NOW SAMSON WENT TO GAZA AND SAW A HARLOT THERE:  Genesis 10:19; Joshua 15:47 Harlot - Genesis 38:16-18; Ezra 9:1,2

Related Resources

Ephesians 5:3, 4ff Exposition

Proverbs 4:23 Exposition

2Corinthians 7:1 Exposition

Jehovah Nissi: Exposition of Exodus 17:8-16

1Thessalonians 4:3ff Exposition

Galatians 5:16ff Exposition

1Timothy 4:7ff Exposition

2Corinthians 10:3-5 - Exposition

James 1:13; James 1:14; James 1:15 - Exposition

Proverbs 5:1-14;   Proverbs 5:15-23; Proverbs 6:20-35; Proverbs 7:1-27 - Exposition

This chapter (among many lessons) shows how desire can deceive a person into believing a lie.

R C Sproul applies the truths in this story to believers today noting that...

Samson drifted into sin one inch at a time, but finally there was a point when God withdrew his favor and denied him access to the gift of strength. Pride, presumption, and neglecting your spiritual gifts may result in the same end. What task has God set before you at this point in life? Are you aware of your privilege and, as Paul encouraged Timothy (2Ti 1:6-note), are you stirring up your gift into a righteous flame? (Before the Face of God: Book Three: A Daily Guide for Living from the Old Testament)

Guzik comments that...

In this Samson is a picture of the believer in disobedience. God used him, but he did not benefit from it. His life ended in personal tragedy, shadowed by the waste of great potential.

The same problem! He has just drunk of victory... and yet here again in one night he falls. This ought to remind us that the proclivity to sin never dies of old age, that our weaknesses never go away; they are always there. We can always overcome them in the power of the Spirit of God, but they never leave us. We are always weak in the area of these old sins. As someone has said, "Old flesh never dies; it just smells that way." So after victory he is tempted in this area and he immediately succumbs, because he is unwilling to turn to the Lord in his time of need and to draw upon him.

Now again the Lord delivers him miraculously. He escapes through the midst of the Philistines at night and rips the gates off the city walls and carries them on his back all the way to Hebron, which is 40 miles from Gaza--again an evidence to him of the immense strength that was his in the Lord.

Harlot (zanah/zonah) means a prostitute. Prostitutes like the woman whom Samson visited at Gaza were common in the ancient world. In fact, prostitution has been a part of religious rites since at least 3000 a.d. In Babylon, Syria, Canaan, Arabia, and Phoenicia intercourse with a temple prostitute was believed to induce fertility among humans, animals, and crops. The historian Herodotus tells of a Babylonian custom that required every woman to sit in the temple of the goddess Ishtar until chosen by a stranger for sexual relations. A desirous man would toss a coin in a woman’s lap. If she accepted the coin and his sexual advances, she would have paid her obligation to the goddess and be free to return to her normal life. In Israel, however, ritual prostitution was forbidden (Dt 23:17). Laws existed to prevent priests from marrying prostitutes (Lev 21:7), and income from prostitution could not be used to pay vows in the temple (Dt 23:18). Nevertheless, commercial prostitutes practiced their trade rather freely in Hebrew society. They were easily recognizable by their hairstyle, head ornaments, or perhaps a special mark on their foreheads. Their clothing and jewelry signaled their availability, and like streetwalkers everywhere, they frequented particular locales well known as meeting spots. Payments were accepted in money, grain, wine, or livestock. It was even common to accept a pledge until the payment could be fulfilled.

Went in to her - The life of Samson illustrates the ancient truth that a good beginning doesn’t guarantee a good ending.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote that

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. (cp Heb 12:1, 2, Php 3:14, 1Ti 1:18, 6:20, 1Pe 1:13)

As Solomon wrote,

The end of a matter is better than its beginning (Eccl 7:8)

Samson’s morality had fallen to a low point with his visit to the prostitute at Gaza, and he soon was paying the consequences of ignoring God. It’s possible for one's character to deteriorate so much that they don’t have to be tempted in order to sin. All they need is the opportunity to sin, and they will tempt themselves (cp Jas 1:14, 15-notes)! What a frightening state in which to be! Illicit sex may taste sweet as honey (Pr 5:3-notes), but always ends up as bitter as wormwood (Pr  5:1-14-notes). Samson the man had become Samson the animal as the prostitute led him to the slaughter (Pr 7:6-23-notes).

Gaza was an important seaport town located about forty miles from Samson’s hometown of Zorah. We aren’t told why Samson went there, but it’s not likely he was looking for sensual pleasure. Once again the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh (cp 1Jn 2:15, 16, 17, Jas 1:14) combined to grip Samson and make him a slave to his passions. It seems incredible to us that a servant of God (Jdg 15:18), who did great works in the power of the Spirit, would visit a prostitute, but the record is here for all to read. This story reminds one of the exploits of Jimmy Swaggart caught visiting ladies of the night.

ENEMY ATTACK -In his book, From the Shadows, former CIA director Robert Gates relates a near-catastrophe that took place during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter.  Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was once awakened and informed that the Soviet Union had launched an all-out nuclear attack. One minute before he was to have called the President, word arrived that the first information had been in error. Someone had accidentally inserted military exercise tapes into the missile-defense computer system. Thankfully, Brzezinski's wake-up call was a false alarm. He remained calm and in control in a situation in which he might have fallen prey to fear or panic. He knew that if we fail to control our passions, our passions control us. That's what happened to Samson. Unable to control himself, in the end he fell victim to an ""enemy attack.""

F B Meyer writes that...

A fatal snare again entangled Samson. -- How many great men have been too weak to resist the wiles of the flesh. Those who do great exploits for God must ever watch against these. This story should remind us of the death of Christ. In His weakness as He hung upon the Cross, the power of hell compassed Him in, and anticipated an easy victory, but He laid hold on the doors of death, the gate into the unseen, and plucked them up, bars and posts and all, and put them upon His shoulders and carried them up to the top of the everlasting hills, which lie towards the city of Rest (Eph. 4:8).

ARE YOU DRIFTING FROM GOD?
Then Mull Over the Quotes on Backsliding

John MacArthur has book The Power of Integrity (Buy and read the printed book or the computer version), the reading and practice of which is sorely needed to sound a wake up call in many sleeping, drifting, compromising modern churches. Here is an excerpt from this excellent book that relates to Samson's life as it deals with the sad certain sequelae of compromise...

Church history is full of people who refused to compromise the biblical standards. As he stood before the Diet of Worms and was ordered to recant his writings or lose his life, Martin Luther did not deny Christ. Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, two English Reformers, were both burned at the stake for their faith in Christ. Those men are representative of the people who can’t be bought; no price will cause them to sell out.

THE PRICE OF COMPROMISE

Men who hold to an uncompromising standard are sorely lacking in the church today. Many so-called Christians boast of their moral standards and extol their righteous character, yet abandon their conviction when compromise is more beneficial and expedient.

Perhaps you recognize one or more of the following:

• People say they believe the Bible, yet attend churches where the Bible isn’t taught.

• People agree that sin must be punished, but not if those sins are committed by their children.

• People oppose dishonesty and corruption until they must confront their bosses and risk losing their jobs.

• People maintain high moral standards until their lusts are kindled by unscriptural relationships.

• People are honest until a little dishonesty will save them money.

• People hold a conviction until it is challenged by someone they admire or fear.

Sadly, such compromises are not exceptions; they have become the rule. But don’t think twentieth-century Christians are the only experts in the art of compromise. Scripture is full of people who compromised, including some very choice servants of God.

• Adam compromised God’s law, followed his wife’s sin, and lost paradise (Gen. 3:6, 22, 23, 24).

• Abraham compromised the truth, lied about Sarah’s relationship to him, and nearly lost his wife (Ge 12:10, 11, 12).

• Sarah compromised God’s Word and sent Abraham to Hagar, who bore Ishmael and destroyed peace in the Middle East (Ge 16:1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12).

• Moses compromised God’s command and lost the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Nu 20:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

• Samson compromised his devotion as a Nazirite and lost his strength, his eyesight, and his life (Jdg. 16:4, 5, 6, 16-31).

• Israel compromised the commands of the Lord, lived in sin, and, when fighting the Philistines, lost the Ark of God (1Sa 4:11). She also compromised the law of God with sin and idolatry and lost her homeland (2Chr 36:14, 15, 16, 17).

• Saul compromised God’s divine word by not slaying the animals of his enemy and lost his kingdom (1Sa 15:3, 20-28).

• David compromised God’s standard, committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, and lost his infant son (2Sa 11:1, 2, 3, 4ff, 2Sa 12:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 - note especially what David had despised in committing these sins - 2Sa 12:9, 10 and what was the most odious result - 2Sa 12:14).`

• Solomon compromised his convictions, married foreign wives, and lost the united kingdom (1Ki 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

• Judas compromised his supposed devotion for Christ for thirty pieces of silver and was separated from Christ eternally (Mt 26:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 47, 48, 49; 27:1, 2, 3, 4, 5; cf. Jn 17:12).

• Peter compromised his conviction about Christ, denied Him, and lost his joy (Mark 14:66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72). Later he compromised the truth in order to gain acceptance by the Judaizers and lost his liberty (Gal. 2:11, 12, 13, 14).

• Ananias and Sapphira compromised their word about their giving, lied to the Holy Spirit, and lost their lives (Acts 5:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11).

Two observations come to mind from those examples. First, in every case the effect of the compromise was to lose something valuable in exchange for something temporary and unfulfilling, some sinful desire. How contrary that is to what we discovered in the first chapter. There we learned that you gain something valuable (your salvation and relationship with Christ) in exchange for something worthless (your sin and self-righteousness).

Second, note what was compromised in each of those examples: either God’s Word, a command from God, or a conviction about God. Thus the true price of compromise is a rejection of God’s Word, which amounts to rebellion against Him and promotion of self as the final authority.

That is the situation in many churches today. Even in churches that once were genuinely evangelical, where the Bible was the divine standard for belief and living, God’s Word is now compromised. Sometimes it is stripped of its clear meaning or is relegated to a place of secondary authority. In many churches that once preached sound doctrine, evils that God plainly and repeatedly condemns are touted as acceptable. Scripture is often reinterpreted to accommodate those anti-biblical views. Pragmatism is in; commitment to biblical truth is denigrated as poor marketing strategy.

The fact is, people are content with unbiblical notions that raise their comfort level and either justify or overlook their sins. They are quick to reject as unloving anyone who presumes to hold them accountable to doctrinal beliefs and moral standards they deem outmoded and irrelevant.

Today the church is full of spiritual babies who are

tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (see note Ephesians 4:14)

Octavius Winslow (1808-1878) wrote a book entitled Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul  dealing specifically with the topic "What is the present spiritual state of my soul before God?" His first chapter entitled Incipient Declension  is most relevant to the study and application of the truths seen in the spiritual slippage in the sad, solemn saga of Samson. Perhaps God is calling you to stop for a time and ponder Samson. If you are experiencing a weariness of soul brought on by wandering from the ancient paths (Jer 6:16), perhaps Winslow's soul "prying" work might be just what the Great Physician is prescribing to draw you from the depths of despond, apathy, etc. The following is simply a partial excerpt from Chapter 1 (Incipient Declension) to wet your spiritual appetite. Clearly the best balm is always the pure, undiluted Word, but there are times when God seems to raise up human works meant to catalyze our desires to discipline ourselves for godliness.  The intrigued reader is encouraged to at least take a look at the interesting table of contents (each of which is an active link...e.g., when was the last time you read or heard a discussion of grieving the Spirit?)

Preface

Chapter 1: Incipient Declension

Chapter 2: Declension in Love

Chapter 3: Declension in Faith

Chapter 4: Declension in Prayer

Chapter 5: Declension in Connection with Doctrinal Error

Chapter 6: On Grieving the Spirit

Chapter 7: The Fruitless and the Fruitful Professor

Chapter 8: The Lord, the Restorer of His People

Chapter 9: The Lord, the Keeper of His People

Excerpt from Chapter 1: Incipient Declension -

“The backslider in heart (Pr 14:14).”

Took the doors - Psalms 107:16; Isa 63:1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Micah 2:13; Acts 2:24

The fact that the city gate was barred didn’t alarm him. He picked up the doors, posts, and bars and carried them off! Whether he carried them all the way to Hebron, a distance of about forty miles, or only to a hill that faced Hebron, depends on how you translate Jdg 16:3. Both interpretations are possible. In spite of his sin with the prostitute from Gaza, Samson was still able to carry away the entire city gate some 30 to 40 miles

AFTER THIS IT CAME ABOUT THAT HE LOVED A WOMAN IN THE VALLEY OF SOREK: Loved - 1 Kings 11:1; Nehemiah 13:26; Proverbs 22:14; 23:27; 26:11; 27:22; 1 Corinthians 10:6

"Loved" (ahab) has a wide range of meanings like its English counterpart, ranging from mere physical attraction to loyal devotion. In the present context it refers primarily to physical-emotional attraction.

Valley of Sorek lay between Zorah and Timnah on the border of Judah and Philistia. The city of Beth-shemesh was located there. Whenever Samson went into enemy territory, he “went down” both geographically and spiritually (14:1, v5, v7, 10). This time he found a woman in the valley, not too far from home; and he fell in love with her. It’s a dangerous thing to linger at the enemy’s border; you might get caught. The Valley of Sorek was near his home, but Samson’s heart was already far from God. It shocks us to see this Nazarite sleeping on the lap of a wicked woman, but this is what happens when people choose to go their own way and reject the counsel of loved ones and the Lord.

DELILAH: Along with David and Bathsheba, Samson and Delilah have captured the imagination of scores of writers, artists, composers, and dramatists. Handel included Delilah in his oratorio “Samson,” and Saint-Saens wrote an opera on “Samson and Delilah.” (The “Bacchanale” from that work is still a popular concert piece.) When Samson consorted with Delilah in the Valley of Sorek, he never dreamed that what they did together would be made into a Hollywood movie and projected in color on huge screens.

Scholars disagree on the meaning of Delilah’s name. Some think it means “devotee,” suggesting that she may have been a temple prostitute. But Delilah isn’t called a prostitute as is the woman in Gaza, although that’s probably what she was. For that matter, Delilah isn’t even identified as a Philistine. However, from her dealings with the Philistine leaders, she appears to be one. Other students believe that the basis for her name is the Hebrew word dalal, which means “to weaken, to impoverish.” Whether or not this is the correct derivation, she certainly weakened and impoverished Samson!

Samson's sensuality proved to be his demise as it did for famous author Oscar Wilde (not a Christian as far as I can discern) who wrote the following sad commentary...

Lords - Jdg 3:3; Josh13:3; 1Sa 29:6  Entice - Jdg 14:15; Pr 2:16-19; 5:3-11; 6:24-26; 7:21-27; 1Co 6:15, 16, 17, 18  Afflict - Jdg 17:2; Ge 33:16; Nu 22:17,18; Mic 7:3; Mt 26:15; 1Ti 6:9,10

Entice (patah) means to deceive, seduce, allure, coax  or persuade and depicts the seducing of persons sexually or enticing them into sin and transgression.  The Philistines used this same verb (patah) when they demanded that Samson's bride-to-be "coax" him into revealing his secret (Jdg 14:15). Even as the Timnite girl managed to get the truth out of Samson, tragically so would Delilah.

SO DELILAH SAID TO SAMSON, "PLEASE TELL ME WHERE YOUR GREAT STRENGTH IS AND HOW YOU MAY BE BOUND TO AFFLICT YOU: Psalms 12:2; Proverbs 6:26; 7:21; 22:14; 26:28; Je 9:2, 3, 4, 5; Micah 7:2,5

When Delilah began to probe for the secret of his strength, Samson should have been aware of his danger and, like Joseph (Ge39:12; 2Ti2:22), fled as fast as possible. But passion had gripped him, sin had anesthetized him, and he was unable to act rationally. Anybody could have told him that Delilah was making a fool out of him, but Samson would have believed no one.

In his devotional Morning and Evening Spurgeon asks...

THEN SHE SAID TO HIM, "HOW CAN YOU SAY, 'I LOVE YOU,' WHEN YOUR HEART IS NOT WITH ME: (How can you say - Jdg 14:16; Pr 2:16; 5:3-14) (Heart - Ge 29:20; Dt 6:5; 1Sa 15:13,14; 2Sa 16:17; Pr 23:26; Song 8:6,7; Jn 14:15,21, 22, 23, 24; 15:10; 2Co 5:14,15; 1Jn 2:15,16; 5:3)

And of course she was right! Here is a case of a man of God being rebuked by a pagan! Samson is the epitome of a deceived man -- when you are deceived you don't even realize it. Furthermore, to allow oneself to be deceived dictates that there is some level of trust when the deception occurs. You don't tend to believe someone you don't trust.

Pressed him (Luke 11:8; 18:5 )

ANNOYED TO DEATH: He was impatient to the point of death (which came to pass! A prophetic pun!)

In Proverbs 7:21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 (see notes) Solomon lays down the basic principles which explain why Samson yielded to Delilah.

Samson was asleep when he should have been awake! He was physically asleep which was a sad snapshot of Samson's spiritual slumber!

May God give us grace that we not fall prey to the somniferous (sleep inducing) effects of the world, the flesh and/or the devil!

