Judg 16:21-25 | KingComments | STEP | Delilah senses flawlessly that this time he is speaking the truth. Samson’s previous suggestion had already been different from the first two. The first two times he has let himself be bound. The third time he didn’t talk about binding, but about weaving his hair. After that, it is not difficult for her to realize that he has now exposed his whole heart. She warns the Philistine lords again, this time apparently with the announcement that they can now take the money with them, because for her the result is clear. Then she binds him, not with ropes, not with the web, but with the warmth of her lap, on which he falls asleep. There he feels her warmth and that will be his final downfall. With all his strength he is not equal to the tricks of a woman, under whose temptation and enchantment he has come. When Samson sleeps, Delilah calls for a man and has him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Now she has him in her power. Her caresses turn into blows and torments. For the fourth time, her call sounds: “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” This is followed by the deeply tragic drama of a now powerless Samson, who, after waking up, is under the impression that he is still as strong as ever. It seems that he has reconciled himself with the idea that he would be attacked every time, but also that, given the previous times, he has come to count on an everlasting supremacy of strength. Just as Samson’s dealings with the Philistine Delilah become disastrous, so flirting with the unholy principles of the world becomes disastrous for every child of God. The same goes for the church. Deprived of her strength, she pretends that all strength is still present. A powerless church tries to let itself be spoken of and she doesn’t know that there is no strength at all because the Spirit was first saddened and then quenched. This is reflected in the sad situation of the church in Laodicea of which it is said “and you do not know” ( ), as it says of Samson “but he did not know” ( ). The church in Laodicea is blind to their own situation. They moderate themselves to be spiritually high, but the Lord disgusts with her. From Ephraim, meaning the ten tribes, it says: “Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned. Strangers devour his strength, yet he does not know [it]; gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, yet he does not know [it]” ( ). Do we see the parallel between Ephraim and Samson? The strength of both of them has disappeared due to bad company and both did not know it. In addition to a warning for the local church, this history also contains a warning for faithful, dedicated brethren who are useful in the service. This warning is that they should not forget that they are dependent on God. They run the risk of thinking that their knowledge of Scripture would make them unassailable to the influence of the flattery of the Christian world if they were to enter this field without God’s command. They think that their knowledge of the Scriptures will save them for that flattery and will free them from possible wrong connections. Maybe they have said ‘no’ to proposals to take part in something that they saw could not be done. But if they don’t leave the environment where they have to say ‘no’ each time, the moment comes when they say ‘yes’. Then the separation to God and the obedience to His Word are given up and the strength also disappears. Perhaps they still think that the Lord is with them, but the result is that they are captured, just like Samson, and that they lose their understanding of Scripture, just as Samson lost his sight. He who has carried away the doors of the city gate of Gaza, is brought in as a prisoner through the same gate. In the Bible for the first time there is talk of a prison with Joseph, who ended up in it himself. But he was brought into it because of his faithfulness. Samson is forced to use what is left of his strength in prison in the service of the Philistines to feed them and thereby provide them with strength. What a sad end of a person who had been set and trained by God to the exact opposite task. In addition this this, a few words about Revelation 3. There we read: “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” ( ). The expression ‘so that no one will take your crown’ is not only about the future, but also about today. We can connect the crown with our dedication to the Lord, as it can also become visible in a church. The church as a whole has long since lost that crown. Her secret is no longer hidden with her; she did not remain separated from the world. She has admitted the world into her midst, which is reflected in having rules, means and conditions that all originate in the thinking of the natural human being. As a result, religion, the serving of God, is adapted to the norms and values of the human without God. Any local church that opens up to this process, as Samson opened up to it, will slip into a church that has the characteristics of Laodicea. It looks like Samson when he lost his strength and fell into the hands of the Philistines: a shaved Nazirite (naked), who is poor and blind ( ).