Who's the Hero?

We all love stories about heroes.

This is part of who we are I think. The epic battle between good and evil, hero/heroine vs villain. Sometimes we want to think about what superhero power we would have if we could be one. In fact, there is much to learn from movies and stories like this. But, while reflecting this week on some of the people I thought were heroes in their stories I asked the question again,

Who is the real hero?

This is the question I think at times we have been forced to asked in the book of Judges. Sometimes things are not as simple as we would like it to be. At least that tends to be my experience.

God shows up in brokenness.

Manoah and his wife, who remains nameless, are broken people according to some in those days. Why? They are childless, unable to have children. For the Jews having at least one child meant having blessings from God and his covenant. No children and some may wonder if you had sinned. Not always but sometimes.

Samson was to be a “Nazarite”.

This is laid out in Numbers 6, which you will read in devotions this week on the other side of the handout. For those of you online the devotion can be found in our faithlife app, or on our website.

Manoah is the “typical” Israelite.

This is not necessarily a good thing. He does not believe his wife really came into contact with a messenger of God. He demands to have a name so he can invoke his power later on.

Our disbelief doesn’t disqualify.

The argument among some is how well did Samson’s mother truly believe the word of God? We may not know exactly but I think she believed enough to live differently.

We don’t need to know it all.

We do not everything about God before we believe. In fact, we will never truly be able to completely grasp who God is.

Sometimes we need common sense.

Notice Manoah’s wife’s response in verse

God’s Spirit is alive!

Samson was being stirred by the Spirit early on in his life. The same may be true for some of us today. How can we help the next generation discern the Spirit? How can we grow in discerning the Spirit.