Scripture
Judges 13:1-8, 24-25
The woman bore a son,
and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. The spirit of the LORD began to stir him.
—Judges 13:24-25
WALK IN GOD’S PATH
13:1. "The Israelites again did what was evil in the
sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for
forty years.
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the
Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her,
"Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and
bear a son. 4 Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat
anything unclean, 5 for you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor is to come
on his head, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth. It is he who
shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." 6 Then
the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his
appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask
him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name; 7 but he said to me,
'You shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and
eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the
day of his death.'"
8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, "O LORD, I
pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we
are to do concerning the boy who will be born."...
24 The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew,
and the LORD blessed him. 25 The spirit of the LORD began to stir him in
Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Of all the judges, Samson would be voted most likely to
succeed. Something about the other judges made them unlikely heroes. Ehud was
left-handed. Deborah was a woman. Gideon was the runt of his family litter.
Through all of those judges, God chose human weakness to show God's strength. With
Samson, however, things are different from the start. God makes clear even
before Samson is conceived that he will be set apart for service. The other
judges, plucked from their ordinary lives, are thrust into major positions of
leadership and responsibility, without any apparent instruction. Samson,
however, is to be groomed from birth.
Even with the best preparation, and all the physical
advantages one could want, Samson has a fatal weakness. He relied on his own
might, took for granted that his power would be there when he needed it, and
lost sight of his dependence on God.
In the Scriptures written and shaped within a patriarchal
society, the mere mention of a woman should immediately draw our attention.
Even though the wife of Manoah remains unnamed, she will become the mother of
Samson. She receives a visit from the angel of the Lord. The news the angel
delivers is joyous; though she is barren, she will conceive and bear a son. The
advice for prenatal care hardly sounds novel to us—no alcohol, and watch what
you eat! But from the beginning, everything is to be different. The barren
woman will bear a child, and that child will be set apart as a Nazirite to God
from birth.
In Num. 6:1-21, the Lord tells Moses all the rules that
Nazirites must follow—abstaining from any product of the vine, avoiding objects
that are unclean, and not cutting their hair for the duration of their vow.
This last requirement made known to all that the Nazirite had made vows to be
separate and consecrated to God. One became a Nazirite by taking a voluntary
vow to the Lord, and by following these regulations. There was a set period for
this vow, and a ceremony and sacrifice to be made at its completion, including
a ritual shaving of the head. Nazirites voluntarily responded to God's call.
Samson, however, was called from before conception to be a Nazirite, and rather
than having a set period of consecration, he was to be a Nazirite for his whole
life.
God's interaction with and instructions for Samson's parents
parallel two other stories of barren women who conceived. In 1 Samuel, Hannah
goes to the temple to offer prayers for a child, promising to give him to the
Lord as a Nazirite for all his days. Her prayers are answered. Hannah conceives
and gives birth to Samuel. She and her husband Elkanah bring him to the temple
to live as a Nazirite for his whole life. In the Gospel of Luke, we read about
the visit of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah in the temple, telling him that his
elderly wife Elizabeth would conceive a son who would be great in the eyes of
the Lord. From birth, these children were set apart for special service, and
special service required special preparation and dedication by parent and
child.
God called and claimed Samson. The Lord had told his mother
that Samson would deliver his people from the Philistines, but did she have any
idea that the deliverance would also result in his death? She did what she was
called to do, though. She followed the prenatal directions and raised Samson as
God instructed. Maybe something went wrong along the way. Samson became
demanding and arrogant, and he had quite the temper! He fought the Philistines,
and never lost a battle, but his battles were fueled by anger and revenge. Though he is born, marked by God, and called
to be a Nazirite, he does not live up to his potential.
The Lord raised previous judges to leadership after the
people cried out to the Lord. Before Samson was born, no one cried out -to the
Lord. It is as if they didn't remember how. Other judges used their office to
rally the people to stand up to the enemy. Samson didn't command the same
loyalty. The people betrayed Samson, tied him up, and handed him over (Judg.
15:9-13). Rather than showing the people the way to serve God, Samson serves
his own ends. He fights the Philistines out of revenge. Samson brings no peace
to the land.
No one wins when battles are fought over pride and
hard-hearted revenge. God's final will and purpose will ultimately be
accomplished, but we will miss many opportunities if we are not willing to set
aside differences. God loves us even when we don't do things right. In this
story, God sent a judge to deliver the people from the Philistines, even though
they didn't ask. To be a community that acts like it knows God, the church must
continue to reach out to people even when they have wronged it. Through
forgiveness, the church shows the world what godly rest is.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
How did your parents nurture your sense of belonging to God?
Samson was quite a departure from the judges that preceded
him. What do his call and his service teach us about Cod's action in the world?
Unlike the other judges raised up by God, Samson experiences
defeat and shame. It ultimately leads to his final victory, even as he is
humbled, but when he is captured, the Philistines give thanks to their gds for
the victory. Can we see any purpose for this defeat and humiliation? Are there
times when God might use defeat in our lives?
PRAYER
God our Parent and Guardian, we acknowledge that all life
comes from you, and all life returns to you. Help us to nurture the children of
your church, even while we recognize that they already belong to you. Give us
wisdom as a community of faith to develop and encourage leaders, to help
provide the training and preparation that will equip them for your service and
ministry. We ask this in the name of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
From The Present Word © 2011 Congregational Ministries Publishing. Used by permission.
