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OK, you can turn in your Bibles 
to Judges Chapter 13. You get to start with Samson tonight. 
Everybody's favorite Bible hero. Judges 13, I'll read beginning 
in verse one. Again, the children of Israel 
did evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord delivered 
them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. Now there was a 
certain man from Zorah of the family of the Danites, whose 
name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had 
no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared 
to the woman and said to her, indeed now, you are barren and 
have born no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 
Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar 
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 Nazarite to God from the womb, 
and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the 
Philistines. So the woman came and told her 
husband, saying, a man of God came to me, and his countenance 
was like the countenance of the angel of God. Very awesome. But I did not ask him where he 
was 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 similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall 
be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. 
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord 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, 
was 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 other 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 
am. Manoah said, now let your words 
come to pass. What will be the boy's rule of 
life and his work? So the angel of the Lord 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 similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All 
that I commanded her, let her observe. Then Manoah said to 
the angel of the Lord, please let us detain you, and we will 
prepare a young goat for you. And the angel of the Lord 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 Lord. 
For Manoah did not know he was the angel of the Lord. Then Manoah 
said to the angel of the Lord, what is your name, that when 
your words come to pass, we may honor you? And the angel of the 
Lord said to him, why do you ask my name, saying it is wonderful? So Manoah took the young goat 
with the grain offering and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. 
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 Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When 
Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the 
ground. When the angel of the Lord appeared 
no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that he was 
the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, 
we shall surely die because we have seen God. But his wife said 
to him, If the Lord 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 things, nor would he have 
told us such things as these at this time. So the woman bore 
a son and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord 
blessed him. And the spirit of the Lord began 
to move upon him at Mahana Den between Zorah and Eshter. Amen. Well, thus begins the Samson 
narratives, which continue till chapter 16 and verse 31. He's the last of the deliverers 
recorded in the book of Judges, specifically by God, raised up 
to deliver his people from their oppressors. And basically what 
we have is this extended call narrative, birth narrative, call 
narrative, in chapter 13. And then in chapter 14, verse 
1 to 1520, it's Samson and the Timnite woman. So basically, 
he's in Timna for those two chapters, and then chapter 16, he's in 
Gaza. He first goes to the harlot's 
house in Gaza, and then there is the incident with Samson and 
Delilah. Davis says concerning this particular 
man, Samson is such a rollicking, entertaining, break-the-mold 
fellow that we may become preoccupied with him. We must not allow our 
focus on the Savior God raises up to eclipse the God who saves. And truly, he is the one that 
is preeminent through the chapter. It is the Lord. Twelve references 
to the angel of the Lord who had come to Mrs. Manoa, or the 
mother of Samson, and to Manoa twelve times, and many things 
concerning God are indicated in this wonderful chapter of 
Scripture. You'll want to look at this particular 
chapter under two broad considerations. First, the sin of Israel in verse 
1, and then secondly, the agent of deliverance. And that's the 
bulk of the chapter, verses 2 to 25. And there we have the promise 
of a deliverer, the birth of the deliverer, and then the empowerment 
of the deliverer, even Samson, the judge. But let's look first 
at verse 1, under the sin of Israel, something we've come 
to expect with the children of Israel during the time of the 
judges. There's nothing new about verse 1 except for one small 
detail which we'll notice in just a moment. But verse 1 tells 
us, again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the 
Lord. Back in chapter 2, when the theme 
of the book is indicated, verse 11 tells us, then the children 
of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 
And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought 
them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods 
from among the gods of the people who were all around them. And 
they bowed down to them, and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served 
Baal and the Ashtoreths." Here's that pattern. The judge is alive 
and the people of Israel tow the line at least to a certain 
degree, but when the judge dies, then they revert. And as it says 
later in chapter 2 and verse 19, they revert and they behave 
more corruptly. And we see evidence of that here 
in Judges chapter 13, which we'll see in just a moment. Notice, 
again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the 
Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines 
for 40 years. So the Lord God is sovereign. 
It is the Lord who delivered His covenant people into the 
hands of the Philistines in order for them to be chastised for 
the sins that they had engaged in. They again did evil. So God 
raises up the Philistines in this particular instance and 
then they rule over or they subjugate the children of Israel for 40 
long years. That's a long period of time. 
