SAMSON THE DELIVERER God's Sixth Lesson - the Rise of the Philistines - God Raises Up Samson (Judges 13:1 to Judges 16:31). The story of Samson is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. It demonstrates quite clearly that God can use the inadequacies of a man within His purposes. When God raised... [ Continue Reading ]
SAMSON THE DELIVERER God's Sixth Lesson - the Rise of the Philistines - God Raises Up Samson (Judges 13:1 to Judges 16:31). The story of Samson is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. It demonstrates quite clearly that God can use the inadequacies of a man within His purposes. When God raised... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, and did not bare.' Zorah (modern Sar‘ah?) was a town in the lowlands of Judah (Joshua 15:33). It was on the north side of the valley of Sorek (called Zharka in the Amarna letters). M... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the Angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren, and are unproductive, but you will conceive, and bear a son.” ' Once again, as with the needy people in Judges 2:1, and with Gideon (Judges 6:11), the Angel of Yahweh appeared when God's people needed deli... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing. For, lo, you will conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 13:6 a ‘Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible.” ' The visitor was in human form but his appearance was ‘very terrible' (awesome). The woman was filled with awe at her experienc... [ Continue Reading ]
“ But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.' ” All she could do was repeat the message given to her, that she must herself refra... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Then Manoah entreated Yahweh, and said, “Oh my Lord, I pray you, let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we shall do to the child who will be born.” ' Manoah stands out here as the firm believer in Yahweh. He recognised Who it was Who had revealed Himself, and so he pr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And God heard the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.' Again we have the stress that to the woman He was ‘God'. She had yet to appreciate the full truth. ‘As she sat in the field (the countryside).' She ma... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the woman hurried, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, “Behold, the man has appeared to me who came to me that day.” ' Immediately she ran back home to find her husband to tell him that the Man whom she had previously described to him had returned.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Manoah rose up and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” ' When Manoah approached the man he asked him whether he was the man who had spoken to his wife. By this, of course, Manoah meant the Man who had given... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Manoah said, “Now let your words come about. What will be the ordering of this child, and what will be his work?” ' Manoah submitted humbly to Yahweh's will and sought further guidance on the bringing up of the child. How were they to bring him up? What was his future work to be? “THE ORDERI... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman, let her beware. She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, nor let her drink wine, or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her, let her observe. ” ' The Angel of Yahweh renewed His instru... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Manoah said to the Angel of Yahweh, “I pray you, let me detain you, in order that we may make ready a kid for you.” ' Aware that his visitor, who appeared to be a man of God, was from Yahweh, although not yet aware of precisely Who He was, Manoah sought to extend hospitality to him. This was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the Angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread, and if you will make ready a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah did not know that he was the Angel of Yahweh.' The Angel replied that He would not eat food even if it were brought. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Manoah said to the Angel of Yahweh, “What is your name, so that when what you have said happens we may honour you?” Manoah still desired to pay due respect to the messenger. He wanted to be able to give due credit to the prophet once his prophecy came to fulfilment, or even send him some pres... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the Angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is Wonderful?” ' This may mean that His name was ‘beyond knowing', because He was beyond knowing in His essence, absolutely and supremely wonderful, or it may mean that it was a secret not revealed to men because it was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So Manoah took the kid with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh, and the angel did wondrously and Manoah and his wife looked on.' Manoah offered the kid and the meal offering on the rock to Yahweh at the direct command of the Angel of Yahweh. Compare and contrast Judges 6:20 wh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ For so it was that when the flame went up towards heaven from off the altar, the Angel of Yahweh ascended in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the ground.' Notice the stress again on the dual witness. This incident was seen as so remarkable... [ Continue Reading ]
Judges 13:21 a. ‘And the angel of Yahweh did not appear any more to Manoah or to his wife.' Once the Angel had ascended in the flames He appeared no more. His visitation was over. Judges 13:21 b ‘Then Manoah knew that he was the Angel of Yahweh.' When Manoah saw the Angel of Yahweh disappear in... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” ' Manoah was terrified when he realised what they had seen. It was a common perception among the Israelites that to see God face to face was to die. No man could see God and live (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 6:5;... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh was pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, nor would he have shown us all these things, nor would he, at this time, have told us such things as these.” ' His wife, happy in the knowledge that she was to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson (Shimshon), and the child grew, and Yahweh blessed him.' Eventually the son was born as Yahweh had promised, and they gave him the name Shimshon. Similar names have been discovered in Ugaritic texts of 15th and 14th centuries BC. It was probabl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Spirit of Yahweh began to move him in Mahaneh-dan (‘the camp of Dan'), between Zorah and Eshtaol.' The place was called ‘the camp of Dan' because it was there that the Danites who had previously moved to Laish encamped at the commencement of their journey (Judges 18:12). It was close to Kir... [ Continue Reading ]