I know what it is like to be manipulated and to use manipulation to get what I want. It is not something I am proud of. I am especially not proud of using manipulation as a tool.

Samson was the original “Riddler”. I wonder if while they were writing this character into Batman if they were thinking about Samson. Samson used riddles to manipulate people and it is ironic that he was brought down by a few manipulative woman.

Our Biblical Ground Work: Judges 14-16

Samson’s wife would be the start of Samson’s God given assignment to “begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5). He wanted her and he got her but he would regret it afterwards. Many people were killed and much anguish for the Israelites resulted in this unhealthy union filled with manipulation.

His need for sex put him in another vulnerable situation with a prostitute. He saw her is Gaza and went into her. Somehow the Gazites got notified (wink, wink) of his presence and they surrounded the house waiting for him. He slept until mid-night and broke the city gates down, carried them on his shoulders and dropped them on the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron. This left them in a vulnerable situation.

Finally we come to Delilah. We say that she was his downfall but he was his downfall. Sex again was his weakness but his time it went further for him, he fell in love with Delilah. She was paid by the five Philistine leaders 1,100 pieces of silver each (approx. $110,000.00). She was probably given a choice, money or death. She chose the money and began her manipulative plan to earn it.

Our Biblical Life Lesson: To avoid being manipulated avoid being a manipulator.

Samson’s downfall was that he thought he was the master manipulator and could not recognize that he himself was being manipulated. Pride was his downfall. He was manipulated by three women and he manipulated everyone in his path including God. 

Manipulators are so proud of their persuasive skills that they think they cannot be manipulated themselves but due to their pride they have a blindness to someone manipulating them. A determined manipulator will use whatever tool they think will work and they are not adverse to picking up new tools to get what they want.

Join The Bible Gals this week as we learn the Biblical Power Tools to avoid manipulation.