Judges 13:1-7- Samson Part #2

I would like to consider three things in this text. First, our text helps us be in awe of the LORD’s work in saving sinners. Second, our text should make us awestruck regarding the patience of God in saving sinners. Third, we should respond in faith to this text as we come to Communion this morning.

Judges 13:1-7 says, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

Judges 13:1 begins with these words, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” Even after 40 years of discipline from the LORD, Israel was not turning back to the LORD in repentance and faith. Despite this, the LORD raises up a judge who would begin to deliver Israel from their enemies.

Last week we asked, “Why was God doing this?” We had to ask this because in Judges 10 Israel cried for help to the LORD and He didn’t help because they were not truly repentant. It was only after Israel repented that the LORD was moved with pity to save them. In Judges 13, however, the LORD is raising up a judge to help when Israel is not repenting. Again, “Why is He doing this?”

We suggested last week that one of the reasons that God did this was because He knew that His people were in great deal of trouble. Israel was being disciplined by God and they responded in two ways. First, they learned to fit in, co-exist, and they assimilated into the culture around them. They accepted these things and they did not entertain the thought that things could be different. Secondly, they did not pray for help because they were afraid, scared, and stressed out at the thought of rebelling.

God knew that in this condition Israel would never drift towards faithful discipleship. He knew that they would always drift towards apostasy. Therefore, the LORD acts to intervene in this process even though Israel is not praying.

Let me give you some more observations about the fact that the LORD does this in Judges 13.

• Judges 13 reminds us of the fact that God initiates the work of saving sinners. Salvation is always of the LORD. (Psalm 3:8) Recently, a man named Scott Adams died. Before his death Mr. Adam’s boasted that he was prepared to confess Christ right before his death but not before. This man thought that he was in charge of salvation. The scriptures teach us that at the moment of salvation God must be at work regenerating, saving, and giving life to a person who is dead in their trespasses and sins. Psalm 110:3 tells us that salvation happens in those who come willingly the day of God’s power.

• Judges 13 reminds us that salvation is of grace; it is not the result of any merit achieved in us that is to be rewarded.

  • Doesn’t Ephesians 2:1-9 describe that this same thing happens for every believer when it says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in the kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

  • Romans 5:6-8 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Then Romans 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be save by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

  • The Baptist Confession 4.3 testifies of this as well, “Humanity, by falling into a state of sin, has completely lost all ability to choose any spiritual good that accompanies salvation. Thus, people in their natural state are absolutely opposed to spiritual good and dead in sin, so that they cannot convert themselves by their own strength or prepare themselves for conversion.”

  • In view of these things, are any of our testimonies that different than what we see going on here in Judges 13?

• Judges 13 reminds us that God is faithful to His covenant promises even when his people are covenant breakers. (2 Timothy 2:13)

• Judges 13 makes us consider that God can discipline His people to get them to repent and return to Him. (as he has done throughout the Book of Judges) However, this time it is God’s gracious kindness that is meant to bring His people to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

• Judges 13 reminds us that God will act to preserve His faithful remnant even when the majority of the people are faithless. (Genesis 18:16-33) When He does this the faithless sinners benefit from God’s kindness. They should repent and if they do not, they are storing up wrath for themselves for the day of wrath. (Romans 2:5)

In Judges 13 the LORD is demonstrating what obedience to Proverbs 19:18 looks like when we read these words, “Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.” As we think of these things we must acknowledge the patience that God is displaying.

• Consider the patience of God to put up with Israel for 40 years in this condition of faithlessness. Actually, as we will see, this faithlessness has been a persistent problem for a long time.

• Consider how patient God is when after all this time He raises up a deliverer to save them, not the Avenger to destroy them!

• Do you appreciate the patience that God has displayed toward you?

We can also see the patience and goodness of God as we continue to read verse 2, “There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah”. The beginning of this story the focuses on a man named Manoah, and his wife. We are also told that they were from the tribe of Dan.

The tribe of Dan is going to be highlighted for the next 6 chapters in Judges 13-18. The tribe of Dan was positioned on the Philistine frontier on its Southern boarder and Zorah was close to several Philistine towns: Timnah (4mi.), Ekron (10mi), Gath (20mi.). Because the Tribe of Dan was a boarder tribe would have two key responsibilities. First, they needed to be strong and courageous and be the first line of protection for Israel against any enemies that might invade. Secondly, The tribe of Dan was to be faithful to the LORD and provide the first line of defense against any pagan influences that would try to influence Israel. Dan had consistently failed at all these things.

