2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Like Jephthah, Sampson was a man of faith whose life also demonstrated human foibles. His life was a contrast of strengths and weaknesses. Israel’s life was a reflection of that too. She had been disobedient again by the time JG 13 opens, and the Lord had let the Philistines rule her for 40 years in response to this disobedience. There are certain people who are set aside by the Lord for special service in the ancient Jewish culture called Nazirites. NU 6: 1-8, “The Lord commanded Moses to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any man or women who makes a special vow to become a Nazairite and dedicates himself to the Lord shall abstain from wine and beer. He shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. As long as he is a Nazirite, he shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds anything that comes from the skins of grapes. As long as he is under the Nazirite vow, he must not cut his hair or shave. He is bound by the vow for the full time that he is dedicated to the Lord, and he shall let his hair and beard grow. His hair is the sign of his dedication to God and so he must not defile himself by going near a corpse, not even that of his father, mother, brother, or sister. As long as he is a Nazirite, he is consecrated to the Lord.”
God’s hand can be seen in Sampson’s story even from before his birth. JG 13: 2-3, “At that time there was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah. He was a member of the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children. The Lord’s angel appeared to her and said, ‘You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son.” This is surely not the first time such an incident happened. Do you remember the story of the Lord’s angel appearing to Abram and Sarai when they were long past childbearing age and prophesying that Isaac would be born [see GN 18: 10]? Once this angel appeared to Manoah and his wife, she was told not to drink wine or beer or eat any forbidden food during her pregnancy. JG 13: 5, “…and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines.”
Later in this chapter, Manoah offers to cook a young goat for the Lord’s angel upon his second appearance to him and his wife. JG 13: 16, “But the angels said, ‘If I do stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare it, burn it as an offering to the Lord.” Then Manoah, an obedient man, asked the angel what his name was (18). The answer is one which should be of considerable interest to us. “Why do you want to know my name? It is a name of wonder.” This is another way of saying it was Wonderful. You will remember that it is one of the names given for the Messiah [Jesus Christ] in IS 9: 6. Thus, we have one more appearance of Jesus Christ in the OT! In verse 19, Manoah demonstrates his obedience by offering this young goat on a rock altar “to the Lord Who works wonders.” There are three Scriptures I hope you will read that shed light on the significance of the symbolism of a rock for Christ: EX 33: 18-23; MT 16: 18; 1 PET 1: 4-6.
From these events and words, it is likely that Manoah and his wife recognized that this angel was a “man of God” right away. But, the true significance to them of his appearing came to them gradually, reaching its crescendo with the exchange about His name and the supernatural method in which the angel departed from them in JG 13: 20-21, “While the flames were going up from the altar, Manoah and his wife saw the Lord’s angel go up toward heaven in the flames. Manoah realized then that the man had been the Lord’s angel, and he and his wife threw themselves face downward on the ground. They never saw the angel again.” Afterward Manoah exclaimed, “we will surely die for we have seen God (22)!” His sensible wife told him that if God had wanted to kill them, He would not have accepted their offerings, nor told them what He did. JG 13: 24-25, “The woman gave birth to a son and named him Sampson. The child grew and the Lord blessed him. And the Lord’s power began to strengthen him while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol in the Camp of Dan.”
Hebrew names are always significant. They tell us something about either the main personality trait of the person or the calling God has given that person. Sampson’s name is no exception. It means “little sun” and connotes that the Spirit of the Lord worked powerfully in his life. We will see that as I continue Sampson’s story in tomorrow’s devotion. However, we must turn to the issue of trusting God as it relates to this 13th chapter of the book of Judges. The lesson that we will see unfold rests in the assignment given to Manoah, his wife, and their son, Sampson. God’s agenda here was to begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines. We know from studying the Scriptures that Sampson was not to do this alone. But his part in it was real and important. We can surely imagine that mankind can misuse his free agency to delay or make the carrying out of God’s will difficult. But all three of these people, Manoah, his wife, and Sampson (for most of his life) trusted God enough to obey Him. So, how does this apply to us? The same way. It is very likely that none of these three understood the whole agenda that God had for them. Yet, they were willing to accept God’s instructions and carry them out anyway. The question each of us must ask in our own lives is: Are we willing to trust and obey God? Another question for us to ponder is: Would we be able to recognize when we are receiving an assignment from God? It is this last question which looks into our willingness to spend time listening to God through prayer, study of the Scriptures, our circumstances, and our congregations. We should examine our own lives and seek the answers to these questions for ourselves.
PRAYER: O Lord, each story from the Scriptures has so many lessons for us. You not only reveal Yourself to us in them, but You also reveal Your Son and Your Spirit. When we take the time to get acquainted with people not so well known, like Manoah and his wife, our lives are blessed by their example of trust and obedience to God. So many times our understanding of what You ask us to do or the timing of Your commands to us is only partial or even non-existent. That is because our perspective is limited compared to Yours. It is in situations like these that we are called upon by You to have enough faith to trust and obey You anyway. That isn’t easy for us, Dear Lord, but You have taught us over and over again through the Scriptures that it is necessary. When we consider that nothing other than repentance and faith in Christ will bring our salvation, then we can recognize that You are training us to build our faith and to learn to trust and obey for our own good. When we do this, the work which is Your larger agenda, the one we often can’t see, gets done. We can take joy in watching You work through the other believers around us too. For that and so much more, we offer You our adoration, praise, honor, worship, glory, loyalty, trust, obedience, and heartfelt love. In Christ’s name, amen.
Never forget for a minute that our Lord loves us even more than we can comprehend. We are never left alone to wallow in our misery; He is always with us. He wants us to grow spiritually and enjoy the peace that goes beyond human understanding while we are on earth. His greatest joy is to eventually live in loving fellowship with us when He calls us home. That love is meant to be reflected in how we interact with each other as well. He wants us to know that trusting and obeying Him is the way to a kind of joy that transcends the grave and lasts for eternity. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You,
Lynn