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Sermon Transcript

We are going to be in Judges 13, and as you’re turning there, I will tell you that the book of Judges is believed to be a portion of history that is about 300, maybe 350, years in the life of Israel. It’s a portion of their history. It’s a rather sad book, if you are only looking at it from a human perspective or only looking at the human activities that take place in the book of Judges. But here’s the point. The reason I come in here and I share this with you is because I’m hoping that if you’ve not read the book of Judges yet that you will do so. Hopefully this will stir you up a little bit, get you excited, and you’ll go back home and start reading through the book of Judges.

Here’s what you want to know about the book of Judges, you see the faithlessness of man, the faithlessness of man, but what is highlighted because of that or through that is the faithfulness of God. Amen? That was so weak. Is God faithful or not? Amen. He’s faithful, so as you open up to the book of Judges, and we’ll do this tonight, as you start to look at it you’ll go, “Oh, man! Why are they doing this and doing that?” It’s a dark time in the history of Israel, and they’ve had many throughout the years, but what you always want to see is the faithfulness of God, and you will see that tonight.

If you’re a notetaker, even if you’re not, hopefully this will help you to track with us and stay a little more organized. I’ve broken this chapter up into two sections, and we will look at the entire chapter. I’ve broken it up into two main divisions: I titled it, “Announcement” in verses 1-23, which we will get to in just a moment; and “Arrival” in the last two verses, 24-25. So, “Announcement,” verses 1-23; and “Arrival,” verses 24-25.

Let’s begin at verse 1 with an announcement, and I’ve got a couple of subpoints here for you. Our first main division is “Announcement,” and then we will see in verses 1-5, so as a subpoint, I’ve titled that, “Conception is promised.” Let’s look at what that means, verse 1, “Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD.” As you yourself read through the book of Judges, you will see that that’s a common way to start each section, “Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD.” Of course they did, they’re people, and that’s what they’ve done throughout much of their history; and that’s what you and I have done through much of our own history, right? “Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD”—as He did every time—“delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.”

The Philistines are a group of islands that are…I’m just kidding, not the Philippines, the Philistines from Philistia. These were a warrior people. These were enemies of God and God’s people. And, there’s no mistake there, God sold them or “delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” This was a common practice for God. At each step through the book of Judges you find that the people have been wicked or disobedient to the Lord, and what He does, time and time and time and time and time again, is He gives them over to their enemies in order that the enemy, being used by God, would discipline His own people. He’s doing that again here. He delivers them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. God does that.

Why does God do that? Because God is a good heavenly Father, right? We call Him a, Good, Good Father, we sing to Him. He’s a good heavenly Father, so He disciplines His people.

Verse 2, “Now”—it was during this time—“there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.’” Now, in my finite brain, my mind, my foolish mind, I think to myself, Why did he have to state the obvious to her? She knew this. However old she was, she had carried that fact with her and her husband Manoah. It’s important for you and I, you and I understand that we like children. Kids are precious, right? We’ve got a whole week here dedicated to the kids. They’re outside having a party right now, time of their lives. We like kids. Kids are a blessing. We’re not sure to who, yet, but we know that they’re a blessing, right?

We love kids, and these families that we read about in the Bible, they loved kids also. There was this idea that if you had a large family, I mean, that was a good thing, and that was seen as a sign of a blessing from God that you were able to have all of those children. So, that if you could not have kids, you carried the shame of that, even if it wasn’t your fault. It says that she was barren, meaning that her body was not able to produce a child. That’s not her fault, that’s how she was naturally. But still, she would carry the shame with her of not being able to have children. I wonder, Why does the Angel of the Lord have to state the obvious like that?

Everybody—well, most of you, I’m sorry—there’s a lot of you that know that I enjoy soccer. I do not watch any other sports, just soccer. Yes, I’m American, but I don’t watch any other sports. My favorite team is LA Galaxy from Los Angeles. The only team in the league to win six titles, six championships, the greatest team! In fact, just back in December, we won our sixth championship when the season ended. We started a new season, and we’ve only won one game since. They’re the worst team in the entire league. I already know that. Why is it that every time the game is on, the announcers have to bring that up? Why do they have to state the obvious? I already know that. I know they have the worst record. I know they’ve only won one game. Every time they do something good, “Oh! They scored a goal, but they haven’t won a game yet.” Why do they have to always point that out, the obvious?

