Judges | Chapter 13

Judges 13:1-25

“Great Strength, Great Weakness”

  1. Intro.
  2. Vs. 1-5 Unique
  3. Vs. 6-23 Godly parents
  4. Vs. 24-25 Great potential

Intro

The next 4 chapters are dedicated to one on the best known stories in the book of Judges and probably in the Bible, Samson. Before we begin study we need to clear up a few things about him that we commonly misunderstand. 

  1. Great Strength: The first has to do with his perceived strength and the belief that he had rippling muscles. Most folks think of Samson they think of a guy that looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger with rippling muscles but in reality according to the texts this guy did draw any attention as to the way he looked. There is no indication that this is true and quite a bit of circumstantial evidence that there was no visible indication that he had great strength. In fact what we are told over and over is that his super natural strength came as the result of the fact that the “Spirit of the Lord that came upon him”. This is further proved by the fact that neither Delilah, the Philistines nor the Israelites seemed to know what the source of his great strength was. I venture to say that if it was his bulging biceps and rippling muscles everyone would have known. 
  2. Great weakness: The 2nd misconception centers on his failures. The first verse of chapter 13 speaks of the oft repeated cycle of sin with Israel that “they again did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Yet compare Samson’s time with Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon and Jephthah and you will find that in their case they “cried out to the Lord” for deliverance. At no point during those 40 years of occupation did the nation ever “cry out” for deliverance. Neither is there any mention of the people of God forming an army to help Samson in his battle against the Philistines. This was one man’s war against oppression that the nation didn’t mind. In fact Israel was quite prosperous during these 40 years. The Philistines were a people who had been forced to leave the Island of Crete in the Aegean Sea around 1200 BC and settled in five main cities on the coastal plains of Israel. Though they were among the earliest to learn how to smelt Iron they didn’t use their technology to militarily over run Israel instead they used two palatable weapons that were very effective in destroying the people; “trade and intermarriage”. Israel was not being enslaved by spiritual and cultural seduction. It was Philistine assimilation combined with Hebrew apathy that led to God using Samson. Israel hadn’t repented and didn’t want a liberator, so God sent to an unrepentant nation a rugged individualist who instead of fighting national battle was fighting personal ones that had national implications. Samson always fought alone and was never one time joined by even one person in battle. Without minimizing our disgust at his personal failure we must understand that that Samson alone resisted the dangers of Philistine occupation.

Vs. 1-5 Unique

Vs. 1 What preceded Samson’s birth was another downward cycle of sin for the nation which caused them once again to find themselves in bondage this time to the Philistines. Forty years was the longest period of oppression God sent Israel and Samson was Judge for 20 years of it. The Philistine oppression began in 1095 BC and it ended in 1055 BC; the 20 year mark of this was the beginning of Samson’s ministry around the same time of Israel’s defeat at Aphek recorded in 1 Sam. 4 where the nation had the Ark of the Covenant captured while taking it into battle, (which they won’t bring back into the nation until the reign of David in 2 Sam. 5). According to 1 Sam. 13 the Philistines had disarmed the Jews and Judges 15 tells us that the Israelites were content to allow them to rule over them and even bound Samson up to deliver him into their hands.

Vs. 2-5 These verses provide us with three specific truths with regards to Samson that make him unique not only with regards to all the Judges but in all of biblical history.

  1. Vs. 2 Unique birth: Several things about Samson’s birth make him unique:   
  • God sent His Son to announce the birth of a deliverer that no one wanted!
  • Manoah’s and his wife experienced a divine miraculous intervention with regards to Samson’s birth!  

Most of Manoah’s tribe of Dan had moved north to Laish and became idolaters according to chapter 18 but he and his wife stayed in the area given by God on the border between Dan and Judah. Samson’s life will be influenced by four women and only his mother’s relationship will be positive. We aren’t given her name but within this culture being childless went beyond just the heartache of unfulfilled maternal instincts to the burden of carrying the social stigma of being seen as divinely punished for some unknown sin. 11 times in this chapter we are told that it was “the angel of the Lord” that spoke to them and a message that not once but twice was delivered to Manoah’s wife before he was told. At the time when Angel comes to Manoah’s wife Eli (1st Samuel chapter 1) is the high priest in the Tabernacle. Within 10 years of the birth of Samson, Hannah will come into the tabernacle to Eli and he will declare that God has granted her petition and Samuel will be born a yearlater. Perhaps Hannah heard what the Lord had done for Manoah’s wife and that the child will be dedicated to the Lord and  made the same pledge.

