Introduction: When I first began my study of this portion of the book of the Judges, I thought that I had a pretty

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1 Judgs 13 Judgs 13:1 25 Samson s Birth Outlin of Chaptr 13: V. 1 Opprssion by th Philistins vv. 2 7 Th Angl of Jhovah tlls th barrn wif of Manoah that sh will bar a son vv Manoah prays to Jhovah and th Angl rappars to his wif vv Manoah spaks to th Angl of Jhovah and tris to dtain Him vv Th Angl of Jhovah (Jsus Christ) prforms a miracl which points to th cross vv Manoah thinks that thy ar going to di and his wif straightns him out vv Th birth of Samson and th Holy Spirit stirs him Charts: v. 21 Why Is This App aranc a Th ophany? Introduction: Whn I first bgan my study of this portion of th book of th Judgs, I thought that I had a prtty good ida just who Samson was. All of us hav hard Bibl storis about Samson whn w wr childrn, and I vn still had a mntal imag of my youth of this big, long-haird dud, with no ys, collapsing th pillars of a building and killing th Philistins around him. It is vn possibl that Thim taught m about Samson as wll. Howvr, non of that prpard m for what was to com. I had no ida what Samson was lik until I bgan this study; and thr wr tims I vn wantd to writ him off as apocryphal; howvr, his apparanc in th hall of faith (Hb. 11:32) prcluds that. Kil and Dlitzsch giv us a good introduction to this book and to th nxt fw chaptrs: [Whil] Jphthah, in th powr of God, was dlivring th tribs on th ast of th Jordan from th opprssion of th Ammonits, th opprssion on th part of th Philistins continud unintrruptdly for forty yars in th land to th wst of th Jordan (ch. 13:1), and probably incrasd mor and mor aftr th disastrous war during th closing yars of th high-pristhood of Eli, in which th Isralits suffrd a sad dfat, and vn lost th ark of th covnant, which was takn by th Philistins (I Sam. 4). But vn during this priod, Jhovah th God of Isral did not lav himslf without witnss, ithr in th cas of His nmis th Philistins, or in that of His popl Isral. Th triumphant dlight of th Philistins at th captur of th ark was soon changd into grat and mortal trror, whn Dagon thir idol had falln down from its plac bfor th ark of God and was lying upon th thrshold of its tmpl with brokn had and arms; and th inhabitants of Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron, to which th ark was takn, wr so svrly smittn with boils by th hand of Jhovah, that th princs of th Philistins flt constraind to snd th ark, which brought nothing but harm to thir popl, back into th land of th Isralits, and with it a trspass-offring (I Sam. 5 6). At this tim th Lord had also raisd up a hro for His popl in th prson of Samson, whos dds wr to prov to th Isralits and Philistins that thy God of Isral still possssd th powr to hlp His popl and smit His fos. 1 Kil and Dlitzsch continu: Th lif and acts of Samson, who was to bgin to dlivr Isral out of th hands of th Philistins, and who judgd Isral for twnty yars undr th rul of th Philistins (ch. 13:5 and 15:20), ar dscribd in ch with an laborat fulnss which sms quit out of proportion to th hlp and dlivranc which h brought to his popl. His birth was fortold to his parnts by an apparanc of th angl of th Lord, and th boy was st apart as a Nazarit from his mothr s womb. Whn h had grown up, th Spirit of Jhovah bgan to driv him to sk occasions for showing th Philistins his marvlous strngth, and to inflict svr blows upon thm in a sris of wondrful fats, until at lngth h was sducd by th bwitching Dlilah to mak known to hr th scrt of his suprnatural strngth, and was btrayd by hr into th powr of th Philistins, who dprivd him 1 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 288.

2 Th Book of th Judgs 419 of th sight of his ys, and complld him to prform th hardst and most dgradd kinds of slav-labour. From this h was only abl to scap by brining about his own dath, which h did in such a mannr that his nmis wr unabl to triumph ovr him, sinc h killd mor of thm at his dath than h had killd during th whol of his lif bfor. And whilst th small rsults that followd from th acts of this hro of God do not answr th xpctations that might naturally b formd from th miraculous announcmnt of his birth, th natur of th acts which h prformd appars still lss to b such as w should xpct from a hro implld by th Spirit of God. 2 In othr words, with th background of Samson, w xpct so much mor. W xpct him not to just dfat th Philistins, but to uttrly and compltly crush thm, and to thn judg ovr Isral for thn nxt fifty yars in a judgship markd by pac and prosprity. W instad find a man whos had was turnd by a prtty fac and whos lif was ruind bcaus h was unabl to fully follow Jhovah, th God of Isral. His failur would rsult in th incomplt dlivranc of Isral. In th nxt thr chaptrs, w will study Samson, who, lik Ehud who wnt into Moab alon and assassinatd thir king (Judgs 3:13 30), Samson is also a man who opposd th nmy alon, without an army. Samson is a pictur of Jsus Christ, a forshadowing of our Lord. In this chaptr, Samson will b born to parnts who do not xpct to hav a child. This child s birth will b prophsid. Th Angl of Jhovah dals primarily with th wif and not with th husband, just as th angl Gabril will dal primarily with Mary and not with Josph (Luk 1:26 38). At th nd of Judgs 16, w will summariz th parallls btwn th birth and lif of Samson and that of our Lord. Samson, on th othr hand, is also a pictur of Isral. Th NIV Study Bibl sts up th analogy for us: H typifis th nation of Isral born by spcial divin provision, conscratd to th Lord from birth and ndowd with uniqu powr among his fllowmn. Th liknss is vn mor rmarkabl in light of his foolish chasing of forign womn, som of ill rput, until h was clvrly subdud by on of thm. In this h xmplifid Isral, who during th priod 3 of th judgs constantly prostitutd hrslf to Canaanit gods to hr own dstruction. Kil and Dlitzsch xprss th sam sntimnts: But just as his strngth dpndd upon th faithful obsrvanc of his vow, so his waknss bcam apparnt in his natural charactr, particularly in his intrigus with th daughtrs of th Philistins; and in this waknss thr was rflctd th natural charactr of th nation gnrally, and of its constant disposition to fratrniz with th hathn. 4 Now you may wondr how on arth could on man rprsnt both our Lord Jsus Christ and unfaithful Isral Samson was so mwh a t o f a d ichotomy. In fact, w should b carful to sparat in our minds th two Samson s that w mt in th chaptrs to com w hav th Samson who is a Nazirit, who has bn ddicatd to God, who is willing vn to sacrific his own lif for th many. Thn w also hav th Samson who would yild to his carnal lusts, who was drawn uncontrollably toward womn outsid th trib of Isral who would rval th scrt of his strngth to a woman simply bcaus sh was bautiful. Samson was a man of grat strngth and grat waknss his strngth lay in bing a Nazarit; his waknss in yilding to his carnal lusts, and thrby bcoming unfaithful to his calling. In both rspcts h was not only a typ of Isral, but, so to spak a mirror in which Isral could s itslf and its history. Isral, th Nazarit popl no achivmnt, howvr marvllous, that it could not and did not accomplish! Isral, unfaithful to its vows and yilding to a spiritual adultry no dpth of dgradation so low, that is would not dscnd to it! Th history of Isral was th history of Samson; his victoris wr lik thirs, till, lik him yilding to th sductions of a Dlilah, Isral btrayd and lost its Nazarit strngth. 5 Edrshim continus, and rlats why such a paralll xistd: Thn it was, that onc mor th Angl of Jhovah cam, to tach th popl, through Samson, that dlivranc could only com by rcalling and ralising thir Nazarit charactr as a pristly kingdom unto Jhovah; and that th Lord s Nazarit, so long as h rmaind such, would prov all-powrful through th strngth of his God. 6 2 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p Th NIV Study Bibl; 1995 by Th Zondrvan Corporation; p Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p Alfrd Edrshim, Bibl History Old Tstamnt; 1995 by Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; p Alfrd Edrshim, Bibl History Old Tstamnt; 1995 by Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; p. 383.

