Sacred Curse

And Delilah said to Samson, “Please reveal ( the secret of) your great strength to me, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.” Judges 16:6

Bound – Do you feel sorry for Samson? Or do you consider him foolishly duped? An incredibly strong man, favored by God, reduced to a blind slave by betrayal. But, of course, Delilah was a tempting woman. Samson was in trouble long before she pried his secret from him. Delilah wasn’t Samson’s first seductive addiction. There was the prostitute in Gaza too. Samson had a much deeper weakness than the loss of his hair. He could not control his desire or his ego.

Samson was a Nazirite. He wasn’t a Nazirite by choice, at least not by his choice. He was called to this role before his birth by the Angel of the Lord. You can find the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6:2-21. Samson was expected to keep this vow, but he failed. He did not fail because his hair was cut. He failed because he played with the power God gave him.

If you read the story of Samson again, you will see that his relationships with women involved treachery on their part but ego and pride on his part. He stirred up the drama with lies, half-truths and riddles. In spite of his special position, he acted with pride, not humility. In the end, he fell victim to his own self-confidence.

The Hebrew verb for “bound” is asar. Its umbrella meanings help us see just what is at stake. Asar is the verb for bind, obligate, imprison or hold captive. It is a word used for tying animals for sacrifice and tying hearts with seduction. In the modern world, it is the word we would use for addiction. Delilah asks, “What can be used to bind you?” Samson’s honest reply reveals something to us. God’s own gift, used for self, becomes the instrument of imprisonment. What binds us is often the very thing that God intended to be used to separate us for His purposes. But we took the gift and used it for our own ends. Now it holds us captive. We are victims of the sacred curse.

The question is being whispered today. “What binds you?” “What holds you captive?” “What did God grant to you as gift but you used it for yourself?” There is no freedom in life until we are willing to answer and repent.