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What’s the Secret?, May 7
Judges 16:4-14
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth.
Judges 16:6
.
The Israelites made Samson judge, and he ruled Israel for twenty years. But
one wrong step prepares the way for another.... He continued to seek those
sensuous pleasures that were luring him to ruin. “He loved a woman in the
valley of Sorek,” not far from his own birthplace. Her name was Delilah, “the
consumer.” ... The Philistines kept a vigilant watch over the movements of their
enemy, and when he degraded himself by this new attachment, they determined,
through Delilah, to accomplish his ruin.
A deputation consisting of one leading man from each of the Philistine
provinces was sent to the vale of Sorek. They dared not attempt to seize him
while in possession of his great strength, but it was their purpose to learn, if
possible, the secret of his power. They therefore bribed Delilah to discover and
reveal it.
As the betrayer plied Samson with her questions, he deceived her by declaring
that the weakness of other men would come upon him if certain processes were
tried. When she put the matter to the test, the cheat was discovered. Then she
accused him of falsehood, saying, “How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine
heart is not with me?” ... Three times Samson had the clearest evidence that the
Philistines had leagued with his charmer to destroy him; but when her purpose
failed, she treated the matter as a jest, and he blindly banished fear
In the society of this enchantress, the judge of Israel squandered precious
hours that should have been sacredly devoted to the welfare of his people. But
the blinding passions which make even the strongest weak, had gained control
of reason and of conscience....
Samson’s infatuation seems almost incredible. At first he was not so wholly
enthralled as to reveal the secret; but he had deliberately walked into the net
of the betrayer of souls, and its meshes were drawing close about him at every
step
[134]
14
Ibid., 564-566
.
15
The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 2:1007
.
138