And as we jump to verse 2, we'll note something is missing. In 
each of the other instances, several times throughout the 
book, we see sin, oppression, and then distress. The children 
of Israel cry out when they're being oppressed by a foreign 
oppressor. That's absent here, which indicates 
they've made peace with the reality that they are now subjugated 
to the Philistines. This is a very bad sign. They not only are not crying 
out to God in repentance, they're no longer even crying out to 
God because of their distress. They have become comfortable 
with the Philistines. They have become comfortable 
with this manner and this way of life. So I've said, the cycle 
and judges, sin, oppression, and deliverance. But in between 
oppression and deliverance, the children of Israel cry out to 
God because they don't like the harsh oppression. In this instance, 
that is absence. The deliverance or the distress 
is missing in this particular degree. The nation had fallen 
to such a level that they were not even bothered by their subjection 
to the Philistines, nor did they even see their need for deliverance. So there are two things going 
against them at this particular point. They don't see their need, 
and they've become comfortable with the pagans around them. 
You can turn for just a moment to chapter 14, where you see 
evidences of this, even in the Samson narrative itself. 14.1, 
Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the 
daughters of the Philistines. So he went up and told his father 
and mother saying, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters 
of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me as a wife. The 
man who would be deliverer is fraternizing with the very people 
that is oppressing them. And then verse 3, then his father 
and mother said to him, is there no woman among the daughters 
of your brethren? or among all my people, that 
you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" 
Certainly his parents try to exercise a bit of godly restraint, 
try to direct him in another way and position. But notice 
what he then says, get her for me, for she pleases me well. You have the new King James, 
you'll note the margin. She is right in my eyes. This will come up later two more 
times in the book of Judges. There was no king in Israel and 
everyone did what was right in their own eyes. That doesn't 
bode well for the situation that they are facing. So in Judges 
14, the man that's going to deliver Israel himself is going to marry 
a Philistine woman. Look over at Judges 15 in verses 
9 to 13. The Philistines come to get Samson 
because he wreaks havoc upon them. Now notice in verse 9 of 
chapter 15, now the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and 
deployed themselves against Lehi. And the men of Judah said, why 
have you come up against us? So they answered, we have come 
up to arrest Samson to do to him as he has done to us. Then 
3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the Rock of Edom 
and said to Samson, do you not know that the Philistines rule 
over us? What is this you have done to 
us? This is absolutely atrocious. This is absolutely horrific. The first tribe indicated in 
the book of Judges that went about conquering and to conquer 
was the tribe of Judah. Chapter 1, verses 1 to 20. doing their business and gicking 
the tails of these Canaanites in this particular land. Now 
the Philistines come to collect Samson. And instead of Judah 
resisting that Philistine opposition, they now go to Samson and they 
say, do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What 
is this you have done to us? And he said to them, as they 
did to me, so I have done to them. But they said to him, we 
have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into 
the hand of the Philistines. Are you getting this? Do you 
see how bad it is in Israel at this time? Not only do they not 
cry out for distress, but they don't want to upset the status 
quo. They don't want to offend the Philistines. They would rather 
hand Samson, one of their own, over to these godless, uncircumcised 
wretches than try and resist those people. And then notice, 
Samson says to them, swear to me that you will not kill me 
yourselves. So they spoke to him saying, 
no, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand. 
But we will surely not kill you.' And they bound him with two new 
ropes and brought him up from the rock." God willing, we'll 
consider the rest of that when we get there. But just notice 
how bad it is. Bloch says, accordingly, Not 
only does the divinely raised deliverer fraternize freely with 
the enemy, but the Judahites also resist any actions that 
might upset the status quo. In fact, Yahweh must seek and 
create an occasion to disturb the relationship between oppressor 
and oppressed. That's the reason why Samson 
goes to take a wife from Timnah. If we continue reading in chapter 
14 at the end of verse 4, but his father 
and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, that he was 
seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines, for at that 
time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. God had to intervene 
in such a way so that the nation would finally see that it's not 
good to be subjugated to this Philistine opposition. I think 
there's a lot of lessons that we can learn just in verse 1. We see first the similarity with 
the wilderness generation in Numbers 13 and 14. Remember the 
Numbers 13 and 14 situation. Moses sends out 12 tribes to 
spy out the land of Canaan. The 12 spies return and initially 
they report the land is good. 12 of them do. Two of them say 
the land is good, we can take the people, let's go in and kill 
them and take everything. The ten spies are kind of cowardly 
men. They start off by saying the 
land is good, but there's giants in the land. By the time the 
end has come, they say the land is bad, the giants are too much, 
and there's no way that we can overpower them. They had become 
content with the status quo, and instead of saying with Joshua 
and Caleb, let's go at once and take what the Lord God has promised, 
they were content to be slaves and to die in the wilderness. 