Why does the Angel of the Lord do this? Why do you and I sometimes need to hear the obvious stated? Because we need to understand, and this woman here needs to understand, what’s about to happen. She doesn’t know, yet, but He’s stating the obvious so that they’re all on the same page. He’s reminding her, “Listen, your body is insufficient. You cannot do this on your own. You’ve not been able to do this on your own. You can’t do it.” It’s important that we know that whenever the Lord is working in our lives, it’s important for us to get to that point where we realize, “I cannot do this on my own. In fact, I cannot even do it! I need the Lord.” That’s the whole point here.

He begins by stating the obvious, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children,” and then the word “but,” is always an important word in the Bible. The word “but” indicates a change of direction. You will note in the first half of verse 3, He states the obvious, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children,” and, no doubt, that would have stung her a bit as she heard that. Everybody knows about it. Everybody’s got to say it. But, He immediately follows up with the word “but.” I mean, we all understand this, right? If you’ve ever been on the phone with your phone company or whatever trying to deal with some kind of bill or whatever it is, and they’re saying, “No, that’s not going to work. That’s not…” and you’re just losing your patience and losing hope that it’s going to work out. Then, the person on the phone says, “But,” and you say, “Yes? Yes, yes, yes?” There’s that moment of hope. He says to her, “Listen,” the obvious, “you’re barren. You cannot have kids. Your body cannot produce children. You’re insufficient,” “but you shall conceive and bear a son.”

Not only is this promise here given, this promise of conception, the promise is you are going to conceive a child. Good enough. But then, on top of that, you will “ . . . bear a son.” That was, again, they liked girls, they didn’t dislike girls, but to have a son meant the family name, the legacy would be carried on and continued, so this is incredible news. But the Angel of the Lord here, immediately in verse 4, says this, “Now therefore, please,”—so because of that—“please be careful not to drink wine.”

Just a quick note. Ladies, if you’re pregnant, don’t drink wine, okay? Your kids will come out wild enough, they don’t need to be drunk and disorderly.

“Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink,”—he’s telling her this for a reason—“and not to eat anything unclean.” These are terms that are consistent with the Word of God, or the law of God, that God had given the people, so He says, “ . . . not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean”—ceremonially unclean. Verse 5, “For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son”—He said it twice now—“And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite”—there it is—“to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

We’ll get to that in just a moment, but what He’s talking about is something called the vow of a Nazirite. We do not have time to go back and look at it right now, but you can write it down and look at it on your own, Numbers 6. Go back to Numbers 6 and you can find the law of the Nazirite there and all that that entails.

Well, He’s telling her, this mom, He’s saying, “You’re going to have a child, but you are going to take the vow of a Nazirite.” But He tells her why she’s to do that in verse 5, “And no razor”—that’s part of the vow, no haircuts—“ . . . for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb;”—then, here it is—“and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” The news has gone from great to the greatest. Not only are you going to have a child, but you are going to have a son; and you’re not just going to have any child or any son, this child is going to be dedicated to the Lord, and this child will “ . . . begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines”—because the Philistines had control over the Israelites, were oppressing them, and they needed a savior. This is God’s promise that they are going to receive that. He’s got a plan.

Now, did you notice the first thing we read in the chapter is that God delivered them into the hand of the Philistines, so it was God that gave them over to the Philistines. He’s disciplining them that way, but He also, at the same time, already has a plan for their salvation. Incredible how God works. He’ll discipline us and give us a way out. What a wonderful God we serve.
You will notice this, the woman is given this great news, but she’s given this great news with some great responsibility. Not only is she responsible for carrying a child…I’ve seen my wife carry four kids, gave birth four times, four times. Four times in that hospital I thought I was going to die. I thought she was just going to wring my neck. It wasn’t that bad. She did well. But, I mean, I saw the strain of it all. And, you, ladies, that have had children, you know this—tired back muscles, sore, body parts swelling, cravings for all sorts of strange things. Those children, as they’re growing in your body, man, they’re just going to town changing everything about you. Then, you ladies, even after you deliver that child, your body is changed forever. I know. It’s changed forever. It doesn’t work the same way. Those kids got in there, man. They grew, and they moved the plumbing all over the place and you’re changed. It’s a tremendous blessing; it’s a huge responsibility.

