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65 lines
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'1-');">Jdg 13</a> - The Birth of Samson</h2>
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<p>A. The Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> announces the birth of Samson to Manoah's wife.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,1);">1</a>) Life in Israel at the time of Samson's birth.</p>
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<p class="c2">Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, and the <span class="c6">Lord</span> delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: The cycle of sin, bondage, repentance, deliverance, blessing, and sin again continued in the history of Israel. Into these times was born the next judge of Israel, Samson. In this sense Samson was truly a man from his times. He was a study in contrasts, a man of great strengths and great weaknesses. In this, he was a picture of Israel's history - of great highs and lows.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Samson is also an important example of unfulfilled potential. Though he did great things for God, it is staggering to consider what he <i>might</i> have done and been for God.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> delivered them into the hand of the Philistines</span></b>: Because of Israel's sin and rebellion, God again gained their attention by bring them into subjugation to the Philistines.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'2-3');">2-3</a>) The Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> appears to Manoah's wife.</p>
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<p class="c2">Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name <i>was </i>Manoah; and his wife <i>was </i>barren and had no children. And the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">A certain man from Zorah</span></b>: The town of <b><span class="c3">Zorah</span></b> is about 14 miles west of Jerusalem. It was in the land of the tribe of Dan.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">And the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> appeared</span></b>: From the rest of the chapter, we see that we should regard this Angel as no mere angel. As seen before in the Book of Judges (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',2,'1-5');">Jdg 2:1-5</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Jdg',6,'11-24');">6:11-24</a>), this is Jesus on a special mission, appearing as a man before His incarnation in Bethlehem.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">You are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son</span></b>: This promise came as a great blessing to this woman burdened by childlessness. </p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'4-5');">4-5</a>) Special instructions regarding the child to come.</p>
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<p class="c2">"Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or <i>similar </i>drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">He shall be a Nazirite to God</span></b>: <a onclick="return mV('Num',6,'1-21');">Num 6:1-21</a> describes the details of the vow of a Nazirite. When under the vow, people regarded themselves as specially devoted to God, leaving their hair uncut, drinking no wine and eating no grape products, and avoiding any kind of contact with anything dead.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">From the womb</span></b>: There was nothing particularly unusual about someone taking the vow of a Nazirite for a specific period of time. What was unusual in Samson's case was that he was to live under the vow from birth - this was a lifetime vow.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean</span></b>: Manoah's wife also had to share in the Nazirite vow during the time she carried Samson.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'6-7');">6-7</a>) Manoah's wife reports the appearance of the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> to her husband.</p>
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<p class="c2">So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His countenance <i>was </i>like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He <i>was </i>from, and He did not tell me His name. And He said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or <i>similar </i>drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"</p>
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<p>B. The Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> announces the birth of Samson to Manoah.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'8-14');">8-14</a>) The Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> reconfirms the words spoken before.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then Manoah prayed to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, and said, "O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born." And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband <i>was </i>not with her. Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, "Look, the Man who came to me the <i>other </i>day has just now appeared to me!" So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, "Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?" And He said, "I <i>am</i>." Manoah said, "Now let Your words come <i>to pass! </i>What will be the boy's rule of life, and his work?" So the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or <i>similar </i>drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born</span></b>: Manoah already knew what God wanted him to do because the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> already told him. Here he asks for confirmation of the word previously spoken.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">What will be the boy's rule of life, and his work?</span></b> God honored Manoah's request for confirmation. But He did not answer this request to know the future. He simply called Manoah and his wife to obey what God already told them to do.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'15-18');">15-18</a>) Manoah offers the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> a meal; the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> will only accept an offering.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then Manoah said to the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, "Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You." And the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to Manoah, "Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>." (For Manoah did not know He <i>was </i>the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.) Then Manoah said to the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, "What <i>is </i>Your name, that when Your words come <i>to pass </i>we may honor You?" And the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it <i>is </i>wonderful?"</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: Here, the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> shows Himself to be God, in the sense that He did not need a meal but will accept a sacrificial offering made unto the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?</span></b> Here the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> shows Himself to be Jesus, in taking the name <b><span class="c3">wonderful</span></b> (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',9,6);">Isa 9:6</a>).</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'19-21');">19-21</a>) The Angel of the <b><span class="cmscap">Lord</span></b> displays His authority to Manoah and his wife.</p>
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<p class="c2">So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on; it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar; the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw <i>this, </i>they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He <i>was </i>the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on</span></b>: The Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> proved He was <i>wonderful</i> by doing a <b><span class="c3">wondrous</span></b> thing - ascending in the flame of sacrifice to heaven.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: For the first time, Manoah and his wife understood that this Person was no mere man or messenger from God. They realized they spoke with God Himself.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'22-23');">22-23</a>) The reaction of Manoah and his wife.</p>
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<p class="c2">And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" But his wife said to him, "If the <span class="c6">Lord</span> had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these <i>things, </i>nor would He have told us <i>such things </i>as these at this time."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">We shall surely die, because we have seen God!</span></b> Manoah perhaps knew what God said to Moses in <a onclick="return mV('Exd',33,20);">Exd 33:20</a>: <i>You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live</i>. Manoah feared that because they just saw the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, they would shortly die.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">If the <span class="c6">Lord</span> had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering</span></b>: This is a perceptive response from Manoah's wife. She understood that God had not done so much for them to abandon them now. God's past work in our life is a promise of His future care and blessing for us.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Manoah's wife was an invaluable source of encouragement for his faith. She didn't criticize Manoah. She didn't say, "What a silly man you are. What a stupid man you must be to be so frightened." We can never strengthen someone's faith by criticizing. We must do as Manoah's wife did - encourage them and build faith up.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. An old preacher said that there is many a man who has had his head broken with his own rib. But there is many a man who has had his heart cured in the same way.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">He would not have accepted a burnt offering</span></b>: The basis of the faith of Manoah's wife was that she knew that the <b><span class="cmscap">Lord</span></b> had accepted their offering to Him. If the <b><span class="cmscap">Lord</span></b> wanted to do you evil, He would have never accepted an offering on your behalf - the offering of Jesus on the cross.</p>
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<p class="c1">5. (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',13,'24-25');">24-25</a>) Samson born, and the Holy Spirit comes upon him.</p>
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<p class="c2">So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the <span class="c6">Lord</span> blessed him. And the Spirit of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> blessed him . . . And the Spirit of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> began to move upon Him</span></b>: This is the source of the great strength we see in Samson later. We usually think of Samson as a man with huge, rippling muscles; but others couldn't figure out why he was so strong. It is reasonable to think that he did not <i>look</i> very strong. It was the Spirit of God who made him strong.</p>
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