A second thing we learn is that there is a danger of assimilating 
culture in such a manner as to no longer be concerned with the 
violation of God's law. This is very practical to us. Do you ever stop and think, what 
more has to happen in Canada before the church gets serious 
about praying for revival and awakening? I mean, babies are 
murdered to the tune of 110,000 per year in a nation of 30 million 
people. Just south of us, there's about 
1.4 million babies murdered in a nation that's about 300 million 
people. What's it going to take before the church gets serious 
about prayer and fasting and those sorts of things? Sodomy, 
it's legalized, it's being exalted, all these sorts of things and 
yet very often, and I'm not saying on every hand, people don't know 
what's going on in our prayer closets or what's going on in 
our churches, we can't surmise that everybody has made peace 
with these things. But to a certain degree, it looks 
as if, at least in North America, we've made peace with some of 
these anomalies. And there is a danger in this, 
of assimilating culture in such a manner as to no longer be concerned 
with the violation of God's law. The people of Israel were not 
distressed by Philistines, almost called them Philippines, Philistines 
worshipping Dagon. Is the church affected by the 
reality that throughout this nation people are worshipping 
Dagon? I mean, these things ought to 
affect us. Remember that bit in the book 
of Acts in chapter 17. Paul is in Athens and he's waiting 
for his companions to meet up with him in the town. And as 
he's standing in Athens, he's looking around at the city. And 
the text is very, very specific. It says that his spirit was provoked 
within him as he saw the city given over to idols. The word 
provoked there is the word paroxysm. It means to be stirred up to 
irritation. It's used in the Greek translation 
of the Old Testament to refer to God and His response to idolaters. So when Paul is standing in Athens, 
he doesn't say, well, everybody has their own freedom of worship. Everybody has their own way of 
expressing themselves. Everybody can bow down in whatever 
manner they want, because it's legal here in the empire. It 
may be legal in the empire, but that doesn't mean the true believer 
isn't grieved in his spirit over the things that are going on. 
Now, as I am going through this, I'm not suggesting we go with 
armed revolution and go tear down Roman Catholic churches, 
and as fun as that might be, or not fun, but as exhilarating 
as that might be, I'm not suggesting that, but we ought not to have 
peace with the reality that idolatry is so widespread. We need to 
be aware of assimilating culture, sucking it in, drinking it in, 
taking it in, in such a manner as to no longer be concerned 
with the violation of God's law. And then a third principle, I 
think, jumps out from verse one, is the necessity of uncompromising 
allegiance to Christ in the midst of a compromised culture. In 
other words, just because the culture is doing this doesn't 
mean we must. Sometimes we read these prayer 
letters and we see that these people are in different religious 
systems than we are. And we ask the question, what 
about the Orthodox Church? that this Mariam is a part of. 
They are Trinitarian, as far as I know. In fact, some of the 
early men that were in the East were very solid men. We owe a 
lot to Cyril of Alexandria in terms of our developed Christology. He's one that the Orthodox Church 
would claim. There's doctrinal differences, 
to be sure, but we've got to respect a woman that's going 
to say, I'd rather confess Christ then get out of this jail to 
tend to my particular child. I mean, there's something about 
that that is a model and a paradigm for all of God's people, the 
necessity of uncompromising allegiance to Christ in the midst of a compromised 
culture. If they tell us we can't preach 
against particular sins, we must obey God rather than men. We 
don't have to kowtow to them. What's the worst that's going 
to happen? They throw us into prison. What's the worst that 
can possibly happen? The body they may kill, God's 
truth abideth still. I mean, we are seeing a culture 
more and more given over to idolatry, to lawlessness, and to godlessness. And it really ought to concern 
us that there is a whole host within professing evangelicalism, 
and even in the reform community, that sees that these things really 
aren't so bad. Now, not launching an armed revolution, 
but being faithful to our Lord in whatever circumstances, in 
whatever situations we face ourselves, or we face. The Church is not 
supposed to engage in armed revolution against the governing authorities, 
but she should certainly pray that God will deal with the governing 
authorities. What did Mary Queen of Scots 
say? She feared John knocks in his prayers more than an army 
of men. Why is that? Because armies of 
men can be defeated. You don't defeat the Lord God 
Most High. And when a Knox is at the throne 
of grace asking for the Lord God Most High to overrule a particular 
wicked regime, there's far more threat in that. As well, we need 
to live in a manner that is well-pleasing to our Lord and not the culture 
that we find ourselves in. We need to resist the tendency 
and the pull, much like these people did not. They got comfortable 
with the Philistine occupation of their particular land. That 
is something that is a cause for concern. Now notice the agent 
of deliverance promised versus to and following. The first section 
deals with the promise of a deliverer and his parents are indicated. 
