Judges 13:1-14 The birth of Samson
Channel: Mike Attwood
Date: 2022-07-01

The children of Isra'el once again did evil in the sight of the LORD.  In spite of having peace, they followed their pattern and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years.  Forty years was the longest time of servitude in the book of Judges, yet they do not cry out for deliverance.

Amidst this bleak scene of bondage and apathy God begins to move and affect deliverance.  Even though they did not ask, the Lord in His grace raised up a deliverer.  The previous judges were already grown when called, but this time God starts with a new-born baby from the tribe of Dan.

We consider the tribe, village, and family into which Samson was born.  It was a very humble setting for the birth of a deliverer/saviour.  Samson is a beautiful type of Christ in certain ways.

The woman was barren, but unlike other women we read about in this condition, she did not cry out to God for a child.  We see a pattern of God beginning with a baby, and consider some of them in this session.

The three Nazarites from birth that we know of all came out of barren wombs:  Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptiser.

Who is this angel/messenger?  The woman said, "a man of God".  Manoah said, v22, "we have seen God".  The angel himself said his name was "secret" or "wonderful".

We look at Numbers 6 where the Nazarite vow is explained, as well as Amos and the Psalms.

Samson began a work of deliverance that would be completed by David.  Certainly was better than his contemporaries, but not much better and that's the tragedy and a lesson Samson has for us:  We may be not much better than our contemporaries, yet we should be.