Samson – Birth of a Strong (Part C)

They have seen the Lord, and it just becomes brighter to me. Well, that's what a born-again Christian is, someone who has seen the Lord with their hearts. And that is precisely what John is saying in 3 John. That is the born-again experience.

We have seen the Lord, and we're not afraid of Him in the terrorized sense and reverent sense, perhaps, but I feel very comfortable thinking about the Lord, His appearing, and we purify our hearts by the thought of it all. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Rick is currently teaching through the book of Judges.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick with his message called Samson, Birth of a Strong, in Judges chapter 13. He says, and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born. You know, there's no doubt in that. It's not if the child will be born. Really?

Can you give me a sign? No, he's accepted it right away, I think. First off, he doesn't doubt his wife. She comes and tells him, she says, you guys get out of here.

She accepts it. There must have been something in her face that let him know this was something really special, because he goes right into the character of a righteous man. And again, not depending on himself, looking to God, that's humility. The Christian church and the Christian individual should look to the Holy Spirit before we do anything that is of any value. I mean, you brush your teeth in the morning, you really don't have to pray for that direction. That's kind of a mandate.

Oh, hygiene's good. Anyhow, we are taking up a collection for a laugh track in the church, I should add. We're going to put an end to this. And I don't want any sympathy laughs.

Those hurt. It's just not right. Anyway, before you question someone's sanity, you better make sure you've got solid proof. That's slanderous, and he doesn't question her sanity. He doesn't say, you're crazy, get out of here, don't wait to appear to you.

You can't have children, just live with it. No, he just believes her, because they have a good relationship. Verse 9, and God listened to the voice of Manoah, 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. Now, of course, my question is, what's she doing sitting in the field? Who does that? Well, when I was in Israel, I saw a shepherd sitting in the field nodding. The sheep were just doing whatever sheep do, and he's just sitting down, and I guess maybe that's what she was doing.

What else do you do out in the field? You can let out a good sneeze without covering your mouth, if no one is around. Anyway, it's quite profound, and God listened to the voice of Manoah. See, this is again, this is why I like this couple. I mean, there's a man, a fervent prayer of a righteous man.

He's an unsung hero, he and her, the couple. How come they don't show up in the New Testament? Well, because God wanted me to use them in the sermon to say that. All right, I'm done.

That's it. We're just going to finish in prayer the cute little things that I am enjoying myself too much. So the angel of the Lord there, well, angel of God, which is interchangeable with angel of Yahweh, in verse 3. So that's not a contradiction of any type. When Jesus said, men ought always pray and not lose heart, in Luke 18, you know, you go through life and you just don't want to pray sometimes, because you're just frustrated, worn out, tired, the sense of defeat.

What's the use? I've been praying this and praying this, God's not listening. And then that verse comes to mind. Men ought always pray and not lose heart. Well, coming from Christ, it's more than just an encouragement.

It is a command. And because he is worthy, we begin to pray. And so there's just one story in the Bible of this praying man. Verse 10, then the woman ran in haste and told her husband and said to him, look, the man that came to me the other day has just now appeared to me.

Now in the New Testament, when Peter was in jail, they were praying for his release. He gets to the house and the lass that answers the door doesn't let him in. And she goes in and tells the people that are praying for Peter's release that he's at the door and they don't believe her. Not the case with Manoah. He believes his wife.

He's here. It's not the case when Mary Magdalene randomly, you know, Peter, who was the leader of the pack, the covering of all of the ladies that did not have husbands for sure, the spirits were covering, she runs and tells Peter and they don't believe her. And then they got up and ran, of course.

They ran together. And then John outran Peter. And John makes sure we know that too.

That's why he put it in John's Gospel. Anyhow, too many falafels for Peter. You go to Israel, the falafels start coming out of your ears. They're everywhere. Like falafel vending machines. The kids shoot you with falafel guns.

They're like paintballs, but they're falafel. Okay. Okay. So the woman told her husband and said, look, the man came, as I read there, in verse 10. No one can force God's hand.

And so when the prayer comes, it's answered so quickly, it's exciting. Job says this, he is unique, speaking of God. Understatement of the Bible. God is unique. Who can make him change? And whatever his soul desires, that he does.