Now this is the first time in the book of Judges that a birth 
narrative is given of one of the Judges. Samson was grown 
for this particular task. The other judges were picked 
from the rank and file of Israel. But what we see is that Samson 
was groomed for such a time as this. The father's name was Manoah. He was from the family of the 
Danites. And then notice, we see whose 
name was Manoah and his wife was barren and had no children. This is a recurring theme throughout 
the Bible. It manifests the power, the sovereignty, 
the majesty, and the excellence of God. This whole idea of God 
coming to a barren woman and using her to bring forth someone 
that would bring redemption, help, assistance in some form 
or other. We have Sarah bringing forth 
Isaac. Rebecca brings forth Jacob. Rachel brings forth Joseph. Hannah brings forth Samuel. Elizabeth brings forth John the 
Baptist. So the barren woman is quite 
a popular theme in scripture that God seizes upon and uses 
in order, as I say, to demonstrate his power and his majesty. What 
appears to be utterly weak, what appears to be utterly helpless, 
what appears to be utterly marginalized is what God uses to bring redemption, 
is what God uses to bring help and victory to his people. And 
so the angel of the Lord appears to the woman, verse 3, and said 
to her, indeed now you are barren and have born no children, but 
you shall conceive and bear a son. What a beautiful thing. I'm sure 
this just made her gay. Of the two of them, Mrs. Manoa 
certainly seems like the brighter bulb, intellectually, and she's 
certainly more spiritually savvy. And it's as if the angel of the 
Lord understands that, of course he understands, this is the second 
person of the triune God, and he deals with her in a very gracious 
and a very wonderful manner. The woman is never named in the 
narrative. I'm calling her Mrs. Minoa, but 
that's just what I'm calling her. Her name's not given, at 
all. She is the one that will bring 
forth a son and you shall call his name Samson and he will begin 
to deliver your people from the Philistines. I mean she has a 
choice role in this whole affair and yet we don't even know her 
name. Davis says, here in Judges 13, the woman is both barren 
and anonymous. We don't even know her name. 
She is Manoah's wife and becomes Samson's mother, but her name 
is not given to us. To her sterility, the Bible has 
added obscurity. Yahweh often begins precisely 
here, in human obscurity and hopelessness, where there is 
no human energy or ability to serve as a starter. Samson's 
birth is another instance of God's way of prefacing an exceptional 
work with exceptional difficulties. Yahweh will bring salvation out 
of nothingness. It's really beautiful. I mean, 
these two people, Manoah and his wife, minding their own business, 
Danites, in an obscure place, in an obscure situation, the 
angel of the Lord comes to her and says, I know that you're 
barren, you don't have a child, but I promise that you will have 
a son. And then the angel of the Lord 
stipulates the Nazirite vow is going to be unique to Samson. 
