Jesus and Passover

This time on the calendar should be one of great rejoicing. There is usually so much to do! But this year, the festivities which surround this time of Passover--this time when our Messiah made the ultimate sacrifice to free us from the consequences of our sins--we are in lock down. We are like the children of Israel forced to conform to strict rules and regulations which dictate many aspects of our lives. Wednesday, April 8 is Passover, the very day our Lord and Savior was hung on the cross.

Starting at sundown on Wednesday, April 8, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins, and it ends at sundown on Wednesday, April 15. The seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread is celebrated in early spring, from the 15th day of the Hebrew month Nisan through the 21st day of Nisan. The Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The feast is observed by avoiding the consumption of leaven; leavened bread is replaced with matzah, a flatbread which is similar in texture to a cracker.


The Story in a nutshell
After many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, God saw His people's distress and sent His servant, Moses, to Pharaoh with a message: "Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me." Despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed God's command. God then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues. These plagues afflicted on the Egyptians many hardships, pain and destroyed everything from their livestock to their crops.

At the stroke of midnight on Nisan 15, God visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, God spared the children of Israel if they slaughtered a lamb and smeared its blood over their door frame. The lamb's blood was an outward sign that the people inside the dwelling followed God and His commandments; it was a signal that God should pass over the house. Pharaoh's resistance was broken, and he chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult male Israelites plus many more women, children and other folks from other nationalities left Egypt and began the trek to Mount Sinai.


The feast of the LORD
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim, holy convocations even these are My appointed times.'" (Leviticus 23:1-2)

When Christians read the word "feast" we think of "food". But this could not be farther from the truth. The word "feast" in Hebrew is the word moed and means "a Divine appointment". The word "convocation" in Hebrew is the word miqra and literally means a "time of assembly", but it is better translated into English as "a dress rehearsal". This is why every year for 1500 years Israel would kill the Passover lamb on the 14th day of Nisan because it was a dress rehearsal for what was to come on that very day 1500 years later. Not only did it happen on that very day, but notice the times:

And they compelled one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. (Mark 15:21, 25)

The third hour is the time of the morning sacrifice. The very moment they were putting the morning sacrifice on the altar they put Jesus on the cross! Scripture also says:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!" that is to say, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

The ninth hour is the time of the evening sacrifice. On the day of Nisan 14 (Passover), it was also the time of the slaying of the Passover lamb. At the very moment the High Priest slew the Passover lamb was when Jesus died! It is also known the hour of prayer:

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. (Acts 3:1)

Here Jesus is offering up His prayer to the Father at that ninth hour.


Blood and water
Josephus, a Roman-Jewish historian born around the time Jesus died, records for Passover, in one day they would slay 150,000 lambs. There were huge water cisterns that would flush all the blood, which required thousands of gallons of water, out the right side of the Temple in aqueducts down into the valley of blood to keep the Temple area clean. Imagine at the very moment the blood and water is flowing from the right side of Messiah, thousands of gallons of blood and water is flowing from the right side of the temple down into the Hinnom Valley.


Keriah
Within Judaism is a term known as keriah or the rending of the garment upon the notice of a loved one's death. It symbolizes a broken heart. The Bible records many instances of rending the clothes from top to bottom after the news of death. When Jacob saw Joseph's coat of many colors drenched with what he thought to be his son's blood, he rent his garments. Likewise, David tore his clothes when he heard of the death of King Saul. Also Job, who knew grief so well, stood up and rent his mantle. So what do we find but at the moment of the death of Jesus, the Father rends his garment, the veil of the Temple from top to bottom, mourning the death of His son and His broken heart.


Nisan 10
In Exodus 12:3, 5 we find the Passover lamb had to be brought in on the 10th day of Nisan and held until the 14th day of Nisan. It was to have no blemish. In John chapter 12, we read: "Then Jesus six days before Passover came to Bethany" (John 12:1) Since Passover is on the 14th, this had to be the 8th going on the 9th day of Nisan.

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that comes in the name of the LORD." (John 12:12-13)

Here it is the 10th day of Nisan when the Passover lambs are coming into the Temple. At the same time, here comes Jesus fulfilling prophecy. The lambs had to be inspected for four days to make sure they were without blemish. At the same time the Passover lambs were being inspected, so was Jesus. No one could find any fault in Him. Not Herod, Pilate, the thief on the cross, the Pharisees or Sadducees. He was truly a lamb without blemish.


Funeral songs
God even decided at creation what songs would be sung at His Son's funeral. Every year at Passover, the Israelites sing from their hymn book, which is the Book of Psalms. They would sing the Hallel, which consists of Psalms 113-118. God inspired David to write them with the Passover event in mind. Imagine a 100,000 member choir all singing at the time of the morning sacrifice when Jesus was being bound to the cross. What were the words Jesus heard as they were binding Him?

God is the LORD, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even onto the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27)

They would sing these Psalms at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. So at noon when it became dark, this is what they were singing: "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the LORD does mighty things. The right hand of the LORD is lifted up; the right hand of the LORD does mighty things." (Psalm 118:15-16)

At 3 p.m. when Jesus died, they were singing: "From the rising of the sun to its going down, the LORD'S name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things in the heavens and in the earth!" (Psalm 113:3-6)

Even the hymn at the last supper has been recorded for all history. "The Stone which the builders refused has become the Head of the corner. This is from the LORD; it is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:22-23)

Judges Chapter 13 Part Three (Verses 8-25)

B. The Angel of the LORD announces the birth of Samson to Manoah

1. (Judges 13:8-14) The Angel of the LORD reconfirms the words spoken before.

Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me." Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" So the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded."

Then Manoah entreated the LORD: In verse eight, we find Manoah praying to God to send this prophet back to them so they could be taught what was to be done with the child. Some commentators say Manoah lacked faith or was being impertinent to ask God such a thing. In Manoah's mind, he needed to know what the prophet's attributes (shem) were in addition to getting some direct teaching on what they needed to do with this coming child. Certainly what was in Manoah's thoughts was not completely pure as he was caught up in some of the aspects of Philistine spiritual beliefs. But Manoah's motive was to be obedient to the will of the God of Israel.

Why was Manoah's wife to abstain from grapes alcohol and any unclean food simply because the child was to be a Nazirite? The mother was not going to be a Nazirite, only Samson. The answer is simple: the unborn baby is fully united with its mother. A mother and child in the womb are of one flesh. Whatever the mother drinks, the baby drinks. Whatever the mother eats, the child also eats. Whatever the mother does affects the new life within her. Many of the mother's characteristics will pass along to her child. So, when Samson was an embryo, by his mother adhering to the Nazirite vow commandments, Samson would be a Nazirite from the moment of conception.

The angel of God came again to the woman: God, recognizing Manoah's good motives for wanting to speak with this being again, obliges. The mysterious man shows up again a second time. As like the previous time, the angel of God appears to the unnamed wife of Manoah. She races to fetch her husband. Manoah comes and greets the man and asks if he is the same person who came to his wife earlier.

What shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation: Manoah asks the question that was at the forefront of his mind--what are we to do with this child? Is there a special way we are to raise him? The man answers by repeating almost word for word the same thing he told the woman on his first visit, emphasizing they should do everything that was ordered to be done.

Essentially, the man of God did not answer Manoah's question. The primary concern for the moment was that the mother obeys all the rules he had given to her. Also contained within the non-answer is a pattern that we probably recognize in our own experiences with God: we will often get the divine assignment, and at times will be told the ultimate purpose, but what happens in between is left a mystery. We have no idea what the next step is or if the assignment will be of short or long duration. We do not even know if we will live to see the culmination of it all. Rather, we are to walk in faith, relying on the LORD in each and every step. Rarely does God reveal the details of His plans for us.