This woman here, Manoah’s wife, and by the way, have you noticed we do not know what her name is yet—spoiler alert, we never find out. But it says here that she’s got this incredible responsibility because her son is going to be a Nazirite to God, dedicated to God, from the womb, she is told that she is not allowed to partake of these same things. Not only is she responsible for carrying the child, but she has to alter her lifestyle.

God expects no less of us. You and I cannot hope to experience the miraculous without the mundane. There must be sacrifice on our part, and we must be disciplined in all of the small things, in all of the daily activities, that sometimes we get so tired of and we don’t want to do anymore. God will bless us with the big things, the miraculous things, whatever things those are, when we have learned to be consistent and satisfied, content, with the small things. When you have decided in your own heart, “This is a small thing, but God, if this is where I’m at, I’ll do it for the rest of my life, Lord, whatever You want.” When your heart is in that condition, then He can begin to move and do the bigger things. But you have to learn how to humble yourself, daily sacrifice.

There is a sense in which the Christian life is characterized by fasting, meaning daily we have to learn to say no to things that we want to do and we feel like doing. When we have learned to surrender to the Lord in those areas, then we can be ready for the bigger things. Sometimes we’re praying like crazy, “God, give me the big things. Give me the big things. Give me the big things,” and you wonder like, “Is God not hearing me? He’s not answering me. I haven’t received the big things yet.” He’s working on it. He’s working on it by working on you—by stretching you, by humbling you, chipping away at you, chiseling away, sanding you down, preparing you for the bigger things.

I do not know how old this woman was, but she had spent her life learning how to be consistent and content with her spot in life. There’s no record of her complaining. She’s happy to see this visitor, which we’ll get to here in just a moment. But it’s the mundane things, small things, the daily tasks. Let’s learn to be content with those things.

Now, verses 6-23 is another subpoint that I titled, “Confirmation is given,” so the conception is promised, but now there is confirmation given. Why? Because the woman’s husband was not there with her. Look what happens in verse 6, “So the woman came and told her husband, saying, ‘A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God,’”—she’s onto something—“‘very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.’” It was, “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” - right? - like the Clinton military.

Verse 7, “And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” So, she relates that to him. She says, “Listen, this is the message I got, and God’s already got a plan.”

Remember Ephesians 2:10? “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God’s already got a plan, and she’s relaying this to her husband, “God’s got it all worked out. I didn’t ask His name. I didn’t ask where He was from. I didn’t ask anything. I just received the message.” I like her woolliness.

So, in verse 8, I love this. Look at this in verse 8, “Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, ‘O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.’” James 1:5, what did James say? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” “Let’s ask.” So, Manoah, I mean, what a wonderful response.

And this reminds me of something that I have shared with the high school students many times over the years that I have been here, the three C’s of prayer—conceive it in prayer, conduct it in prayer, conclude it in prayer. Whatever it is that you are thinking about, dreaming about, before you tell anybody, just talk to God about it. Conceive it in prayer as if it was a child being conceived. Conceive it in prayer, and then, as you are conducting whatever it is that God is blessing you with, conduct it in prayer. Then, when it’s all done, conclude it in prayer because oftentimes we forget, right? We ask for a blessing, God gives us the blessing, we go through it, it’s wonderful, it’s a wonderful experience, and then we just split and we forget to thank God. Conceive it in prayer, conduct it in prayer, conclude it in prayer.

I love Manoah’s response here. His immediate response is, “We just gotta pray.” He doesn’t know what to do or what to say, “Let’s just pray, and let’s ask God to send that individual back to us.” And, look at this. Would you believe this? Verse 9, “And God listened to the voice of Manoah,”—what? God actually listened to his prayer? Yes. That’s one of the things that God does. He listens to our prayers.

You may have come in here tonight down and out because you’re praying for something, asking for something, and God is speaking to you from His Word saying, “I hear you. I’m listening to you. I know you’re praying.” He’s working. He’s not ignoring you, He’s working. He’s prepping you. He’s prepping whatever it is that you’re asking for. He’s at work. That’s what God does, and He did that with Manoah in verse 9.

It says in verse 9, “ . . . and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste,”—that’s undignified. We can’t have women just running around, but she’s so excited. She’s not worried about her dignity, she probably just grabbed her clothes and pulled them up just enough to be able to run freely. It says, “Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, ‘Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!’ 11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, ‘Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?’ And He said, ‘I am.’ 12 Manoah said, ‘Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?’ 13 So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, ‘Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.’” He’s saying, “I already told her what to do.” Verse 14, “She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe. 15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, ‘Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.’”