3 Judgs Chaptr McG givs this ngativ viw of Samson s lif: Samson, calld to b a judg for his popl, calld to dlivr his popl from th opprssion of th Philistins, is a carnal man...h nvr raisd an army. H nvr won a battl. H nvr rallid th mn of Isral to him. Sx was th ruin of this man this man chosn by God! 7 Scofild summarizs Samson s lif, which I think would b apropos to quot hr: Th charactr and work of Samson ar alik nigmatical. Announcd by an angl (13:2 21), h was a Nazirit (Num. 6; Jud. 13:5) who constantly dfild his Nazirit sparation through flshly apptits. Calld by God to judg Isral, and ndud wondrfully with th Spirit, h accomplishd no abiding work for Isral and prishd in captivity to his nmis, th Philistins. What was ral in th man was his mighty faith in th Lord is a tim of doubt and spiritual dclnsion, and this faith God honord (Hb. 11:32). 8 Thr ar tims throughout th study of ths chaptrs to com that I rally cam to dislik Samson and som of th rally lam things that h did. And thr wr tims whn I admird him. W do not fully raliz how important it is to b dpndnt upon God th Holy Spirit. As blivrs, w could prtty much b diagnosd as having bi-polar disordr. W hav th tims whn w ar controlld by our old sin natur and th tims whn w ar filld with th Spirit. Now, many of us blivrs lad quit, and rlativly moral livs, and th contrast, although xtrmly important, is not noticabl to thos around us. Howvr, thr ar othrs of us whos old sin natur is particularly lascivious, making th contrast btwn bing in and out of th Spirit mor rcognizabl. I rcall a young fmal studnt of min whom I knw for a yar as a blivr and intrstd in God s Word, and quit obviously filld with th Holy Spirit; and th nxt yar I knw hr as sh had falln away from God, who had grivd th Holy Spirit. It was lik talking to two diffrnt popl. Samson will b lik that to us. H will accomplish a coupl of grat things in his lif and h will instigat a numbr of lam things in his lif. His lif is a study in contrasts, a contrast btwn bing filld with th Spirit of God and thn acting as a natural man. So fw blivrs grasp how important it is to b filld with th Holy Spirit. Or, if thy undrstand that, thy hav no clu as to th mchanics. Your lif as a blivr is maninglss apart from God th Holy Spirit. Your 70 or so yars on this arth man nxt to nothing if you spnd no tim filld with th Holy Spirit. I am not talking about som goofy holy rollr xprinc I am talking about silntly naming your sins to God, as you commit sins. If w acknowldg our sins, H is faithful and rightous to forgiv us our sins and to clans us from all wrongdoing (I John 1:9). This is how w walk in light as opposd to walking in darknss (I John 1:5 7). With Samson, w gt to s clarly th diffrnc btwn his walking in th light and walking in darknss. H will act as a prviw of coming attractions th working of th Holy Spirit in his lif is a prviw of th working of th Holy Spirit in th Church Ag. Judgs 13 is th prqul to th birth of Samson. W hav vry littl in th book of th Judgs which dals with burnt offrings or anything ls in th Mosaic Law; howvr, in this chaptr, w will hav a burnt offring mad to God. Mor importantly, w will hav th Angl of th Lord, Jsus Christ, mak His apparanc in th Book of th Judgs ssntially mid-book, just as H appard in human history, mid-history. And, on of th most amazing scns in th book of th Judgs, w will hav an incrdibl forshadowing of th cross. Manoah and his wif, who will bcom th parnts of Samson, caus a burnt offring to ascnd to God and suddnly, in th midst of th flams w hav th Angl of Jhovah appar and ris up to God in th flams thmslvs. It is a vry powrful imag of th judgmnt which is to com, th judgmnt for our sins which th Lord Christ Jsus will bar on our bhalf. I should mntion that som dtractors of Scriptur hav suggstd that Samson was mor or lss a ral prson whos lif and dds wr xaggratd somwhat for th sak of a good story. Thr ar ssntially two rasons givn for this viwpoint: (1) Samson prforms xactly twlv acts, which carris with it som litrary significanc; and, (2) som of what Samson dos is suprnatural or bordrs on th suprnatural. Now m, crtainly, I would lik to gt rid of this story of Samson; howvr, thr is no way that I can. W hav no rason to think that this is apocryphal apart from th two rasons just citd. Thrfor, lt s xamin thos two objctions to th historicity of Samson. First of all, Scriptur has to b carfully bnt in ordr to gt xactly twlv acts from Samson. H will brak th bands that Dlilah placs on him thr tims and ths will b considrd to b thr sparat acts. Furthrmor, som of th grat acts of Samson ar simply just childish. H sts fir to a bunch of Philistin filds 7 J. Vrnon McG, Joshua Judgs, h1976 by Thru th Bibl Books; p Th Nw Scofild Rfrnc Bibl; Dr. C.I. Scofild; 1967 Nw York Oxford Univrsity Prss; p. 309.

