Are you the woman who brings down kingdoms?
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Jdg 16:4–5.
1807. דְּלִילָה Delilah (196a); from 1809; Philistine mistress of Samson:—Delilah(6).
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).
1809. דָּלַל dalal (195c); a prim. root; to hang, be low, languish:—brought low(1), brought … low(3), fade(1), hang(1), look wistfully(1), thin(1).
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. 21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Jdg 16:15–21.
Genesis 3:12
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. [1]
1 Kings 21:23
23 And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
1 Kings 21:25
25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. [2]
Prov 5:1
My son, attend unto my wisdom,
And bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion,
And that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,
And her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood,
iSharp as a twoedged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
Her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,
Her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.[3]
Revelation 2:20
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to ecommit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. [4]
In the midst of the recent controversies surrounding two prominent pastors in the South Florida area, it has come to me to consider the women who were at the center of this sin. I spoke with my wife this morning over the matter. ‘For a minute, think about what must have been going through the mind of these women as this sin unwound in front of them’. You will notice that not much is offered along the lines of the women involved. We never get any backdrop on their lives or how this has affected them. You never hear of their mindset and what types of intent lied in the backdrop; Some may believe that these women were victimized in that the pastors took advantage of them by their lofty positions. Others may feel as if the women were guilty for stealing the pastors away and even setting a trap for their fall. Whatever the case, in most all of these events, we never get a birds-eye view of knowing anything about the other person who shared in this tragedy. Granted, the pastor is at fault, ultimately, but it sure would be beneficial to the body to hear about just what went on in the mind of these women. Doesn’t it always seem as if these women were all victimized and in some cases, they may have been. As well, we never hear from the wives of these men. They are the true victims. What of the children involved.
One might assume that this woman knew the scriptures-why would these pastors have anything to do with one who was an unbeliever? To carry on a relationship is to imply there were some mutual interests. In some of these cases, the women were involved in spiritual counseling by the leader. I guess it would be possible that the woman could have been an unbeliever, but I am more inclined to believe they were a believer as the initial stages of these encounters most likely presented themselves as caring individuals who these men came to with spiritual needs they were not getting in their homes. Consider that these pastors probably started out with honest intents, even praying with these women forgetting how intimate prayer between a woman and man is, prior to it quickly unraveling before them both. I would guess that after the fallout, all of these people would submit that it was a grave mistake. But what about the thoughts that ran through their minds in light of the sin as it began to grow, specifically the woman.
She probably felt important for the moment, it being that these pastors were prominent. They both had large followings. Mega churches. In one instance, the pastor came from a long lineage of famous preachers. One might say that these women were taken of advantage of in light of these facts.
In the most latter event, I feel confident that both parties were more than aware of the fallout from the first pastor’s indulgence as that church was no more than 5 miles away from the second pastor’s church. Both were in the Fort Lauderdale area. Both saw the fallout from that situation. How much more of a warning could one need? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak?
As this event developed, did not the woman begin to feel like Eve? This sin was a duplication of the sin in the garden. Mankind fell secondarily to Adam not overseeing his wife properly, she being the weaker vessel. And what of their lying down together, did she not reflect on the woman we are warned of in Proverbs?
Did she not think of the fact that the enemy was using her to bring low the pastor of this large church, essentially burning down an integral part of the ministry she was familiar with, disqualifying both of them; one from the office he had been called to and her the adulteress? In thinking about this, why would anyone want such a condition? Her reputation will proceed her. The gravity of her condition should terrify her. It should have terrified her in the midst of the consideration, but apparently, it did not. Lust is deceitful; there is so much pride there in the idea. A woman who has been neglected by her federal head is easily deceived when she is emotionally raised up by another man that is not her husband. She is a prime candidate for the sin when this occurs.
The question might be, why didn’t the four of these participants fear God as they ought? Hebrews tells us that God will chasten the child of God for his rebellion. Who welcomes this upon themselves? Well, you might say, there is grace in the midst of this. Yes there is; However, grace does not remove responsibility and the result of rebelling. God is a God of love, but he is also a refining fire!
Did these woman consider the idea that they would be assaulting the marriage covenant that God had blessed? What of the wives and children involved? How could one be so short sighted? Was it the moment of pleasure? All thrills come to an end. Honeymoons are not forever. Personally, I have come to a place where I know that the aftermath and the resulting conscience that comes with sin are no way worth the loss of holiness. Once the dust settles, the fall is left and the convictions that follow remain. They linger. I have learned this late in life, mind you. I point no crooked finger at these men and woman. All of us fall short and all of us are at different level of sanctification. The bible warns us to fear when things like this happen, and I do. It is humbling. This event is no more than sad. It ruins our witness. If affects the body of Christ in so many fashions. Families are crushed and left drifting in an ocean of doubt. Most of the world looks on and calls us hypocrites, and in many ways, they are right. We preach holiness, yet we fall so short of the words we proclaim. In the midst of the marriage issue at the forefront this day, we cry loudly that marriage is a holy institution between a man and woman that God ordained, yet we often desecrate it in more ways than one. How is the world to believe our report of Christ when we show so much a weakness in the things we proclaim?
In finality, I will only offer my two cents worth in why I believe things like this happen; Firstly, the church is not conforming to the word of God. If at all, it continues to deform. The world has dictated the standards of how the church should look and act. Consider the piety. Consider the liturgy. Consider how our worship time is spent engrossed with music that emulates the sound of the world and not of Heaven. Consider the prayer meetings and how very few attend. Sadly, much of the church treats their local church as no more than a civil club. There is very little fasting. When was the last time you fasted? I can’t recall the last time I fasted, sadly. Prudence. The church doesn’t embrace prudence. The opposite is endorsed. Grace has been redefined. There can be no grace if there is no fear before their eyes. Fear amplifies grace. Remove fear and you change the characteristics of grace. To reform is to return to the way the church stood high. To be a light upon a hill, we must remain consistent. The pastors of our churches need much prayer. They are on the enemy’s hit list. Cut off the head and the body will die.
Additionally, it is hard to imagine that the sin of the mind was not at the forefront of these men and women. Assaults of the flesh were indulged. Plans were made in light of these sins. If these men had been pursuing holiness, the idea that they were abusing their flesh would not even be considered. If they had been ‘putting on the mind of Christ’ daily, surely they would not have indulged. If they had been resisting the devil and praying without ceasing, they would have been surrounded by legions of Angels doing battle in their behalf! But isn’t it true that God turns one that indulges these desires repeatedly, over to these sins? Israel was involved in idol worship many times; In one case, they demanded a king and thats what God gave them. They wanted meat and God gave them meat until it came out of their noses.
The local church and it’s people have been blinded to a degree. Maybe this is a condemnation on our country. Christ tells us that if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can say to the mountain, be cast into the sea. We no longer walk in the spirit; we are so often in the flesh. We are told to resist the devil and he will flee, pray that we enter not into temptation, draw near to me and I will draw near to you, pray without ceasing. Yet we do not claim this in the spirit. God is a God of miracles, yet we doubt. Jesus said it best, when I return to the earth, will the son of man find faith? Will He?
Thank God that we have the promise of Christ:
Matthew 16:18
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [5]