  • Vs. 3-5a Unique calling: The Lord announced that his mother was to engage in a preemptive Nazirite vow. The word Nazirite comes from the Hebrew word “Nazar” which means “separate”. Based upon what Numbers 6 tells us the vow had four things about it:
  1. It was voluntary: The Nazirite vow was a personal spontaneous act of commitment to the Lord, motivated solely by love and faith.
  2. It was purposefully: Numbers 6:3 tells us that the vow was “a separation to the Lord”. The purpose of the vow was for the person to cut themselves off from other things for the purpose of drawing nearer to the Lord.
  3. It was symbolic: There were three parts to the Nazirite vow:
  4. They were to abstain from the fruit of the vine: Grapes represented a luxurious life style and during this time they were to simplify their life. Wine is the symbol of earthly joy and abstaining from strong drink meant that they were to be filled with the Spirit for the joy not numbing themselves from life.  
  5. They weren’t to cut their hair: This was an obvious public sign of their vow as the other parts of the vow weren’t obvious. Long hair was a visible outward sign of their commitment to dedicate themselves to the Lord. The outward visible sign of our commitment is to be our love for one another, which out to grow long and full.
  6. They were to avoid contact with anything dead: Death made a person unfit for worship in the tabernacle, so this was a sign that symbolized the heart of what this was all about worship. Saints, we too are to stay away from the dead thing of the flesh making certain that we don’t “consume” the things of our old nature.    
  7. It was temporary: The vow was not a lifelong commitment but was only to be for a specific time determined by the person making the vow.

This vow for Samson was clearly unique in that it was to be a lifelong commitment. In fact his mother was to live under the vow until at least his birth, further more in Samson’s case this was not to be a personal commitment but rather a divine command.

      This was meant to be a living demonstration for the nation of a lifelong separation of the nation to God. The problem was that Samson lived his life separate from things but never separate too God! Samson was dedicated to the will of God but never dedicated to the God whose will it was.

  • Vs 5b Unique ministry: The angel of the Lord was very specific to Samson’s folks with regards to their soon to be son’s ministry. “He shall BEGIN to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines”. Samson’s life work was not going to be completed because the nation had yet to repent. The nation wasn’t ready to be delivered but God wasn’t willing to abandon them either. Samson’s ministry was to prepare them for liberation and during those 20 years there is not one military victory though he prevented the nation from going completely under he only ever had partial victory. The work of the Spirit upon his life was physical strength not moral character and he was called only to fight personal battle all the while losing moral ones.

Vs. 6-23 Godly parents

Vs. 6-8 Men imagine this happening to you; You have no children, you’ve waited a long time and your wife comes in and says, “Honey guess what? An angel of the Lord came to me saying we are going to have a son and he is going to be a Nazirite from birth, no cutting his hair, no raisins or wine, aren’t you excited?” Manoah didn’t have the chapters of the Bible to read, he couldn’t say, “Yeh I know this is my favorite part!” With that I think he handles this amazingly well as he asks for and receives confirmation. You can’t help but be impressed by the devotion Samson’s parents had with the Lord and each other. Notice that Manoah believed the announcement as he said “when” not “if”!

Vs. 9-12 God revealed himself to Manoah’s wife but also answered his prayer of confirmation. Ah but he heard the prayer of Manoah but again came to his wife while she was sitting in the field. Manoah was probably busy working in the field while his wife was more receptive. This is a great example of a godly marriage as she hears from the Lord a 2nd time but runs out to get him so that he too could hear from the Lord. Furthermore (and take note husbands) this fellow was secure in his relationship with the Lord as we are told in verse 11 they he dropped what he was doing and followed his wife. Men, don’t be afraid to follow your wife to where she has had an encounter with the Lord as chances are if you do you will have one as well! Manoah question was a good one, “How shall we raise this gift that you are going to give us?” Oh to God that more of us parents and grandparents would ask the Lord that question.

Vs. 13-18 Manoah had asked, “What’s the boy’s passion going to be and what will he do for a living!” Ah but listen to how the Lord answers that question, “Make sure you and your wife live the way I’ve told you too live!” The most important thing with regards to raising our children is our own spiritual life. The boy was to be a Nazirite from birth but his mom was to live it as well. Parents this is important we can tell our kids what they are to do but it’s far more affective to demonstrate what they are to do. The best thing we can do for our kids is demonstrate our own daily walk with the Lord.

Vs. 19-23 “What’s your name?”, asked Manoah. And the Lord replied, “Wonderful!” He could have gone on from Isaiah 9:6 and said Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace! By her response she not only showed herself as a woman of faith she did so by not putting down her husband. “Honey, think about it how’s the Lord going to give us a son if He is going to kill us know?”


Vs. 24-25 Great potential

Vs. 24-25 The source of Samson’s strength is that “the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon Him”. Samson is what Churchill described the Russians as “A riddle wrapped up in a mystery inside and enigma”:

  • Bold before men but weak before women!
  • Empowered by the Spirit yet yielding to fleshly appetites!
  • Declared war on the Philistines, but hung around them and even tried to marry one!
  • Fought the Lord’s battles by day, and disobeyed the Lord’s commandments by night!
  • Name “Sunny” he ended up blinded by his own darkness! For 20 years he played like a champion but for 20 years he failed to act like a leader!

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