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.
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.
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.
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