Judges 13 – Honoring What God Has Made Sacred

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

There is an anointing that we have all received from the Lord and Judges 13 shares just how important it is for us to move to honor our anointing from the Lord.

Introdcution

In this week’s study of Judges 13, we are going to study the story of the birth of Samson, who was, depending on how you count it, the twelfth or thirteenth judge of Israel.  There is a wonderful story behind Samson’s birth that touches on one moving faithfully to keep what God had made sacred.  If you walk with the Lord, every day you live and breathe ought to be a day when you move with such faith.

Judges 13:1 – Israel Sins Again

You may recall that Judges 12 concluded by covering the three judges who followed Jephthah: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.  All three of the judges spent a combined 25 years wasting their judgment.  I asked the question: What do you suppose happened to Israel during those years?

Judges 13:1 is an immediate answer to that question, and to no one’s surprise, Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord again.  And, because Jephthah had only defeated the Ammonites, the Philistines were still out there, and God delivered Israel into their hands.  

The Philistines were a constant enemy of Israel, as Judah struggled with them in the lowlands during the conquest years (Judg. 1:19).  In Judges 10:7, the children of Israel had been sold into the hands of the Ammonites and the Philistines.  Scripture does not tell us what happened to the Philistines during the stretch of over thirty years, but we know that Jephthah did not fight them, nor did the three judges that followed him.

With that said, I don’t believe we should take Judges 13:1 as a continuation of Judges 10:7.  We are told in this verse that the children of Israel were in the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Judges 13:2-3 – God Can and Will Use You

In Judges 13:2, we are introduced to Manoah, a man from Zorah who was a Danite.  Dan was the fifth son of Abraham, who was born through Bilhah, Rachel’s maid.  The land allotment of Dan was north of Judah, and west of Ephraim and Benjamin.  That also put the land allotment of Dan north of Philistia.

Manoah was married to a woman whose name isn’t given to us.  Not only is her name not given, but her tribe is also not given, though we can assume she was also a Danite.  To add to her name not even being recorded in scripture, we’re also told that she was barren, without children.

With that information in mind, Judges 13:3 states that the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ, appeared and spoke to her about her being barren, but that she would conceive and bear a son.  The story of barren women giving birth is one that we see repeated throughout scripture, don’t we?  For example, Sarah was barren for ninety years before giving birth to Isaac (Gen. 17:15-17).  Elizabeth was “well advanced in years” and considered barren before she conceived and gave birth to John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-13).

So, nothing surprises us about another barren woman in scripture conceiving and giving birth to a child because of God’s plan and intervention.  However, what stands out in this case is the fact that we know the names of Sarah and Elizabeth, but we don’t know this woman’s name.  Surely she had a name, but why is her name not given?

The first reason that comes to my mind is not that her name wasn’t important, but to glorify the work of the Lord.  As we will see in our study of Samon, the highlighting of God’s glory was incredibly important.

The second reason as to why I don’t believe scripture provides her name is that it reminds us that God can and will use anybody.  We’re also shown that anyone can be visited by the Lord, whether you are well-known or not in this world.  So, regardless of how little or great you think of yourself, God can and will use you.

Judges 13:4-5 – A Sacred Child Promised

So, as in the other examples I shared, each child, Isaac and John the Baptist, was a sacred son of promise.  When I say that they were ‘sacred’, I am speaking of them having a certain anointing from God by birth.  

Isaac was promised by God to Abraham and Sarah, anointed as the heir of the covenant, while Ishmael, Abraham’s first son, was born through the impatience of Sarah and Abraham (Gen. 16:1-4).  While Abraham loved Ishmael greatly, his birth was not in the will of God, and caused a stir between Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Abraham.

Before he was even born, John the Baptist was prophesied to be the forerunner of Christ.  His anointing was sealed before he was even conceived in his mother’s womb, as the angel had spoken of him to Zacchaeus.  

