The Stupidity of Strength?
I read the story of Samson this morning in Judges 16 and I had the same question I’ve had all of my entire life. Maybe you can help, who knows?
If Samson told Delilah two times a lie as to how he could lose his strength, and both of those times ended up with the Philistines testing this theory by storming into Delilah’s House while Samson was napping and attempting to arrest him. Each time the Philistines failed and each time, there had to be a moment (though the Bible doesn’t say this) where Samson thought to himself, “Wow, what a coincidence. After I told my Philistine girlfriend one way that I could lose my strength, the Philistine soldiers came in and tried to arrest me that same way! That’s crazy!” I mean, maybe you say that one time, but a second time? really? So my question is:
Why did he do it a third time?
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I have no answer. But I HAVE had that exact same question.
I kind of think he felt invincible at this point. Like he was so important to God’s work in Israel that the Philistines weren’t going to be able to screw with him, no matter what. Sort of like the Bakker PTL empire in their glory days. I wish I could find the quote right now, but I remember reading an interview in which one of his employees said that they thought their failure would be such an embarrassment to God that he wouldn’t allow it to happen, even though they were sinning. Fortunately, God never seems to feel the same way. He would rather we be holy than renowned.
While I have that question, too, it’s not only for Samson. Don’t we all quite frequently ask, “Why does she keep going back to him?” in dysfunctional relationships. “He’s been hurt so many times, in exactly the same way, by her. Why does he keeping making himself vulnerable?”
The scriptural story is a bit more explicit because most of don’t have super-man like weaknesses. But I think being in a relationship means making yourself vulnerable. Since all of us are flawed, it means making yourself vulnerable to somebody who’s quite possibly going to abuse this information. Maybe there’s some kind of subconscious test we give to people: as a sign of my belief that you’ve changed and reformed, as a sign of my comittment to this relationship, I’m going to offer you the oppurtunity to hurt me again: and if you don’t take that oppurtunity, I’ll know that our relationship is for real.
On the one hand, this ignores the scriptural ideas about guarding our hearts. But if we pervert Jesus teachings on forgiveness, we can rationalize it’s exactly what we’re supposed to do. (Not that Samson would have had Jesus’ teachings…)
I’m guessing that Delilah was simply a fox.
A man’s sex drive, when not controled by God, can lead to destruction . . . ie Proverbs 7