March 13th

March 13th -- Judges 16:1-21 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2016:1-21&version=NLT)

Samson carries away Gaza's gates AND Samson and Delilah.

So Samson goes one day and spends the night at a prostitutes in Gaza, but word gets out, so the Philistine men gather at the gates to kill him in the morning. Samson, though, gets up at midnight and takes the gate, lifts it out of the ground, and carries it to the top of the hill across from Hebron.

Skipping ahead to later in his life, Samson falls in love with Delilah. The Philistines offer her 1,100 pieces of silver from her if she discovers the secret of his strength. She asks once, and he falsely tells her it's if he is tied with 7 new bowstrings. The Philistine men try this, and he breaks loose. Delilah accuses him of making fun of her and asks again. He again lies, saying he must be tied with new, unused rope to be weak as anyone else. They Philistines again try, and Samson again breaks free. Delilah asks again, and the same process happens, but this time he says his hair must be weaved into her loom and he will be weak. She nags and nags and nags after this, until he finally gives in and tells her he will be weak if his hair is cut. So Delilah tells the Philistines, then lulls Samson to sleep and has his hair cut. The Philistines come for him, gouge his eyes out, take him to Gaza, bind him with bronze chains, and force him to grind grain in prison.

Again, an instance where I don't see why God didn't seem to do anything about it. Samson was sleeping with a prostitute, but God didn't seem to send any punishment for that. I don't quite understand that, as He had chosen Samson to be Israel's leader, in a way...

Also, I REALLY don't get why the heck Samson told Delilah. He must have seen it coming, after all the attempts before. Like, did he not see hiw wife was selling him out? After the three times he tells he something, and they show up for him, you'd think he'd realize she was being paid off by them. And yet he tells her. That, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND....

Anyways, I think that'll be all. God bless! Shalom!