Samson’s Birth
13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
The downward cycle of judgement upon Israel continued. God allowed the enemies of Israel to afflict them for forty years.
As the Ammonites were shattering and crushing Israel in the East, the Philistines began shattering and crushing Israel in the West. The Philistines were not a Semitic or Canaanite group. They were a Greek-Aegean civilization who came by land and sea from Cyprus and Crete. This oppression lasted for forty years, which was twice as long as any other oppression on record. Israel was not crying out to God, as they had done in earlier cycles. They were satisfied with living among the Philistines. They did not want to upset the status quo. They were happy being a conquered people.
13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.
Manaoh was a man from Zorah. Zorah was located in the hill country of Judah. He was from the tribe of Dan.
Manoah's wife was barren and childless. In Judaism, barrenness was regarded as a judgement from God. Every Jewish woman desired to become the mother of the coming Messiah. A barren woman had no chance of fulfilling this desire. If a husband dies, then there will be no child to bury the barren woman.
When God was ready to deliver the Abrahamic Covenant, God sent Isaac to the barren Sarah. When Israel was ready to be delivered from Egypt, God sent baby Moses to . When Israel was ready to be delivered from the Philistines, God sent baby Samson to Israel. When Israel was ready for their Messiah, God sen baby Jesus to Israel.
Every child is a gift from God. It is rebellion against God for a mother to murder her baby in the womb. The sin of abortion usually begins with fornication or adultery. It is evil for the electorate to vote into office godless and evil politicians who support abortion. Politicians will kill babies in order to obtain votes so that they can stay in power of their political office.
13:3 The Lord’s angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son.
The Angel of the Lord was not just a normal angel. This angel was the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is God. He not only knows the future, but he designed it as well.
History is the mind of God expressed to man. Jesus used his omniscience to predict that the barren wife of Manoah would give birth to a son.
13:4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.
The Angel of the Lord warned the parents not to drink any wine or strong drink. Also, they were not allowed to eat any unclean foods.
13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines.”
The child was to be set apart as a Nazarite from birth. He was never to cut his hair.
The Nazarite vows are found in Numbers 6. They were voluntary vows. Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist were consecrated from birth as Nazarites.
Notice that the child was to “begin” to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Samson will begin the process of deliverance. David will complete the final stage of the deliverance.
13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.
The wife told her husband about the visit from the Angel of the Lord.
13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
The wife told him all of the details, except for one. She did not mention that her son was to never cut his hair. This omission would later cost her the life of her son.
13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God to visit us again, so he can teach us how we should raise the child who will be born.”
Manoah prayed for more insight on how to raise the child.
13:9 God answered Manoah’s prayer. God’s angelic messenger visited the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife once again.
13:10 The woman ran at once and told her husband, “Come quickly, the man who visited me the other day has appeared to me!”
The wife summoned her husband.
13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “Yes.” 13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?”
Manoah asked the Angel of the Lord three questions. First, are you the same man who spoke with my wife. Second, how should the child be raised? Third, what will the child do?
13:13 The Lord’s messenger told Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.
The Angel of the Lord had already told the wife everything that she needed to know. She needed to pay attention and focus on those earlier instructions.
13:14 She should not drink anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. She should obey everything I commanded her to do.”
The Angel of the Lord basically repeated the same instructions to the husband that he had given his wife earlier. There were now two witnesses who heard these instructions.
13:15 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”
Manoah offered hospitality to the Angel of the Lord.
13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.)
Manoah did not yet understand that he was entertaining Jehovah Himself.
13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”
Manoah wanted to know the name of his guest. At this time, Manoah believed that his visitor was a human prophet. He wanted to give honor to the human name of the prophet.
13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.”
The Hebrew word for “you cannot comprehend it” is פֶּ֫לִאי (pele), an adjective, meaning “to be extraordinary” or “to be marvelous.” This description was used only of God, but never of man or angels. פֶּ֫לִאי (pele) was not the proper name of Jehovah, but it was a description of His character.
13:19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.
Jehovah allowed His people to offer sacrifices wherever his theophany appeared. Otherwise, the offerings could only be offered in one place, which Jehovah must choose. The one place at this time was the tabernacle.
The Hebrew word for “an amazing thing” is וּמַפְלִ֣א (wa-maphil), which was the same root word of פֶּ֫לִאי (pele). The “wa” is the conjunction “and.” The “amazing thing” was the “maphil.” The One who was wonderful will now do a wonderful thing.
13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground.
When the flame went up to the sky, it showed that the offering was accepted. Manoah and his wife observed something פֶּ֫לִאי (pele). They observed the conversion of the Angel of the Lord into the Shechinah Glory. They observed His transition from earth to heaven. This event caused them to fall flat on their faces and worship God.
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger.
The Angel of the Lord never appeared to Manoah and his wife again. Sometimes angels visit unaware. However, Manoah knew the identity of his visitor. He was more than an angel. He was the pre-incarnate Christ Himself.
13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!”
The Hebrew word for “a supernatural being” is אֱלֹהִ֖ים (elohim), meaning the Triune Creator God. Manoah believed that he and his wife would die, because they saw the Triune Creator God in the flesh.
13:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”
Notice that Manoah’s wife had greater spiritual insight than her husband.
13:24 Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the Lord empowered him.
Samson means “to be strong and daring.” It comes from the Hebrew word שמש (shemesh), meaning “sun.” Samson was predestined to become a "sunny boy" who would bring light to Israel.
The City of Beth Shemesh was just across the valley of Zorah. Beth Shemesh means “the house of the sun.” In this city, a shrine was built to the sun god.
Left to himself, Samson would have never been interested in getting involved in God’s program against the Philistines. Left to themselves, the Israelites would have been satisfied to co-exist with the Philistines as a tribute nation. The last thing that Israel wanted was a Samson to cause trouble among the Philistines.
Of all of the judges of Israel, only Samson was "enpowered" by the Lord.
13:25 The Lord’s spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
The Hebrew word for "control" is פָּעַם (pa-am), meaning to trouble. The Holy Spirit began to trouble Samson, possibly meaning that Samson was out of the will of God. The Holy Spirit possibly convicted Samson of his carnal lifestyle.
he only hope for Israel was for Jehovah to energize and empower Samson to move against the Philistines. Otherwise, Israel would have been assimilated into the Philistine culture. If God did not intervene in Samsnn's life, then he Messiah would never be born.