Every superhero has their villain. If you ever read comics, or watched a superhero movie then you know the villain is always looking for ways to defeat his arch nemesis. The villain’s evil plots are never going to come to pass if the hero is there to thwart the evil plan. Therefore, the villain looks for ways to weaken the hero, either by poisoning him, or holding someone they loved hostage. The villain is looking for the superhero’s weakness. If the villain can reveal the weakness he can destroy the hero.
That’s what makes this part of Samson’s story so intriguing. The Philistines wanted to know where Samson got his strength. They wanted to know what made him supernaturally strong. If the Philistines could reveal Samson’s source of strength, they could rid themselves of Samson and their evil plans could prevail. Wouldn’t they want to know where his weakness was instead? Wouldn’t they want to reveal his vulnerability? Wouldn’t they want to expose his soft spot? I want to submit to you that the Philistines, and everyone else, knew where Samson was weak. Samson couldn’t hide his weakness.
Samson’s strength came from the Lord, but Samson’s weakness was in his flesh. The supernatural power came from a life separated unto God, but Samson’s weakness was that he couldn’t say no to his fleshly desires.
Samson could kill lions, catch foxes by their tails, and kill a thousand men with a jawbone of a donkey. The only thing that rivaled Samson’s supernatural strength was his weakness. Samson desired the love of many women. He couldn’t keep his eyes from lusting after them.
Samson could conjure up the Spirit of God to overcome a multitude of enemies. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t use that same Spirit to defeat his inner enemies.
Brothers and sisters, the greatest enemy we have isn’t without, it’s within. The apostle Paul wrote, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13 ESV).