The strongest man Samson was a weakling with women. His wife nagged him into telling her the meaning of the riddle he had made a bet over with their marriage guests. Then she told the guests. Later, his lover Delilah nagged him with accusations and tears to tell her the secret of his great strength. Then she had his hair cut off, the Philistines captured him, put out his eyes, and imprisoned him. Nagging has power, as children quickly discover and Jesus acknowledged in one of his parables (Lu 18:1-5). When husbands are hard to be entreated, do not understand or love their wives, they may be tempted to nag to get their way. Husbands, of course, can also nag their wives. When husbands are weak and give in to nagging, they disregard the many commands in Scripture to be strong. Worst of all, sometimes husbands and wives betray each other. That is the worst sin in the story of Samson. Marriage betrayals are common in our day, with adultery and desertion rampant, divorce frequent, and a general failure to keep one's vows when one partner gets sick. We have recently been treated to stories of prominent politicians deserting their wives when they got cancer. Samson's women forgot that they were supposed to be on his side. Christ came to set us free from sin and to transform our lives, including our marriages, which should be lifelong bonds of love and loyalty, with no nagging, an end to weakness, and above all, no betrayal. Samson, of course, is a hero of faith (He 11), and he died in faith. |