This is in Numbers chapter 6. Consecration or separation specifically 
unto God. Not that all the nation wasn't 
to be separated unto God, but there were those who took the 
Nazarite vow either for special service or just as a means of 
demonstrating their devotedness to the Lord. So verse four, now 
therefore please be careful not to drink wine or similar 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 Nazarite to God from the womb and he shall begin to 
deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. So this is 
the purpose for the son. Not so that you'll have someone 
to take care of you and your husband in your old age. It's 
not so that you'll have an interesting fellow that can jump onto the 
pages of scripture that will interest people in the 21st century 
as they study the book of Judges. What's the point of the narrative? Verse 5. He shall begin to deliver 
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. He would not do 
this completely. 1 Samuel chapter 7, we see them 
subjugated. 2 Samuel 8, 1, it happens decisively 
under David. As I said, it's a birth narrative, 
but Bloch says the whole is a call narrative. Just like we find 
with these other judges, whether they're short, whether they're 
long, God calls a servant to particular service. Bloch says, 
this is a call narrative, unconventional to be sure, but its purpose is 
to describe how God provides Israel with a deliverer to deal 
with the Philistines, whom he has himself sent as agents to 
punish them for their spiritual infidelity. Both the messenger 
and the narrator, however, recognize that he will provide only a partial 
solution for the crisis. The completion of the agenda 
will await another day and another man. So it probably points to 
David in terms of the Philistines, but in the larger picture, these 
deliverers, as I mentioned many times, are typical of the deliverer, 
even the Lord Jesus Christ. So what he starts here in partiality, 
Christ completes in terms of the redemptive purposes of God 
Most High. The angel of the Lord comes to 
the woman. Now notice, secondly, the prayer. 
Verses six to nine. So the woman came and told her 
husband, saying, a man of God came to me, and his countenance 
was like the countenance of the angel of God. Very awesome. Now, 
Manoah and his wife are godly people, but there's even evidences 
and indicators in their story. They don't use the name Yahweh. 
They don't use the name of the Covenant Lord. They use the name 
Elohim. or God until they don't use Yahweh 
till the very end. This is something that could 
indicate just this lack of communion and relationalism with their 
God. Of course, the whole nation is 
at a point of declension. They're certainly the shining 
lights thus far among the others. But she comes, she tells her 
husband, A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like 
the countenance of the angel of God." Very awesome. But I 
did not ask him where he was 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 similar 
drink, nor eat anything unclean. For the child shall be a Nazarite 
to God from the womb to the day of his death. So she tells Manoah, 
and now Manoah prays. Look at this text. Beautiful. 
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord. This is not Manoah. It's the 
narrator that describes God as Yahweh. He says, oh my Lord, 
or Adonai, 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. Now the next few words are just 
glorious. And God listened to the voice 
of Manoah. Isn't that beautiful? And that's 
what's unique about our faith, our religion. God listens to 
people like Manoah. God listens to people that are 
in obscurity. God listens to people who cry 
out to him. God listens to people that go 
to their closet and say, Father, hear me. We ought not to take 
this for granted. This is one of the boons, the 
chief boons, of our Christian religion. Davis again says, we 
have grown so accustomed to the flow of biblical narratives that 
we fail to see the little miracle here. The prayers Yahweh hears, 
and God heard the voice of Manoah. We have read such clauses so 
frequently that they no longer strike us, but the psalmists 
never take it for granted. We may have relegated God's hearing 
our prayers to our of course category, but biblical prayers 
do not regard it as so routine. Rather, God's hearing is the 
most crucial matter for all prayer. It's not I had a great time of 
prayer. It's my great God heard me in 
my prayer. I've always wondered this. How 
do we adjudge a good prayer meeting? You ever heard that was a good 
prayer meeting. What makes it a good prayer meeting? Because 
I prayed well. A good prayer meeting is when 
we list whatever petition, request, supplication, or intercession 
we offer, and God hears. That's what defines a good prayer 
meeting. And if we are in Christ, we have 
access to the Father with boldness. This is why we ought never to 
consider A prayer meeting is cold or as dry. If blood-bought 
children of God offer up their petitions to the great God of 
heaven and earth, we have the confidence that He hears us and 
we have the confidence that He's going to do what is best with 
reference to that petition. You'll hear people say this, 
you know, I went to the prayer meeting and it just seemed so 
dry, it seemed so boring. Wait a minute, we need to rework 
the way we think through these kinds of things. Good prayer 
meetings are good because God is there. And if we are in Christ, 
we have every reason to believe that God is there. He's promised 
that in terms of the scripture. He is where his people gather 
together, whether they feel like it or not. Could you imagine 
your wife or your husband saying, I don't think you meant when 
you said I love you because you didn't say it with such gushy-ushy. No, I mean it, sweetie. See, 
we would never treat our spouses the way that the Christian church 
treats God. Unless you give me fireworks, 
unless you give me signs, unless you give me feelings, unless 
you give me experience, I'm not going to for a moment believe 
that you're actually in that prayer meeting. We become practical 
Pentecostals. We don't believe for a moment 
that God hears in the midst of the routine, that God hears in 
the midst of the normal, that God hears when a Manilla says, 
can you send the angel back so I can confirm everything that 
he told my wife? That's what Manoah wants. Manoah 
just wants some validation, similar to Gideon. There's a lot of parallels 
with this passage in the Gideon narrative as well, especially 
when they go to sacrifice. This is what he says. 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. Didn't his 
wife just tell him everything? What else do you need, Manoah? 