2. (Judges 13:15-18) Manoah offers the Angel of the LORD a meal; the Angel of the LORD will only accepts an offering
Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you." The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you will prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD." For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD. Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask me my name, seeing it is wonderful?"

Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you: Manoah realizes he has received the full oracle from the prophet. He then offers the standard Middle Eastern hospitality and requests that the man stay with them for a while and be honored with a special meal.

The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat your food.": The angel of the LORD says even if he does stay, he will not eat the food offered to him. Rather, if Manoah insists on giving this gift of food, it should be offered to the one deserving of praise, and it should be offered as a burnt offering. Right about now, Manoah was beginning to sense something unusual was about to happen. Things were not as they seemed. In fact, the angel of the LORD says the food offered must be offered to the LORD (YHWH). Now this was starting to concern Manaoh.

What is your name?: Manoah asks a question his wife had failed to ask earlier--what is your name (shem)? Why did Manoah want to know this being's name? He wanted to honor the prophet of God when everything came to pass as predicted.

Why do you ask me my name, seeing it is wonderful?" God answers Manoah, saying His name is wonderful. Now there is an issue with the English translation. The word often translated into English as wonderful is the Hebrew word pille. Remember the context of God's answer is "what is your shem?" Meaning, what is your characteristics, your attributes, your essence. Pille more correctly translates as incomprehensible, extraordinary, beyond one's ability to understand. Pille is understood by Hebrew scholars as a divine attribute.

In our modern common way of speaking, to say "wonderful" about something is rather usual and can be applied to just about anything. In our current culture, "wonderful" means to be really nice or above average. It is a statement of joy or a compliment. It is usual for a man to say to his date, "You look wonderful." We do not mean the woman looks incomprehensible. We will say the newest model of a vehicle is wonderful; we do not mean it is beyond our ability to understand.

The whole intention of this short conversation between Manoah and the Angel of the LORD is the Angel of the LORD is essentially saying, what good will it do for you to know my characteristics and attributes because they were incomprehensible to a mere mortal. God is saying, I could tell you, but you will have no ability to grasp it. Think of My attributes as being beyond your ability to understand them.

In the New Testament, when we see Jesus being called "wonderful", we need to take it in the same way. We should not think we are being told He is just a really nice guy. Rather, it is that His true attributes are divine. Thus, it is beyond our human ability to even grasp His character.


3. (Judges 13:19-21) The Angel of the LORD displays His authority to Manoah and his wife
So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock of the LORD, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that 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. Now the angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah and his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.

So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock of the LORD: Manoah offers his food on a rock as a sacrifice to God. Back up in verse 16, the Angel of the LORD told Manoah that he should offer the food as a burnt offer. In Hebrew, the word used is olah. Even though the word olah is invariably translated as "burnt offering", that is really just an attempt to translate a word which has no direct English translation.

Every kind of sacrifice offered to God on an altar is a burnt offering. (An altar is the place where your sacrifice is burned up.) Not all burnt offerings are olah offerings. There are several specific types of burnt offerings, designed for different purposes, to be used on different occasions and can employ animals and/or plants. An olah is really just one of several kings of burnt offerings. The best phrase we currently have to translate olah is "near offering". The idea is that the purpose of an olah offering is to assuage God such that we can come near to Him.

One thing we read in the book of Leviticus is when an olah was offered on the altar, it was to be accompanied by a minchah. An olah was always to be a clean animal of some kind. A minchah was to be produce of some kind. So the two things which Manoah brings as food for the man of God was a goat (a clean and acceptable animal for sacrifice) and grain. Thus, the food was completely suitable (as defined by Torah) for the use in the olah and minchah sacrificial offerings.

The olah and minchah were laid on a rock, upon which a fire had been started. Some brief ritual occurred as the offerings burned. Now a question which ought to enter our minds is how was this act proper and legal? God had long ago decreed there was to be but one place for sacrificing, it had to be officiated by a Levite Priest and it had to happen on the bronze altar which was ordained by the LORD. People were not to build their own private altars and officiate over the sacrifice as the pagans did. But the reality was the Priesthood was nearly defunct by this time in history. The Priests in Samson's time held only limited power and operated only in various tribes. The people paid little attention to them and they paid even less attention to the regulations set forth by the Torah. At the end of the book of Judges and then on into the book of Samuel, we are going to get a pretty good picture of how fallen and foreign the Priesthood of Israel had become since the golden days of Joshua.

For it came about when the flame from the altar went up toward heaven: Somehow Manoah's offering was acceptable to the LORD. With Manoah and his wife standing looking on, suddenly this being melded into the flames. He then shot upwards into the sky and vanished. That was the final clue. Manoah and his wife fell on their face to the ground in fear and awe. They both finally grasped just who this being was. It was neither a man or an angel. It was God. How do we know this is actually God? It directly says so in verse 22. How do we know that God was appearing as the Angel of the LORD because it directly says this as well.


4. (Judges 13:22-23) The reaction of Manoah and his wife
So Manoah said to his wife, "We will surely die, for 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 let us hear things like this at this time."

Surely we will die, for we have seen God: The Angel of the LORD is a manifestation of God. The thought of God appearing before Manoah in any form made him come to the realization his life was over. After all, it is a Torah principle that no man can see God and live. But fortunately, Manoah's wife was able to retain some sense of calm and reassure her husband the LORD would not have chosen to appear to them, told them what He was about to do, resurrect the woman's dead womb and prepare it for life. God also came back at Manoah's request, showed His acceptance of their altar and their olah and minchah sacrifices. After all of this, Manoah's wife asserts, God is not going to now kill them.


5. (Judges 13:24-25) Samson born, and the Holy Spirit comes upon him 
Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahanah-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Then the woman gave birth to a son: About nine months later, the woman had a son. They named him Samson, or Shimshon in Hebrew. There is a lot of disagreement over what Samson's name means. It varies so much; it is not worth studying because it all lies in the realm of speculation and opinion. The child grew up, and God kept His word. The child grew physically and spiritually God blessed him.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him: In verse 25, Samson's calling came. The initiative began with God using the Holy Spirit as a vehicle. As we study more about Samson, we will see if it would have been left up to Samson, he probably would never have picked up on God's agenda and God's purposes. Ultimately, God wanted Samson to fight the Philistines. This all falls in line with what we discussed at the beginning of the chapter in which the Israelites would not rise up against the Philistines. Rather, they sought to co-exist and live as comfortably as possible under the circumstances. Due to this passivity, it was necessary for God to act and shake up the situation. 

After our extensive study of the book of Judges, there are so many parallels between the time of the Judges and our current era. The increasing spiritual blindness and darkness is rampant. The steady slide of God's people into tolerance of and the desire for the secular is breath-taking. We have set aside God's word in favor of popular religious doctrines. We have mixed the pure and holy ways as instructed by the LORD with the impure and common ways of the world to create an easier life for ourselves. And we often deny it is even happening.

One of the things which is often said is that while Samson was to begin the end of the influence of the Philistines, it was King David who finally accomplished it. In reality, King David only put the oppression of the Philistines on hold. Today, the revival of the Philistines has begun to once again harass and influence Israel. Palestinians is but a Greek word meaning Philistines. The Palestinians are back in the same areas (in Gaza) the Philistines once inhabited. They have made themselves into the new Philistine nation. And Israel is responding essentially the same way they did during the time of the Judges through appeasement and seeking a means to co-exist with them.

