Biblical Studies

In the very beginning of the narrative of the birth of Samson (Judges 13:1), we are told that Israel was up to some evil.  The prophet Jeremiah has told us a couple things that were being done in Israel that were less than God’s desire for them: they were forsaking God who truly quenches souls and instead were quenching them with their own desires (Jer 2:13).

The rest of the story of Samson at least shows these two evils in full light. Samson neglected his purpose and did not live up to the Nazirite vow that was placed on his life. He created his own purpose by his pursuit of foreign women. And foreign doesn’t only mean another country. Anything we should not be enjoined to is a foreign thing. When foreign agents get into our bloodstream, we get sick. So it is in the Spirit realm.

Samson’s mother, his father Manoah’s wife, was visited by a messenger of God who told her she would no longer be barren. Her reaction is much different than Mary’s was when a messenger of God told her about Jesus. The story of the birth of Samson and the story the birth of Jesus are two examples of what Robert Alter calls “annunciation type-scene” (Critical Inquiry, 1978, 355-68) and what Benjamin Johnson has recently called “the son of a barren woman” type-scene (JETS, vol. 53, no. 2, 270). There is no doubt there are several examples of this type of narrative. The similarities in these type-scenes can teach us a bit more about he stories involved.

This messenger of gave good news that the barren womb would now produce! I think I would much more joyous about this than Manoah’s wife was. I suppose it was not the same of birthing the son of God, but I think I would be more celebratory that the Lord was delivering me from not producing anything. That was a very big deal in the Ancient Near East. She then told her husband Manoah who did not believe her. Still remind you of the Joesph and Mary story? The difference is that Mary was never barren. Jesus may have had a parched life due to his mission, but he did not have parched origin.

However this story now takes a different turn. The messenger of God told Manoah’s wife exactly what she needed to do with this son God was giving. He was to be a Nazirite. He was to be set apart for God’s purposes: no wine, no eating unclean things, and no cutting of the hair (Judges13:4-5). She told her husband this. He wanted to hear for himself, so he prayed. Manoah doesn’t seem too bright to me. He doubted his wife, BIG mistake - any husband will tell you that, and when the messenger returned Manoah asked what they should do (Judges13:12). Really? So where was your clue now that your wife was making all this up? Didn’t she just tell you what you needed to do? Following God is not an easy task. I suppose finding a way out of the instructions may be natural.

But the messenger of God didn’t shake his head and roll his eyes like I would have done. He repeated God’s instructions (Judges13:14). When Manoah offered him food, the messenger didn’t want food. If Manoah was going to give anything for this, it should be an offering to the Lord (Judges13:16) from whom all good things originate (James 1:17). When he did this, the messenger went up to heaven along with the smoke of the offering (Judges13:20). This showed Manoah and his wife the best known confirmation that they were going to get that this deed was going down – because God spoke it.

But that still didn’t seem to convince ‘ol Manoah who then said they were going to die because they had seen God (Judges13:22). At this point, I wonder if his wife wanted to shake her head. Maybe she patted him on the knee and said, oh honey. You’re a little special aren’t you? Why wouldn’t have God killed us way back when he appeared the first time, his wife asked (Judges13:23)? Maybe Manoah was just afraid of the workload ahead. It came to happen that she had a son as promised. So then the desolate or barren places produce life when God is in the midst. This type-scene is different than the Mary and Joseph account as Johnson rightly points out in his article in JETS. Though there are similarities, what Jesus accomplished is of another scene – more of Samson as he should have been.

In spite of our shortcomings the Lord is faithful. Amidst human failures, his purposes are not thwarted. There are 5 things I can glean from this episode.

1. Put God first in all: cares, dedication, prayer, fasting – this sets up our nomination for his work
2. Carry out instructions: do as he asks - when we receive a word, follow through
3. Put aside prior ways: there is no victory without letting go and letting God
4. Seek to make God happy: we commanded to d our mission with joy (Psa 37:4, Php 4:4)
5. Read his word: we forget, so we need to be reminded, don’t neglect your studies

I think if we can pull these lessons out of our own life story, we will be set up for blessings. The Spirit of the Lord has been sent. He didn’t perish after Pentecost. But he does have a specific purpose. When it comes into the season fo that purpose, there is no adversary equipped to oppose him. Samson was empowered once the Spirit came upon him for the move that God desired to do through him (Judges 14:6). It wasn’t about his perfection. God still used him because God is faithful. His purposes are not thwarted by human intervention.

God’s purposes sometimes seem to be thwarted by different sources of opposition. Disorder seems to prevail before God intervenes. As God’s promise was delayed, or so it seemed, regarding Abraham’s promised heir, Abe and his wife took matters into their own hands. Abraham had a child with his wife Sara’s handmaiden and this caused all sorts of trouble. It seemed to have the potential of ruining what God was trying to do with his people.

God’s purposes continued. Abraham conceived his promised son, Isaac. The people of God must prepare for and expect opposition that can come from being faithful. Opposition can come from God’s own people, community failures, or foreign enemies. But one thing is certain, Scripture is loaded with examples of the adversaries faced by those faithful to God.

There are several different words used for “adversary” in Hebrew. One I’d like to point out is the Hebrew word satan. It is not until later in Scripture that this satan is given a persona. There are actually only four places where the expression  ”The satan” is used in the Old Testament: the angel preventing Balaam from passing through the mountain side (Num 22:22-32), in the prologue to Job (Job 1:6), when David took a census of Israel (2Sa 24:1), and when Joshua in in the heavenly court being accused (Zec 3:1-4).

The significance of this is that Satan is not addressed as a character until later in the New Testament, which means our perception of Satan only referring to a specific demon or “The Demon” may not always be true. It can depend largely on context. One place this helps me make sense out of what Scripture is saying is in the example of when Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me Satan” (Mat 16:23)! So was Peter possessed? Most likely it means that Peter was identified as being an adversary of God by what he was saying and thinking regarding Christ’s pending crucifixion. Since he rebuked Jesus’ statement that he was going to die on the cross, Jesus was informing him of the origin of that thought. It didn’t come from God.

Whoever or whatever is used by the adversary to further his agenda becomes and agent of evil. That is the primary persona of Satan. He is against the work of God. We know there is more than one demon or evil spirit at work in the spiritual world, attempting to get God’s people off track and working against him. So the point isn’t in that someone is possessed by Satan when they sin or end up working against God. The point seems to be that any agent of evil is a Satan, an adversary of God.

It is not people that we are essentially being opposed by in our lives. It is the work of the Evil One who has been a murder from the beginning (Joh 8:44). But we have spiritual weapons for success (Eph 6:11-12), and we are not wrestling against people but against these spiritual adversaries. I think it helps paint the appropriate picture to rightly focus our efforts on the spirit and not on the person.