Now Job is speaking from a hard experience when he said those words, he's saying, look at me. God does what he wants to do. Prayer is not designed to get God to do something for me. Prayer is to get me in tune with God.

Sometimes it works out very nicely, like in this example, but for Job, it was a long haul. Verse 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.

Now, I mean, you got to love that the excitement that must have been in both their minds as she's, follow me, and she's going to where the man is and both their heads is. It's this excitement, this spiritual activity, and when we don't get spiritual activity, I don't know about you, but it begins to weigh on me when I can't sense the Lord leading and guiding, and sometimes it lasts for years. Well, I've never had that in preparation and in the pulpit, but I have had it in my private life. Where is the Lord? I used to eat, have fun, wake up, good morning, Lord, good morning, Rick, and it'd just be a wonderful day, and then all of a sudden, huh, where is he? Am I sensing him?

Did I do something wrong? I've been nothing different. Same haircut. That is how it is, and then after a while, he picks up like it just never, nothing happened. So how about an explanation?

Well, really, I don't want one. I'm just so glad to see you, and that's how it's been for me. Maybe you think you're better than me, and all right, verse 11. So Manoah Rose followed his wife, and when they came to the man, he said to him, are you the man who spoke to this woman? He said, I am. Again, holding all the participants in this in a very good light, he has three questions that he asked him. Are you the man who spoke to this woman?

That's his wife. He will go on to ask in the next verse, what will be the boy's rule of life? And then in verse 17, he gets to, hey, what's your name, by the way? He only gets one answer to the three questions. Verse 12, Manoah said, now let your words come to pass. What will be the boy's rule of life in his work?

I love this question so much. He wants the details. How is the life going to be ordered?

How am I going to raise this kid? What do I have to do to fulfill, to honor this blessing that's coming to my home? That's what Manoah's question is. He wants precise instruction, and everything had been going in his favor.

Why not ask this question? His birth was foretold by this visitor. There would be special training involved with the abstention from the vine and the vow of the Nazareth, and that's training. He was being trained for what his ministry was to be, his ministry on life. And so the father is diligently inquiring on how do I do it? What's going to happen as the child matures? So there have been times that I've thought about this question. What will be the boy's rule of life?

Maybe I'll just leave it there, and if it strikes you, you can consider it too. But these facts make the story of Samson's failure more terrible, that he had such a mom and dad that were so in tune with the spirit. They were righteous people. They were in tune with each other.

And they were good, decent people from all we have of them. There's not a pick-up here. And yet Samson was, we'll see later, he gets to be kind of a spoiled brat. What do you do with a kid that's that strong? You spank him, that's what you do. You're the dad.

All right, anyway, mean faces. Verse 13. So the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, of all that I said to the woman, let her be careful. Now he's telling the father, now he's in, he's deputized, he's part of this, he's emphasizing, this is part of your responsibility too. Verse 14, she may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her, let her observe. So the parents were part of the training. Verse 15, then Manoah said to the angel, please let us detain you, and we will prepare a young goat for you.

I have never had anybody say that to me. Verse 16, and the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh, for Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh. So the writer is making this very clear that this angel is not a human being, he's in human form, but it is God himself. And the angel of Yahweh is keeping everybody focused on Yahweh.

Verse 17, then Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, what is your name, that when your words come to pass, we may honor you. We'll put a shrine up to, you know, whatever your name is. God did not come for Q&A. That's why he's not getting these questions answered. What's your name? You know, what are we going to do?

He gets to, you know, the one he gets answered. Verse 18, and the angel of Yahweh said to him, why do you ask my name, seeing how it is wonderful. Again, that's that word. It's off the chart. It's remarkable. It's a superlative.

It is out of this world. It is used in Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God Everlasting Father of Isaiah, chapter 9. And this is appropriate because the person who is presenting himself as wonderful is worthy of it. Psalm 139 uses the same Hebrew word, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain it. So everything surrounding this individual is remarkable and unlike anyone else.

Verse 19, so Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to Yahweh and he did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on. We pause there for a moment. There's that word again, that wondrous thing. This is executive privilege. You know, there are certain peoples in certain positions, they have these privileges and they need to have those privileges that everybody else doesn't have. This is not tyranny. If you are an owner of a company, for example, and you say there's no eating in the lobby, that's the rule.