Just as it would take God's king (David) to eventually subdue the Philistines for a time, it will also take God's next king to subdue them completely. This will be accomplished once and for all with King Jesus.

Judges Chapter 13 Part Two (Verses 2-7)

Samson Overview
While each Judge was different from the others in their personal natures and duties, Samson was perhaps the most unique. For one thing, his birth was foretold and announced by the Angel of the LORD. Why was Samson singled out for such an honor? We never learn why. However, the Rabbis reckon that such an honor must have meant Samson was on a very high spiritual plane. This leads to the second unique aspect of Samson: he never raised an army or led his tribe in an uprising against the oppressors. Instead, we see Samson generally operate as a one-man gang in a manner which could never possibly topple the Philistines from power. Rather, he was just a constant pain in the neck for God's enemy. And even this, on the surface, stemmed from Samson's lack of self-control and warped moral compass.

Moreover, Samson is seen very differently in Rabbinical Judaism than in Christian academic circles. The Rabbis are really out there in their viewpoint of Samson. As we proceed, we are going to see Samson do outrageous things, far from anything we could even remotely label as godly. Although Gentiles know Samson mostly from exciting children's stories, Christians have always recognized Samson's faults. The Rabbis, on the other hand, manufacture amazing and fanciful excuses for each and every one of his dastardly behaviors. They even go so far as to glorify them.

The reason for their unwavering praise of Samson is the exceptional circumstance of his birth, which reminds them of Isaac. (Sarah, Isaac's mother, was beyond child bearing years, and a divine presence came to announce Isaac's birth.) So, the Rabbis simply could not accept at face value that Samson could be the product of miraculous birth and be a self-centered, incorrigible lout. It is a lot like the Christian leaders took the plain case of Jephthah, his rash vow and his daughter who was killed because of it, and decided since Jephthah was called a Bible hero in the book of Hebrews, he could not have done what the Bible plainly says he did. Thus, they came up with a creative way around the problem.


2. (Judges 13:2-3) The Angel of the LORD appears to Manoah's wife
There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.

There was a certain man of Zorah: Verse two explains there was a man named Manoah of the tribe of Dan who had a wife who was barren. When the Bible says a woman was barren it means she was biologically incapable of bearing children. Or, she had married so late in life, she had passed her child bearing years. Generally, the fault always fell on the woman, even though in some cases it was bound to be her husband was biologically unable to impregnate her.

Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman: Verse three states one day the Angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife. She was told her womb would birth a son. In the Hebrew, the identity of the being who appeared to the woman is stated to be malach YHWH. Malach means angel or more correctly messenger and YHWH is the formal name of God. As the readers of this text, we are told immediately it was the Angel of God who came to the woman; however, we will see the woman did not know who this person or being was.

3. (Judges 13:4-5) Special instructions regarding the child to come
Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

Be careful not to drink strong drink: Manoah's wife, knowing this being was awesome in appearance, paid special attention to the instructions which followed. There are three things she must not do: drink wine or any kind of alcohol, eat anything unclean and shave her son's hair. These are all requirements for the Nazirite vow. Furthermore, it says the son will be a Nazarite from birth. This means, for the child's entire life, he must remain a Nazarite.

Usually, a Nazarite vow was taken as a temporary vow. Once the terms of the vow were fulfilled, he or she was no longer a Nazirite and no longer had to operate under the law of the Nazirite which is found in Numbers chapter 6. In general, all Nazirites have three negative commands they had to follow. 1) They were not allowed to eat or drink any grape product. (This included wine, old wine which was a much stronger drink and even fresh grapes and grape juice.) 2) They were never to touch a dead body. 3) They were not to cut their hair.

Hebrew tradition tended to expand upon these three general requirements. For instance, while only grape based products were prohibited to Nazirites, tradition made it that all alcohol was prohibited. Thus, the standard grain-based alcoholic beverages were also banned for a Nazirite. While the words of Numbers 6 says a Nazirite is not supposed to touch a dead human corpse, tradition expanded it to include dead animals, usually limited to just the unclean animals (otherwise eating meat would not have been possible).

He shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines: The mysterious visitor says something else of great importance: this son will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines. Remember, the Israel being referred to was probably just the tribe of Dan, even though the Philistines were also troubling the southern tribes led by Judah. But, the key word is begin. In other words, Samson would be the catalyst to start the process of removing the Philistine influence from Israel, but he would not finish the job. Some of that had to do with the fact as we discussed earlier that the tribe of Dan was not particularly concerned with their condition. So, Samson would not have much support in his efforts.


4. (Judges 13:6-7) Manoah's wife reported the appearance of the Angel of the LORD to her husband
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from nor did he tell me his name. But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat anything unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"

Then the woman came and told her husband: The woman turns and runs home to her husband and tells her husband what transpired. The woman says to her husband that "a man of God" came to her and that his face was fearsome like and Angel of God. When she said "a man of God" that is exactly what she meant. To the woman, this being was a human male for the Hebrew says ish elohim. (Ish means man and elohim is a general name for a god.) The term ish elohim is how a prophet was called. Thus, she saw the being as a human prophet, not a spiritual being. This man was very unusual because his face was like an Angel of God. The Hebrew says that his mar'eh was like malach elohim. Mar'eh refers to his overall appearance, not just his facial features. Malach elohim means messenger of God. Therefore, in our modern thinking, it means a regular heavenly angel. The woman is saying that although he was a human, he had the aura of a heavenly angel. She was confused and unsure just who or what had spoken to her.

But he said to me: As a good Hebrew wife ought to do, the woman repeats to her husband what this man said to her. She explains she did not think to ask where he was from nor did she inquire of his name. Before we continue, we need to clear up what the would "name" indicated in Old Testament times. The Hebrew word is shem. The term has little to do with the means of an individual's identification like it does today. Rather, in those days shem told of that person's reputation and characteristics.

Many times, it spoke of their physical and/or spiritual heritage. A name helped explain the essence of the person, his/her attributes, what they stood for and even what their providential purpose in life was. If the bearer of a particular name was a god, that meant the name assigned to this particular god or goddess indicated what particular sphere of influence (such as fertility, weather or war) they ruled over. If you were a believer in the gods, that was a very important issue because it was essential to know which god to pray to depending on your current need or want. If the name belonged to a human, it spoke of his/her innate nature, abilities and divinely ordained destiny.

In the New Testament, we are instructed to act in Jesus' name or to pray in Jesus' name. It does not really mean to say His name. In other words, if Jesus had been given the name Steve, we are not actually being instructed to say out loud "in the name of Steve" I pray. Rather, we are to behave in Jesus' attributes and character. We are to pray to the Father in Jesus' manner, in His attitude and in the realization of the status Jesus bought for us. I am not saying it is wrong for us to end our prayers and supplications with the phrase, "In Jesus's name". I am saying this phrase is NOT what was at all intended. Rather, ancient gentiles who did not understand Hebrew culture took the word "name" as the way to pray in Messiah's name as Greek and now modern culture takes it--simply as a means of identifying one person from another.

In short, the woman says she did not find out this man's characteristics and essence. Manoah knew this was an important omission of information he needed to remedy.

