Judges 16:1-3 SAMSON AND THE SHADY LADY

The last glimpse we had of Samson was of a man who seemed to have gotten his act together. As the previous chapter closed, we saw Samson calling on the Lord in humility. He prayed to the Lord and God delivered him from death through a great miracle. That story ends with Samson judging Israel for 20 years.After a period of peace and steadfast service, Samson falls once again into his old ways. His old passions rise to the surface and Samson once again finds himself entangled in a web of sin. Samson may have been a powerful man physically, but he was a moral weakling. He may have demonstrated his power time and again over the enemies of the Lord, but he was helpless against the power of his flesh.Samson reminds me of Achilles. In Greek Mythology, Achilles was the son of a human king named Peleus and a sea goddess named Thetis. Achilles was the greatest, bravest, strongest and most handsome soldier in his father’s army. The legend goes that Thetis held her infant son by the heel and dipped him in the waters of the River Styx. The magical powers of the river rendered Achilles invulnerable in every part of his body, except his heel, which had not been dipped in the river. That small, little part of his flesh was vulnerable to attack. Later, in the heat of battle,