4 Th Book of th Judgs 421 by using som foxs (possibly, jackals). If you ar so inclind, aftr studying th nxt coupl of chaptrs, lt m 9 rcommnd Kil and Dlitzsch, who go into grat dtail on this point. Th scond objction rflcts a prdisposition. Som popl ar prdisposd to say that thr is nothing which has vr occurrd which is suprnatural; and thrfor, much of what Samson did, bcaus it is xtraordinary, could not hav rally occurrd. That is, thy alrady hav dtrmind that th suprnatural dos not xist, and thrfor draw thir conclusions basd upon this prmis. Th Bibl, by its vry natur and purpos, rcords God s hand in th history of mankind thrfor, suprnatural acts will b rcordd. If God is unabl to prform xtraordinary acts, thn God is not God. This portion of th book of Judgs picks up without th languag which would indicat that w hav hrin a continuation of Isral s history from th prvious chaptr. For th past thr or four judgs, w had th phras and aftr him. W do not find that phras hr in this chaptr. What w do is go back to Judgs 10:11, which rads: And th angr of Jhovah burnd against Isral, and H sold thm into th hands of th Philistins, and into th hands of th sons of Ammon. Howvr, aftr that, th Philistins ar not mntiond again until now. Th indication is that this chaptr should b st down sid by sid th prvious coupl chaptrs, occurring during th sam tim priod, but in a diffrnt part of Isral. This provids us with somwhat of a forshadowing of what is to com. Isral, barly a nation at this point in tim, will b carvd into two nations, th northrn and southrn kingdoms, and th history of ach will b rcordd sid-by-sid. Whn w arriv at that portion of Scriptur (th book of II Kings and of Chronicls), w will continu to jump back and forth btwn th two nations, and maintaining a strict chronological approach will bcom impossibl at that point. W hav th sam thing occur hr. Th vnts of ths nxt fw chaptrs run paralll to th vnts of th prvious fw howvr, it would do an injustic to ithr history to try to plac ths in som sort of strict chronological ordr, vn if such an ordr could b dtrmind. Such an approach would violat th intgrity of th individual historis, which is why w dal with thm sparatly. Opprssion by th Philistins Judgs 10:7 8 Slavishly litral: And so continud sons of Isral to do th vil in ys of Y howah and so gav thm Y howah into a hand of Philistin forty yars. Judgs 13:1 Modratly litral: Howvr, th sons of Isral continud to do vil in th ys of Y howah, so Y howah gav thm into th hand of th Philistins [for] forty yars. Th popl of southrn Isral continud to do that which was wrong in th sight of Jhovah, so Jhovah gav thm into th hands of th Philistins for forty yars. Although th Qal imprfct can b usd to xprss continuous action, insofar as it is incomplt action, it can b intrprtd in svral diffrnt ways. Thrfor, th Hbrw languag has a vrb to indicat continuing action and that is yâçaph (ó ñç éè) [pronouncd yaw-sahph], which mans to add, to augmnt, to continu to do a thing. Strong's #3254 BDB #414. Th Isralits would do vil in th sight of God and thn thy would corrct thir vil ways; thn thy would fall into vil again. This tim, God did not s t p in a n d solv thir problms immdiatly. Thn th sons of Isral again did vil in th sight of th Jhovah, srvd th Baals and th Ashtaroth, th gods of Syria, th gods of Sidon, th gods of Moab, th gods of th Philistins; thus thy forsook Jhovah and thy did not srv Him. And th angr of Jhovah burnd against Isral, and H sold thm into th hands of th Philistins and into th hands of th sons of Ammon (Judgs 10:6 7). Ammon would afflict Isral on th north and ast for ightn yars (Judgs 10:7 8) and th Philistins would afflict Isral on th south and th wst for forty yars. It appars as though th opprssion of th Ammonits and th Philistins occurrd at th sam tim. Samul will latr rcall ths days: But thy forgot Jhovah thir God, so H sold thm into th hand of isra, th captain of th army of Hazor, and into th hand of th Philistins and into th hand of th king of Moab, and thy fought against 9 S Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, pp for furthr discussion on both points..

5 Judgs Chaptr thm. And thy crid out to Jhovah and said, W hav sinnd bcaus w hav forsakn Jhovah and hav srvd th Baals and th Ashtaroth; but now dlivr us from th hands of our nmis, and w will srv You. (I Sam. 12:9 10). Whr th vil is don is in, and thn w hav th fminin plural construct of ayin (ï.é òç ) [pronouncd ÌAH-yin], which mans ys in this contxt. Strong s #5869 (and #5871) BDB #744 (and BDB #745). What is actually vil is dtrmind by th norms and standards of God. Cotrminous with th tim that Isral was xprincing problms with Ammon on th ast, in th south and southwst portions of Isral (primarily Judah, Simon and Dan) thy wr plagud by th Philistins, who stood btwn th coast of th Mditrranan and th trib of Judah. Th Philistins hav alrady bn mntiond in Judgs 3:31 whr Shamgar, a savior of Isral, struck down 600 of thm with an ox-goad (which incidnt is rcalld in Judgs 10:11). This is a continuation of th mntion of th Philistins as found in Judgs 10:7. Zodhiats: Th Philistins wr a group of popl from th Agan Sa ara. Calld th sa popl, thy had bn prsnt in Canaan for cnturis in small numbrs (Gn. 20, 21, 26). In th thirtnth cntury B.C., a larg numbr of ths sa popl attmptd to conqur Egypt, but wr dfatd and aftrward sttld on th coast of Canaan. Evn Samson s victory against thm (Judg. 16:30) was not th final tim that th Philistins wr mntiond in rgard to Isral. Thy wr vidntly still a plagu to Isral vn in David s day (2 Sam. 5:17 25). 10 W also hav archological vidnc which confirms th Biblical rcord hr. Th Philistins had a vry pculiar typ of pottry, calld, surprisingly nough, Philistin war. From th distribution of this pottry in th land of Palstin found in archological digs, w find that this confirms th Biblical rcord found in Judgs and I Samul about th concntration and influnc of th Philistins. 11 On of th problms which w hav in dating th book of Judgs is th dat givn by svral Biblical scholars for th attack of Barak and Dborah against Jabin is c B.C. whras a dat givn by ZPEB for this battl is c B.C. It is just vry difficult to fit in all th subsqunt judgs and thir tim priods, vn whn allowing for som ovrlapping (lik th rigns of Tola in th wst and Jair in th ast Judgs 10:1 5). Som of th yars may b gaind back by th dat of th opprssion of th Philistins. Many want to cut this off at th nd of th book of Judgs; howvr, w still find altrcations btwn a vry powrful Philistin group and th Isralits in I Sam. 4 7, with th final dlivranc from th Philistins occurring in I Sam. 7. If Saul is appointd king in 1043 B.C., thn roughly 1050 B.C. would mark th nd of Philistin opprssion. Although this dos not gain for us a cntury, it dos put ths dats about 20 yars closr. <<rturn to outlin>> Th Angl of Jhovah Tlls th Barrn Wif of Manoah that Sh Will Bar a Son And so h was, a man crtain from Zorah from a trib of th Danit and his nam, Manoah; and his wif [was] barrn and sh did not bar. Judgs 13:2 And so it was, a crtain man from Zorah from th trib of Dan, and his nam [was] Manoah; and his wif [was] barrn and sh did not bar [childrn]. Now, thr was this crtain man from Zorah from th trib of Dan whos nam was Manoah, and whos wif was unabl to bar childrn. Th trib of Dan is immdiatly north of Judah and has th Mditrranan coast as its bordr. Zorah is on of Dan s southrnmost citis which had originally bn assignd to th trib of Judah (Joshua 15:33 19:41). Samson was born thr and h would b burid nar thr (Judgs 16:31). For som odd rason, th mn of Dan, whn 10 Th Complt Word Study Old Tstamnt; Dr. S. Zodhiats; 1994 AMG Publishrs; p Th Zondrvan Pictorial Encyclopdia of th Bibl; 1976; Vol. 3, p Th Zondrvan Pictorial Encyclopdia of th Bibl; 1976; Vol. 3, p. 740.