Judges Chapter 13 Part One (Verse 1)

Introduction
Bible scholars and Bible students have often looked at the story of Samson and said that he was certainly not a typical judge. But, after we have now studied the majority of the judges, we could easily counter that theory with a question of our own: "So what IS a typical judge?" They each invariably had their own set of character flaws and strengths to go with their own personal agendas. At times, they brought to fruition God's plans. Thus, we find like the rest of the judges, Samson was also in a category all his own. I think after so many months of an in-depth study of these judges, we can say with some certainty that a tight or all-encompassing definition of what a judge was and what a judge did rests only within our imaginations.

Samson lived during a time of Philistine oppression. In fact, it had been going on for about 40 years. It is important for us to visualize we have an overlap in time frame between the lives and missions of Samuel and Samson. The Philistine oppression in the west (near the Mediterranean Sea) was beginning at the same time as the judge Jephthah was operating and was anointed to fight back against the oppression of the Ammonites over the portion of Israel who lived in the Trans-Jordan. Israel was fighting off severe aggression in some cases. In other cases, they were simply driving out over-powering pagan social pressures. In several cases, these two things were happening simultaneously. There was not a single tribe of Israel who was not fighting for their lives or way of life in one form or another during Samson's era.

By the time Samson enters the scene, the Philistines had already taken the Hebrews' precious Ark of the Covenant from them during a disastrous war and sad defeat of the Israelites during the closing years of Eli, the High Priest. Because the stories of Eli and Samuel appear in the Bible AFTER this story of Samson, it would seem as though the war with Philistia and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant happened to them at a later time in history. However, in fact, these are merely accounts of different things going on in different places in roughly the same narrow time in history.

 
Oppression
During this time of Samson's life, we need to be careful in our use of the term oppression when referring to the Philistines. Indeed, they held the upper hand, and they were masters of the region, but they were not trying to annihilate the local Israelites be any means. When we read Scripture closely and also examine some extra-biblical sources, we tend to see a political and social landscape along the west coast of Canaan whereby the Philistines were at once generally not liked, yet in some ways were admired and accepted by the adjacent Israelite tribes and clans.

Think for a moment about Iraq in 2008. Many of the Iraqi people for various reasons were more than willing to have the USA armed forces present, while others resented it deeply and would have give up their lives to see the American forces expelled. Few, if any Iraqis, are enthusiastic to have a foreign nation occupying their country, but a growing number would like to leave behind their ancient ways of fundamental Islamis economics and law for some of the more advanced ways of the West. They do not want to abandon Islam, but they would like to incorporate less violence, some additional personal freedoms and more prosperity into their system. Many Iraqis see the USA as not a bunch of Barbarians looking to loot their nation of its riches or who want to control every aspect of their lives. They do not see the USA as people driving around in armored vehicles hoping to kill anything which moves or want them to be there permanently.

Yet, the USA is so advanced in comparison to Iraq, so wealthy and so overwhelmingly powerful that it causes a major portion of the Iraqi society to feel jealous and bitter at our presence. Although there may be elements of western culture they would like to mold and adopt into their ancient traditional ways, the older residents are quite agitated as some of the less desired attributes of Western society creep in and become attached to their traditional eastern culture. Naturally, the USA is blamed for this development.

In this illustration, just replace Iraq with Israel and the United States with the Philistines, and you will have a pretty good idea of how things proceeded, how life was lived among the Israelites and how the two sides interacted in Samson's era. The Philistines were not forcing their ways on the Israelites, but the Philistines' advanced society with its leading edge technology, tremendous societal organization, unstoppable armed forces, prosperity, wealth and an attractive religion lured many Israelites towards it. For the young Hebrews, they gladly accepted these new ways. For the older Israelite generation, this was nothing but a threat. They knew succumbing to the ways of the pagans would eventually lead to God's anger upon them for idolatry.

The Israelites always had an affinity to the Mystery Babylon religions and the Philistines' methods of religious practice were very appealing. Intermarriage between the Hebrews and Philistines was common. Few Israelites spoke out against it because it would have been seen as bigotry. Business partnerships between Israelites and Philistines were usual. It brought advantages to both sides. Only the most expert archaeologists can distinguish between Hebrew and Philistine pottery from the 12th and 11th century B.C. (Samson's era). The two societies had become very intertwined.


Things to note about Samson
One thing to examine is Samson's character. He was like an overgrown and uncontrollable juvenile delinquent. He understood his tremendous strength advantage, the admiration of the young men and women which came with his strength and he had no problem using it for personal enjoyment. Second, Samson was almost schizophrenic in behavior. One moment he was willing to risk his life for the purer ways of Israelite religion. The next moment he was partying with the pagans. Third is that while Samson recognized his status as a Nazarite (something which was given to him in the womb), of the several Torah requirements placed upon a Nazarite, the only one he seems to care about was his long hair. We will find him drinking alcohol, touching dead things and eating food he ought not to.

I sometimes wonder if the Apostle Paul did not reflect upon Samson and his personal inability to do what was right even though he knew what he should and should not do. In the Book of Romans, we see the prolific and thoughtful Paul ponder his own frustrating condition that eerily resembled Samson, a man of nearly unlimited strength, who lived 1200 years before Paul.

"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:14-24)

I think Samson may have thought these same thoughts after he had foolishly allowed his hair to be shaved, then his eyes were blinded and he was imprisoned by the Philistines and given humiliating tasks to perform in public. The difference between Samson and Paul is that while Samson did not know the answer to the question: "What a miserable creature I am, who will rescue me from this body bound for death?" Paul had the answer. In Romans 7:25, Paul boldly and with great relief proclaims, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

THE BIRTH OF SAMSON

A. The Angel of the LORD announces the birth of Samson to Manoah's wife

1. (Judges 13:1) Life in Israel at the time of Samson's birth
Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, so that the LORD gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. 

Samson judged Israel around 1070 B.C. to 1050 B.C. This is an overlap with the time Samuel lived, and Eli was the High Priest during some of that time (or perhaps even a few years earlier). Another judge by the name of Abdon also judged during this period. This is a good example of how the Judges operated in different parts of Canaan, affecting only a few tribes (or sometimes only a single tribe) at any given time. In other words, while Samson was operating within the tribe of Dan, Samuel tended to operate within the southern tribes and Abdon lead within the northern Israelite tribes and to a lesser degree the tribes on the east side of the Jordan River. Even though the book of Samuel follows the book of Judges in the Bible, in reality they operated concurrently.

Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD: Although we get the typical announcement which precedes each new judge cycle, i.e., the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and we are told the LORD punished his people by turning them over to an oppressor (in this case the Philistines), what we are not told is that there is any record of the people crying out to the LORD for deliverance. I briefly covered the issue in the introduction when I explained the so-called oppression of the Philistines was rather easily accepted by Israel. The Philistines were technologically and culturally advanced.

The Philistines were not barbarians. Their culture was attractive to those who they ruled over. The tribe of Dan seemed to be somewhat apathetic about their condition. It seems as though it did bother God because He raised up Samson to deal with the Philistines on their behalf.


The tribe of Dan during Samson's era
Dan never firmly controlled any territory it was allotted. Rather, shortly after their arrival in Canaan, families within Dan started moving into more secure territories of some of the other Israelite tribes. A large contingent of Dan also pulled up stakes and migrated north to the Lebanon border region and established a new center of residence in what they considered better conditions. In the far northern area, they established the cult city of Dan. They went far away in their worship, and in time, they were forced out of that area and scattered. (Large remnants of Dan have been discovered in Africa and many have recently returned back to the land of Israel.) You can visit the ruins of the northern city of Dan today; it is a beautiful and fascinating place.