Well, you're the owner. If you want to have a sandwich in the lobby, nobody's going to come say no. That's the best I can do for imagining a scenario. With the Lord, if he says you offer your offerings at the temple, but wherever he is, is the temple. The presence of the temple is nothing without his presence. It's the whole meaning of the Shekinah. But the Shekinah is only a theophany. It is only a manifestation of the presence of God. It is not an exhaustive manifestation. God is other places too.

He's ubiquitous. And so if God is standing in front of you and you're not in a temple and he says you can do a sacrifice here, there is no violation. It would be a violation to not present the sacrifice at that point. It's just beautiful how it all comes together. Verse 20, and it says, And as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh ascended in the flame of the altar.

When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. Well, what else could you do? I mean, what a climactic ending. It's like talking about, you know, how do you wow the crowd? Well, you don't use the jokes that I use. We've proven that doesn't work.

I think ascending in a flame is a pretty good first step. What would you have done? I mean, what would you do if you saw this?

Well, you would be so dumbfounded you wouldn't even reach for your phone. That's why we don't have a picture, so blown away. If you've ever seen anything remarkable, how do you tell anybody? How do you preserve that moment?

It's very difficult. I've seen quite a few funny and odd and amazing things. I mean, nothing on the level of this, but even those little things, you come back, you tell somebody, let me tell you what I saw. And they're like, oh, yeah, right. Okay, anyway, that's what the Bible is faced with when it tells us these miracles.

How does it preserve the power of the moment? Well, the faithful see it. The unfaithful begin to criticize and mock. Verse 20, and it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar. The angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar when Manoah and his wife saw this.

They fell on their faces to the ground. Verse 21, and the angel of Yahweh appeared no more to Manoah and his wife than Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. So Dad is now convinced, without a doubt, this is God that they had just watched ascend up and that they were in dialogue with. And you say to yourself, reading this story, knowing the outcome of Samson, did God waste his investment?

I mean, this is pretty heavy stuff. And Manoah and his wife lived a lifetime. This is probably the only wowed experience from God that they ever received.

The rest of their life was just kind of status quo. Should help us when we are craving, I don't want to speak for myself, I mean, I just crave that sense of God that is unique to the Christian experience. And when it is absent, I'm concerned. But he doesn't share that view sometimes.

He says, you're all right, kid, just keep going. And here's an example of people who lived that way. Anyway, what would have happened if the nation of Israel did not have Samson come along? Well, the Philistines would probably have been too strong and may have destroyed them. And Samson was still a tremendous contribution.

And all of this investment that God is putting into it, he gets his return. And the final episode, of course, was when he brought the pillars down and wiped out their leadership. And a large portion of it, that was a setback that gave time for men like Samuel and Saul and David, who were capable military commanders, to deal with this menace. Although Saul, one of the great lessons of Saul, instead of being king of Israel, he hunted David. Instead of dealing with the enemies of God, it is a powerful lesson for anybody who serves the Lord to not be distracted by stupid, sinful, unnecessary things when the main thing has got to be dealt with. And he did not do it.

He neglected his calling as king. And that's why the Philistines had gotten him to a spot where they destroyed him. Well, he now knows this is God. Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God.

That belongs to the parents of Samson. Verse 22, and Manoah said to his wife, we should surely die because we have seen God. He probably later said, once he puts them right, he probably goes, duh. I knew that.

Because it's a rookie mistake that he makes. Although, you know, it was the thought, there was a superstition around if you see God, you're going to die. And it's rooted in the scripture. Again, Judges 6, we dealt with that, where God says to Moses in Exodus that you can't see, I covered it in Judges 6, I'm quoting Exodus, you can't see my face. No man shall see my face, lest he die. Yet God spoke face to face. Of course, God was talking about his unveiled glory.

You can't look at that. And coming in human form, veils or filters, tones down, I guess is a better way to say it, tones down the glory of God. Diotrophes, remember we just had them a week or so ago and all the evil that he was up to in the Christian world there and the church and that community. John then writes, right after he comments that he'll deal with diotrophes, he says to the solid believers, beloved, do not imitate what is evil.

