Women with a Story to Tell: Delilah

 After Jephthah was given a victory by God, he rashly made a promise to offer as a sacrifice to God the first thing to come out of his door on his return. It was his daughter, his only child, and both suffered from toxic masculinity unrestrained in a patriarchal society. All suffer when that happens. 

 The tribe of Ephraim saw the great victory and complained that they had not been given a chance to participate in it. Of course, the imagined slight led to a fight, since men too often follow their pride to their own destruction. Jephthah and his Gilead clan defeated the men who had come from Ephraim. Then in their vengeance, the men of Gilead chased them down those in retreat and killed them. People always forget that, "'Vengeance is mine’, says the LORD” (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30). Vengeance never balances the scales, nor does it satisfy the soul. Still, people in power pursue revenge even today.

 After Deborah and Jair were gone, and Jephthah had also passed away, “The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years” (Judges 13:1). 

 Will Israel never learn to follow God’s laws to “do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). No, Israel and Judah never did learn that lesson, or if they did, they quickly forgot it. Many Israelis and many Christians still don’t do justice, don't love kindness, nor do they walk humbly with God. 

 The Israelites were second class citizens in Canaan with the Philistines lording it over them. Then a woman who had been barren was visited by an angel and told that she would conceive and bear a child who would be set apart as a Nazirite. The status of a Nazirite is described in detail in Numbers chapter 6. They were to be holy, dedicated to the LORD, and were to refrain from drinking alcohol, eating anything declared unclean (see dietary laws in Leviticus chapter 11) or cutting their hair. That boy’s name was Samson. His mother was promised that “It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5). 

 Most children don’t come with a set of instructions, but this one did. Even if there are instructions, most people jump right in and check the instructions later. Samson’s parents were more diligent. His father prayed for another visit from the angel, and the angel came again. He repeated the instructions for both of them to hear, and they followed them.  

 Samson’s exploits can be found in Judges from chapter 13 through 16. His downfall came from a woman, who may have had her own story to tell, but social and political pressure twisted anything she might have had to say. She didn’t resist. 

 The leaders of the Philistines persistently insisted that Delilah discover the secret to Samson’s strength. She tried, but Samson told her ‘Just so’ stories three times in a row. Delilah taunted Samson, “How can you say, ‘I love you’, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me three times now and have not told me what makes your strength so great.” 

 At this point, I think that Samson missed his chance. When Deborah called Barak to go to war, she made it clear that the victory would belong to God. Deborah and Barak were just humble servants. When Jephthah went to war, he was puffed up with pride even though clearly it was God who gave the victory. He paid for his pride. Samson could have remembered his heritage, who he was, and who was in charge of his strength. 

 Israel was supposed to be a blessing to the nations, and here Samson could have said, “I seem to be strong, but it is not me; rather it is my God YHWH who is strong. He gives me victories.” That would have revealed his secret without giving the Philistines any means of countering his strength. If they wanted that strength, they would have to leave their gods, like Dagon, and come over to faith in YHWH, the God of Israel.  

 Samson missed his chance, and eventually the wiles of the worldly Delilah got to him. “Finally, after she had nagged him with her words day after day, and pestered him, he was tired to death. So he told her his secret….” (Judges 16:15-17). 

 Finally, he revealed his secret, that he was a Nazirite and his strength lay in his uncut hair. The lords of the Philistines paid Delilah an unbelievable sum of money; each gave her 1100 pieces of silver for the information. There were 5 Philistine cities, so that totals 5500 shekels of silver. 

 Not all the women of the Bible are godly women, and not all their stories give us a positive example. Women can be as ungodly as men, but men usually have more power to oppress others. 

 Delilah is second only to Jezebel in the Old Testament for being on the other side of the mission of God. We don’t have a record of the demise of Delilah, but we do of Jezebel. We’ll see when we get there.