Not everyone from Dan wanted to take such a drastic action as to migrate north. So, they stayed behind in a number of small enclaves in the central part of Canaan. The people who chose to stay were more willing than those who moved to the north to submit to the governing authority of the Philistines and to varying degrees were willing to assimilate into Philistine society. This is the case with Samson and the Danites who he lived among.

Purim 2020

One of my favorite holidays of the year is the festival of Purim. Unlike other Jewish holidays in which there are strict observances set forth in the Torah, the only command for Purim is that it is to be celebrated on the 14th day of the Jewish month Adar (which occurs in February or March on the Gregorian calendar.) This year Purim will be celebrated from sunset on March 9 through sunset on March 10. Purim is mostly a holiday filled with lots of fun events including dressing up as your favorite character from the book of Esther!

The Basics
The entire holiday of Purim is set aside to celebrate the Jews triumphal victory over the wicked Haman and his evil plot to exterminate the Jews as detailed in the Book of Esther. During the holiday, the Book of Esther is read in synagogue. (And I would suggest, if you wish to appreciate all the characters and things associated with Purim, it would be very beneficial to read the Book of Esther as well.) When the book is read, any time Queen Esther or Mordecai are mentioned, the audience breaks out into spontaneous cheers and shouts of joy. When the evil character Haman is mentioned, the crowd stomps its feet and shouts out booing.

The word Purim is derived from the Persian language which translated into English means lots. In the Book of Esther, Haman casts lots (i.e., throws dice or uses some sort of divination) to determine when he should carry out his evil plan of exterminating the Jews. The 13th of Adar (the 12th month on the Jewish calendar) was slated to be the date. On the 13th of Adar, the Jews and the Persians fought. On the 14th of Adar, the Jews in the Persian kingdom celebrated a glorious victory over their foes. (The Jews in the Persian capital city of Sushan fought for a second day on the 14th of Adar. On the 15th of Adar they held a giant celebration.) From this time forth, the 14th of Adar has been remembered and celebrated as a joyous day when the Jews defeated their enemies.


The Story in a Nutshell
The Persian Empire of the 4th Century BC extended across 127 lands from northern Africa and Asia Minor in the east across to India in the west. All the Jews living in this region were ruled by the Persians. When King Ahasuerus has his wife, Queen Vashti, dethroned for failing to follow his orders, he arranged for a search to find a new queen. (I like to call this the very first beauty pageant, Miss Queen of Persia.) A young Jewish woman, Esther, found favor in the king's eyes and became the new queen. Under the command of her cousin, Mordecai, Esther never divulges her Jewish nationality.

Subsequently, Haman, a Jew-hating man, was appointed as prime minister of the empire. Mordecai defies the king's orders and refuses to bow down to Haman. Haman becomes infuriated and convinces the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews on the 13th day of the month Adar, a date picked via casting lots (purim).

When the decree is made public, Mordecai rallies the Jews, convincing them to repent, fast and pray. Moreover, he entreats Esther to ask the king to rescind his decree. Esther bravely goes before the king's throne and asks him (and Haman) to join her for a feast. After her courage fails her the first day, Esther asks the King and Haman to join her on the following day for another feast. At the second feast, Esther reveals to the king her Jewish identity. Haman begs the queen's forgiveness, but the king orders Haman to be hung. When Esther reveals to the king that Mordecai is her cousin, the king appoints Mordecai to be prime minister. A new decree is issued, granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemy.

On the 13th of Adar, the Jews kill many of their enemies. On the 14th of Adar, they rest and celebrate their triumphant victory. In the capital city of Sushan, the Jews take one more day to finish killing their enemies.


Other Facts
Esther's pagan name is derived from the Hebrew astir. Astir means hidden. This is symbolic in that God’s name is not mentioned in the Book of Esther; hence, God is “hidden”. Esther's Hebrew name is Hadassah. Hadassah is derived from the Hebrew word hadas which means myrtle tree. According to Jewish tradition, a myrtle trees represents righteousness in Scripture. The sages in the Midrash take this one step father and say just as a myrtle tree has a sweet smell and a bitter taste, so too Esther was good and listened (sweet) to the righteous Mordecai. She was adverse (bitter) to the wicked Haman.

The Book of Esther, known as "the Scroll" (Megillah) in Hebrew, is a book in the third section (Ketuvim "Writings") of the Jewish Bible. It is one of five scrolls (Megillot) in the Hebrew Bible. The Books of Esther and Song of Solomon are the only books which do not explicitly mention God in the text.

The book of Esther consists of an introduction in chapters 1 and 2; the main action occurs in chapters 3 to 9:19; and a conclusion is given in chapter 9:20-10:3. The plot is structured around banquets (mishteh), a word that occurs 20 times in the Book of Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew Bible. This is apropos given that the Book of Esther describes the origin of a Jewish feast, the feast of Purim.

The Book of Esther became the last of the 24 books of the Tanakh (Old Testament) to be canonized by the Sages of the Great Assembly. It is usually dated to the fourth century BC. The Greek Book of Esther included in the Septuagint is a re-telling of the events of the Hebrew Book of Esther rather than a translation. The Greek book includes additional traditions which do not appear in the original Hebrew version. One such addition is the identification of Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes and includes details of various letters. The Coptic and Ethiopian versions of the Book of Esther are translations of the Greek version rather than the Hebrew version of the Book of Esther.

(Side note: The Tanakh also called the Mikra or the Hebrew Bible, is the canonical collection of Jewish texts, which is the textual source for the Christian Old Testament. These texts are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The traditional Hebrew text is known as the Masoretic Text. The Tanakh consists of 24 books.

Tanakh is an acronym of the first letter of each of the Masoretic Text's three subdivisons: Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings"). Hence it is called TaNaKh. The name Mikra, meaning "that which is read", is another Hebrew word for the Tanakh. The books of the Tanakh were passed on by each generation, and according to rabbinic tradition, they were also accompanied by oral tradition called the Oral Torah.)

Purim Observances
1. Hear the Megillah
At synagogues across the world, the whole Megillah scroll (aka, the Book of Esther) is publicly read twice--once on Purim night and again on Purim day.

2. Give to the needy (Matanot LaEvyonim)
One of Purim's main themes is Jewish unity. Haman tried to kill all the Jews. Being unified in danger, the Jews also unify in celebrating. During Purim, there is a special emphasis on caring for the less fortunate. A main act of kindness is giving food or money to at least two needy people. On Purim, a donation is given to whomever asks. Many synagogues take up special offerings during this time to give to charity in their communities.

3. Send food gifts to friends (Mishloach Manot)
The holiday of Purim emphasizes the importance of friendship and community. One way of showing this spirit is by sending food gifts to friends. The tradition is to send at least two ready-to-eat food and/or beverage items to at least one acquaintance. Men send gifts to men; women send gifts to women. It is preferable that the gifts be delivered via a third party. As with all the observances, children also participate in sending gifts. Additionally, children are often employed as the messengers in delivering the gifts.

4. Masquerade!
On Purim, children (and some enthusiastic adults) dress in costumes, an allusion to God's hand in the Purim miracle, which was disguised by natural events. Girls often dress up as Queen Esther, and boy often dress up as Mordecai. Many synagogues have a masquerade party, along with prizes for the children during or after the Megillah reading.

5. Feast!!!
During Purim day (March 10), families gather together and often invite guests to celebrate a Purim meal. Traditionally, the meal begins before sundown and lasts well into the evening. The table is covered with a nice tablecloth; candles give the illumination. The meal features meat, wine, Jewish songs, words from the Torah and lots of laughter and joy. The feast is a great celebration of eating, singing and having fun.