(All that was in his heart - Proverbs 12:23; 29:12; Micah 7:5) Talk about not guarding one's heart. Sometimes guarding our heart is keep noxious spiritual pollutants from entering, but other times like here we are to keep some things from going out of our heart.

(Come up - Psalms 62:9; Proverbs 18:8; Jeremiah 9:4, 5, 6)

She made him sleep on her knees (Proverbs 7:21-23,26,27; 23:33,34; Eccl 7:26)

How tragic! But you see, this is how the Lord deals with rebellion in our life. He will warn us through his Word. He will woo us through his Spirit. He will intervene supernaturally to keep us from destruction. He will counsel us through other people who love us -- through our parents and members of the body of Christ. But if we insist on going our own way, he will take his hands off and let us go. And we fall into the dominion of the flesh. But, you see, it is because he loves us. If we insist on going our own way, he loves us enough that he will let us. In the words of the Psalmist, "He will give us our request, but he will send leanness into our souls."(Ps 106:15 KJV)

F B Meyer writes that...

A third time Samson fell under the deadly fascination of a woman. -- Nor did he escape this time so easily. By the promise of great riches, the Philistine lords successfully bribed Delilah to ascertain the secret of his strength. A true woman uses her influence over those she loves, to augment rather than to sap their strength; but Samson, to his own undoing, sought love outside the limits set by religion. Whenever men or women act thus they forfeit their purity, and hand themselves over to the enemies of God, and of their souls, for their destruction.

Licentiousness robs men of wit and courage

For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death. (Prov. 7:26-27).

What a warning to us not to tamper with any secret Delilah sin. Notice how Delilah tried again and again to obtain Samson's secret, and how he dallied with her, until at last he yielded.

Let us learn that when temptation comes to us, it is a mistake merely to evade it, or to parry attacks, as if to throw the tempter off the scent. These lines of defense are taken one after another, and the foe presses into the citadel, which in turn must yield.

Let us beware of scissors, even though apparent love holds them, as they steal over the locks while we are steeped in unconsciousness of the havoc that they make; lest our strength goes from us, and we become "like other men" There are hours in our life when, though we know it not, our strength departs. Oh, the horror of he wist not (Judges 16:20).

Henry Bosch tells the story of how Robert Robinson, the author of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"...

I will go out (Jdg 16:3,9,14; Deuteronomy 32:30; Is 42:24; Hosea 7:9 )

You would think that by then Samson would have been alert to danger, but his conscience was defiled and his moral senses were destroyed. Samson even deceived himself by thinking he had everything under control (v20), but he was wrong.

The rest of the story shows the tragic end of the believer who will not let God have his way with his life. From v20 on, Samson does nothing but lose.

He loses his hair, the symbol of his Nazarite dedication; for that dedication had long since been abandoned. Then he loses his strength, but he is ignorant of it until he is overpowered. How futile it is for the servant of God to try to serve the Lord when out of His will. Next Samson loses the light, for the Philistines put out his eyes. He loses his liberty, for they bind him with fetters of brass. He loses his usefulness to the Lord, for he ends up grinding corn instead of fighting God’s battles. Samson also lost his testimony, for he was the laughingstock of the Philistines. Their fish-god Dagon, not the God of Israel, was given all the glory.

F B Meyer warns that...

Through neglect of watching and prayer --or by reason of carelessness in the walk and conversation--it is quite possible to break that holy connection between ourselves and heaven which is the secret of deliverance, and the talisman of victory. There is always a Delilah ready to sheer off the locks of our strength, if we allow ourselves to sleep in her lap. And out strength may be gone ere we know it. "He wist not that the Lord had departed from him." (Judges 16:20.)

BUT HE DID NOT KNOW THAT THE LORD HAD DEPARTED FROM HIM:

Jehovah had departed from him - (Nu 14:9,42,43; Josh 7:12; 1Sa 16:14; 18:12; 28:14, 15, 16; 2Chr 15:2; Is 59:1,2; Jeremiah 9:23,24; Matthew 17:16,20; 2Co 3:5)

When he lost his long hair, the Lord left him; and he was as weak as other men. His power was from the Lord, not from his hair; but the hair was the sign of his Nazirite vow. The Spirit who had come upon him with such power had now departed from him.

Nu 6:7 reads literally “because the consecration (nezer) of his God is upon his head.”