Didn't Mrs. just tell you? The man of God 
came. He had this awesome countenance. 
And here's what he said. Our little baby boy isn't going 
to be a soccer player. He's not going to be a baseball 
player. He's not going to be a rocket scientist. He's going 
to be a Nazarite. He's going to be separated under 
God. And it's him who's going to begin to deliver Israel from 
their oppressors. So Manoah says, I want to hear 
it for myself. Believe it or not, the narrative 
certainly puts Manoah as not the most spiritually savvy fellow 
in the world. He's a godly man. He's a good 
man. I certainly don't want to pick 
on him. But notice, God answers. God listens to the voice of Manoah. And the angel of God came where? 
To the woman, not to Manoah. Why? Because God is sovereign. God is glorious. God is wondrous. His ways are not our ways. I bet that Manoah probably wondered, 
why did he go to my wife and not to me? So God listens 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, 
was 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 other 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 the woman? And he said, I 
am probably a came out of Manoah before he goes to verse 12. Now, let your words come to pass. What will be the boy's rule of 
life? and his work. So now the Lord 
addresses him specifically. 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 similar drink, 
nor eat anything unclean. All that I command her, let her 
observe. Then Manoah said to the angel 
of the Lord, please let us detain you, and we will prepare a young 
goat for you. Probably thinking in terms of 
hospitality and communion, fellowship. You'll see that people fellowship 
and commune over food. Food is a very important thing 
in the Bible. It's not just life-giving, but 
it is fellowship-inducing. Hospitality, camaraderie around 
the table, sharing the loaf, having people over. This is very 
common stuff in the Bible, and it's stuff that we ought to practice 
and participate in. in our own context. So the angel 
says 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 Lord. 
Parenthetically, for Manoah did not know he was the angel of 
the Lord. This particular point, we might 
ask the question, why not? His wife knew something in terms 
of his countenance, in terms of the awesome character of this 
particular man. Verse 17, then Manoah said to 
the angel of the Lord, what is your name, that when your words 
come to pass, we may honor you. Beautiful statement in verse 
18. The angel of the Lord said to him, why do you ask my name, 
seeing it is wonderful. Seeing it is wonderful. Isaiah 
chapter 9 verse 6, a description of the Savior to come. And his 
name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace. The second person of the Trinity 
here is showing Manoah something of his essence, something of 
his nature, something of his being, something of his character. He said to him, why do you ask 
my name, seeing it is wonderful. His visitor is far more than 
Manoah has even begun to think in terms of. He has not even 
entered into the reality of just what is confronting him or what 
is facing him in terms of this divine visitor. Now note the 
sacrifice that he offers. Again, if you compare this, with 
Gideon in chapter 6, you'll see some similarity. But in verse 
19, Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered 
it upon the rock to the Lord. 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 Lord ascended 
in the flame of the altar." So Manoah and his wife witnessed 
this together. They have seen this. They have 
observed this. They have seen this one who says 
that his name is wonderful, now go up with the flame and ascend 
back into heaven. And now note, when Manoah and 
his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 
This is where I think Manoah can teach the church, and Mrs. Manoah can teach the church a 
lot about the God with whom we have to do. This is a good response. In the presence of God Most High, 
to fall upon one's face is absolutely appropriate and absolutely fitting 
and something that you see throughout scripture. When the prophet Isaiah 
sees God, sees the Son enthroned, high, lofty, exalted, the angels 
praising Him, holy, holy, holy, what does the prophet say? Woe 
is me, for I am out of time. I am a man of unclean lips and 
I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Why? For my eyes have seen 
the Lord of hosts." Ezekiel, the same thing. When he sees 
the glory of God, what does he do? He falls down as a dead man. What happens when John sees the 
ascended or the glorified Christ on the island of Patmos in his 
vision in the book of Revelation? I fell as a dead man. This is consistent biblical religion. This familiarity and a cozy approach 
with our God is not what the scripture teaches. He is not 
the buddy that we just sit on his lap and just frolic with 
him as if he's our grandfather. Now there is communion, there 
is closeness, there is a lap to be sure in terms of nearness, 
but we need to remember He's God and we're not. So when they 
see this, they fall on their faces to the ground. When the 
angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, 
then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. He understood 
this. It has come home to him now. 