Purim Food
1. Hamantaschen
The most famous Purim food is hamantaschen (Yiddish for Haman's pockets). These treats are thinly rolled dough cut into circles with their sides folded up around a dollop of filling. The cookie can be crumbly if made with oil or soft when made with butter or cream cheese. The hamantaschen can be filled with almost anything--fruit, cheese, chocolate, nutella or savory ingredients.

The cookie itself is highly symbolic. The most common interpretation is that they resemble the three cornered hat worn by Haman. In Hebrew, the cookies are called ozney Haman which means "Haman's ears". This refers to the custom of cutting off a criminals ears before his execution. A third idea suggests that each corner of a hamantaschen represents one of the fathers of Judaism--Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--whose power weakened Haman and gave strength to Esther to save the Jews. Lastly, one more thought is that because the German word taschen means "pouch" or "pocket", the cookies could signify Haman's pockets, and the money he offered to the king for permission to kill the Jews.

2. Challah
Challah is a traditional Jewish braided bread made with eggs, flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt. A special Purim Challah is usually oversized and extensively braided. The braids on the challah are intended to remind people of the rope used to hang Haman. The term challah originally refers to the commandment of separating a portion of the dough before braiding it. This portion of the bread is set aside as a tithe for the priests. In Hebrew, this commandment is called hafrashat challah or "separating challah". This obligation applies to any loaf of bread, not just to the Sabbath bread.

3. Bean dishes
Bean dishes include salted beans, and boiled chickpeas seasoned with salt and pepper. These dishes are to remind the people that Esther would not eat anything at the court of King Ahasuerus that was not kosher. So, she mainly ate peas and beans.

4. Kreplach
Kreplach are triangle pouches filled with chopped meat, mashed potatoes or other filling. They are usually boiled and served in chicken soup; although they may also be served fried and served alone as a side dish. They are similar to the Polish uszka, Russian pelmeni, Italian ravioli or tortellini and Chinese wontons. The dough is traditionally made of flour, water and eggs. It is kneaded and rolled out thin. Some modern-day cooks use frozen dough sheets or wonton wrappers. Ready-to-eat kreplach are also sold in the kosher frozen foods section of some grocery stores.

The Book of Esther: The origins of Amalek

Have you ever wonder what might happen if you disobey a command God gives specifically to you? The answer may not be as dramatic as that of Amalek and the Israelites, but it might be. We have a limited view as to how our actions can affect the future. The Book of Esther gives us great insight into how one person's actions can greatly influence the lives of many in the generations to come.

In Genesis 36:12, we are introduced to Amalek. "And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife."

Jewish tradition holds that Timna was from royal Egyptian lineage. She wanted to be part of Jacob's family; however, she was not accepted. After being rejected, Timna did the next best thing she could think of, she attached herself to Jacob's brother's family, Esau. Remember that Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. Jacob bought the first born rites from Esau for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:29-34). Jacob also received the favored blessing from his father Isaac after deceiving him (Genesis 27:1-29). Esau had a son named Eliphaz. Timna became Eliphaz's concubine and bore Amalek. Thus, Amalek was Esau's grandson.

Although Genesis 36:12 proclaims the birth of Amalek, the Amalekites are first mentioned all the way back in Genesis 14:7. ("And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and conquered all the country of the Amalekites.") If one counts the Hebrew letters from the first letter of the word Amalekites and counts until the last letter in Amalek's name in Genesis 36:12, one counts 12,110 Hebrew letters. The Book of Esther also has exactly 12,110 Hebrew letters. God knew from the beginning that that Amalek's birth would be a thorn in Israel's side for many, many generations.


Leaving Egypt
When the Israelites left Egypt and had crossed over the Red Sea, the first person to attack them was Amalek. "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said onto Joshua, 'Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand'" (Exodus 17:8-9). All the nations feared the Israelites when they heard how God delivered the Israelites through the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh and his army. However, Amalek's attack on Israel cooled some of the surrounding nations' fear. As one rabbi said, "Israel coming out of Egypt was like a boiling pot. No one wanted to get near them. When Amalek attacked Israel, he cooled down the pot. This gave courage to the surrounding nations that Israel could be defeated."

God's anger is stirred up over Amalek attacking His people. God gives several promises to Amalek that his end will be destruction. "The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Exodus 17:16). "And he looked on Amalek, and took up this parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his end shall come to destruction" (Numbers 24:20). "Blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget it" (Deuteronomy 25:19).

Lastly, God gives Israel one last command regarding Amalek: once Israel is settled in the land, they should destroy Amalek.

"Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget." (Deuteronomy 25:17-19)

Saul's commission to utterly destroy the Amalekites
Saul was Israel's first king. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and the son of Kish. "Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son, whose name was Saul" (1 Samuel 9:1-2a).

Once Saul was established as king, he received instructions from the prophet Samuel to go to war with the Amalekites and completely destroy them. "Then Samuel said to Saul, 'The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both men and women, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey"'" (1 Samuel 15:1-3).

Saul goes to war with the Amalekites and defeats them. However, Saul fails to carry out God's complete command to destroy Amalek and everything associated with the Amalekites. "So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He captured Agag the king of the Amaleites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the failings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed" (1 Samuel 15:7-9).

Saul seems blind to his disobedience. He believes he has fulfilled God's command. Samuel, however, can see through Saul's lies and knows Saul has disobeyed God. "Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, 'Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD.' But Samuel said, 'What then is the bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?'" (1 Samuel 15:13-14) There is an interesting play on words here in the Hebrew. To obey in Hebrew is shema which translates to hear, listen and/or obey. Samuel is saying if you heard and obeyed the word of the LORD why is it I hear sheep and oxen which God commanded to be destroyed?

Saul's disobedience to spare Agag and the best of the things from the Amalekites has many implications for the future. First, God takes away the kingdom from Saul. "Samuel said, 'Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king'" (1 Samuel 15:22-23). "And Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, 'The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you'" (1 Samuel 15:27-28).

Second, Agag's descendants live on. If Agag and all his descendants would have been executed, the Amalekite's lineage would have been cut off. However, since Saul spares them, their descendants continue into the future. Nearly 400 years later, Agag's descendant, Haman, attempts to craft a plan to exterminate the Jews. ("The king took off his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the Jews' enemy" Esther 3:10.) This is the basis for the Book of Esther. Interestingly, the heroes of the story, Esther and Mordecai are descendants from Saul. ("There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite" Esther 2:5.) So, although Saul does not obey God, his descendants do.


The Book of Esther
Set nearly 400 years after the reign of king Saul, the Book of Esther takes place in the Persian kingdom in a city called Susa. In a nutshell, the king becomes very angry at his wife and dethrones her. He holds a beauty contest, and Esther is chosen. Esther never discloses her heritage as being a Jew. Mordecai, Esther's uncle, is an official in the king's gate. Mordecai refuses to bow down to the king's second in command, a man named Haman. Haman becomes enraged and learns Mordecai is a Jew. Haman devises a plan to kill all the Jews and deceitfully gets the king to sign the decree. Before the decree is carried out, Esther reveals her Jewish lineage and begs the king for his help. The king allows Esther and Mordecai to send out another decree stating the Jews may take up arms and defend themselves against anyone who attacks them. Esther and the Jews win the war. Haman and his sons are hung. God's command to execute the Amalekites is completed nearly 400 years after Saul was supposed to obey God. One man's disobedience almost causes the complete extinction of the Jewish people. It is amazing to see how one act of disobedience can completely change history.

