Meeting a Saviour Talking about a Saviour (Judges 13)

 We can see from verse 1 that the Israelites had been in bondage to the Philistines for forty years because of their sins. Nevertheless, there were devout people in Israel, and we meet a couple of them in this story – Manoah and his wife. They had not realised it, but God had been preparing them to play a prominent role in the restoration of his people. His plan was revealed when the angel of the Lord appeared suddenly to the wife of Manoah. He revealed to her that their role was to the parents of the next deliverer of the Israelites, Samson.

 

The first visit (vv. 2-7)

The message of the angel is in two parts. First, he informs the woman of what is needed from her and, second, he informs her about a son she is to bear. There is a link between each detail, which can be summarised as saying that to bear and rear a Nazarite you need to live like one yourself. The demands placed on her in verse 4 are similar to the requirements of a Nazarite.

 

Three interesting details are given of Samson and what it meant for him to be a Nazarite. First, it was lifelong (often, a person lived like a Nazarite for a short time); second, his service began with his birth (usually, a person chose to be a Nazarite), and third, it was God who chose Samson for this role, which indicates that he was regenerate from the womb, even although he had some disastrous experiences later in his life. We need to bear those details in mind whenever we think of Samson and speak negatively about him. After all, he is one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

 

The only other individual who is described in this manner is John the Baptist (‘And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb’ [Luke 1:15].’ Hannah says something similar regarding Samuel, but in his case, he was dedicated by his mother, which is different from how Samson and John became Nazarites: ‘And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head’ (1 Sam. 1:11).

 

Manoah’s wife informed her husband of what the angel had said to her. Her report is accurate and includes a description of the angelic visitor as well as her silence in his presence. Normally she would have asked who he was but there was something about his presence that caused her to be silent. Therefore, she was not able to say who he was or where he came from. But she did stress that his appearance was very imposing. She realised that the visitor was a man of God (a prophet). Perhaps she had seen other prophets, but this person was very different.

 

Manoah’s response is interesting. We see that he accepted the unlikely prediction that they would have a child. He seems to have sensed that there was something more demanding than normal regarding the rearing of Samson as a promised deliverer. Therefore, he prayed for the return of the one he thought was a prophet in order to receive more information.

 

The second visit (vv. 9-20)

God heard the prayer of Manoah and appeared again to his wife in a field. On being told that the angel of God had returned, Manoah began to interact with him. Regarding the request for more information, the angel had nothing extra to say (vv. 13-14), which should cause us to wonder why he had returned. Manoah would find out soon enough.

 

Manoah discovered that the visitor did not want any hospitality. It is not surprising that Manoah would have wanted the visitor to stay, but the angel would have none of it. Did he sense that Manoah did not think that the instructions already given through Moses were sufficient for bringing up Samson? If that is what Manoah thought, he discovered that the angel did not have time for such a discussion.

 

But the angel was prepared to wait for Manoah to offer a burnt offering. The burnt offering was an expression of dedication, and Manoah would have realised the point being made. To be good parents of the coming child, they had to dedicate themselves to the Lord.

 

Manoah ventured to ask who the visitor was. Discovering who the visitor really was would make a difference to Manoah’s burnt offering. The angel informed Manoah about his name and asked him what difference that would make now that he knew who the visitor was. Manoah was still in the dark at verse 16, but then he was given light when the visitor said he had a wonderful name. Saying this about himself was another way of stating that he did wonders, that he was divine and could do great things. We can see that this self-revelation of the angel caused Manoah to offer his sacrifice of dedication to ‘the one who works wonders’.

 

The angel showed his approval of the offering by leaving them in an unusual manner, by ascending with the flames, and disappearing from their sight. He did wondrously; his actions showed that he could do what humans could not do. What human, or any creature, would dare to ascend on an offering to the Lord?

 

Conversation

Manoah realised who the Visitor was – the angel of the Lord, a divine being, the preincarnate Son of God. His response was to be afraid because he knew what had been said to Moses prior to God making a special appearance to him: ‘“But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live”’ (Exod. 33:20). We can say of his response that it has a good element and a wrong element in it. The good element is that it is right for believers to fear God, for our God is a consuming fire. The wrong element is that Manoah did not appreciate that God had taken steps to ensure that he can be seen without danger to us. This happened on the occasion with Moses, and it also happened in connection with the visit to Manoah and his wife. Obviously, the clearest way of revealing himself took place in Jesus.

 

There is also a reminder here of the importance of common sense in spiritual matters as we can see from the straightforward logic of his wife when she pointed out that if God had intended to destroy them, he would not have accepted their worship.

 

Lessons

God can instigate progress without us praying for it. There does not seem to be any reference to repentance in a national sense during the days of Samson. A national recovery in that sense does not seem to have come until Samuel later defeated the Philistines. But Samson’s ministry was part of the progression.

 

God can start in what seems an impossible situation. The assumption is that Samson’s parents were old when he was born, and providing a child to an unknown couple in an unlikely situation was a frequent way of God dealing with a problem. No doubt, there are many lessons in that, but one of them is that adults should not be dismissive of children because we don’t know if one or more of them are God’s chosen deliverers in the future.

 

God can have his hand on his chosen deliverer all the way, as he did with Samson. The Holy Spirit was on him even when he had been blinded by the Philistines. He was not as consistent as he could have been, but he was God’s chosen man.

 

One of the striking features of the wife of Manoah in this account is that we do not know if she said anything to the angel. Manoah spoke to him, and she had plenty to say to Manoah. But all that she said was wise and according to God’s will, and she was his messenger to her husband, as we can see even from the second visit when he again appeared to her when she was by herself.

 

A final lesson is to ask what Jesus wants from us. Manoah offered provision and conversation to the Visitor, but the Visitor made clear that the response he wanted from them was dedication to the Lord. And Jesus still has that priority for his people.