About 3000 years ago, there lived a man named Samson, an Israelite whom God blessed as the strongest man who ever lived. Israel, which had been doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, had fallen out of divine protection into the hands of the Philistines, who oppressed them for 40 years. But in His compassion, God raised up this strong man to deliver the Israelites from captivity once again. Samson was miraculously born to a woman who was barren after receiving a promise from the angel of the Lord that she would have a son who would become a great deliverer. The angel of the Lord instructed the bewildered parents that Samson was to be consecrated as a Nazarite, which in Hebrew means, an “unpruned vine,” and must never touch anything dead, drink wine, or cut his hair.

Throughout Samson’s life, we discover that he often flirted with temptation and fell into disobedience. He ate honey from a beehive in the carcass of a lion that he had torn apart with his bare hands, days earlier. He also had a fascination with several Philistine women, including the infamous Delilah, whom he met in the Valley of Sorek, which means “vine” or “wine.” The last remaining command Samson managed to keep was that he had never cut his hair, which consisted of seven thick braids. Through these braids, the Lord allowed him to maintain strength so great that he was able to kill 1000 men with just the jawbone of a donkey!

Stronger than his physical strength, however, was his love for Delilah. He was completely smitten with this Philistine woman, knowingly fraternizing with the enemy. In Judges 16, we learn that the Philistines approached her and said, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” So, having Samson alone with her in her room, Delilah devised a plan. She asked Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” Probably more beautiful than intelligent, this was the best strategy Delilah could come up with, while Philistine men waited outside the door, ready to act on whatever secrets Samson revealed!

Samson lied and said, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” The Philistines provided her with the bowstrings, and somehow she convinced Samson to be bound. Then, she yelled the prearranged code words: “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” On cue, the Philistines burst through the door, but Samson easily broke the bowstrings as if they were floss and handed them a much-deserved butt-whoopin’. In a classic act of gaslighting, the deceitful Delilah turned it back on Samson, saying, “Behold, you mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.”

What’s incredible about this story is that the dull-witted Delilah persistently pressed him with the same words, day after day, night after night, urging him to reveal his secret until Samson’s “soul was vexed to death!” He finally confessed, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” That night, she made Samson fall asleep on her knees. Then, she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head… talk about a deep sleeper! The familiar warning cry, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” awoke him. Samson, thinking again, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free,” did not realize that the Lord had left him. The Nazarite, the one once consecrated for the deliverance of Israel, was now shackled in bronze enemy chains, pruned and imprisoned.

I encourage you to read the rest of this amazing story of God’s goodness and redemption on your own, but now I want to emphasize one key point. It was the Grace of God that made Samson strong. It was the Spirit of the Living God that made him invincible to the Philistines. They could not touch him. Notably, throughout his story, we find a great enemy of Grace, not so much the Philistines, whom Samson had defeated many times prior, but rather, carnality. Carnality refers to the indulgence of pleasure and a focus on earthly, fleshly gratification.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

As I read this story, the Lord opened my eyes to a spiritual reality I would like to share with you. When we give our lives to Jesus in faith, we are born again, and we receive the Holy Spirit, who awakens us from spiritual death to life and fills us with His Grace (power). As children of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, we become untouchable to the enemy: “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them” (1 John 5:18). We have been set free from the power of sin; however, because we have free will, we have the choice to choose carnality or Christ daily. 

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16)

This is what happens when you choose Christ: the enemy cannot touch you. Praise God! Satan has no authority to touch a child of God without God’s permission (Job 1:11). In the spiritual realm, the child of God becomes like Samson to the Philistines. Nevertheless, the enemy is very deceptive and knows that the only way to capture a child of God is if they choose carnality, if they choose to live in willful sin. Once living in willful sin, it is like letting Delilah into the privacy of your home. As innocent as Delilah may seem, she is determined to get paid by relaying all your weaknesses to the authorities and principalities of darkness.

The persistent enemy will try day and night to infiltrate your heart and mind. I imagine, like a vampire, the demonic cannot enter unless you invite it in. But child of God, take courage! The Spirit of the Living God lives within you. Choose Christ! Take the time to indulge in the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ in prayer, in the Word, in Communion, and in community daily! Do not give the devil a foothold by indulging in lustful desires, because little do you know, you are allowing enemy informants to spy on your soul. Don’t let Delilah in! If you are in willful sin, confess, repent, and return with all your heart to Jesus! Turn from carnality to Christ, and He will restore you to full strength in the Spirit. He will clean the house of your heart and cause the enemy to flee before you. 

“And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her [Delilah’s] ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death” (Proverbs 7:24-27).

If you need deliverance from any enemy stronghold or sin, please feel free to reach out. I would love to pray with you confidentially. Remember, “you are from God and have overcome the evil one, for Christ who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Artwork: Samson’s Strength, published 1881, Frederic, Lord Leighton