Judges Chapter 12

Introduction
In chapter 12, we conclude the story of Jephthah, the Judge who liberated the northern tribes of Israel from the oppression and threat of king Ammon. In the last chapter, a good deal was written about the matter of Jephthah's only child who became the subject of a rash vow made by Jephthah. This vow was to sacrifice as a burnt offering the first thing to greet him out of the door of his home when he returned from battle. The vow was in exchange for the LORD giving Jephthah and his army (consisting of men mainly from Gilead) victory. It is key to note that nowhere in Scripture do we have the LORD acknowledging the validity of this vow.

After Jephthah was victorious, he returned home only to be (unexpectedly) greeted by his daughter. Later, we are told that he did to her what he had vowed. The subject is controversial on a number of levels. First, there has been much doubt cast on whether or not Jephthah actually offered his daughter as a human sacrifice. We find that recent scholars (both Jew and gentile) suggest that instead of her being sacrificed, she was simply given over to the Levites to serve as a Tabernacle worker. Thus, the difficult consequence of her father's vow required her to remain an unmarried virgin all the days of her life.

The second controversy is that this notion of Jephthah's daughter not being sacrificed only arose 2000 years after the event occurred. All written and oral tradition prior to 500 A.D. claim Jephthah's daughter was killed. Only after that time did a new theory arise among scholars which found an alternative explanation to Jephthah's vow.

The third controversy over Jephthah's vow is the ancient Hebrew makes it clear that it was not any thing which came out of the door of Jephthah's house, but it was a person. In other words, the usual rationale for this story is that Jephthah envisioned an animal running to greet him when he returned from war. Instead, he was shocked to see his daughter emerge from his home. The Hebrew term asher refers to a human and not an animal. Further, the idea that a sheep or cow or some type of clean animal suitable for a sacrifice would run to greet Jephthah is rather illogical. As dog might come to meet his master, but a dog is an unclean animal, which is unsuitable for a sacrifice to God.

In Jephthah's era, it was expected and required that when the master returned from a journey the chief house servant would be on the lookout for him, Then, the servant would run to greet the master, wash his feet and offer him refreshment. Only after that would his family greet him. Thus, Jephthah more likely fully expected and had in mind to sacrifice a servant when he made the vow. Instead, Jephthah was grief-stricken when his daughter broke the Middle Eastern protocol and greeted her father before the chief servant did.

The fourth controversy is that in the New Testament, in the Book of Hebrews, Jephthah is listed as one of the great heroes of Israel. He is lauded for his service to God. It is this biblical mention which causes some Christian scholars to surmise that such a praise would not have been allowed has Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter.

While there might be reasonable room for disagreement on this subject, my position is that it is always to take Scripture for what it plainly states, within the context and with the understanding of what specific type of literature we are reading (poetry, history, prose, etc.). It is nearly impossible for me to think the plain meaning of the text in Judges chapter 11, which is a historical account, and the 2000 years of commentary and oral tradition confirm the biblical story about the ill fate of Jephthah's daughter. To set aside all this and accept new interpretation which corresponds to our more modern expectations only allows us to feel better. It does little to actually support the written account. I believe Jephthah sacrificed his daughter even though it was a horrific action which was against the Torah and countered all God's principles.

As we read Judges chapter 12, we will see more of Jephthah's flawed character revealed. This allows us to see he would not have viewed killing his own daughter as a pious religious act, but he would have viewed it as expected and proper even if it was devastating to him personally.


JEPHTHAH AND THE EPHRAIMITES; THREE MINOR JUDGES

A. Jephthah and the Ephraimites conflict

1. (Judges 12:1) The men of the tribe of Ephraim are angry with Jephthah
Then the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you." 

Then the men of Ephraim were summoned: This short chapter ties up some loose ends and brings an era to a close. Remember, the Book of Judges is NOT a work authored by one person. Rather, it is a compilation of tradition and history ancient editors put together to give an accurate and cogent account of the three to four hundred year time span in between the death of Joshua and the anointing of King Saul. Thus, this is not a complete and full account of the history of this time period. Instead, it is highlights which give a picture of the events during this time period. It is wove together to give a logical order and for it to be effective and have meaning for future readers. 

The main thrust revolves around the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim plays a critical role in Israel's past. Ephraim sees himself as above the other tribes. He feels self-important and displays quite a bit of arrogance and self-righteousness. 

Part of the reason Ephraim had this overblown sense of national grandeur is that Ephraim was given the firstborn blessing. (Remember, Reuben was Jacob's firstborn. However, the firstborn blessing was given to Joseph. When Jacob adopted Joseph's sons (Ephraim and Manasseh), Jacob gave the blessing to Joseph's second-born son Ephraim. See Genesis 48.) In addition to this, Ephraim was probably the largest of all the tribes. It also was the tribe of the venerated conqueror of Canaan, Joshua. The tribe of Judah might have been equal to Ephraim in size and strength. So while Ephraim was definitely preeminent in the northern area of Canaan, Judah would have held sway in the south. If Ephraim would have been powerful enough, it probably would have taken on the tribe of Judah to gain complete control over all the tribes of Israel.

Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you: In chapter 12, we have the leaders of Ephraim coming to Jephthah with a familiar complaint: "You did not invite us to the party!" A few chapter ago, Ephraim did the same thing with Gideon. AFTER Gideon had beaten Israel's enemy, Ephraim shows up and wants to be praised, bowed down to and given its place at the head of the line for the lion's share of the spoils won by Gideon and the other tribesmen of Israel.

Gideon showed himself to be an able diplomat as well as a superb leader of warriors, and thus he appeased Ephraim. Jephthah, on the other hand, is not Gideon. He has no interest in granting Ephraim's demands nor does he have the patience to give their ridiculous assertions any credibility. Jephthah is a pure warrior and when challenged, he reacts in one way--attack!   

We will burn down your house on you: Ephraim made a fatal mistake in judgment--in verse one, they came to Jephthah and threatened to kill him and his whole household for supposedly insulting Ephraim by not consulting them regarding the war with Ammon.


2. (Judges 12:2-3) Jephthah responds to the people of the tribe of Ephraim
Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon; when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand. When I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" 

When I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand: Jephthah refutes Ephraim's complaint. He states that when it came time for Ephraim to help, they stood on the sidelines. (This is undoubtedly exactly what happened knowing Ephraim's history.) 


3. (Judges 12:4-6) The Gileadites (led by Jephthah) overwhelm the people of the tribe of Ephraim
Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh." The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead would say to them, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No," then they would say to him, "Say now, 'Shibboleth.'" But he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim. 

Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim: Apparently this confrontation with Ephraim happened some weeks after Ammon had been defeated because Jephthah had already dismissed his army as verse four states Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead. It seems as though the final straw was an insult which Ephraim hurled at Jephthah. Ephraim basically says the men of Gilead are really only deserters from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim is describing the army of Gilead as nothing but a rag-tag mob, probably not to be counted among the brothers as Israelites. It has no status to lead or govern because they are not noble enough as Ephraim sees itself as so illustrious and thus automatically deserving of ruling status.

No doubt this accusation brought up a long held burning bitterness within Jephthah as he had been exiled from Israel because his mother was a prostitute. He had been banished from his own family because they saw his status as too lowly. It was this exile which caused him to put together his band of bandits and raid Israelite and other caravans to make a living. Then, later, the leading me of Israel (when they were in dire straits) asked Jephthah to come home and use his army to fight for them. It was Jephthah's band which was now the lead troops in ending Ammon's oppression over Israel, but Ephraim who did not even participate in the battle, says the men of Gilead were never worthy of such a task.

