Judges 13 "The Birth of a Deliverer"

Introduction

The Oppressor:

The Philistines came from the Aegean.

By around 1200 BC they had settled in the region known as Philistia,

but their raids had started long before.

With Israel coming from the east, and the Philistines coming from the west,

the Canaanite population was overrun,

and for the next century the Philistines will be the chief threat.

The Philistine threat will prompt Israel to ask for a king-

and only the king after God's heart, David, will overthrow them.

The Oppressed:

Meanwhile, Israel does not appear very concerned.

Judah tries to stay out of the way of the Philistines,

but there is no crying out to God for deliverance.

There is no reference to Israel gathering under Samson to fight the Philistines;

and there is no final victory over the Philistines.

Previous judges led Israel against their enemies,

but Samson is a solitary figure.

The literary structure of Judges has come to a complete collapse,

even as Israel itself has come undone.

Israel has been reduced to one man-

but that one man is a pathetic excuse for a deliverer!

The Deliverer:

The parallels between Israel and Samson are important:

both are born miraculously by the will of God (Exodus 4)

both have a rash and immature personality

both experienced bondage and oppression from their enemies

both cry out to Yahweh

both are blinded (1 Sam 3:1-3)

both are abandoned by Yahweh, but do not know it

Samson is, on the one hand, the most obvious type of Christ in the whole book;

but on the other hand, he is the least like Christ in his total preoccupation

with his own individual agenda.

Gideon and Jephthah may have been selfish and arrogant in their rule over Israel,

but at least they ruled!

Samson appears totally unconcerned for Israel and spends his time with foreign women.

1. The Barren Wife

Think of all the barren women in the Bible:

Sarah and the birth of Isaac

Rebekah and the birth of Jacob and Esau

Rachel and the birth of Joseph

Hannah and the birth of Samuel

Elizabeth and the birth of John

All these barren women are named.

But here we are simply told of "the wife of Manoah."

Barrenness was a part of God's curse.

Dt 28:4, 18 made it clear that if Israel obeyed God he would bless them with children,

but if they disobeyed, then he would curse them by not giving them children.

Israel has disobeyed, and so there are more barren women in Israel.

It was not that Manoah's wife was especially guilty-

rather God's curse was coming upon his covenant people.

They were being oppressed by their enemies,

and their wives were barren.

It is noteworthy that in the cases of Abraham, Isaac and Zechariah (three faithful men),

they interceded on behalf of their wives,

and God appeared to them first;

but with Rachel, Hannah and the wife of Manoah,

God deals directly with the woman.

Hannah and Rachel were the beloved wives of bigamists,

which does not fit this case.

But like Manoah's wife, their husbands were also living under the threat of God's curse.

Jacob was living outside the land,

while Elkanah was living in a time of general Israelite rebellion.

Manoah is named-and his name means "resting place,"

but he is himself restless and fearful.

His wife is not named-usually a way of marginalizing someone-

but she continually appears to be the true Israelite in the narrative.

She believes the message of the angel while her husband doubts;

the angel's directions are entirely for her;

and when her husband trembles at what will happen to them,

she is the one who comforts him.

Most notably it is the wife who names Samson.

2. The Angel's Message:

You shall bear a son,

therefore, guard yourself!

She has an active role in the preparation of this deliverer.

She must drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean,

because the child is to be a Nazarite from birth.

And What Is a Nazarite? (13:5)

Numbers 6

abstain from wine and other alcoholic beverages

from having his hair cut

from contact with a corpse

Divinely imposed (rather than voluntary)

In effect from conception (therefore obligates the mother)

Permanent (rather than temporary)

While all Israelites were to abstain from unclean foods,

the special prescription suggests that Israel was not doing very well at avoiding unclean foods.

But the point of all this is that God is faithful to raise up a deliverer-

even when Israel is not crying out for deliverance.

But Samson is identified clearly as a partial deliverer:

"He shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines" (v5).

He is not the final deliverer-

they must wait for David to finish the job that Samson will start.

It is noteworthy that in her report to her husband, the part she leaves out is the prohibition about cutting his hair...

3. The Husband's Stubbornness

Manoah is not willing to accept his wife's word, so he prays and asks God to confirm his word,

and send the angel again to teach them what to do.

Did God not give his wife enough information?

No. It appears that Manoah wants to "be the man."

So the angel appears again to his wife.

And she, being a dutiful wife, runs to get her husband.

She is not putting herself forward-but God is determined to honor her.

The dialogue gets Manoah nowhere.

Are you the man who spoke to this woman?

I am.

What is to be the child's manner of life and mission.

I already told your wife. She is to follow my directions (tersely repeats them).

Manoah still thinks that he is just talking with a prophet.

So he offers to get a young goat.

The angel replies that Manoah should offer it as a burnt offering to God.

The ensuing scene looks very much like Gideon's sacrifice in Judges 6.

[read 13:15-23]

There are two main differences:

First, Gideon thought of his gift as a sacrifice,

while Manoah thinks of it as an offer of hospitality.

The rejection of table fellowship is especially significant in light of the "barren woman" theme.

When God came to Abraham, Abraham killed the fatted calf,

and God ate and drank with Abraham.

But Manoah will not be so honored.

Israel has not exercised the faith of Abraham,

and so God will not partake of a covenant meal with them.

And second, rather than God giving comfort,

it is his wife who comforts Manoah with the assurance that they will not die.

When the angel of the LORD went up in the flame from the altar,

Manoah and his wife fall to the ground (the first thing they do together in the chapter!).

Finally, Manoah the obtuse realizes who he has been dealing with!

But even though he finally recognizes that it was the angel of the LORD,

he still is obtuse! (Verse 22-23)

But his wife produces incontestable evidence that they will not die:

1) God has accepted their offering

2) this is demonstrated in the angel ascending in the fire

3) if we die, then God's word will be made naught,

because I'm supposed to have a baby, stupid!

Conclusion: Samson

So she has her baby and she names him "Samson."

And all of a sudden you start wondering whether she is really a Yahweh worshiper at all!

Because Samson means "little Sun"-and they live only a few miles from Beth Shemesh,

the house of the Sun, a center of Sun worship in the region.

Manoah's wife, who has appeared so faithful throughout,

names her son after the Canaanite sun-god!

And yet the name has a double meaning.

While it is certainly suspicious to name your child after a Canaanite sun god,

we cannot doubt that in God's purposes, Samson was like the dawning of the sun,

the one who would begin to save his people from the Philistines.

As we will see, in one respect Samson reveals the worst effects of the Canaanitization of Israel,

but in other respects he points forward to the faithful King David and to David's great son

our Lord Jesus Christ.