7 Good Lessons From 7 Bad Bible Characters [Pt. 1: Delilah]

Today we’re gonna start a 7 part series that’s centered on learning from the flaws and mistakes of 7 different Bible “villains.” Yes, normally in most Christian blog posts that are about Bible characters, they’re primarily focused on Bible heroes like Daniel, Moses, and Esther. But for this series, we’re gonna explore some good lessons from “bad” Bible characters like Haman, Goliath, and Jezebel.

So, for part 1 of this series, we’re gonna explore three good lessons from one of the Old Testament’s most infamous bad girls: Delilah

Who Was Delilah?

In Judges 16, we read the story of Samson meeting Delilah in the Valley of Sorek (see Judges 16:4). In Judges 16:5, the Philistine lords get Delilah to betray Samson in exchange for 1100 pieces of silver:

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
(Judges 16:5)

Who was this girl who betrayed the man who loved her for money? Well, the Bible doesn’t give us much information about her–neither does Ellen White.
But the meaning of her name may give us an essential clue.

Delilah: The Weak One

The name Delilah in Hebrew means “weak; poor.” And in many ways we can see, from the story of Samson, just how weak Delilah was in her relation to Samson. We’ll get deeper into three of her weaknesses, and how they apply to us in our modern, 21st century lives as Christians.

1. She Was Weak In Loyalty

Going back to the verse we started at, Judges 16:5, we will study deeper into Delilah’s first weakness:

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
(Judges 16:5)

In the verses following, Delilah questions Samson’s source of strength, and tests his answers to see if they’re true (see verses 6-14).

Why is Delilah so determined to find out Samson’s source of strength?

BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO GET THE 1100 PIECES OF SILVER

Here we see Delilah’s first weakness:

SHE LACKED LOYALTY TOWARD SAMSON

How does this apply to us?

In our daily lives as Christians, are we like Delilah, and act disloyal toward Christ? Do we betray Him in the little things? Do we betray God just to gain some silver pieces of popularity, worldly pleasure, or–in the literal case of Delilah herself–monetary richness? Are you or I in danger of being a Delilah to God right now?

2. She Was Weak In Meekness

Moving on to verse 16, we see Delilah’s second weakness:

And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death,
(Judges 16:16)

Fueled with money-hungry ambition and disloyal determination, Samson’s so-called girlfriend pesters him with more questions and enticements to reveal his source of strength. Instead of just simply dumping the poor guy, or forgetting about the whole bribe from the Philistine lords, Delilah kept on persisting.

Here is Delilah’s second weakness:

SHE WAS FILLED WITH TOO MUCH STUBBORN PRIDE

No matter how much she had to ask nor how much she had to do, Delilah was too proud to let go of that 1100 silver piece offer. She refused to give up–all for the wrong reasons.

How does this apply to us?

According to 1 Peter 3:3-4, we read what God considers to be true beauty:

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
(1 Peter 3:3-4)

It’s fairly obvious that Delilah personally lacked that high Biblical standard of true beauty.

But why was that the case?

As I mentioned before, it was because of stubborn pride. Delilah was never meek, gentle, and quiet to Samson. And as Christians, we’re also in the same danger of exhibiting that same stubborn pride to fuel us to go against the will of authority figures like parents, pastors, teachers, and ultimately God. Unless we’re willing to humbly shrink ourselves, we’re in danger of cultivating the same stubborn pride of Delilah in our hearts and lives.

3. She Was Weak In Love

Delilah’s final weakness is found by just jumping all the way back up to verse 4:

Afterward it happened that he [Samson] loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
(Judges 16:4)

I really like how clearly written out Professor J. Cheryl Exum put it in her article on Delilah in Jewish Women’s Archive:

“The text reports that Samson loves Delilah (16:4), but not that she loves him—a hint, perhaps, that she does not love him and will have no qualms about betraying him.”

–Professor J. Cheryl Exum , in her article Delilah: Bible.

Based on the above statement, it’s likely that we can now see why Delilah, with stubborn disloyal pride, insisted Samson to tell her the source of his strength. We can now see why Delilah betrayed Samson for money. It wasn’t motivated by pride, nor a selfish desire for wealth. But rather, her betrayal against Samson was motivated by cold indifference.

Here, we see Delilah’s third weakness:

SHE LACKED GENUINE LOVE TOWARD THE ONE WHO LOVED HER

How does this apply to us as Christians?

Jesus said to His disciples many years after Samson passed away and Delilah died:

If you love Me, keep My commandments.
(John 14:15)

Friend, I believe that what caused Delilah to willfully betray the one who loved her with cold, stubborn, disloyal pride is what’ll cause many of us to willfully turn away from God. A genuine lack of genuine love to the One Who loves us and died for us.

A Prayer For Loyal, Meek Love

Dear reader, if you don’t want to betray the God who loves you and gave His only Son to die for you with the cold pride of Delilah, then I wanna appeal to you to just pray the following prayer below:

Amen! Maranatha!

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Stay tuned for part 2 of this series on “7 Good Lessons From 7 Bad Bible Characters,” where we’ll explore several lessons from Pharaoh in the book of Exodus!
{***UPDATE, you can view Part 2 by clicking HERE***}