In other words, don't imitate diotrophes. But what is good, he who does good is of God, that he who does evil has not seen God. So you now put that verse next to this experience where they have seen the Lord and it just becomes brighter to me. Well that's what a born again Christian is, someone who has seen the Lord with their hearts. And that is precisely what John is saying in 3 John, that is the born again experience, that we have seen the Lord. And we're not afraid of him in the terrorized sense, in a reverent sense perhaps, but I feel very comfortable thinking about the Lord, his appearing, and we purify our hearts by the thought of it all. 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 let him have it. There's quite a bit there. I mean, if that were true we'd be dead. There'd be no point in telling I'm going to have a child if he's going to kill me after showing himself to me to tell me that. This is a kind of funny thing. And you know, again, where's the picture of Manoah, the look on his face when she tells him this? She is a true helpmate. And he doesn't talk back.

I think if there were anything like that there would be here. He's like, oh yeah, I forgot about that. It doesn't make any sense. It's kind of dumb to think that we're going to die after seeing God tell us what he's going to do in the future with us. Verse 24, so the woman bore a son and called his name Samson and the child grew and the Lord blessed him. Yahweh blessed him. Samson means sonny. Now some commentators try to take that and mean, well, there was a son God just down the road. I don't believe all that. I think that when she saw that baby boy, it was just like a sunny day for her and she named him Sunshine.

What's up, Sunshine? I mean, it's just a whole bunch of, it's a very nice thing. I mean, it's very beautiful, very real.

Ironic, it's ironic that the man named Sunny dies in blindness, but that is the reality around the story. And the child grew and Yahweh blessed him. Yeah, he did bless him, but he would yield too much, too many times to lower callings, lower urges. David wrote this, a man who had like passions in Psalm 69 verses 5 and 6. Oh God, you know my foolishness and my sins are not hidden from you. Let not those who wait for you, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me. Let not those who seek you be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Here's a hard verse. If you work in an office environment, I mean to say, Lord, let me not blow it.

When you've got all these people pecking at you with their, you know, idiosyncrasies and little bad habits and stuff that they do in over 10, 15 years, you know, Lord, please help me. The tone changes. But in that Psalm, he's saying, I don't want to bring a negative witness on my confession. And here the child grew and God blessed him. But he's going to bring a negative confession.

It will recover in the end, but at a heavy cost. What, again, would our understanding of the man Sonny be? Not Sonny be like a bzzz be that Sonny. But what would our understanding of him be if he was just a greater man? Well, Hebrews 11 says, and what more shall I say for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, and Samson? He's listed with the faithful.

And we have to remember that as we go through his story. How would you behave if you had the strength of Samson? I mean, could you just pick up a car and throw it at your neighbor's house if he played this music too loud? You could just do all sorts of things with people. Think of the practical jokes you could do. I mean, how fast could you just take somebody's tires off?

Would you just wet your hand, undo the lug nuts and make the noise where you do it? Okay, I'm done. That's it. Let's finish this and I'm going home.

Get under the covers. So, 2 Corinthians, Paul said, you're not restricted by us, but you're restricted by your own affections. I love when Paul, you know, he gets, sometimes he's a little irritated. He just lets him have a zinger. And he's saying, don't go blaming us Corinthians. We've just loved on you. If you got all tripped up, because you're tripped up. Your own passions. Verse 25, and the spirit of Yahweh began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. Do we really want to talk about where those places are? You're good.

I think you're good. Samson is not baby Hercules. He's not born with this great power like Bam Bam in the Flintstones or something. For those of you who know Bam Bam was. Anyway, it was this blessing to the Lord that came upon him. I personally do not believe Samson looked muscular.

I believe he looked like everybody else. A common man. Otherwise no one would have said, what is the strength? You know, they would have known. Well, I mean, you've been in the gym all day long. That's why you're strong. So, it irritates me because all the children's books, they all have to have this guy who's on steroids. And it just irritates me.

I think this should be law. You have to consult, well, not a pastor, but me. You have to consult me before you have artwork. Anyway, let's close with this verse.

Does this fit Samson and can fit us? And hopefully not. Are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh?

Lord, may it not be so. May we remain perfected in the spirit. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Judges. Cross Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you'd like more information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website crossreferenceradio.com. You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there and we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. You can search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app or just follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. That's all the time we have for today. Join us next time to continue learning more from the book of Judges right here on Cross Reference Radio.