Judges 16

If you've read a decent amount of fairy tales or know at least a smattering of jokes, you know that things usually happen in threes. In the Brothers Grimm version of "Snow White," the Evil Queen tries killing the titular character with a suffocatingly tight bodice and poison comb before the infamous apple finally does the trick. We have the Three Little Pigs and the Three Billy Goats Gruff. And dumb blonde jokes always mention a brunette and a redhead before relating the vacuous actions or utterances of the flaxen-haired one. And, of course, there's that old chestnut "Third time's the charm."

The Samson and Delilah story isn't a fairy tale, and it isn't that much of a joke either (and if it is, it's not a very funny one). When the fetching Delilah asks Samson what his weakness is, Samson does manage to stave off the revelation three times. If this were a fairy tale, he'd be safe. But alas, he is not a character in one of Messrs. Grimm or Andersen's opuses, and he crumbles to pieces the fourth time, spilling all. Delilah uses a disturbingly similar tactic to get Samson blabbing as the Philistine wife did back in chapter 14. She accuses him of not loving him (verse 15) and uses the best weapon that anyone, man or woman, could use: nagging. In fact, she nags Samson so much that he is "sick to death of it" (verse 16). OK, Samson, no need to be a drama queen.

The Philistines shave Samson's hair, sapping his strength, but far more devastating is the statement in verse 20: "But [Samson] did not know that the LORD had left him." In church, congregants often sing praise songs of how the God of Angel armies is always by our side, and how His love 1. never fails, 2. never gives up, and finally 3. never runs out on us. So to hear that God did leave someone, and that it is possible for God to do so in some sense, is both frightening and heart-rending. Of course, God did not abandon Samson completely, but it does remind us that if we turn away from God, there will be consequences.

So Samson gets his eyes gouged out and is basically reduced to a performing monkey for the Philistines. But when Samson prays to God, asking for His sovereign power, God does return to him. Because the Philistines are architectural idiots, they think it's a good idea to support a massive temple with two columns--that are right next to each other. So God and Samson take advantage of this risible flaw to bring the whole edifice down onto the Philistines' dismayed heads.

So what can I glean from the saga of Samson? 1. Pray to God, and 2. Don't give in to incessant nagging.