6 Th Book of th Judgs 423 it cam to acquiring som additional proprty in th far north, thir point of dpartur was Zorah. It is possibl that this was simply a wll-known plac in which to gathr; it is likly that from thr, that th trib of Dan dcidd to go northward. Th man is givn th dscription châd (ã çè à ) [pronouncd h-khawd] and it mans on, first, but it can also b usd in th sns of a crtain man or on [particular] man. Strong's #259 BDB #25. What h has is th fminin singular of îshshâh (ä È Éàò ) [pronouncd sh-shawh], which mans woman, wif. Strong's #802 BDB #61. What w hav hr is ish and ishah, much lik Adam and th woman. Sh is givn th adjctival dscription âqâr (ø È òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-kawr], and it mans barrn. Strong s #6135 BDB #785. This is followd by th wâw conjunction, th ngativ and th Qal prfct of yâlad (ãìç È é) [pronouncd yaw-lahd], which mans to bar, to b born, to bar, to bring forth, to bgt. Strong s #3205 BDB #408. You might wondr why w hav th adjctiv and thn th vrb is th writr of Scriptur rubbing this in? Is h making a point? A woman can bcom barrn aftr sh has born childrn. This was not th cas. This woman had nvr had childrn. So, from th trib of Dan w hav a marrid coupl who hav not born childrn. Th problm hr, according to Scriptur, is th woman. Sh had bn biologically unabl to produc childrn up until that point in tim. This sam condition xistd, prior to divin intrvntion, in Sarah, Abraham s wif and Isaac s mothr (Gn. 11:30 16:1); Rbkah, wif of Isaac, mothr of Jacob (Gn. 25:21); Hannah, mothr of Samul (I Sam. 1:2); and Elizabth, mothr of John th Baptizr (Luk 1:7). 13 And so appard an Angl of Y howah unto th woman and so H said unto hr, Bhold, plas, you [ar] barrn and you hav not born and you will conc iv and you hav born a son. Judgs 13:3 Thn th Angl of Yhowah appar d to th woman and H said to hr, Obsrv, plas, [that] you [ar] barrn and you hav not born [childrn]. Howvr, you will conciv and you will bar a son. Suddnly th Angl of Jhovah appard to this woman and H said to hr, Listn, if you will you ar barrn and you hav no childrn. Howvr, you will conciv shortly and bar a son. W ar not givn any dtails hr, othr than th Angl of Jhovah, Jsus Christ, appard to this woman, told hr that sh was barrn and had had no childrn, but that sh would conciv and bar a child. In fact, it was so crtain, our Lord usd th prfct tns. Now, you may b concrnd that I rndrd this an Angl of Jhovah. Litrally, in th Hbrw, thr is no dfinit articl, bcaus a noun in th construct stat in this cas, angl and nouns in th construct stat do not vr 14 tak a dfinit articl. Whn a dfinit articl is applid, it is applid to th noun that th construct is affixd to. Howvr, Y howah is a propr nam, so it will not tak on a dfinit articl. Thrfor, th Hbrw dos not allow for a dfinit articl hr. Howvr in v. 6, w will hav th Angl of God. W hav a similar announcmnt for th births of Isaac: Now Jhovah appard to him by th oaks of Mamr, whil h was sitting at th tnt door in th hat of th day...and H said, I will crtainly rturn to you this tim nxt yar, and, listn, Sarah your wif will hav a son. (Gn. 18:1, 10a). Both Isaac and Samson wr typs of our Lord, thir births and birth announcmnts forshadowing His: Thrfor th Lord Himslf will giv you a sign: Listn, a virgin will b with child and sh will bar a son, and sh will call His nam Immanul [which mans God with us]. (Isa. 7:14). Now in th sixth month th angl Gabril was snt from God to a city in Galil calld Nazarth to a virgin ngagd to a man whos nam was Josph, of th dscndants of David; and th virgin s nam was Mary...And th angl said to hr, Do not b afraid, Mary; for you hav found grac with God. And listn, you will conciv in your womb, and bar a son, and you will nam Him Jsus. (Luk 1:26 27, 30 31). 13 Paraphrasd from Th NIV Study Bibl; 1995 by Th Zondrvan Corporation; p Mnahm Mansoor, Biblical Hbrw Stp by Stp, 1980; Bakr Book Hous; Vol. 1; p. 175.

