Quick Note – Judges 16:20 – The Entanglement of Sin

Judges 16:20 – And she said, “the Philistines are upon you, Samson!”  And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.”  But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

Addiction is not born at one time, but it is a bad habit that is built, because of many failings.  Whether it be to drugs, alcohol, pornography, television, shopping, gambling, etc., a person does not fall into this hole because of one incident, it is many occasions where one has given into the craving that leads to this imprisonment.  Sin, which encompasses many of these activities, is an addiction.  It begins with a little taste here, a little touch there, until finally, one is entrapped and cannot escape. 

Samson, one of the strongest men that ever lived, experienced this first-hand.  Samson was a mighty man selected by God from birth to be a judge and deliverer for Israel.  His job was not only to defeat the Philistines, who were oppressing Israel, but also to lead and guide them back to the LORD.  However, Samson had a tendency to fall into sexual sin.  Eventually, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who was paid by the Philistine leaders to seduce him, to determine where Samson got his strength, and to entrap him, so that they might capture him.  Judges 16 describes how Samson quickly fell into a hole.  The first time Delilah asked him about his strength, Samson lied to her and said that if he was tied with fresh bowstrings, he would lose his strength.  When she did that, he broke the strings and escaped.  The second time, Samson told her if he was tied with new ropes, he would lose his strength, and when she did that, he escaped again.  The third time, he told her if she weaved his hair and fastened it into a loom he would lose his strength, and once again, he escaped when she did that.  Finally, after constant pestering, she obtained her answer, when Samson told her that he was a Nazarite and if his hair was cut, he would lose his strength.  Being that he escaped three times before, although Samson likely knew that Delilah would cut his hair, he thought that he could escape again, which is why Judges 16:20 states, “And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’”  However this time, he did not.  He fell into the trap, was captured by the Philistines, and even lost his two eyes.  Samson played with sin, and although he thought he would not get caught, the trap had sprung. 

Sin is the same with every Christian.  We may dabble in it, a little here and a little there, thinking that we will never fall into its trap.  When the consequences do not catch up to us right away, because of God’s mercy, we become a little bolder and dive deeper into it.  But as we keep entangling ourselves into its web, we, one day, find ourselves enslaved to what we were simply toying with before.  It is when we least expect it that the Devil devours us like a roaring lion.  Sin is tricky, deceptive, and dangerous like that.  Let us be careful to never take sin lightly.  We must never assume that we can shake ourselves free, for it is when we think we stand that we will fall.  Stay far away from sin that is the best way to avoid it.