Bible in a Year… Day 51 (Judges 12-16)

More from Judges today. Notes follow from chapters 12-16:

The account of Sampson found in Judges 12-16 fascinates me. Here’s a man given immense strength by God, with one way to be made weak like normal men… having his head shaved. Funny how that’s not really his ultimate downfall though…

Check out the following verses, and see the theme:

Judges 13:12-13 (NIV)
¹²“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. ¹³If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”

    “Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

Judges 13:15-17 (NIV)
¹⁵On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

¹⁶Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

    “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” ¹⁷She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

Judges 16:15:19 (NIV)
¹⁵Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” ¹⁶With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.

¹⁷So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

¹⁸When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. ¹⁹Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

Did you catch the theme? Sampson’s downfall isn’t necessarily losing his strength, but lack of wisdom in allowing himself to be deceived by nagging women.

I’m thinking the application here could get me in trouble… 🙂

Just kidding.

Wisdom. How do we know when to be truthful, and when to withhold details? Are we walking the razor’s edge of lying when we only tell half the truth? Are there any instances in which it’s Biblically okay to NOT tell the complete truth?

I’m sure we can all think up some hypothetical scenarios where truthfulness could be harmful… do you think it is ever acceptable to lie, given that Scripture makes clear the imperative to avoid false testimony?

What do you think?

Amazing how such a straightforward issue of faith can be so complex, huh?