And note the response in verse 22. Manoah said to his wife, 
we shall surely die because we have seen God. That's what they 
teach us. Or this is what Manoah teaches 
us. When you come into the presence of the Holy God, never forget 
He's the Holy God. When you come into the presence 
of the sovereign of the universe, a bit of fear and trembling is 
absolutely consistent. Davis again, I think he nails 
it. Being too near God was not cozy, but fatal. Manoah apparently 
felt they had seen too much, had been too close. Do you see 
it in the narrative? This is what's happened. He's 
witnessed this angel go up. He falls to his face. He understands 
what it is that he has now seen. He understands the proximity 
to which he's been near God most high. Note the progression in 
the text. This angel of the Lord that he 
didn't have a certainty about. This one who is now identified 
as wonderful. This one who is God himself, 
as the narrative goes on. Notice what he says in verse 
22. Manoah said to his wife, we shall 
surely die because we have seen God. Davis goes on. Manoah may have been wrong in 
his inference, but he was right in his instinct. For where did 
we ever get the idea that the presence of God is not dangerous? Think about this. Think about 
this. He says, have we really bought 
Santa Claus theology? Has God somehow become safe because 
we live in A.D.? Were the disciples still too 
primitive to realize that the divine presence did not require 
human trembling? There is a sense when we enter 
into the presence of God that fear and trembling are absolutely 
requisite. See, Manoah teaches us that. 
Mrs. Manoah teaches us something as 
well. Basically, they nail Psalm 211. Between Manoah and his wife, 
they get it right. Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice 
with trembling. Note what Mrs. Manoah says. She's 
got the logical mind. She's got the perception. She's 
got the ability here to focus upon the situation and to reason, 
deduce, and conclude rightly. He says, we shall surely die 
because we have seen God. But his wife said to him, if 
the Lord had desired to kill us, he would not have accepted 
a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands. Don't 
we love this, men, when our wives are right? She's right. This is the equivalent of just 
ask at the gas station. I don't want to ask at the gas 
station. We shall surely die. If the Lord 
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 things, nor would he have told us such things as 
these at this time. So what Manoah and Mises teach 
us is Psalm 211. Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice 
with trembling. We get a glimpse of this at the 
tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the disciples discover that 
it's empty, they run with fear and gladness. This is what worship 
is all about. You see, if we only come in fearful 
that he's going to kill us, we've missed the essence of Christian 
worship. We enter in fearful, to be sure, 
but with great joy, knowing that because of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
because we have access to the Father, we come to the presence 
of this great, holy, and awesome God, but we can call him Abba. We can call him Father, and that 
should flood our hearts with joy. But see, if we only went 
to the Mrs. Manoa school of worship, and 
we had no doctrine of Manoa's fear of the Lord, we'd have a 
worship that was cozy, a worship that was comfortable, a worship 
that enjoyed everything, but was not cut to the heart with 
the fearfulness of the situation. I think Luke describes early 
Christianity in this manner well in Acts 9.31. It says, then the 
churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace 
and were edified. And walking in the fear of the 
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. You see, fear and comfort are 
consistent in the Christian life. Fear, trembling, and joy are 
absolutely consistent in Christian worship. When we gather in the 
house of God on the Sabbath day, all those things ought to be 
part and parcel of our experience of the great God of heaven and 
earth. His holiness promotes fear. His salvation promotes 
comfort. All those things work in beautiful 
harmony so that we can commune with our great God. These two 
are teaching us theology proper and the way we ought to approach 
the living and the true God. There is much concerning the 
Lord in this particular passage. Fawcett says, with reference 
to her statement, even when God overwhelms us with awe-inspiring 
glimpses of his majesty, it is not in order to destroy, but 
to assure us of His power as well as His will to save." Isn't 
that beautiful? Just read that again. Even when 
He overwhelms us with awe-inspiring glimpses of His majesty, it is 
not in order to destroy, but to assure us of His power as 