7 Judgs Chaptr And now tak hd plas and do not drink win and strong drink and do not at all of [th] unclan. Judgs 13:4 Th r for, plas [continu to] tak rsponsibility and do not drink win or strong drink and do not at any unclan thing. Thrfor, plas continu to act rsponsibly and with intgrity and do not drink alcohol and do not at that which is unclan. Our Lord bgins by tlling this woman th wâw conjunction and th advrb attâh (ä È òç ) [pronouncd ìaht-tawh], which is th advrb of tim maning now. Somtims, th ida of tim is lost whn it is usd as a word of incitmnt, spcially whn followd by an imprativ; it can dscrib a prsnt stat with th wâw conjunction and b translatd and so, thus, things bing so, thrfor. Litrally, it is and now. Strong s #6258 BDB #773. Th imprativ which follows is th Niphal imprativ of shâmar (ø îç È ) [pronouncd shaw-mar] and it mans kp, guard, watch, prsrv. In th Niphal, which is usd far lss than th Qal stm, w can bttr rndr this as tak hd, tak car, b carful to, tak rsponsibility to. Although th Niphal is gnrally th passiv stm, it is also usd to strss th individual ffct upon th group. Th Niphal also dscribs an action in progrss, so th vrb can b accompanid by th word bing or continu to. Strong's #8104 BDB #1036. At th nd, sh is told not to at, and thn w hav th masculin singular construct of kôl (ìé ) [pronouncd kol], which mans th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all, vry. Whn usd with a plural noun, w oftn translat it all of and with a singular noun, w translat it vry or any. Th Hbrw mind uss th word vry to man what w man whn w say any. Strong s #3605 BDB #481. Th noun associatd with this is th masculin singular adjctiv þâmê (à îå èè ) [pronouncd taw-may], which mans unclan. Strong s #2931 BDB #379. Obviously, prior to birth, thr ar crtain halth aspcts which could b assrtd hr; howvr, th ky is kping this child sp a r at from th world and sparat from that which is unclan. This was a part of th Nazirit vows (Num. 6:3, 20), which wr not unlik th bhavior of John th Baptizr (Luk 1:15). Mor of this is crmonial and fraught with shadow maning rathr than bing a considration of th woman s and th baby s halth. Samson forshadowd our Lord (which w will tak up in dtail in a coupl of chaptrs) and John th Baptizr was an hrald to our Lord. A similar command was givn to Aaron and his sons as prists, thy also forshadowd our Lord, as wll as hraldd His coming. I am hoping that so far, it is obvious that thr is a paralll hr right in th middl of all of this darkst of th tims of th judgs, whn lif for Isral appars to b its most blak, an angl coms to a childlss coupl and promiss thm that a child will b born to thm, a child who must b st apart from all othr childrn, a child who will dlivr his popl. Now, w did not s this typ of thing with Jphthah nor with Gidon, dspit th fact that ths wr grat mn in a tim of grat dgnracy. This is vry similar to th birth of our Lord Jsus Christ, Whos birth was announcd to His mothr prior to hr concption, also in th midst of vry dark tims for Isral th Child to b born would dlivr His popl from thir sins. For, bhold you, concivd and baring of a son and a razor h will not ascnd upon his had for a Nazirit of God will b th boy from womb and h [vn] h will bgin to dlivr Isral from a hand of [th] Philistin. Judgs 13:5 For, listn you, prgnant, and baring a son. Furthrmor, h will not ascnd a razor on his had for a Nazirit of God th boy will b from womb. Thn h [vn] h, will bgin to dlivr Isral from th hand of th Philistins. For l t m inform you that you ar pr gnant with a son and you will not bring a razor to his h ad for your boy will b a Nazirit to God (sparatd to God) from th womb. H will thn bgin to dlivr Isral from th hand of th Philistins.

8 Th Book of th Judgs 425 This is not a difficult vrs from th standpoint of what it says, but th sntnc structur is unusual, which draws grat attntion to what is bing said. I will first giv you what som othrs hav don: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation...for lo! thou ar about to conciv and bar a son and no razor shall com on his had, for on sparat unto God shall th boy b from his birth, and h shall bgin to sav Isral out of th hand of th Philistins. For bhold, you shall conciv and giv birth to a son, and no razor shall com upon his had, for th boy shall b a Nazirit to God from th womb; and h shall bgin to dlivr Isral from th hands of th Philistins....for, lo, thou art conciving and baring a son, and a razor doth not go up on his had, for a Nazarit to God is th youth from th womb, and h doth bgin to sav Isral out of th hand of th Philistins. This vrs bgins with th xplanatory conjunction kîy (é ò) [pronouncd k], which mans whn, that, for, bcaus. Strong's #3588 BDB #471. This is followd by th dmonstrativ particl hinnêh (äå äò ) [pronouncd hin-nay], which mans lo, bhold, or, mor frly, with obsrv, look hr, look, listn. Strong s #2009 (and #518, 2006) BDB #243. Affixd to this particl is th fminin singular suffix (which w would hav xpctd to b part of th nxt vrb, or said by itslf as an pronoun). This givs us, so far, for, bhold you... This is followd by th fminin singular adjctiv hârâh (ä øè äè ) [pronouncd haw-raw], which mans prgnant, with child, having concivd. Th adjctiv and th vrb ar splld alik, although both Own and Zodhiats idntify this as th adjctiv. Strong s #2030 BDB #248. Jsus Christ spaks to this woman, who formrly was barrn. This is followd by th wâw conjunction and th fminin singular construct, Qal activ participl of yâlad, again; (ãìç È é) [pronouncd yaw-lahd], mans to bar, to b born, to bar, to bring forth, to bgt. Strong s #3205 BDB #408. This is followd by th noun son. rd Th nxt noun is razor (which is a fminin singular), followd by th ngativ and th 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct of âlâh (ä ÈÈ ìò) [pronouncd ìaw-lawh], which mans to go up, to ascnd, to ris. Strong's #5927 BDB #748. In th English, you would think that razor is th subjct of th vrb, but that is not th cas. H rfrs to th son. This is followd by upon [or, on] his had. Thn w ar givn th xplanation:...for a Nazirit of God will b th boy from th womb. What h will b a Nazirti to God will b from th fminin singular of bþn (ï è ) [pronouncd BEH-tn], which mans womb. Strong's #990 BDB #105. W bypassd this doctrin whn w wr in Num. 6, so now w will covr it mor formally in th Doctrin of th Nazirit. In th scond lin, w hav th Hiphil imprfct of châlal (ì ìç çè ) [pronouncd khaw-lahl], which mans, in th Hiphil, to bgin. Strong's #2490 BDB #320. This is followd by th phras: to dlivr Isral from a hand of [th] Philistin. Notic that thr is a prcision to this languag Samson will not compltly dlivr Isral from th opprssion of th Philistins h will bgin to dlivr thm, a dlivranc which will b compltd latr during th tim of Samul th propht. Obviously, this mans that Samson was born during th subjugation of Isral to th Philistins. Sinc th Philistins dominatd Isral for forty yars, w know that Samson s ntir lif fll within ths forty yars. Now, I nd to warn you up front that many commntators trat Manoah and his wif as if thy wr on prson in action, thought and dd. Throughout thir commntaris, thy writ Manoah and his wif did this; Manoah and his wif did that. Edrshim writs, for instanc: And whn th Angl...ascndd in th flam that consumd th 15 burnt-offring, thn Manoah and his wif, rcognising His natur, fll worshipping on th ground. To th casual radr (you and vryon ls who has dcidd to rad th Bibl for yourslvs), nvr grasp th fact that Manoah 15 Alfrd Edrshim, Bibl History Old Tstamnt; 1995 by Hndricks on Publishrs, Inc.; p Edrshim dos not som slight diffrncs btwn thm in that sam contxt.

