Judges 13- Focus On Rescue

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
 
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
 
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
 
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.
 
21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” 24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
 
Meditation
God’s sovereign grace demonstrates His comprehensive rule over ruin and rebellion of the world by rescuing His people and redeeming the rubble.
 
The myopic focus on Sampson’s birth foresees a greater rescue, ultimate redemption through the greatest judge, Jesus. Humanity’s rebellion rouses retribution (1). God Himself ultimately rescues.
 
God’s rescue is always God’s work from beginning to end. The birth of the judge Sampson emphasizes this truth by focusing on his mom’s inability to have children- twice repeated that she is barren (2-3). An angel of the Lord promises a child who will be set apart as a Nazarite to rescue God’s people. Manoah doubted, and the angel of the Lord revisited to reinforce God’s rescue plan. Sampson was born and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him.
 
The verbal parallels of this messenger and OT revelations of God are powerful: “I am” (11) takes us back to Exodus 3:14 and his name as “wonderful” (18), and pushes us forward to Isaiah 9:6. God invades history! God’s sovereign grace will rescue His people.
 
Sampson will rescue Israel from the Philistines, but not fully- humanity needs a greater rescuer! Like Sampson, One comes from a woman with no business getting pregnant- the virgin Mary. The message of the immaculate conception is carried by a heavenly messenger, also doubted by “dad”. Jesus, too, was set apart in holiness to rescue God’s people, His name meaning, “He saves” (Matthew 1:21) because God Himself invades history to fully rescue His people from the penalty, power, and ultimately the presence of sin.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What part of Judges focus on rescue stands out to you? Why?
 
-How is God’s sovereign grace revealed in this narrative?
 
-Where do you need to focus on God’s ultimate rescue through Jesus to reinforce your faith and fortify a faithful response to God’s grace?
 
Key Verse
3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.