In Judges 1 Israel was graded on how faithful they had been to possess their inheritance in the Promised Land. Dan’s report card was probably the worst of all of them, “The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow Dan to come down to the plain.” (34)

Dan was larger than many of the other tribes at that time, but they still failed. (Numbers 1:39, 26:42-43) What was the problem? Dan’s spiritual condition had caused this to happen. In the end, Dan fled from before the Philistines, they forsook their inheritance, and they eventually just learned to fit in to the culture around them.

Let’s read Judges 13:2b-5, “And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Let me make two comments about these things which will highlight God’s patience and goodness.

1. First, since this tribe had done so poorly for so long you would expect that God would give up on them. God does not do this! Despite all of these things: the LORD shows up, He is going to raise up a judge from among this very tribe, and the Holy Spirit Samson will begin to deliver them.

2. Second, throughout Judges 13-18 we will see that Samson and the tribe of Dan are a mirror of each other.

   1. In the beginning Samson was set-apart, equipped by God, called by the LORD to defeat Israel’s enemy. Similarly, God had called Dan and set them apart to fight against their enemies and obtain their inheritance. They were empowered by God with supernatural strength to take possession of the Promised Land.

   2. Second, in many ways Samson will reflect the troubles that characterize of the tribe of Dan. For example, Samson, like Dan, has a reputation of compromise, carelessness, conformity, and he was unable to complete the mission. Yet, despite all of this we see the LORD dealing patiently and kindly with His people.

When the angel of the LORD comes to this woman He emphasizes that she was barren and had never had children. This child’s birth would be miraculous. The Great Physician comes to this woman with a diagnosis, ‘you are barren and childless’, and He comes with a promise, ‘you shall conceive and bear a son’.

Interestingly, we are not told if these parents had been praying for a child. One would presume that they had cried out for a child over the years. Perhaps after a long time of remaining childless, like the Tribe of Dan, they stopped praying to the LORD for a miracle and just went on with life and had given up hope. And yet, despite this, the LORD blesses this couple with a child.

• There is one example of a couple who did not ask for a child but received one from the LORD: The Shunnamite Woman in 2 Kings 4.

• There are times when God provided a child after a parent prayed: Hannah in 1 Samuel 1; Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 25; Jacob and Rachel in Genesis 30; and Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1.

After giving this promise, the LORD gave this woman some important instructions that pertained to her and how the parents were to raise this child. This child was to be a Nazarite that was set apart for God’s use from the womb. Application: Those who have received the promises of God through faith have also been given many instructions that we would do well to observe faithfully. There are many who claim to have received the promise of eternal life but then they show so little evidences.

I am sure that it was with a heart filled with great gratitude and joy that this woman obeyed all that the angel of the LORD had instructed her to do. Illustration: A couple of years ago there was a couple in our congregation who was going to have a baby. At one point during the pregnancy the mother had to live at the hospital for a couple months. During that time she had many restrictions put on her but she did these things with great joy. She knew that if she did what the doctors said they would be able to enjoy the birth of their healthy baby. I remember observing these things and admiring the love and dedication of those two parents.

After this, the woman leaves and tells her husband what she had been told, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” (6-7)

This woman is a great example of an individual who had great faith. She believed God’s word and spoke excitedly about it to her husband. Her faith was seen as she considered this word, obeyed it, and gave it the due diligence that it deserved. This woman must have stood out sharply against the faithlessness of those within the tribe of Dan and of the rest of Israel at this time.

She had faith even though she did not know too much about this ‘man of God’ who stood before her and spoke these things to her. She admits that his appearance was ‘very awesome’, but she didn’t know where He was from or what his name was.

Observation: We will see next week that this ‘man of God’ who stood before her was the LORD Himself. One day this same Man would minister in Israel and speak to large crowds. After hearing Him speak the crowds would be amazed and astounded at His words and teaching. They would testify that He spoke as one who had authority and not like the other religious leaders. (Matthew 7:28-29)

As we celebrate communion, let our hearts respond to our text in three ways. First, we should reflect upon what Judges 13:1-7 shows us about the LORD’s work in saving sinners. Second, we should reflect upon the patience and goodness of the LORD in our lives. Third, we should respond to these things in faith.