9 Judgs Chaptr and his wif ar vastly diffrnt in what thy s, what thy comprhnd and how thy ract. Ths diffrncs ar statd in this passag, but with subtlty, which is why you nvr caught thm in th first plac. And so cam th woman and so sh spok to hr man, to say, A man of th God cam unto m and his apparanc lik an apparanc of an Angl of th God frightful, vry. And I did not ask Him whr from whnc H [was] and His nam H did not dclar to m. Judgs 13:6 And th woman cam in and sh spok to hr husband, saying, Th man of God cam to m and His apparanc was lik th apparanc of th Angl of God xtrmly farful. And I did not ask Him from whr H [cam] and H did not tll m His nam. Thn th woman wnt into hr hom and said to hr husband, A man of God cam to m and H appard to b th Angl of God His apparanc was xtrmly farful. I did not ask Him whr H cam from and H did not tll m His nam. Lt s s how othrs hav rndrd this: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Lit. Translation So th woman cam in and told hr husband, saying, A man of God cam unto m, and his apparanc was as th apparanc of th mssngr of God, rvrnd xcdingly, and I askd him not whnc h was, and his nam h told m not. Thn th woman cam and told hr husband, saying, A man of god cam to m and his apparanc was lik th apparanc of th angl of God, vry awsom. And I did not ask him whr h cam from, nor did h tll m his nam. And th woman comth and spakth to hr husband, saying, A man of god hath com unto m, and his apparanc is as th apparanc of a mssngr of God, vry farful, and I hav not askd him whnc h is, and his nam h hath not dclard to m;... What w nd to dal with hr first is th dfinit articl in th Hbrw. A noun in th construct stat.g., a man of th God or an angl of th God do not tak on dfinit articls. In th Hbrw, th dfinit articl prcds th noun to which th construct is tid. Howvr, that dfinit articl is applid to th ntir phras. So proprly, in 16 English, th words in this vrs should b rndrd th Man of God and th Angl of God. This is why svral translations ithr rndr this as th Angl of God (NASB, NJB) or footnot it as such (NRSV, REB). In prvious and subsqunt vrss, sinc Jhovah is a propr noun, th phras Angl of Jhovah will not hav a dfinit articl bcaus a construct dos not hav a dfinit articl bfor it nor is a propr noun prcdd by a dfinit articl. Th point in all of this is that this is not just simply an angl from God (which in itslf, would b incrdibl). This is th Angl of God, Jsus Christ, th scond prson of th trinity, th rvald mmbr of th Godhad (s also Gn. 32:24 30 Num. 22:22 35 Judgs 6:11). I should point out, so no on gos off th dp nd, that th xprssion, th man of God, can rfr simply to a prson undr God s spcific dirction (.g., Dut. 33:1 I Sam. 2:27 9:6 10 I Kings 12:22 13: :18 I Tim. 6:11 II Tim. 3:17). Whn spaking of this man s apparanc, th woman twic usd th trm mar h (ä ò ø îç ) [pronouncd mahr- Ó EH], which mans th act of sing, sight, apparanc, that which is sn. Strong's #4758 BDB #909. Sh dscribs it furthr with th Niphal participl of yârê (à øå éè) [pronouncd yaw-ray] mans to far, to far-rspct, to rvrnc, to hav a rvrntial rspct. In th Niphal, w hav a vritabl potpourri of manings: (1) trribl, dradful, usd of th dsrt wildrnss in Dut. 1:19 8:15 and of th day of judgmnt in Jol 2:11 3:4; (2) Vnrabl, August (Gn. 28:17 Psalm 99:3 Job 37:22 Ezk. 1:22); (3) stupndous, admirabl (Ex. 15:11 Psalm 66:3, 5). In th plural, it can rfr to illustrious dds. I m thinking w should go with farful. Strong s #3372 BDB #431. This is modifid by th advrb m ôd (ãà É îó ) [pronouncd m -ODE], which mans xcdingly, xtrmly, gratly, vry. Strong s #3966 BDB #547. For unusual apparancs, s Matt. 28:3 Luk 9:29 Acts 6: This is diffrnt from an adjctiv which follows a noun; thy both hav th dfinit articl or both do not. Dmonstrativ adjctivs and thir nouns always hav dfinit articls.

10 Th Book of th Judgs 427 What sh did not do was th Qal prfct of shâ al (ì à Ç È ) [pronouncd shaw-ahl], which mans to ask, to ptition, rd to rqust, to inquir, to qustion, to intrrogat. Strong s #7592 BDB #981. This is appndd by th 3 prson masculin singular suffix and followd by th advrb êy ( é à ) [pronouncd ây], which mans whr. Whn prfixd to th mîn prposition and th masculin singular dmonstrativ adjctiv, togthr thy man whnc, from whr. rd êy = Strong s #335 BDB #32. This is followd by th 3 prson masculin prsonal pronoun, which oftn implis th vrb to b. Litrally, this is:...and I did not ask him whr from whnc H [was]. You will not thir rlationship Manoah and his wif s. Sh knows xactly th first things hr husband is going to ask, and ths ar th unimportant things. H will want to know who was this guy?, what did h look lik?, whr did h com from? So sh tlls him what h wants to know immdiatly, and thn sh quickly movs on to what is important. Surly you know somon who can finish your sntncs for you and can tll what you ar thinking by looking at you. Manoah and his wif had bn marrid a long tim. Whn Manoah runs into th Angl of God, th first thing h will ask is what His nam is (Judgs 13:17). Now, a minor qustion: did Manoah s wif know that this was th Angl of God? In this vrs, sh tlls hr husband that sh spok to a Man of God, which can b applid to a propht or to somon in an intrcssory position,.g., Moss (Dut. 33:1). Whn w com into contact with somthing or som vnt which is truly miraculous, w tnd to undr-rport what occurrd as opposd to ovr-xaggrat. Th ida that th Angl of God could appar to hr was byond hr imagination. Sh is not going to tll hr husband that this was th Angl of Jhovah. Sh will tll him that H is th Man of God whos apparanc is lik that of th Angl of God. Bar in mind that sh has nvr sn th Angl of Jhovah bfor, so how sh dtrmind that H lookd lik th Angl of Jhovah is not a qustion which Manoah askd himslf. Howvr, h took what sh said at fac valu and was unawar of Who this Prson was. W know that Manoah did not know Who H was, whras his wif did. In Judgs 13:17 18, th man asks th nam of th Angl of Jhovah. In Ju d g s 1 3:16, th Angl rfuss to fllowship with Manoah. In Judgs 13:19 21, thr ar thr sparat occasions whn Manoah is mntiond in conjunction with his wif and th vnts which transpird. Howvr, in v. 21, it is Manoah who ralizs that H is th Angl of Jhovah and in v. 22, h xclaims that thy ar both going to di bcaus thy hav sn God. Manoah s wif, without missing a bat, xplains to him why Jhovah is not going to kill thm. Now this xplains what Manoah did not catch originally why didn t sh ask this Prson Who H was? Bcaus sh knw Who H was. Sh knw H was th Angl of Jhovah. Sh did not hav to ask. Howvr, sh is not going to say this to hr husband. So, again, why didn t sh just tll hr husband that sh spok with th Angl of Jhovah? (1) Whn facd with an xtraordinary xprinc, sh, lik many popl, undr-rportd th vnts. (2) Scondly, sh undrstood that hr husband had authority ovr hr and that th Angl of Jhovah appard to hr and not to him. Sh ralizd that this could b a problm for him. (3) Sh knw what h was going to ask (notic how sh answrs svral of his qustions bfor h vn asks thm); thrfor, sh also knw roughly what h was going to do. Sh thought it bttr for him to find out on his own. (4) Sh must hav known his spiritual condition ithr that h was not rally a blivr or that h was out of fllowship. In ithr cas, tlling him that sh spok with th Angl of Jhovah was not th bst policy. Tlling him that sh spok with a Man of God (which was not inaccurat) Whos nam sh did not ask, smd to hr to b th bst policy. Aftr all, du to his spiritual condition, th Angl of Jhovah might not appar to Manoah, which could thn caus a plthora of problms btwn thm. And so H said to m, B hold, you [hav] conc iv d and ar baring a son; and so, drink no win and strong drink and at not all of an unclan [thing], for a Nazirit of God will b th boy from th birth until a day of his dath. Judgs 13:7 So H said to m, Listn carfully, you [hav] concivd and ar baring a son. Thrfor, drink no win or strong drink and do not at any unclan [thing], for th boy will b a Nazirit of God from birth until th day of his dath. Thn H said to m, Listn carfully, you hav concivd and you ar baring a son. Thrfor, do not drink win or strong liquor and do not at that which is unclan, bcaus this boy is to b a Nazirit of God from birth to th day h dis.

