God at Work

Introduction:

The characters of the story:

Manoah’s Wife - A Barren Woman

Manoah - A Jelous, Spiritually Ignorant Man

The Man of God - God’s Messenger

Samson - A Divinely Selected Deliverer

The messenger appears to the wife of Manoah. She was a woman that had no children. Her barrenness, in those days, was believed to be a message of displeasure from the gods. This messenger, sent by God, delivers news of great joy. This barren woman would no longer be barren. Not only does this messenger give this barren woman the most joyful news of her life he continues by giving her some instructions and some revelations of who her son will become. She was not to drink wine and further she was not to drink of anything that came from the vine. She was also forbidden to eat of any unclean animal as determined by the law of Moses. She was also to ensure that her son would never cut his hair. All of these instructions were because the boy that now grew inside of her was to take the vow of a Nazarite from the womb until his death. These special instructions were given to prepare the boy for the amazing task of delivering Israel from their oppressors, the Philistines.

When the messenger had finished speaking the woman quickly made her way to her husband to tell him of the joyful news and to inform him of the special instructions that we given to her by the messenger. Manoah immediately requests an audience with this messenger through prayer to God. His requests alone seem reasonable, but a closer examination gives insight into the spiritual condition of Manoah and his family. He asks an audience with the messenger so that he and his wife can be taught how to raise their son. If Manoah was in tune with God and his law he would have understood the instructions as the messenger said the boy was to take the vow of a Nazarite. This vow is clearly outlined in the law of Moses and would have been known and understood by any faithful follower of the law.

The messenger reappears, but not as Manoah had requested. He appears to the once barren woman in a field and she immediately goes to fetch her husband. When they both arrive Manoah begins to question the messenger; was he the same messenger, how are we to raise the child, will you eat with us, what is your name. Manoah’s questioning is answered by the messenger in short answers and at times a refusal to answer. Manoah clearly is trying to establish whether the messenger is trustworthy and who the messenger represents. His lack of spirituality is reflective of the fact that he fails to recognize that the man of God is indeed a messenger from Yahweh.

Having refused to dine with Manoah and his wife the messenger insists that the meal be offered as a burn sacrifice to Yahweh. Manoah complies with this and understands enough about sacrifices that he completes the burnt sacrifice to Yahweh and the messenger disappears with the smoke of the burnt offering. It is only after the messenger is gone that Manoah understands he was a messenger sent from Yahweh and fears now that they will die because they saw God.

His wife logically dismantles her husband’s fears as she points to his message that they will have a son and the command by which they were to raise him. These revelations and commands are only able to be fulfilled if they continue to live.

This passage concludes with the birth of their son. The woman names her son Samson. This further illustrates the spiritual decay of this family and clearly represents Israel as a whole nation. Despite Yahweh’s great blessing upon this couple to give them a son they chose to name him “Little Sun” which appears to be a reference to the sun god worshipped by some of their pagan neighbors. Even if not an outright pagan name it shows their spiritual decay that they would choose a name that at all compromises with the gods of the people that surround them.

In spite of the spiritual decay that this family represents across the nation of Israel the writer of Judges closes this passage leaving the reader with hope. Samson was no Jepthah. The differences between the two are striking. Whereas Yahweh was altogether absent in the selection of Jepthah Samson is called by God not as a boy, or as a man, but from his mother’s womb. He was called upon to fulfill a special vow not asked of anyone before his time nor after his death; the call to dedicate himself to the vow of a Nazarite for life. Samson was not called to lead by a humanistic, heathen, counsel, but by a Sovereign, Powerful, God that sought to deliver his people. Samson’s parents were not perfect people and they were spiritually flawed. Yet, God offers hope to the reader as he chooses to use this imperfect couple to raise a deliverer to his people.

Samson would be born into a family and a nation filled with spiritual flaws and pagan apostacy. But Samson is chosen by a God that is not yet finished with the nation of Israel and in his grace seeks to intervene on behalf of his people to deliver them once again. He seeks to show them his grace and mercy and bring them back to himself. Although Israel is far from deserving and Samson’s parents are far from prepared to fulfill the task at hand their is one reality that offers hope to them, to their nation, and to the reader of this chapter; God is at work.

Application

God is at Work to Deliver You

Despite our spiritual flaws

Just as he sought to deliver the people of Israel God seeks to do a work of deliverance in your life. God’s plan of deliverance for you was formed before the foundations of the world began and his plan began with a man named Abraham who forged a nation from which would come a Savior. From the womb Jesus had the purpose to deliver the world from sin much like it was God’s plan for Samson to deliver his people from the Philistines. The outcome was different for these two deliverers because Samson was a flawed individual, but Jesus is the perfect man that lived his life for others and then sacrificed it so that flawed people like Israel, like Manoah, like Samson, and like you could be saved from the condemnation of sin and find forgiveness in the power of His name.

He is working to deliver you from condemnation (Separation from God)

He is working to deliver you from sin (forgiveness)

God is Enough to

God is at Work to Enlighten You

God is at Work to Prepare You

Just as God was at work to prepare Samson for the work he had called him to God also is at work in your life to prepare you for a life of service and sacrifice to him.

God is at Work to Empower You

God wants to pour out his power on your life. There is a time of deliverance, there is a time of preparation, and their can be a time of empowerment. I am not talking about this self-empowering idea that the humanistic crowd teaches. I am talking about the Holy Spirit of God empowering you to live the life that God intended for you when he delivered you and the one that he prepared you for. I am talking about empowering you to live separated unto God. I am talking about empowering you to live a life of sacrifice to God. I am talking about living a life that is spent showing others to the delivering power of Jesus Christ. I am talking about empowering you to live the abundant life that Jesus came to give you through his death, his burial, and his resurrection. I am talking about a life of joy and peace. I am talking about a life lived for the Savior accomplishing the calling of the Savior.

God is at work to empower you to live for him.

Conclusion:

Will you allow God to work in you? If you are unsaved that work begins at the cross where you realize that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, that Jesus is that Saviour who died on that cross was buried and rose again the third day to deliver you from sin so that you could be saved.

If you are saved today then God’s work in you is to prepare you and empower you for his service so that you can be a beacon of light and hope to a world filled with darkness and despair. Wherever you are this morning will you allow God to begin his work in you?