Judges 13:4-5 shows us that Samson’s birth was sacred, as he was to be a “Nazarite to God from the womb.”  Samson had an anointing before he was born, and in his anointing, he was to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

The vow of a Nazarite

For us to understand the meaning of Samson being a Nazarite to God, we must understand the law (or vow) of the Nazarite, which is found in Numbers 6.  Before we venture over to Numbers 6, let me clear up any confusion between a Nazarite and a Nazarene.  One who was of Nazareth, like Jesus, was a Nazarene, whereas a Nazarite was one who was under the vow of a Nazarite.

In Numbers 6:2-4, when a man or woman chose to take the vow of a Nazarite, the law instructed that they were to separate themselves from wine and similar drink.  One was not supposed to drink vinegar made from wine, nor vinegar made from a similar drink.  One was not supposed to drink grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins,  nor anything else produced by the grapevine, from seed ot skin.

In Numbers 6:5-8, we find the strict instructions of one under the vow of a Nazarite also included not putting a razor to their head, nor going near dead bodies.  One under the vow of a Nazarite was not to make themselves unclean for anyone or anything.  The vow was for them to be holy to the Lord.  

If you read from Numbers 6:9-21, you will find more instructions, even for hypothetical situations under the vow of a Nazarite.  Now, something that I want to highlight about the vow of a Nazarite was that the vow had a set number of days according to the one who made the vow.  

For example, Samuel’s mother made a Nazrite vow over the life of Samuel, that no razor would come upon his head all the days of his life (1 Sam. 1:11).  Others suggest that Elijah was a Nazarite, along with John the Baptist, according to their wild and hairy descriptions.  Some even suggest that in Acts 18:18, when Paul had his hair cut, it was at the end of his Nazarite vow.  The Nazarite vow could be enacted by anyone, for any number of days.

The Nazarite vow was put on Samson before his birth, and it was set as a lifetime vow.  Now, some of you may think that to be unfair for Samon, believing he didn’t have a choice in the matter, but truthfully, he did have a choice.  Samson still could choose to take up the vow or disregard it.  However, if he chose to reject his anointing, it would not only be a detriment to him, but it would be detrimental for the children of Israel.

Judges 13:6-14 – Endeavor to Keep What God Makes Sacred

Something many of us don’t consider is how detrimental it is when one has been anointed by God through the Spirit but rejects His anointing.  One who has been anointed by the Lord ought to do their best to keep what God has made sacred to them.  The anointing from God and holding on to it will be a key focus point in our study of Samson’s story.

We will see from Judges 13:6-7 that Manoah’s wife came and shared with him about her visit from the Angel of God, and was told she would conceive and bear a son.  She even made mention of the instructions that she was supposed to follow, which were similar to those of one under the vow of a Nazarite.

This, of course, led Manoah to pray to the Lord so that he may speak to Him, and hear what they were supposed to do for their future son (Judg. 13:8).  Manoah’s response, typical of a man, if I’m being honest, wanted to hear and see the Angel of God for himself, rather than take his wife’s word for it.

From Judges 13:9-14, we will see where God answered His prayer and, once again, He came to Manoah’s wife.  Part of me chuckles at the fact that God kept coming to the wife and not to Manoah. Judges 13:9 even points out if only Manoah had been there.  

Now, I do believe the reason that the Angel of God kept appearing to the wife is an interesting one, which we’ll see after the wife runs to get Manoah.  When Manoah asked to hear what the Angel of God had said to her about their future son, let us note the Angel of God’s response in Judges 13:13.  The Angel of God stated, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be  careful.”

The directions that the Angel of God gave were given to only two people:  Manoah’s wife afnd then to Samson, as he’d be under the vow of a Nazarite.  This, to me, highlights how special she was to the story, in that she would bear the son, not Manoah.  In fact, when we take a look at Judges 13:14, the instructions are clearly directed to only her, with the Angel of God saying, “All that I command her let her observe.”

Now, does this say anything negative about Manoah?  Absolutely not.  In fact, because the Angel of God repeated the instructions in his presence, it would imply that Manoah was to help her live in obedience to the instructions.  Yet, the onus was on his wife to live in obedience to those instructions because she was bearing one who was sacred.

