with her.
Samson answered her and said, the secret is seven fresh
bow strings that have not been dried. Once they bind me,
have become weak like any other man. So Delilah playfully
(06:38):
bound Samson up, while the Philistines lay in secret waiting
to ambush him. Then Delilah tested the strings and yelled
quick Samson. The Philistines are coming, and in an instant,
Samson broke through the strings, ready for battle. So the
secrets of Samson's strength were still a mystery. Delilah was
(06:58):
upset with Samson, but Samson continued to toy with her.
Three times she bound him, and three times he escaped,
for he thought they were playing as lovers do. But
Delilah only loved one thing, silver, and she would not
receive it unless Samson was captured. Delilah wept in front
(07:19):
of him, saying, how could you tell me you love
me when your heart does not trust me? She cried, yelled,
and pressed up against him and begged. Day after day,
she wore him down, and Samson became vexed beyond all reason.
All of Samson's inhibitions melted like candle wax against Delilah's flame.
So he told her the source of his strength. I
(07:42):
am a Nazarite by birth. A razor has never shaved
my head, and if it did, my strength would leave me.
Delilah was satisfied in the secrecy of nights. She had
Samson rest on her lap. She stroked his hair. As
Samson fell into a deep sleep, Delilah smiled as she
(08:03):
looked at Samson, although she did not smile out of
affection or love for him. No, she smiled because the
Philistines were waiting just beyond the walls of her bedroom.
With her silver she nodded towards the door, and a
man approached Samson with a blade in his hand. Together,
they shaved off seven locks of hair from his head.
(08:24):
She tormented him, whispering lies and curses into his ears.
Then with a loud shriek, she yelled, Samson, the Philistines
are here. The Philistines sprung on to Samson and tackled
him off the bed on to the floor. Samson struggled,
waiting for a burst of strength to send the men
flying through the wall. But he had no strength. You see,
(08:47):
Samson's strength was not in his hair, but in the
favor of God. Samson had spent most of his adult
life straying from God, and he had now broken his
last vow. The Jenes bound him and pulled his head back.
The Philistine lords looked down at Samson with cackles. Samson
looked behind them as Delilah counted her silver. Tears streamed
(09:12):
down his face as he pulled and kicked in futility.
Samson looked at one of the men standing above him.
He turned to the fireplace and pulled out an iron rod.
Its tip was orange from the flames. He slowly approached
Samson and drove the tip of the rod into his eyes.
Samson wailed in pain, and his screams woke up the
(09:34):
entire city. The men drug him out of the house
and shackled him to the wall of the Philistine Temple.
Samson knelt in total darkness. Weakness was new to him,
and he yelled in pain through the night. The lords
of the Philistines gathered together at the temple to make
sacrifices to their gods Dagon. Together, three thousand Philistines gathered
(09:57):
to celebrate the capture of Samson. They drank, danced, and
reveled in victory. The fire raged in the center of
the large hall, and Samson could hear the snickering of
Philistines passing by him. The Philistines called for Samson to
be chained in the middle of the great hall to
entertain the guests. Their hearts were merry and drunk, and
(10:19):
they laughed at Samson and threw things at him as
he was being brought to the center of the temple.
They chained him between two pillars that held up the
temple roof, and all three thousand men and women mocked him.
The music grew louder, and they worshiped Dagon into the
middle of the night. Samson was lost in his thoughts.
(10:40):
He was supposed to be the deliverer of Israel, and
here he stood, blind and bound. It was not the
Philistines that trapped him there, but his own pride and
lack of obedience to God. Samson raised his head to Heaven.
Unable to see, he took a deep breath. Oh, Lord Lord,
he shouted, remember me in strengthen me, just this once,
(11:05):
and then Samson began to pull on his chains that
were attached to the two pillars. The Philistines noticed and laughed.
Samson continued, and small cracks began to form around the
foundation of the pillars. Samson screamed as he tore at
the pillars. The philistines smiles began to fade, and Samson
(11:26):
whispered to himself, let me die with the Philistines. And
in that moment he bowed with all his strength and
pulled the pillars apart. The entire temple floor fell from
the sky, and the walls toppled on top of all
three thousand Philistines. Below. Flames erupted from the center of
the temple as stones crushed the backs of God's enemies.
