Judges 13:1-5
Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so
the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty
years.
In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan
lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they
had no children. The angel of the Lord
appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have
children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful; you must not drink wine or any
other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and
give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated
to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the
Philistines.”
Whenever a list of Old Testament heroes is written,
invariably Samson’s name is included. I
do have to confess that as a young boy in Sunday School, Samson’s story was
always one of my favorites. His
superhuman strength, his loss of that strength because of Delilah, and his
ultimate revenge on the Philistines were larger than life tales that I just
loved.
But I have to tell you that as a grown up and
particularly as a teacher of the ways of Jesus,
I find very little of Samson’s tale to be heroic. It has become more of a cautionary tale to me
now. Still, this awful story is
scripture that has much to teach us, even if it is cautionary. And of course, it’s still a captivating tale.
Today we read of Samson’s birth. Of all the judges, only Samson has a birth
story. It is a familiar setup, one that
we heard when we were learning about Abraham; a couple who can’t have children
are told by God (through an angel) that they will conceive and have a son. They are told that he will be special and
help the Hebrews be delivered from the Philistines. But there are rules.
He is to be a Nazarite – no wine/alcohol (or even
fruit that could become alcohol) and no haircuts. A Nazarite vow is usually a voluntary, so
this is unique. It is Samson’s parents
that agree to this vow for him from birth.
Whenever scripture departs from tradition, it’s significant. So we have a birth story for this Judge when
none of the others have birth stories and we have parents taking a Nazarite vow
for their child when normally it is a voluntary vow taken by person
themselves. I believe the writer of
Judges is letting us know that it is Samson’s parents’ faithfulness to the Lord
that results in the Lord’s will being done, not necessarily Samson’s.
As we’ll see over the next couple of days, Samson is a
hot mess. He seems to be driven more by
his primal urges more than by the Spirit of God. Yet somehow, God uses Samson to keep the
Philistines at bay. His parents’
faithfulness, not his, is the reason.
Manoah and his wife are the real heroes in this story. The faithfulness of parents (and
grandparents) matters to God. I’m
trusting that some of you need to hear that today.
Prayer: God,
your faithfulness to us matters more than our faithfulness ever could. But help us see how our faithfulness matters
to you. Amen.
Prayer Focus:
Pray for parents who are struggling with what to do about their wayward
children.
Song: The
Neverclaim - Steal Their Hearts
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