Samson's eye trouble - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 16:21,

"Then the Philistines seized him [Samson], gouged out his eyes and
took him down to Gaza."

Samson lost his eyesight when he laid his head in the lap of Delilah,
who betrayed him. Samson had eye trouble throughout his life. I am
reminded of 1 John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or anything in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust
of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from
the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away,
but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

As I read the accounts of Samson in Judges 13-16, it appears to me he
had a problem with "the lust of his eyes". In Judges 14:1-2 we read,
"Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.
When he returned, he said to his father and mother, 'I have seen a
Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.'" Samson's
parents objected but Samson insisted anyway. We are told this was from
the Lord, "His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who
was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time
they were ruling over Israel." Judges 14:4.

What was it the Lord was using? Samson's desire for a pagan woman,
people the Lord told the Jews to not intermarry with. The Lord was
also using Samson's refusal to honor his parents wishes. Samson was to
honor his parents and his insistence upon this Philistine woman was
anything but that. What lead to all this? "Samson went down to Timnah
and saw there a young Philistine woman...", ("the lust of his eyes").
The Lord did not cause these sinful impulses in Samson, as John
observes, "For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the
lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not
from the Father but from the world." Nevertheless, the Lord used
Samson's sinful impulses to accomplish what he wanted. I'm thinking in
the manner God used the sinful impulses of the people who put Jesus to
death on the cross: God at times uses sinful man in his sinfulness to
accomplish what he desires.

In Judges 16:1 we are told, "One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw
a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her." Again, "the
lust of his eyes". This episode lead to an unsuccessful attempt of the
Philistines to kill him.

Later we read of Samson's involvement with Delilah. We are told, "Some
time later, he [Samson] fell in love with a woman in the Valley of
Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to
her and said, 'See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of
his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up
and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of
silver." Judges 16:4-5. This she agreed to do and did. She sold out
Samson. Although we do not read anything about the "lust of his eyes"
in this account, I have to wonder what it was Samson did "see" in her.
A willing sell-out who would rather have the silver her betrayal of
Samson brought her than Samson himself. I have to think when he "fell
in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek" it was like the first of
the women. I have to think he must have been "blinded" to what she was
like by what he saw of her beauty. "The lust of his eyes." Just musing
here.

When Samson was betrayed by Delilah and subdued by the Philistines,
how interesting is it the first thing they do is to gouge his eyes
out, to blind him? Was this of the Lord? I note that it was when he
was now blind we see the only time recorded that Samson cried out to
the Lord and seek what the Lord had provided him all along.

As John observes, eye trouble was not only Samson's problem, it is
endemic to our own sinful nature, "For everything in the world—the
cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what
he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world."

How is my eyesight today?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com