11 Judgs Chaptr Aftr h told hr sh was baring a son, w hav th wâw conjunction and th advrb attâh (ä È òç ) [pronouncd ìaht-tawh], which mans now. With th wâw conjunction, th ida of tim is lost whn it is usd as a word of incitmnt, spcially whn followd by an imprativ. Togthr, thy man and so, thus, things bing so, thrfor. Litrally, it is and now. Strong s #6258 BDB #773. Svral of my sourcs incorrctly not that Samson was not a Nazirit by choic. Kil and Dlitzsch writ: In th cas of Samson this conscration of th lif to God was not an act of his own fr will, or a vow voluntarily takn; 17 but it was imposd upon him by divin command from his concption and birth. That is only half of th story. Don t you think that Samson had fr will? Don t you think that Samson could hav chuckd all of this at ag 16 and dcidd to b a plumbr instad? Us your damn had Samson dfinitly had fr will; his parnts chos for him to b a Nazirit, but h chos to maintain ths vows and this lifstyl. It is with this passag, and othr similar ons, that w gt a bttr fl for prdstination. What if Samson just didn t fl lik it? What if h was not vn a blivr in Jsus Christ? What options did h hav at birth? Did th Holy Spirit indwll him and oprat him lik a robot (which is lik dmon possssion works)? Hopfully, you, vn thos of you who hav struggld and struggld with th ida of prdstination and forordination, raliz that Samson was a man who had fr will; h was a man who xrcisd his fr will; and h was a bliv in Jsus Christ and that, by choic. H mad mistaks and h did som grat things. God calld him and h rspondd. Knowing his fr will choics from trnity past, God calld him vn from th womb. What was to happn was forordaind, but Samson s fr will playd a part. For thos of you with childrn, you may undrstand bttr. Thr ar som things that will st your kids off; and you know thir aras of waknss and thir aras of strngth. You also know prtty much how thir fr will is going to act in crtain situations. Thr ar tims whn you arrang a scnario or do things knowing full-wll what th child s raction will b. In fact, thr ar tims you xpct th raction to b what it is. You may mak a trip to th dntist always followd with som sort of rward an ic cram con or whatvr somthing to look forward to and somthing to offst th apprhnsion. Thr ar spcial things that you do for your son or daughtr thm parks, camping out, buying som toy that you know will appal to you child and mak thm tmporarily happy. You hav not ovrruld thir fr will, pr s, you hav simply takn thir fr will into considration whn making plans. I hav prsonally mad a lot of bonhad mistaks things which I knw wr wrong and I wnt ahad and did thm anyway. Many of ths mistaks hav rsultd in things in my lif bing th way thy ar. Thr ar dcisions which I mad that rsultd in grat pain and turmoil. Bliv it or not, God knw wll in advanc vry wrong choic that I would mak, and H plannd for that. H plannd my punishmnt, H plannd th way for m to gt through it, and H plannd th rsults that would occur whn I chos to bcom filld with th Holy Spirit again. At no tim did I vr catch God by surpris with som dull mov on my part. God nvr lookd down from havn and said, Holy crap, I nvr thought Kukis was going to do that. I guss that I will just hav to kick his butt or somthing. God knw from trnity past vry singl good and vry singl poor dcision that I would mak and H plannd for it. God knows our fr will and H rspcts it, vn though thr ar tims it would hav bn bttr had H rachd into my soul and turnd my ngativ into positiv. You hav a tnag son or daughtr. In a fw yars, thy will b living out on thir own making thir own dcisions. Although you hav xrcisd a lot of control and disciplin in thir livs for th past 10+ yars, you giv thm a littl rop. You allow thm to mak som bad dcisions. You stand back, vn though it is difficult to watch thm do what is wrong and thn suffr th consquncs. For som childrn, this is th only way that thy larn. Thy hav to mak a thousand bad dcisions, bump thir hads into a wall a thousand tims, and, at som point, rcogniz what thy did was wrong and fix it or do it right. Som tim in th tn yars, you hav to allow for thm to mak som bad dcisions. God allows for us to mak a lot of bad dcisions and to larn from thm. What kind of provisions dos H provid for us? Just what you would xpct; H ss to it that w can larn His Word, if w so choos. Evry blivr, rgardlss of gographical location and logistical barrir, can, if h is 17 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 289.

