Judges 16:20
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. 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.
Samson awoke expecting to go out and free himself as at other times before, but he was powerless because the Lord had departed from him, a loss he did not at first recognize. His strength was not his own and was not in his hair itself, for his unshorn hair was the symbol of his Nazarite consecration and loyalty to God, and his power depended on faithfulness to God's commands. When he yielded to sin and betrayed the secret of his strength, sacrificing that sacred sign to passion and a forbidden attachment, he broke his commitment to God and forfeited the blessing it represented, bringing ruin upon himself. By joining himself to Israel's enemies he let corrupting influence darken his life and betrayed into Philistine hands through temptation the strength that should have defended Israel, when obedience would have made his destiny nobler and happier. The verse therefore warns that indulging sin blinds a person to danger, leaving reputation, strength and usefulness ruined while he still trusts he can escape as before, and that turning from God leaves him without God-given strength even while he thinks he can carry on as before.
Samson's Strength Lost
He awoke out of sleep expecting to go out and shake himself free as at other times before, but he had become powerless because the Lord was departed from him. That loss he did not at first recognize, for he still trusted he could escape the Philistines as he had before and did not know his former strength was gone. One account presents the sequence as his becoming powerless and then knowing that the Lord had departed from him.
His strength was not his own but strength received as a Nazarite, and it was not in his hair itself. His unshorn long hair had no power in itself but was a symbol of his Nazarite condition and a sign of his loyalty to God and sacred calling. His strength depended on faithfulness to God's commands, so that the blessing it represented continued only while that loyalty was kept.
When he yielded himself to sin and betrayed the secret of his strength, he surrendered and sacrificed that sign to passion and a forbidden attachment. By that betrayal of his calling and breaking of his sacred commitment he forfeited the blessing the sign represented. His surrender of devotion to God for forbidden passion thus brought his ruin and left him without the power he had relied on.
By mingling with the Philistines and joining himself to Israel's enemies, he let corrupting influences darken his life and hinder his divine mission. His strength, which had served as Israel's defense, was thus betrayed into Philistine hands through sexual temptation. Had he obeyed God his destiny would have been nobler and happier.
Spiritual Lessons and Warnings
Samson had open to him the same source of strength that Joseph had, but unlike Joseph he did not rely on God and govern himself, and his chosen course of surrender to passion brought shame, disaster, and death. His fall shows the peril of lacking a deep reliance on God, for when temptation came he fell under its power, awoke expecting to act as before, and did not realize the Lord had departed and his strength was gone.
Indulging in sin blinds a person to danger, so that like Samson trusting he could escape the Philistines as before, he may be already captive and stripped of God-given strength without recognizing the loss. In that blinded state reputation, strength, and usefulness are ruined even while confidence of escape remains. The account illustrates how Satan deceives and destroys through Delilah's influence, for yielding to lust blinds a person to Satan's power and leaves him unable to discern the danger he faces.
The same warning is that a person blinded by lust, unable to discern the difference between Christ's love and the lust of the flesh, can like Samson with Delilah be deceived and destroyed by Satan's power. Turning from God leaves a person without the strength God had given even while he thinks he can carry on as before, as when allowing a spouse to become a snare draws him farther from God and weakens him. Samson's waking without his former strength illustrates how those enslaved by appetite, after years of damaging their bodies, find themselves unable to break free, when obedience would have spared them the penalty of transgression.