The basic meaning of the nezer is “separation” or “consecration”; but it is also used of a royal crown (2Sa 1:10; Zec 9:16; Ps 89:39). Samson’s long hair was his “royal crown” and he lost it because of his blatant sin.

Jesus warned the church at Philadelphia...

Behold, I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown (see note Revelation 3:11).

Since Samson didn’t discipline his body, he lost both his crown and his prize (1Co 9:24-27).

Paul charges believers in these last days to...

But have nothing to do with (present imperative) worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline (present imperative = calls for this to be a Christian "soldier's" lifestyle) yourself for the purpose of godliness, for (explains why spiritual discipline is so vitally important) bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (see notes 1Timothy 4:7; 1Timothy 4:8)

QUOTES
ON BACKSLIDING

See related resource -  interesting book by Octavius Winslow (Click here)

As someone has well said

Backsliding begins when knee-bending stops!

The Christian writer Paul E. Little also alluded to the subtle slippage inherent in backsliding noting that...

Collapse in the Christian life is seldom a blowout. It is usually a slow leak.

Dr. Payson warns that...

“The symptoms of spiritual decline are like those which attend the decay of bodily health. It generally commences with loss of appetite and a disrelish for wholesome food, prayer, reading the Scriptures and devotional books. Whenever you perceive these symptoms, be alarmed, for your spiritual health is in danger: apply immediately to the great Physician for a cure.”

J. Oswald Sanders writes that...

We must not just take it for granted that we are in touch with God. Joseph and Mary lost a whole day of fellowship with Jesus because they “supposed him to be in the company.” They took for granted something of which they should have made sure. “He [Samson] wist not that the Lord had departed from him” (Judges 16:20). He was out of touch with God and did not know it. (Sanders, J O: The Best That I Can Be. OMF Books. 1984)

Theodore H. Epp a well known Bible expositor warns that...

Backsliding starts in such a subtle way that most of us are not aware of it, and many of us may be backslidden and may not realize it.

C E Macartney once explained the danger of backsliding noting that...

Between an airplane and every other form of locomotion and transportation there is one great contrast. The horse and wagon, the automobile, the bicycle, the locomotive, the speedboat, and the great battleship—all can come to a standstill without danger, and they can all reverse their engines, or their power, and go back. But there is no reverse about the engine of an airplane. It cannot back up. It dare not stand still. If it loses its momentum and forward-drives, then it crashes. The only safety for the airplane is in its forward and upward motion. The only safe direction for the Christian to take is forward and upward. If he stops, or if he begins to slip and go backward, that moment he is in danger.

Mike Yaconelli wrote the following illustration on backsliding in the Wittenberg Door...

“I live in a small, rural community. There are lots of cattle ranches around here, and, every once in a while, a cow wanders off and gets lost. Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply, ‘Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of grass right next to a hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know, the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.’ ” Most people don’t deliberately set out to backslide, but following their appetites or desires from one tuft to the next, they nibble themselves through the fence and off the straight and narrow path. (A dramatic illustration of Samson's wanderlust)

Jerry White observes a truth many believers have experienced at one time or another...

No one is so empty as the man who has stopped walking with God and doesn’t know it.

F W Boreham alludes to the Christian's journey through the tempestuous, tempting seas of life noting that...

The captain gives earnest heed to the charts lest he drift unconsciously shoreward!

The peril of the drifting life...

For most of us the threat of life is not so much that we should plunge into disaster, but that we should drift into sin. There are few people who deliberately and in a moment turn their backs on God; there are many who day by day drift farther and farther away from him. There are not many who in one moment of time commit some disastrous sin; there are many who almost imperceptibly involve themselves in some situation and suddenly awake to find that they have ruined life for themselves and broken someone else's heart. We must be continually on the alert against the peril of the drifting life. The Word will never drift from us. The danger is our drifting from it. The harbor of salvation is absolutely secure. It is Jesus Christ, who never moves, never changes, and is always available to anyone who wants the protection and security of His righteousness.

The writer of Hebrews adds that in light of the truth of the superiority of our Captain Christ Jesus...

"We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1)

Predisposition to "drifting" backward...

(1). Time: A slow drift, given enough time, will carry you to another continent and its dark uncharted waters. (2). Familiarity with the truth. It is natural for us to come to regard the familiar as commonplace. The initial venture into the mysteries of Christ will leave us exhilarated. But with the repeated journeys, some become bored tourists. (3)  Danger of busyness: We who live at the end of the twentieth century are busy people, and the multiplicity of our cares and duties can overwhelm us. A snowflake is a tiny thing, but when the air is full of them, they can bury us. Even so, the thousand cares of each day can insulate us from the stupendous excellencies of Christ, causing us to begin a deadly drift. The drifting that comes through the combination of years, familiarity, and busyness often bares its existence when the storm of opposition comes. The anchor has long been loosed, and when the winds come, an eternal soul is suddenly on the rocks and shipwrecked.

