Almost Time for Sampson

Judges 13:1–25 (CSB)

1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines forty years.

They just will not learn. The minute they figure out they need God they turn…

The did evil indicates they continued to worship the false gods of the surrounding peoples.

Because they did the LORD handed them over again for punishment and correction.

The agent of God’s punishment this time - the Philistines.

2 There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are unable to conceive and have no children, you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer, or to eat anything unclean; 5 for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 He said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death.’ ”

We are given the man’s name, Manoah and by starting with “there was a certain man” let’s the reader know a good story is about to take place.

Next we are introduced to Manoah’s wife - she has an issue much like the Sarah and Abraham had - she could not conceive a child.

There are several instances when God beings a story with a woman who cannot have a child. The purpose is to let us know God is at work about doing something beyond what could naturally be accomplished on our own.

The good news she will conceive and give birth to a son but there are some requirements she will need to meet as well as the child…. he will be a Nazirite from birth.

First things first - there are 3 abstentions someone committed himself to as a Nazirite: 1. No wine or any intoxicating drink, 2. no cutting hair, and 3. No contact with a corpse.

There are several differences with this application of the Nazirite vow - first, it was divinely imposed instead of voluntary (Sampson was divinely appointed), second, this vow takes effect from the moment of conception (his mother had to observe the terms until his birth), third, it was not temporary but would last until death, fourth, the command to avoid unclean food was added.

The other interesting thing is that she did not show amazement at the Lord’s announcement. She did go and relay the message to her husband.

8 Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.” 9 God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband, Manoah, was not with her. 10 The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me the other day has just come back!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said. 12 Then Manoah asked, “When your words come true, what will be the boy’s responsibilities and work?” 13 The angel of the Lord answered Manoah, “Your wife needs to do everything I told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine or drink wine or beer. And she must not eat anything unclean. Your wife must do everything I have commanded her.”

Manoah had an interesting response to the message - he seems to have been jealous the Lord spoke to his wife and not him. We can see this by his repeated use of the word “us”.

He petitioned God to return and speak to him and God graciously responds.

God tells him that everything his wife said was true and that she needs to follow his instructions.

15 “Please stay here,” Manoah told him, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.” 16 The angel of the Lord said to him, “If I stay, I won’t eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not know he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 Then Manoah said to him, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?” 18 “Why do you ask my name,” the angel of the Lord asked him, “since it is beyond understanding?” 19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, who did something miraculous while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground. 21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord. 22 “We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.”

Manoah responds by offering to prepare a meal for the angel of the LORD.

The angel of the LORD declines the meal but why - first, Manoah didn’t know Who it was that brought him the message and second, a fellowship meal assumes oneness and by rejecting the meal the angel of the LORD is commenting on the spiritual condition of the nation - remember the angel of the LORD is the pre-incarnate Christ.

Manoah still did not realize who he was talking to.

You can tell it is God who is speaking when he said His name was “beyond understanding”.

God then showed them who it was that brought the message - the flame and the altar and the flame going into the sky.

It was then they realized who had been speaking to them - Manoah was concerned they would die but his wife, who had been silent, spoke wisdom to him - if He wanted to kill us why accept our offering and tell us all the things that will happen.

24 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 Then the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

She gave birth, named him Samson and the boy was blessed by the LORD.

Once he grew the LORD began to stir Samson to action…