well as His will to save. You see, the non-believer thinks 
the fear of God sounds horrible. The believer says, promote in 
my heart the fear of God. Let me know more of it, because 
I know that fear produces joy, and that trembling and gladness 
go hand in hand in the heart of the believer, and they terminate 
upon a great and glorious God. So they're dealing with the angel 
of the Lord. Note his birth, verse 24. So the woman bore a son, and 
called his name Samson. Beautiful. Very much like what 
we find in the birth narratives of our Lord. Sometimes people 
make these comparisons between Samson and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And I think the typical nature of these deliverers or judges 
in Israel do point forward to our Lord Jesus Christ. So she 
bears a son, calls his name Samson. The child grew. and the Lord 
blessed him." Again, Davis, I just want to read this. He says, why 
would the writer single out Samson's nativity and make such a point 
of it? Why Samson? Why does he get so 
much ink? I mean, he is an interesting 
fellow to be sure, but there's other interesting fellows in 
the book of Judges. He says because he wants to show 
that at least in this case, God didn't merely raise up a deliverer 
who was, as it were, already available. for example, Othniel 
or Ehud. Rather, he grew one from scratch. It is crucial that we see this, 
lest we think Yahweh's salvation is always an ad hoc Band-Aid 
affair, a piece of divine crisis management instead of a plan 
that God has had in view far in advance. This is exactly what 
staggers and gladdens us about the greater than Samson who ransomed 
us at such cost. He was marked out before the 
world was made and was revealed at the final point of time for 
your sake. First Peter chapter one and verse 
20. So he grew and the Lord blessed 
him and the spirit of the Lord began to move upon him. What would be the evidences of 
this in this young man's life? Probably his great strength. 
I mean, what's Samson known for? Killing a lion with his bare 
hands. Destroying Philistines. When 
we go through the Samson narratives, he doesn't lead armies into battle. 
He is the army, right? He don't mess with Samson. And 
incidentally, when we get to chapter 16, It is arguable. He did not have relations with 
that harlot. One essay I just read by a man 
says that what we find in Judges 16 has a parallel in Joshua 2. Remember in Joshua 2 when the 
spies go to spy out the land of Jericho, they go to the house 
of a harlot. Samson is on a mission to deal 
with Philistines. They wait for him till morning. 
He lay low till midnight. He's not in the arms of this 
woman all night long. Now, that's not to say there's 
some other things in Samson's life and history and career that 
aren't a little bit interesting. But we need to get away from 
this idea that he was just this sex-crazed machine that went 
wherever he wanted. No, he was a principled man. 
He was a man of faith, as the book of Hebrews tells us. And 
he led into victory the children of Israel, at least in a partial 
manner. He didn't take armies into battle. 
He himself went into battle. He did what the Lord God had 
purposed for him. So the messenger. of the Lord 
in this passage is revealed. 12 times. The purpose of the 
Lord is given in verse 5. The power of the Lord is highlighted 
in verse 25 with the reference to the spirit of the Lord. So 
as interesting as this birth or call narrative is, what we 
need to see behind the scenes is that God is working out his 
purposes for his people. They sin, they're not even concerned 
about it. So God sends Samson to these 
Philistines to stir things up to show them their need for that 
deliverance, and he brings it impartial through this man, Samson. Well, let us pray and ask God 
to bless our time together tonight. Father, we thank you for your 
work, and we have come face to face with some glorious truth 
in this chapter. God, help us to see you as wonderful. Help us to see you as awesome. Help us, God, to fear and tremble 
and to rejoice in your presence. whether it be in our private 
prayers, our family prayer, or in our corporate worship. God, 
help us to see the God who you are, and may that affect the 
way that we approach you. And may we worship you in spirit 
and in truth. May we know The nearness of God 
is our good, and may we know the joy of being found in our 
Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you again that these 
earthly judges pointed forward to that one you sent to save 
his people from their sins. We ask that you would go with 
us now and watch over us and bring us together on Saturday 
for those who meet early and for the church workday and on 
the Lord's Day, God. May we truly glorify your holy 
name. And we ask through Christ the 
Lord. Amen.