I think the last time I taught in here, a Sunday or Wednesday, I do not remember, but we were talking about, I believe it was Gideon, and there was goat in that story also. These guys like their goat. So, in verse 15, “Stay here. Let me prepare a young goat for You.” That was something that they would do. “Let me bless You. You’re a guest, let me feed you.”

I love this in verse 16, “And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, ‘Though you detain Me,’”—even if you keep Me here—“‘I will not eat your food.” He must’ve been a bad cook, “I’m not going to eat your food.” He doesn’t need to eat the food, He’s the Angel of the Lord. He doesn’t need something to eat. But it just sounds so funny to me. It sounds like, “Oh yeah, we’ll come to your house tonight, but I’m not eating your food.” What? He’s got no problem saying, “You can keep Me here, but I’m not going to eat your food.” But then, He does tell them, verse 16, “‘But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.’ (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.) 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, ‘What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?’” Tell me what your name is, and when the baby comes, I’ll send you a check, you know. “What is Your name?”

Look at this response in verse 18, “And the Angel of the LORD said to him, ‘Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?’” He says, “Manoah, if I told you My name, you would not be able to handle it. Why even ask that. Why even go there?” I love that. God’s name is wonderful. Verse 19, “So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar!”—wild! He’s sacrificing this meat to the Lord, giving his worship to God, and as they’re all sitting there, standing there, this visitor just all of the sudden gets up and jumps into the fire. And, to their amazement, He doesn’t burn, He disappears up into that fire. So, at the end of verse 20, “When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.”

Of course, lots of good Bible teachers believe that this was a Christophany, an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament, the Angel of the Lord. But he realizes at that point, “We were face to face with God,” and look at this, verse 22, “And Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, because we have seen God!’” And then, the voice of reason.

I love this story because it doesn’t fit in with that mold that we have because we saw her, the wife, earlier running and we go (GASP!) “Women shouldn’t run. It’s undignified.” But she ran. Then, I don’t know if you caught it, but the second time the visitor comes back, it says that she goes and tells her husband, and then what did it say? That he followed his wife. That doesn’t seem very manly to me, but I love Manoah’s heart. He’s got a humble heart, obviously. He has no problem, “Tell me where He’s at. I’ll follow you. Go.” Here she is where oftentimes, not all of the time but oftentimes, the man—a lot of you wives will understand, I think you would agree, or maybe I’m about to get myself in trouble, but a lot of you would agree that your husband oftentimes—is the voice of reason, that a lot of times the ladies are emotional and then the husband comes and, “Hey, calm down. Calm down. This is what we’ll do.” “Okay, okay, okay.” But this time the roles are switched. He sees this go on and he tells his wife, “We’re gonna die.”

She says to him, verse 23, “But his wife said to him, ‘If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.’” She’s the voice of reason, “Manoah, calm down. If God was going to kill us, He wouldn’t have come and given us all this good news. He can’t kill us and give us a baby. That’s not going to work.” No doubt, at that point, Manoah must’ve, “Oh, okay. That’s right,” you know and calmed down. We don’t get that portion of the story, but no doubt he must’ve said, “Okay. Sorry about that, please. Okay, we’ll calm down.”

Finally, in verses 24-25, is our second main division which is called, “Arrival.” “So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson;”—meaning ‘like the sun’. Samson, ahh, the Fabio of the Old Testament. “So the woman”—long hair, you know, couldn’t cut his hair—“bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.” What is this? It simply means that God gave a promise, kept His promise. It’s real simple. Exactly what God said was going to happen, so far He’s doing exactly what He said. Now, it remains to be seen whether He will in fact begin to deliver Israel, we’ll get to that part. (We won’t get to that part, but it is in Judges as you continue reading the story of Samson.) We are told here that God has kept His promise thus far. She “ . . . called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan”—the villages or the tents of Dan—“between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

There is a simple lesson and it is that God is aware of our needs. He’s always been aware of the needs of His people. He’s, as you and I have seen over the last week or two, obviously God is aware of His people’s needs. It’s very easy to see. God has always been aware of the needs of His people. But He’s also always been aware of the desires of His people. He knows what the Israelites need, but He knows what Manoah’s wife desires, and He had been listening all her life, as long as she had been praying. Again, I do not know how old she was, and my assumption is that from the point that she got married, she was…this is just assuming on my part, so you can throw this out if you want, but my assumption is that from the time she got married to Manoah that she was wanting to have kids and then at some point realized that they’re not having kids, something’s wrong. It’s my assumption that she had been praying for kids or at least desired them, and God was aware of that and God chose to use her, these wonderful godly parents, in order to bring the savior for that time. Of course, I’m not talking about the Messiah, yet, but just the savior for that moment in time for that time in history, He wanted to provide Samson, and He did that by choosing this woman who was barren.