Let's pause a moment and discuss a little bit about just how divided Israel had become by Jephthah's era since the days of Moses and Joshua. Ephraim was a rival with Judah. They both lived on the west side of the Jordan River. Gilead was located on the east side; thus, it was seen and treated by those on the west side of the river as practically another nation even though there were Hebrews. Ephraim and Judah were well aware that even though Moses had legitimized some of the Israelite tribes living in the Trans-Jordan, in fact it was not the holy Promised Land as described to Abraham. Thus, those nine and a half tribes living inside Canaan saw themselves as better than the two and a half tribes who had chosen to live on the east bank of the Jordan River (outside the Holy Land). Those two and a half tribes were quite sensitive to this reality and not just a little bit touchy when the subject was brought up.

So we see there was an enormous and growing schism between the Israelite tribes who lived in the Trans-Jordan versus those who lived in Canaan. There was also a division between those Israelite tribes who lived in Canaan but were more aligned with Ephraim in the north versus those who were more aligned with Judah in the south. 

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim: Jephthah attacks Ephraim and routs them. Ephraim realizes despite their large number of loyal soldiers, they have no chance against the experienced and tough army of the men from Gilead. We find the Ephraim troops fleeing in all directions trying to save themselves and lying about their identities when they are caught. The fight between Jephthah's men and Ephraim was occurring mainly on the east side of the Jordan River. The Ephraimite soldiers were trying to get back over the Jordan River to their own land in the west. Knowing this, Jephthah sent his men to guard the fording points. It seems when the Epraimite men were caught and questioned, they denied they were Ephraimites. Some clever officer from Gilead devised a simple test. Every male who was trying to ford the Jordan River was required to say the word shibboleth. If they could not properly pronounce it and instead said sibboleth, then it identified them as an Ephraimite, and they were killed on the spot.

Shibboleth: Like many Hebrew words, shibboleth has two entirely different meanings. It can mean an ear of corn or it can mean the flood of a stream. Its use depended on its context. Since the context here is that this questioning took place at the ford of the Jordan River, it is obvious the meaning was flood of a stream and not ear of corn.

We see the split among the Israelite tribes had become very deep and had developed over such a long time that each tribe (or coalition of tribes) had by now even gained their own dialect. Just as in the USA we have developed different dialects of English which enable us to readily tell whether the person is from the south, northeast, midwest, etc., so it was among the Israelites.

Apparently the Ephraimites had lost their ability to pronounce the letter sheen, which is the "sh" sound. Instead, they could only say it was an "s" sound. This dead giveaway proved to be fatal.

Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim: Jephthah's army devastated the Ephraimite army and killed 42,000 men, many because they could not make an "sh" sound, which prevented them from escaping across the river. This would have no doubt for many years greatly curtailed Ephraim's ability to both protect itself and to project its power over others. So, its status would have diminished for a time as a result of its arrogance which led to this ill-conceived and completely unnecessary battle with Jephthah and the highly insulted men of Gilead who had done such a good service for Israel.


4. (Judges 12:7) The remainder of Jephthah's time as a Judge
Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities in Gilead.

Jephthah judged Israel for six years: We are told Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then he died. This did not go unnoticed by the ancient Hebrew sages, and we ought to make a note of it ourselves. Judging for only six years was a very short length of time. Anywhere from 20-80 years was the normal length of time for Judge during all the previous accounts. Further, the original Hebrew stated he was buried in some undisclosed cities (yes, it is plural, meaning multiple cities) in Gilead. He was not buried in one city as our English translations seems to imply.

There had to be in the minds of the ancient sages a good reason for such a short duration of judging considering the great victories Jephthah had won over God's enemies and to explain how he could have been buried in multiple cities. The sages determined because of Jephthah's great sin of killing his daughter to complete his vow, the LORD punished him. This is an excerpt from a midrash in the Talmud on this subject:

"Because he was stricken with leprosy as a punishment, his death was lingering and his limbs fell off one by one, and were buried in different cities where they happened to drop off."

Whether this account is accurate or not, it again points out that even though on the one hand Jephthah had done some great things for the LORD, on the other hand he had committed some dastardly and nearly unthinkable sins.

We have discussed of one those great sins, but another is because Ephraim insulted Jephthah in a very sensitive area of his psyche, Jephthah went on an unabated binge of revenge, killing Ephraimites. There is no evidence Ephraim ever harmed Jephthah; rather, they merely threatened and insulted him. But in response, Jephthah attacked and ruthlessly killed 42,000 men from Ephraim. In fact, he went so far as to blockade the fording points of the Jordan River, and then soldiers were murdered who had dropped their weapons. These men were merely trying to return home. Again, this was NOT some foreign enemy; it was his Hebrew brothers he was slaughtering for no other reason than the leaders of Ephraim had slighted him and deeply upset him. These were not Canaanites who were to be expelled from the land at God's instructions. They were his fellow Israelites. Jephthah was a man whose bloodthirsty ways were used by God for His purposes, but when not under the Holy Spirit's guidance, these same attributes led him to do monstrous things.


B. Three minor judges

1. (Judges 12:8-10) The Judge Ibzan
Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him. He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. He he judged Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem. 

Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him: The era of Jephthah is over. After him came Ibzan. Almost nothing is said of him. We are not even sure of his tribal affiliation. Some say he must have been of the tribe of Judah because he was from Bethlehem. But just like any other place names, there were a number of Bethlehems in Canaan. Bethlehem simply means "house of bread". Since Ibzan took over after Jephthah, he would either have ruled over the north central part of Canaan or over Gilead on the east bank of the Jordan River. It is exceedingly unlikely the Bethlehem mentioned is the one we think of today in the territory of Judah, which is in the south of Canaan. 

He had thirty sons and thirty daughters: The Judge Ibzan had 30 sons and 30 daughters. This indicates how wealthy he was. It draws an interesting contrast between this man who immediately followed Jephthah, and Jephthah who had only ONE child, which was his daughter. 

Ibzan bringing in foreign wives for his sons fits well with the constantly deteriorating condition of Israel. Not only is this against the Torah commands, but it also highlight how the Israelites were more interested in following typical Middle Eastern customs as practiced by their own gentile neighbors than in obeying God. This bringing in of foreign wives was predicated on one purpose alone--to make peace treaties with nearby pagan kingdoms. Inter-marriage was then and has remained for centuries the primary means of creating an alliance between nations.

He judged Israel seven years: We see Ibzan only judged Israel for seven years, which is one more than Jephthah. Again, we only need to compare his short rule with his poor leadership and lifestyle to understand why such a relatively brief period of time he judged Israel. Yet, by all accounts, he was a Judge anointed by God nonetheless.


2. (Judges 12:11-12) The judge Elon
Now Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel after him; and he judged Israel ten years. Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 

Elon the Zebulunite: After Ibzan came the Judge Elon from the tribe of Zebulun. Even less is told of him. He ruled only ten years and then died. 


3. (Judges 12:13-15) The Judge Abdon
Now Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he juded Israel eight years. Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. 

Abdon the son of Hillel: Next came Abdon who had 40 sons and 30 grandsons. These sons rode on donkeys. This was a very royal and aristocratic family. Having so many children indicates Abdon had many wives and very well had 40 or more daughter in addition to all his sons. He most likely also ruled during a time of peace and prosperity. The time from his anointing to his death was a mere eight years.