Now, all of God’s children have an anointing that we have received through the Holy Spirit as a gift.  Manoah’s wife was anointed to bear Samson and give birth to him.  For his part, Manoah was anointed to help her bear Samson and be faithful to her anointing.  Together, Manoah and his wife were anointed to raise Samon to keep that which had been made sacred to him.

I truly believe that all of us, together, are to help one another in our anointing.  We are to help encourage each other in our anointing.  We should help each other with bearing our anointing because bearing our anointing alone is not easy.  Along those same lines, we should help each other be faithful to our anointing, rather than trying to exceed it.  

As we saw in our study of 1 Corinthians 12, all anointings are received equally through the Holy Spirit.  Let us not consider one anointing to be greater than another’s anointing.  It is easy for us to fall into the trap, but let us not belittle the work of the Holy Spirit.  The anointing that you and I have received from the Spirit is for the profit of all of those around us (1 Cor. 12:7).

Judges 13:15-25 – Hold Fast With Great Devotion

Now, as this chapter comes to a close, we are going to see Manoah question the Angel of God, seemingly in a manner of doubt.  Then, we’ll see where Manoah makes a request of the Angel of the Lord.  Now, it may be easy for you to view Manoah in a certain light, but let us not think negatively of him.

The request that Manoah makes of the Angel of the Lord in Judges 13:15 was to detain Him and prepare a goat.  The wording that Manoah uses here is quite interesting.  In Genesis 18:1-5, when “three men” visited Abraham, he requested that they would not pass him by but would sit and eat.  The “three men”, believed to be two angels with the preincarnate Christ, remained with Him and ate cakes that Sarah had prepared for them.

Manoah’s request, by the wording of it, suggests that he was suspicious of the Angel of the Lord.  Manoah desired to “detain” him so that he could learn who the Angel of the Lord was.  This bit of information sheds light on why Manaoh didn’t really believe what his wife had said from the beginning.  This bit of information sheds light on why he wanted to see and hear what the Angel had said.

 Unlike with Abraham, we’ll see that the Angel of the Lord did choose to remain with Manoah and his wife; however, He wouldn’t eat any of their food (Judg. 13:16).  The Angel also made it clear that when Manoah offered up his offering, the offering should be made to the Lord.  

Now, does the Angel of the Lord choosing not to eat with Manoah, and then telling him to offer his offering to the Lord, say anything about Manoah?  Well, Judges 13:8 shows us that Manaoh was a man of faith, as he had prayed to the Lord, and God even answered his prayer.  So, we can eliminate there being anything wrong with Manoah.

So, why did the Angel of the Lord not eat with Manoah and his wife?  Why did the Angel of the Lord make it clear that any offerings were to be offered to God?

In Matthew 26:27-29, when Jesus had served the cup at the Feast of Passover, after supper, He refused to drink it, stating that He’d drink it new with His disciples in His Father’s kingdom.  In fact, at the Feast of Passover, during what we call the Last Supper, Jesus changed what both the bread and the cup represented.  Jesus marked the sacredness of what that day would mean going from that point forward.  When we take part in communion, we mark the sacredness of it, rather than treating it as a fun snack we have every first Sunday.

The Angel of the Lord did not eat with Manoah and his wife to mark the sacredness of the anointing of Samson.  The chapter then closes out with Manoah making the burnt offering, and the Angel of the Lord ascending in its flame.  It was then that Manoah recognized he had been in the presence of the Lord.  

The conception and the birth of Samson truly were beautiful, yet I highlight the sacredness of it.  Samson was born for a purpose.  Many of us may not think much of our birth, but I do believe we’re all born for a purpose.  God has a desire to dwell with us, and our birth helps to give light to the wonderful desire the Lord has for us.

You and I ought to do our very best to live for the Lord, dedicating ourselves to keeping that which the Lord made sacred.  Life should be cherished, not taken lightly.  With every breath and every step we take, we should live in honor of the opportunity that the Lord has given to us in the giving of His only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit.