Judges 13:1-25

Life Without Law

Judges

Philip Smith

Chapter 13

In total, there were 12 judges in the book called Judges. Samson was the last one. The story about him shows that matters had got much worse. People turned away from God. They suffered pain for what they had done wrong. They did not change their ways. The *Israelites made friends with the *Philistines. They married people from other nations now. The men from Judah’s *tribe chose to remove Samson, because otherwise they would spoil their good relations with the *Philistines. They let *Philistines rule. In the story about Samson, they never called God *Yahweh. They did not consider him as the *covenant God. *Israel’s people went away from God and they stopped fighting against the *Philistines. They could not see the difference between God and the world that was evil. However, God continued with his plans. He even used Samson’s selfish actions for his own purposes. Samson was not a leader with great skills, who worked together with God. He was an example of how God can use people’s lack of skill. By this, he can do what he has planned. Some people link the story about Samson with another story. That is a story from Egypt. It is about the god that was the sun. (Samson’s death was like the sun when it sets.) Other people link it with the story about Hercules’ tasks. (This is a story from Rome about a man called Hercules. He had to do 12 difficult tasks. Then he would live for ever.) Both these ideas are unlikely. People probably started to think about them because the name Samson means ‘sun’. Samson was born at Zorah. This was opposite the town called Bethshemesh, which means ‘house of the sun’.

The *Philistines made their home in the plain near the sea. This happened about 40 years after the *Israelites entered the country. The *Philistines lived in Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath. Before that time, Dan’s *tribe had lived near them. But because of the *Philistines’ power, very many people from Dan’s *tribe went away. They went to live in the north. (Look at chapter 18.) They may actually have gone there before the time when Samson was the judge. He began the fight against the *Philistines. And Samuel continued it. There is a parallel in the stories about Samson and Samuel. They were both born to a mother that could not have children. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 1. (And look also in Luke 1.)

v1 Again, the *Israelites did what God did not want. The *Lord let the *Philistines rule them for 40 years.

v2 In Zorah, there was a man called Manoah from Dan’s *tribe. He had a wife that could not have children. v3 The *angel of the *Lord came into her view. He said: ‘You are not able to have children. However, you will become *pregnant and you will have a son. v4 Now make sure that you do not drink wine or strong drink. Do not eat any food that God’s rules do not allow you to eat. v5 You will have a baby and you will give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair. He shall be a *Nazirite. You shall give him to God from birth. He will begin to rescue *Israel’s people from the *Philistines.’

An *angel appeared to Samson’s mother. Neither she nor her husband understood who he really was until verse 20. Until then, they thought that he was ‘a man of God’ (a *prophet). Or otherwise he was an *angel of God. Samson was a *Nazirite. (Look at Numbers 6:1-21.) This means that he made a special promise. There were many things that he could not do. He could not drink wine (from *grapes) or strong drink (from fruit or grain). He could not touch a dead body and nobody could cut his hair. He must definitely refuse some natural things. In other words, he had to say ‘no’ to them. This showed how definite was his ‘yes’ to God. Samson’s mother had to obey some things in the promise. She could not eat or drink anything that God did not allow. Samson obeyed only the rule that nobody should cut his hair. He did not obey the other rules. He only began to remove the *Philistines. (Samuel, Saul, Jonathan and David continued to do it.)

v6 Then the woman went to her husband. She said, ‘A man of God came to me. He looked like an *angel of God. He frightened me. I did not ask where he came from. He did not tell me his name. v7 But he said to me, ‘You will have a baby. You will give birth to a son. So now, do not drink any wine or other strong drink. Do not eat anything that God does not allow. The child will be God’s *Nazirite from his birth until he dies.’

v8 Then Manoah prayed to the *Lord. ‘*Lord, you sent the man of God to us. Please let him come again. Teach us how to train the boy that will be born.’ v9 God heard Manoah. And the *angel of God came again to the woman. She was out in the field at that time. Her husband was not with her. v10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, ‘He is here! The man that appeared to me a few days ago has come again.’ v11 Manoah got up and he followed his wife. When he came to the man, he spoke to him. ‘Are you the person that talked to my wife?’ ‘I am’, he said. v12 So Manoah asked him a question. ‘It will happen as you have said. When it happens, what must the boy do? How must he behave in his life?’ v13 The *angel of the Lord gave this answer: ‘Your wife must do all that I have told her. v14 She must not eat anything from the plant that grows *grapes. She must not drink any wine or strong drink. She must not eat any food that God does not allow. She must do everything that I have commanded her.’

In the Bible, when God promised to give a son, he promised this to the most unlikely people. It seemed impossible that they could have a child. And therefore to have one was a *miracle. Manoah believed what the person with the message had said. He asked what they should do. He believed in a very simple way. Manoah’s wife had not mentioned that Samson would kill *Philistines. The person with the message was an *angel from God. Neither Manoah nor his wife knew that. They welcomed an *angel, although they did not know it. (Look at Hebrews 13:2.)

v15 Manoah spoke to the *angel of the Lord. ‘We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.’ v16 The *angel of the Lord gave this reply. ‘I will stay, but I will not eat anything. If you prepare a *burnt offering, offer it to the *Lord.’ Manoah did not know that it was an *angel of the Lord. v17 Then Manoah asked the *angel of the Lord, ‘What is your name? It will happen as you have said. Then we will want to give you honour.’ v18 He replied, ‘Why do you ask my name? It means “wonderful”.’ v19 Then Manoah took a young goat together with a grain *offering. He offered it on a stone table to the *Lord. And the *Lord did a wonderful thing while Manoah and his wife watched. v20 The flame burned up from the stone table towards heaven. Then the *angel of the Lord went up in the flame. Manoah and his wife saw this. Then they fell with their faces down on the ground.

v21 The *angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that it was an *angel of the Lord. v22 ‘I am sure that we will die’, he said to his wife. ‘We have seen God.’ v23 But his wife gave this answer. ‘The *Lord does not intend to kill us. If he had intended to kill us, he would not have accepted our *burnt offering and grain offering. He would not have let us see all this. And he would not have let us hear it.’ v24 The woman gave birth to a son and she called him Samson. He grew and the *Lord blessed him. v25 The Spirit of the *Lord began to affect him. The Spirit did this while Samson was in Mahaneh Dan. This is between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Manoah invited the visitor to a meal. The visitor suggested that they should offer a *sacrifice to the *Lord. So Manoah brought meat and a grain offering. He asked what the visitor’s name was. The visitor told him that it was ‘wonderful’. In other words, it was something that they would not be able to understand. The visitor called ‘Wonderful’ acted in a wonderful way. He went up to heaven in a flame. This was the flame that came up from the *altar (stone table). Manoah was afraid. But his wife was more understanding about how things were in reality. She had gained this from experience of life. She said that God would not kill them. He would not kill them because he had planned special things for them in the future.

Israelites ~ the people that belonged to the nation called Israel. God had chosen them as his own special people.

Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
Philistines ~ a group of people that came from Egypt. They came to live on the coast between Egypt and Gaza. They lived in the plain that was there.
tribe ~ a large group of people that are all relatives of each other.
Yahweh ~ the name of God. It means ‘I am what I am’. Or it can mean ‘the same always’.
covenant ~ an agreement between two groups of people; or an agreement between God and his people. In God’s agreement, he promised to bless his people if they obeyed him.
Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.

descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
Lord ~ a name for God. It means that he is the master, the ruler over all. Also, people often use this word to translate Yahweh, a very special Hebrew name for God.

Yahweh ~ the name of God. It means ‘I am what I am’. Or it can mean ‘the same always’.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham’s descendants; and they spoke a language called Hebrew.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
angel ~ a special servant of God. He lives where God lives and he brings messages from God.
pregnant ~ when a woman has a baby that is developing inside her.
Nazirite ~ someone who made a special promise to God not to do certain things.
prophet ~ a person who teaches God’s message. A prophet sometimes tells about the results that present actions will have in the future.
grape ~ juicy green or purple fruit that grows on the branches of a vine. People use this fruit to make wine.

vine ~ a plant that climbs. Its fruit is the grape.
miracle ~ an event that does not follow the laws of nature.'burnt offering ~ something that people burned in order to offer it to God. (Or they offered it to a false god.)
offering ~ something that people give as a gift; a burnt offering was an animal that people burnt as a gift to God.

burnt offering ~ something that people burned in order to offer it to God. (Or they offered it to a false god.)
sacrifice ~ something valuable (usually food or a dead animal) that people offer to God or to a false god.
altar ~ a special table where people put a sacrifice to God (or to a false god). They usually made it from stone.

sacrifice ~ something valuable (usually food or a dead animal) that people offer to God or to a false god.