Here is a fascinating illustration of drifting the wrong direction ("backsliding")...

The danger and deceitfulness of drifting is illustrated by the story of the English explorer, William Edward Parry, who took a crew to the Arctic Ocean. They wanted to go farther north to continue their chartings, so they calculated their location by the stars and started a very difficult and treacherous march north. They walked hour upon hour, and finally, totally exhausted, they stopped. Taking their bearings again from the stars, they discovered that they were farther south than they had been when they started. They had been walking on an ice floe that was moving south faster than they were walking north.  How many people are out with step to God, thinking that they are walking with Him, when in fact they are moving away from Him faster than they are supposedly walking toward Him. That is the tragedy of drifting from the truth. Will you awaken one day ("come to your senses") to find, like Parry’s crew, that all the time you have been moving imperceptibly in the wrong direction.

In his poem “Let Me Get Home Before Dark”  Dr. Robertson McQuilkin offers a prayer that alludes to subtle drifting...

I fear the Dark Spectre may come too soon—or do I mean, too late?
That I should end before I finish or finish, but not well.
That I should stain your honor, shame your name, grieve your loving heart.
Few, they tell me, finish well…
Lord, let me get home before dark.

The venerable preacher Charles Simeon (see John Piper's summation of this man's amazing ministry - Brothers, We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering) once warned that...

However advanced a man may be in piety or age, he is still in danger of falling.

F. W. Norwood wrote that...

Life’s greatest tragedy is to lose God and not to miss Him.

Thomas à Kempis

Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience withdraws from grace

C H Spurgeon (read his miraculous testimony) spoke a great deal about backsliding warning that...

You, who have the most familiarity with Christ, and enjoy the most holy fellowship with him, may soon become the very leaders of the hosts of Satan if your Lord withdraws His grace. David’s eyes go astray, and the sweet psalmist of Israel becomes the shameless adulterer, who robs Uriah of his wife. Samson one day slays a thousand of his enemies with the might of his arm and the valor of his heart; another day his honor is betrayed, his locks are shorn, and his eyes are put out by a strumpet’s treacherous wiles. How soon are the mighty fallen!...

Christian, what do you have to do with sin? Has it not cost you enough already? What, man! Have you forgotten the times of your conviction? If you have, I have not! Burnt child, will you play with the fire? What! When you have already been rent in pieces by the lion, will you step a second time into his den? Have you not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all your veins once?

So mature a servant of the devil as Judas is not purchased all at once. It takes time to educate a man for the scorner's seat. If you begin to slip on the side of a mountain of ice, the first slip may not hurt if you can stop and slide no further. But alas, you cannot so regulate sin! When your feet begin to slide, the rate of the descent increases, and the difficulty of arresting this motion is inces­santly becoming greater. It is dangerous to backslide in any degree, for we know not to what it may lead.

The Christian life is very much like climbing a hill of ice. You cannot slide up. You have to cut every step with an ice ax. Only with incessant labor in cutting and chipping can you make any prog­ress. If you want to know how to backslide, leave off going forward. Cease going upward and you will go downward of necessity. You can never stand still.

Remember that if you are a child of God, you will never be happy in sin. You are spoiled for the world, the flesh, and the devil. When you were regenerated there was put into you a vital principle, which can never be content to dwell in the dead world. You will have to come back, if indeed you belong to the family.

Here are several pithy quotes from unknown sources...

Never look back unless you want to go that way

However deep you fall, you are never out of God's reach

Life's greatest tragedy is to lose God and not miss him

If you are not as close to God as you used to be, you do not have to guess who moved

John Chrysostom wrote that...

If repentance is neglected for an instant, one can lose the power of the Resurrection as he lives with the weakness of tepidity and the potential of his fall.

The pithy evangelical writer, J C Ryle (1816-1900 - read a short biography) has the following "thoughts" relative to backsliding...

Men fall in private long before they fall in public.

If we know anything of true, saving religion, let us ever beware of the beginnings of backsliding.

