Judges 16:1-31 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in to her.… I. In Samson's history we see THE WONDERFUL FORBEARANCE OF GOD, NOTWITHSTANDING HIS MISUSE OF GREAT MERCIES AND OF SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH. II. SAMSON LOST HIS GREAT STRENGTH IN AN UNCONSCIOUS MANNER. His frame was not convulsed when the barber removed his locks. No sobs revealed the fact that he had become as another man. He slept on just as other men sleep. III. Samson's history is PICTORIAL OF THE PROGRESSIVE DOWNWARD TENDENCIES OF SINNING. Glorious were the hopes of his infancy. IV. Once more, the downward course of the Hebrew judge ILLUSTRATES OUR RELUCTANCE TO GIVE UP THE LAST BADGE OF OUR NAZARITE CONSECRATION. We find him disgustingly in dalliance with sin, and yet keeping, as it were, to the very last moment the outward sign of his covenant relation to God. His vows were for life. But in those cases where the Nazarite covenant was for a limited period of life, the expiration of that period was signalised by shaving the head. When Samson, therefore, told his religious secret, he took the formal step to separate himself wholly from his God. The substance of his covenant he had long since lost, but the seal of it he now throws to the devil. I do not wonder, children of pious parents, that you are uneasy if living in sin under such vows as rest upon you. Nor do I wonder that you are reluctant to part with the last locks that bind you to the God of your fathers. (W. A. Scott, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.WEB: Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her. |
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