AM Bible Study Group; September 2, 2015 from Judges 13:1-25
Theme: There are some lessons about God that we can learn from Samson’s mother and father.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Though most of the Book of Judges has been hard thus far, Chapter 13 is a refreshing change of pace. It comes, of course—as so many of the stories in Judges do—in the context of difficult times. But it comes to tell us something of the goodness of the God who oversaw the times.
It’s the story of the birth of Samson. Samson is the only judge in the story of the Judges that nativity is told to us. And it comes to us through the experience of his God-fearing and pious mother and father. If we look carefully at this story through their eyes as they are given the promise of Samson’s birth, we can learn much about the great God that they trusted. If we were to sit with his father and mother, they would share with us such lessons as these . . .
I. GOD’S HELP CAN COME AT UNLIKELY TIMES THROUGH UNLIKELY MEANS (vv. 1-2).
A. We see the unlikeliness of the times from the first verse: “Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” It’s a sad story—much repeated. The Philistines would have, at this point, been oppressing God’s people for an entire generation. And as we look on ahead in Scripture, we find that they will continue to be an oppressor of God’s people all the way up to the times of the last great judge Samuel (see 1 Samuel 7). There isn’t an apparent crying out to God for help, as was true in the stories of other judges. In fact, the people of Israel even seemed resigned to their subservience to Philistia (see Judges 15:11). These were not the kind of times that one would expect God to help. But help came!
B. Nor did help come through the kind of means that anyone would expect. Israel’s deliverer was born from a man named Manoah—whose wife was barren. We’re not told her name; but she stands in good company with other distinguished “formerly-barren” mothers such as Sarah (Genesis 21:1-7), Rebekah (Genesis 25:9-26), Rachel (Genesis 30:22-24), Hannah (1 Samuel 1), and—in the New Testament—Elizabeth (Luke 1:36; who in particular demonstrated that “with God nothing will be impossible”; see Luke 1:37). Let’s never despair the seemingly-unlikely means that God may use, or the seemingly-unlikely times in which He may use them.
II. GOD SETS HIS INSTRUMENTS APART FOR HIMSELF BEFORE THEY’RE BORN (vv. 3-5).
A. It was in this unlikely time that the Angel of the LORD (clearly, as we shall see later, an appearance of the Lord Himself) came to this barren mother and announced to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son” (v. 3). What a wonderful surprise this must have been. But God doesn’t always personally announce to barren women that they will have a child. This announcement was made because this child—as the Angel of the LORD says in verse 5—would “begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” Note that Samson would not, in his lifetime, completely deliver Israel. He would only “begin” that deliverance.
B. But what was this mother do to? Such a child needed special care; so the Angel of the LORD said, “Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb . . .” (vv. 4-5a). The Nazirite vow—a vow of dedication—is described to us in Numbers 6:1-21. As an adult, Samson would not be true to much of his vow. But from God’s standpoint, he was nevertheless declared a Nazirite. And note that he was established in his role, and set apart in his vow, while he was still in the womb. (This, by the way is a testimony to the full humanity of the child even in the womb; because only a human being could be set apart as a Nazirite!)
III. GOD SOMETIMES BRINGS HIS SERVANTS ALONG IN HIS PLAN IN STAGES (vv. 6-14).
A. If we had talked to Samson’s mother, she would tell us that she got the news first. After all, it was she who would bear the child. But she then ran and told her husband the news she received from this Angel-like awesome man of God—but from whom she did not ask a name or a place of origin (vv. 6-7). That was for Menoah to do. And so, he prayed and asked God for the opportunity to speak again to this Stranger, and find out what it was that needed to be done for this remarkable child (v. 8). What parent wouldn’t want to do that?
B. And God granted this request. The Angel of the LORD again appeared to the woman while she was out in the field; and she ran again to get her husband. Menoah went with her, and asked if He was the one who had spoken to her. When He affirmed that He was, Menoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?” (v. 12); and it was then that the Angel of the LORD repeated to him all the instructions that He had given to the man’s wife (vv. 13-14). Both the man and his wife were fully involved; and would both be careful to do as instructed. God doesn’t always do this in this very same way. He always instructs His servants; but sometimes He gives His instruction to all directly, and at other times passes the instruction along through human agents—through prophets, preachers and teachers. Sometimes it’s all at once, and at other times it’s in stages. But all are brought along one way or another.
IV. GOD ALLOWS HIS SERVANTS TO WORSHIP HIM—BUT IN HIS WAY (vv. 15-19a).
A. Menoah—understandably—wanted to keep the Man there and prepare a meal for Him to honor Him. But this was because he didn’t yet understand who this Man really was. It wouldn’t be through a mere common meal that the Angel of the LORD would be worshiped, but in accordance with the Law of Moses. “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord” (v. 16). The Lord needed to be recognized as the Lord. Apparently, Menoah was beginning to wonder if this Stranger was more than a mere man. He asked for His name, so that when His promise came to pass, he could honor Him. But He said, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?” (v. 18). That’s the same word as is used in Psalm 139:6. His “name”—in the fullest sense of what a “name” represents—would be too high for Menoah to grasp. What a testimony that this is God!
B. Menoah, then, took the young goat that he was going to offer as a meal, and offered it on the rock as a burnt offering to the LORD instead. And as the flame of the offering rose up heavenward, the Angel of the LORD did a wondrous thing while the man and his wife watched. The Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar—apparently rising up toward heaven from within the flame (vv. 19-20). When this happened, Menoah and his wife knew that this was the Lord! Obedience to the form of worship that God commanded of them confirmed this to them!
V. GOD IS GREAT IN HIS HOLINESS, BUT GRACIOUS IN HIS LOVE (vv. 19b-23).
A. And now, they were both afraid. They knew that they had seen the Lord; and as he understood things, Menoah said “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” (see also Exodus 33:20; Judges 6:22-23). But the man’s wife reasoned with him that, if the Lord had desired to kill them, He would not have accepted their offering—nor would He have told them what to do when the child comes (v. 23).
B. She was a wise woman! But more—this is a gracious God! They were right to have a sense of the magisterial greatness of the holy God who spoke to them; and to have responded with a sense of holy dread. But they were also comforted; because our holy God is also a gracious God. He condescends to speak to poor, helpless people like us in love.
VI. GOD ALWAYS KEEPS THE PROMISES THAT HE MAKES TO HIS PEOPLE (v. 24).
The closing words are simple—but wonderful in telling us the reliability of the God we serve: “So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson [which means “Sunny”]; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. God always does as He says He will do. We can trust Him completely.