After Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judged Israel. Together, they judged Israel for 25 years. But, that's all they could stay faithful for.
Judges 13:1- And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
Here we go again! Israel starts doing wrong and the Lord sends the Philistines to punish them. For 40 years, they live under the rule of the Philistines.
Judges 13:2-5- And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
God was going to raise up a child to judge Israel, instead of call a grown man. God delights in bringing a blessing to someone who has waited. This family had no children. Like Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, this woman was barren. But, God was going to change that. And, He was going to make this child very special.
Judges 13:6- Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
Of course, the woman had to tell her husband! This was exciting news! But, Manoah wanted to hear the news from the angel for himself.
Judges 13:8-12- Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
The angel told Manoah the same thing that he had told his wife. The child was to eat a very specific diet, and follow a specific code for a Nazarite.
Judges 13:17-18- And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
Did you know that there are a lot of angels that the Lord made? Did you know that the Bible only tells you the names of two of them? Michael and Gabriel are the only two angels whose name are specified in the Bible.
We don't know why angel's names aren't told to use, but this angel said that his name was a secret.
Judges 13:19-21- So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.
How do you think you'd feel if you met an angel? Do you think you would recognize one? Manoah didn't realize that he was talking to an angel until it disappeared! Then, he was frightened.
Judges 13:22-25- And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. And the woman bare 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 him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
So, Manoah and his wife called their little boy Samson. They were very careful to raise him exactly how the angel had told them to. And as he grew, the Lord would show him certain things to do at certain times.
You would think that someone who was created by God and called by God would do what God expected of him. II Timothy 1:9 says "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"
God called us for a specific purpose, just like He called Samson! But, Samson didn't always do what God wanted him to do.
Judges 14:1-3- And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Samson had things that he wanted. He didn't need them. God didn't want him to have them. But, he decided that he was going to have what he wanted no matter the cost.
Do you think that meant that God couldn't use him? Nope! God was going to use this circumstance in Samson's life to not only defeat some of Israel's enemies, but also get a hold of Samson's heart.
Judges 14:4-6- But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
Samson went down to see this woman that he wanted to marry. She was a Philistine, and God had said that the Israelites weren't to marry the enemies of the Lord.
Samson was ignoring God's will so God sent a lion. God didn't want the lion to kill Samson, just to get his attention. God gave Samson the strength to kill the lion! But, Samson didn't learn the lesson.
Judges 14:7-9- And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
The way the Nazarite life worked was that they weren't allowed to eat anything from grapes or any type of alcohol or vinegar, they weren't suppose to touch dead bodies, they weren't suppose to cut their hair, and they were suppose to perform certain acts if they messed up.
Samson touched the dead lion. He was suppose to shave his head and offer a sacrifice of two birds- one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. But, Samson knew that if he shaved his head he would lose his strength; so he chose to ignore God again.
Judges 14:10-13- So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
So, Samson started his wedding feast. For a week, they would all get together and have a type of party. They brought 30 Philistines men to the party to hang out with Samson. Samson thought that he could get something from these Philistines, so he asked them if they wanted to have a wager over a riddle, and they agreed.
Judges 14:14- And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
They couldn't figure out the riddle! So, they did something sneaky! They went to the girl that Samson wanted to marry and threatened her if she didn't tell them the answer.
Judges 14:15-17- And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
The girl went to Samson and stuck out her bottom lip, and pouted and cried until Samson told her the answer to his riddle. Then she went and told it to the 30 men who had threatened her.
Judges 14:18- And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
The answer was about honey and a lion. You see, Samson was being convicted about ignoring God. During this wedding feast, he had the lion and the honey in the back of his mind.
Samson knew that they had gotten the answer from his fiance. Now, he had to get them 30 changes of clothes.
Judges 14:19-20- And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
Samson went out and killed 30 enemies of Israel and paid the men. But, he was so angry that he left the wedding party and went home.
His fiance was given to one of the men that he used as his friend.
It never pays to ignore God's law! Samson was going to see just how much he could lose by disobeying God.