It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that can befall a man, I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, an eagle with a broken wing, a garden covered with weeds, a harp without strings, a church in ruins — all these are sad sights, but a backslider is a sadder sight still.

The following tale illustrates the subtle nature of backsliding...

A foolish old farmer, so the story goes, concluded one day that the oats he had fed his mule for years were simply costing him too much. So he hatched a plan: he mixed a little sawdust in with the feed, and then a little more the next day, and even more the next, each time reducing the amount of oats in the mix. The mule didn’t seem to notice the gradual change, so the farmer thought things were fine and kept decreasing the proportion of oats. But weeks later, on the day he finally fed the poor beast nothing but sawdust, the mule finished the meal and fell over dead. A silly tale, perhaps, but it serves as a parable of the backslider—the Christian who slips further and further away from God through unrepented sin or neglect. Though we know our souls cannot survive on spiritual sawdust, we may well convince ourselves that a little won’t hurt too much, and a little less real spiritual food won’t be missed. Then, over time, the proportion of sawdust increases while the oats gradually disappear. Before long, the change is complete, and our starved, sawdust-stuffed spiritual life has collapsed.

Thomas Guthrie addressed the subtle and deceptive nature of backsliding writing that...

If you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of the Lord, any table better than the Lord's table, any persons better than Christ, or any indulgence better than the hope of heaven — be alarmed.

Ernest Plant pithily explains the roots of backsliding...

Backsliding is caused by slack abiding

C H Spurgeon warns all backsliders...

It is dangerous to backslide in any degree, for we know not to what may lead. It may be hard going forward, but it is worse going back.

With deep repentance and sincere faith, find your way back from your backsliding. It is your duty, for you have turned away from Him whom you professed to serve. It is your wisdom, for you cannot strive against Him and prosper. It is your immediate necessity, for what He has done is nothing compared to what He may do in the way of chastisement, since He is Almighty to punish.

Backsliders begin with dusty Bibles and end with filthy garments.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of the tragedy of backsliding observing that...

The backslider is a man who, because of relationship to God, never really enjoys anything else.

Donald Grey Barnhouse once said that...

Withering is a slow process, barely perceptible at first either to one who is being withered or to those who look on.

Vance Havner described revival as...

Revivals should not be necessary. God never meant that His people should live by fits and starts in alternate periods of backsliding and repenting. But since we have such "malarial" Christianity (a fever and a chill, a fever and a chill) we shall have need of revivals. If we walked with God and kept ourselves prayed up, it would not be necessary to call in preachers every six months to stir up the church. If we had more "vival" we would not need re‑vival. We would live in normal spiritual health all the time without shots in the arm twice a year.

Havner also said...

Taking it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort precedes collapse.

We are so subnormal that if we ever became normal people would think we were abnormal.

The Puritan writer William Gurnall rightly said that...

A declining Christian must needs be a doubting Christian

F B Meyer in a devotional on Psalm 1 alludes to backsliding, writing that...

THE BLESSED, or Happy, man is described negatively (Psa1:1). There is a gradation in the attitude, the sphere of influence, and the condition of his companions. In attitude, we may begin by walking, advance to standing, and end by sitting. If we would avoid the sitting, let us guard against walking or standing. In the sphere of influence, the beginning of backsliding is when a man listens to counsel; he then drifts into the path trodden by sinners, and finally is hardened enough to sit where scornful talk surrounds him on every hand. The condition of evil companions. We should be repelled if we were to be plunged suddenly into contact with the scornful, but our moral interests may not be specially outraged by the counsel of the wicked. Indeed, the advice which wicked men give sometimes resembles closely what our heart suggests and our taste prefers. It is so specious, so apparently sensible and natural, that we are captivated by it. Only gradually do we slide from those who forget God to those who set His law at defiance or openly blaspheme Him. (F B Meyer. Our Daily Walk, May 11)

William Jenkyn warned that...

God will preserve you in your ways, not in your wanderings.

F B Meyer in a devotional discusses the causes of backsliding, noting that...

THE CAUSES of backsliding are many. We have pretended to be living a more devoted life than was actually the case; we neglected to watch unto prayer; we allowed secret sin to eat out the heart of our piety, 'as the white ant works destruction in the East; or we yielded to temptation, and then sought to justify ourselves against the remonstrances (earnest presentations of reasons for opposition or grievance) of conscience; or we yielded to the fear of man, and drifted with the multitude to do evil; or we became prosperous, and trusted only in our wealth; or poor, and succumbed to covetousness and