(11:50):
A cloud of smoke covered the wreckage. Dawn had broke,
and the sunrise peaked above the hills. In the middle
of the wreckage. Among the bodies of the Philistines lay
Samson's dead body. In that moment, Samson accomplished more in
death than he ever could during his life. The strongest
(12:11):
hero Israel had ever known, experienced more victory and sacrifice
than he did selfishness. The story of courageous self sacrifice
would be perfected later on in another hero. God said
his sacrifice would topple the greatest enemy of them all.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Our reading begins with Samson giving in to the cravings
of his flesh. This Nazarite man, born with such promise
and set apart for God, was anything but wholly and separated.
As he wandered into Gaza, Samson made arrangements with a
prostitute and took her to bed to satisfy his lust.
His sin was not hidden either, because word got out
(12:56):
about the Hebrew strong man and hero in the Philistine city.
It was the chance they had been waiting for to
defeat the one man that stood between them in total
dominance over Israel. But Samson snuck out under the cover
of night, taking with him the whole city gate, which
he ripped from the ground. The Philistines attempt to defeat
(13:16):
Samson had been thwarted again, but it wouldn't take long
before an even better opportunity arose for the Philistines. Samson
became enamored with another Philistine woman named Delilah, and she
was trouble with the capital t Delilah captivated Samson, and
the leaders of the Philistines saw their chance to pounce.
(13:38):
They summoned Delilah and paid her to seduce Samson and
get him to give up the secret to his strength.
They knew that without his might, Samson was just another man,
easily defeated. Delilah happily obliged her eyes on the prize
of silver a payoff, so she asked him how he
could be defeated, How could he be subdued? What is
(13:59):
the of his strength? Now? Samson was not completely stupid.
He wouldn't give up his secret easily, but he can
still have some fun. And we see how clever Samson
can be. And he no doubt knows that pridefully thinking
nobody can get the better of him. No wonder, the
Bible tells us that pride comes before a fall. Three
(14:21):
times he gives her a wrong answer, and each time
she tries and fails to subdue him. Finally, she tells him,
if he loves her, he will tell her his secret. Tragically,
Samson reveals that his head must never be shaved. That
very night, his head was shaved, and with the breaking
of the Nazarite vows, God's favor departed along with his strength,
(14:42):
and for the first time ever, he was powerless, but
not because of his hair, but because of his broken
relationship with God. The Philistines bound Samson, mocked him and
goused out his eyes. Blind and bound, Samson was imprisoned
and made to turn at a millstone over and over.
Here we see the blinding and the grinding power of sin.
(15:05):
He could hear his captors worshiping their god Dagon. Not
only were they mocking Samson, but mocking the god who
gave him his strength. Samson's physical blindness and bondage were
a direct consequence of his spiritual blindness and bondage to
sin that had put him in this terrible place. And
as he turned the mill, Samson must have talked to
(15:27):
God and seek forgiveness for his sin. His hair began
to grow back. It became again an outward sign of
an inner renewal of his faith in God. So when
Samson is paraded into the Sinner to the temple to
be mocked, he asked to lean on the columns, and
then he cries out to God in Judges sixteen twenty eight,
(15:49):
Oh Lord, God, please remember me and please strengthen me.
Only this once, o God, that I may be avenged
on the Philistines for my two eyes. He prays for
one more opportunity to glorify God. God fills Samson once
more with superhuman strength, and he pulled down the pillars,
destroying the pagan temple and killing three thousand Philistines. Samson
(16:11):
sacrificed his own life to defeat the enemy. It is
a powerful story of renewed faith and repentance. And no
matter how far we may have fallen, God will pick
us up if we trust in Him and once again
find our strength to go forward. Dear Lord, we thank
you for your forgiveness. We know, like Samson, we have
(16:33):
failed you many times, but we also know that when
we trust in you and revive our hearts in you
through repentance in faith, we can be restored. God, restore
our hearts in you, and may we repent of every
sin that we may stand strongly for you in Jesus's name. Amen.
(16:53):
Thanks for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download Theprey dot
com app and make prayer a priority in your life.
If you enjoy this podcast, share it with someone you love.
By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in
someone's life. If you want to know more about the Lord,
(17:13):
how to know him, how to serve him and be
his disciple, then let me encourage you to visit my website,
which is Jack Graham dot org. We would love to
assist you in any way possible as you grow in
your journey of faith. Again, that's Jack Graham dot org.
God bless you.
Host
Jack Graham
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