It’s not the first time that God has done that. He did that with Abram and Sarai back in Genesis. And, do you remember Hannah the mother of Samuel the prophet, one of the greatest prophets that Israel ever had? Both of those mothers were barren. He does that. And then He did it some two thousand years ago when He took a young lady who was not married yet, did not know a man, did not know her husband, Joseph, and caused her miraculously to become pregnant, with child. And, not just any child, but once again, a Son, a deliverer. Ahhh, a Savior. And that time it wasn’t just for that moment but it was for all of eternity. What a wonderful reminder.

Friends, I realize that most of us in here are already born again, we’re already Christians because why else would you be here on a Wednesday night. Nobody’s that weird. But if you’re not a Christian yet and you find yourself sitting in here or watching online, you’re doing that because you’re looking for something. Your heart is troubled. There’s no peace in your mind. And maybe you’re crying out to God and asking, “God, what’s the meaning of life?” or “What’s going on? I’m lost. I’m in turmoil.” Well, there’s some wonderful news, even better than Samson; that is, that God sent Jesus, His only begotten Son into the world to offer salvation to all of mankind, and John 3:17 tells us, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

So, my friend, if you are here tonight or watching online, and you have not surrendered your heart to the Savior, things maybe are going wrong in your life, that’s what happens. When we do not belong to the Lord, we experience hardships that we have no answers for, no hope for. Listen, Christians, we experience hardships also, right? just like everybody else, but we understand that God has a plan through that.

Maybe you’re here tonight listening, and maybe you don’t know that. You know, “Why am I experiencing all of these things?” Because God is trying to get your attention, just like He did for His people back in the book of Haggai when He was taking everything away and it says, “You’re gathering money, putting it in your purse, but there’s a hole in your purse and all your money is gone. And, you’re putting on clothes to try and get warm, but it doesn’t matter how many layers of clothes you put on, you’re still cold.” God actually tells them through the prophet Haggai, “The reason none of these things are working out for you is because I (BLOWS) I’ve been blowing them away.” We say, “Wait! Why would God blow all my stuff away?” He actually, literally tells them in the book of Haggai, “Because I’m trying to get your attention. All of your focus is on these earthly things and you’re not paying any attention to Me, so I’ve been taking these things away little by little by little.”

It might be that you’re here, and you’re listening and wondering, What’s the meaning of life, and things are going wrong. What’s happening? and things are falling apart in my life. But it’s because God is trying to get your attention, and He wants you to know that He’s sent a Savior, Jesus. Why did He do that? Because He loved the world, so He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Jesus. What does that mean to believe? It means that you understand that you are a sinner and that you need a Savior. You know things are messed up in your heart and in your mind and in your life. You know that. When you’re at that point, then you can understand that God sent His only Son into this world to die for mankind that mankind would have the offer of salvation, the opportunity to surrender themselves to the Lord to be saved to experience peace with God and then the peace of God. Our pastor tells us about that all the time. You understand that.

But, if you haven’t done that yet, if you are not a Christian, then you do not have that peace. You’ve got no hope. But that’s what you came in here for tonight, looking for that hope. Just like God did so many years ago in the book of Judges 13, sending a savior for that time, for that moment of history, He sent His Son into this world to die for us, to make a way for us to be at peace with the Father. “No man comes to the Father except through Me,” Jesus said. I didn’t say that, Jesus said that. You go through Jesus.

But you have to understand that you’re a sinner, first, in need of a Savior. If you don’t know that you’re a sinner, then you don’t need a Savior. It’s like going to the doctor when you’re not feeling good. If you don’t go in there and admit that, “Oh yeah, I’ve got these issues, these problems, these health problems. I feel terrible.” If you don’t admit that, then there’s nothing the doctor can do for you. You have to admit that. But once you admit that, you’re then ready to receive that free gift of salvation.