12 Th Book of th Judgs 429 positiv, gain accss to th taching of God s Word. Oft tims, whn it appars as though such a thing is impossibl, it is mor of a rflction upon thir fr will. Aftr all, thr ar som blivrs in th Unitd Stats who do not vn own a Bibl; or own a Bibl and havn t lookd at it in yars. Thr ar a lot of blivrs in th Unitd Stats who havn t bn to church for a month, or a yar or svral yars. Th scond thing which God givs to us is th Holy Spirit. Evry blivr is baptizd into Christ and vry blivr is baptizd and indwlt by th Holy Spirit. W do not hav a bunch of half-christians wandring around who nd to gt th Holy Spirit in ordr to function in thir livs. Now, what som blivrs nd is to b filld with th Holy Spirit; howvr, that can b accomplishd apart from any wird crmonis and apart from going to scary churchs. Any blivr who dsirs to b filld with th Spirit has mrly to nam his sins to God and h will b instantly filld with th Holy Spirit. Ths two things God s Word and G o d s Sp ir it go hand-in-hand. On is almost worthlss without th othr. It dos you no good whatsovr to attmpt to larn God s Word and to not nam your sins to God. It is lik haring th gospl whn you ar not rady you may for a momnt grasp what it says, and thn, thirty minuts latr, you forgt what was said. And bcoming filld with th Spirit apart from God s Word do you not raliz that you cannot us your old norms and standards from your old lif onc you bcom a blivr in Jsus Christ? Don t you raliz that you ar in full-tilt rbllion against God and that many of th things that you hold so dar and bliv ar so right, ar actually so wrong in God s ys. A lot of hippis blivd in Jsus Christ. Som of thm flt that most of thir hippy ways wr th ways of Jsus and som will vn dfnd that to you. This is bcaus thy lack discrnmnt and that is bcaus thy lack God s Word. Bing filld with th Holy Spirit will only last a fw sconds until thy sin again and commit som act which thy do not vn raliz is a sin. Som homosxuals bliv in Jsus Christ and ar dlivrd from th wrath that is to com but instad of taking God s Word at fac valu, thy twist or ignor Scriptur to accommodat thir own sins. As a rsult, w hav homosxual churchs whr som of th popl who attnd ar actually blivrs in Jsus Christ, yt thy continu to practic sin. Som of ths might b occasionally filld with th Spirit; howvr, thy los that almost immdiatly du to thir hardhartdnss. Now, with rgards to Samson: in th grat prparations for Samson s birth, God knw xactly what would happn. You must undrstand that thr is mor to th birth and lif of Samson than th simpl partial dlivranc of Isral. Samson would b a shadow-figur of our Lord to com, and w will covr that in partial dtail in this chaptr and in grat dtail to com. W oftn tnd to focus on that which is unimportant; or upon that which is lss important. Som of th commntators which I rad focusd upon th works of Samson in rlation to th dlivranc of Isral and concludd that h rally didn t do all th much whn you com right down to it. That is absolutly corrct. His dlivranc of Isral was partial and ill-fatd. Howvr, what h did in his lif actually, what God did with his lif is far gratr than th killing of a fw thousand Philistins. In Samson, w will s a shadow of our Lord Jsus Christ to com this was th tru gratnss and impact of his lif. You might b thinking: Yah, but h didn t do anything. On of th gratst things that Abraham vr did was offr his son Isaac to Jhovah God. Abraham did not vr comp l t this human sacrific and human sacrific is against vrything taught in Scriptur. Howvr, what was paintd was a vry carful pictur of th sacrific of Jsus Christ, God s only Son, on th cross. You hav no ida how many Jws hav hard th gospl, wr dirctd to th offring of Abraham s only Son and th grat substitution which took plac and, God causd thm to undrstand this passag for th first tim in thir livs and thy blivd in Jsus Christ. Abraham nvr actually sacrificd his son Isaac in that non-act, Abraham did th on of th gratst things in his ntir lif. Bliv it or not, your lif will hav a grat spiritual impact oftn whn you don t vn raliz it. You might not fl as though you hav don anything howvr, God dos all of th work. Oft tims, w can sit back, njoy th rid, and rciv trnal rwards for it. <<rturn to outlin>>

13 Judgs Chaptr Manoah Prays to Jhovah and th Angl Rappars to His Wif

14 Th Book of th Judgs 431 And so mad ptition Manoah unto Y howah and so h said, Plas, O Lord, a Man of th God Whom You snt, H will com in plas again unto us and H will inform us what w [ar to] do for th boy, th on bing born. Judgs 13:8 So Manoah appald [by prayr] to God, and h said, Plas, O Lord, a Man of God Whom You snt, lt Him plas com in again to us and H will tach us what w [ar to] do for th boy th on bing born. Thrfor, M anoah wnt to God in prayr, saying, Plas, O Lord, th Man of God Whom You snt plas snd Him back to us so that H may tach us what w ar to do for our boy who is to b born. My first thoughts wr: God knw that Manoah would ract in this way that h would ract with positiv volition toward this mssag and that h would call upon God for guidanc. Thn I bgan to think about this somwhat. God appard to Manoah s wif, but not originally to Manoah. Manoah will not raliz to Whom h is spaking until latr in this chaptr. Manoah dsirs for this Man to hav fllowship with him (v. 16), yt H will rfus. All indications ar that Manoah is an unblivr up until th sacrific that h maks in this chaptr. Eithr that, or h is a blivr out of fllowship. In ithr cas, Jsus Christ rfuss to closly associat with him, and appars to him latr only by grac and whn h is with his wif. Th first vrb is th Qal imprfct of âthar (ø ú òè ) [pronouncd aw-thahr or gaw-thahr], and it mans to pray, - to supplicat, to appal, to ptition, to ntraty. This vrb is always dirctd toward God. Strong s #6279 BDB #801. With th particl of ntraty, w can infr th rqust that th man of God rturn to Manoah and his wif, hnc th addition of th word lt. What this man of God will do is th Hiphil imprfct of yârâh (ä øè éè) [pronouncd yaw- RAWH], which mans to throw, to shoot. In th Hiphil, this is almost a diffrnt word. It is gnrally translatd tach, instruct, numrat (Ex. 24:12 Dut. 33:10 Judgs 13:8 Job 6:24); although, a suprficial glanc sms to indicat that inform might b a bttr translation. Howvr, in th Hiphil, w ar daling with th word tach, prhaps in th connction of throwing somthing down in front of somon ls. In th Hiphil, this word can still b usd to man shoot, throw (Job 30:19 I Sam. 20:20 II Sam. 11:20). Strong's #3384 BDB #434. In any cas, this appars to b a good sign that this man wants to know what to do howvr, kp rading... This is all bing don on bhalf of th masculin singular of th noun na ar (ø ò ð) [pronouncd NAH-ìahr], which - - mans boy, youth, young man. It is applid to infants in Ex. 2:6 Judgs 13:5, 7 or to a youth in Gn. 34:19 41:12. It can also rfr to a slav or a srvant, as in Gn. 24:2 II Kings 5:20. This is much lik th word boy in our languag, which, in th South, was applid both to young mn and to slavs and latr to dscndants of slavs. Strong s #5288 & 5289 BDB #654. God did not willy-nilly pick any family and drop this young man s soul into thir son. H carfully chos a husband and wif who wr blivrs (or, in th cas of th husband, would bcom a blivr) and who would ddicat thmslvs to th spiritual dvlopmnt of thir son. Now, I don t want you to go away with th wrong imprssion hr. This prayr of Manoah s sounds all nic and holy, but th Angl of God has alrady told his wif what was going to happn and what thy wr supposd to do. In othr words, this was a don dal. So, what is h praying about? What has happnd is a tad bit far-ftchd, as far as Manoah is concrnd and h wants som suprnatural confirmation. H dos not vn appar to b a blivr (obviously many unblivrs pray; for som of thm, it is th first stp toward bliving in Jsus Christ). If this is tru, thn Manoah might vn b somwhat concrnd that God did not follow th propr protocol by apparing to him first. God knows all of this and what H dos is rathr humorous H answrs Manoah s prayr by apparing to th woman again, apart from Manoah.