Samson Week 1

The book of judges is a a book that has a pattern throughout the book. The pattern is that the nation of Israel turns away from God and does what is right in their own eyes, and God brings about judgement and often captivity to a surrounding nation. Then in their distress they call out to God for Salvation and God raises up a Judge to lead them back to independence and back to God, and they have peace for a period of time and then the cycle repeats itself.

As we take a look at the life of Samson understand he is a man that that is passionate and often he allows his passion to turn into sin. He struggles with lust and following the boundaries that God had laid out before him. Yet in the midst of that God uses him sometimes in spite of him. You see God can use you even in your struggles and Samson had many. This is a story filled with action and adventure, wit and passion and a life and death lived for the Lord.

It is my prayer and desire that over the course of this series that God would work on your heart in the following areas. That we would use our passion for the Lord. That we would recognize the cycles of sin in our own life. That God would cause us to grow in such ways that we would not be afraid to follow the Lord in faith no matter where it may lead or how God may use me.

Illustration- In youth ministry would try to tell me that the Bible was I would take them to Judges…

Are you ready for an adventure lets dig into Judges chapter 13...

THE CYCLE OF SIN

(ESV)

The Birth of Samson

13 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

And the people did evil in the sight of the Lord

OUR SIN IS SEEN BY GOD

Understand that God sees and knows what our sin is. There is no such thing as a secret sin. God sees our sin. God knows what you struggle with that no one else knows about. In this passage God saw the sin of the people, it was in His sight. And understand that sin is never out of the sight of God. When you sin in your mind with evil thoughts of hatred, or lust, or deception. It is in the sight of God. It has not fallen outside the boundaries of what he sees. God see’s it all.

OUR SIN ALWAYS HAS A COST

Look at the last part of the verse... so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. The cost of Israel’s sin was 40 years. The price was high and they were in captivity. Let me tell you that sin always has a cost. Your sin will always cost you more than you want to pay. Sin is never worth it in the long run. And here is the scary part when we are persistent in our sin and we think that we know better than God and that our way is better than Gods we better get ready to eat the consequences of our sin. God at some point allows us to reap what we have sown. If we persist in disobedience realize that comes with a cost and sin always leads to captivity. When we give ourselves to sin we give ourselves to sins captivity as well.

GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN US IN OUR SIN

Also understand that God has our best in mind, God has not forgotten us in our sin. He sees us and as the church we know that God sent His son to die on the cross while we were yet sinners. He does not leave us in our sin. He is always simply a turn away.

Illustration: Have you ever been left and forgotten somewhere as a child. It is a pretty sad feeling.

I don’t know where you are at here this morning. Maybe you are in the midst of a cycle of sin here this morning, let me tell you do not think for a second that God has forgotten you in your sin. He sees you and he knows and he loves you more than you can imagine.

THE MESSAGE FROM GOD

(ESV)

2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save 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 the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

This is quite the announcement. Samson’s Mom was barren and in that time it was often seen as a reason for shame and regret and some people would go as far as to say that it was a result of the sin of the parents. So the Angel comes to her and tells her she is going to be a mom. I don’t know about you but that is so much better than a pregnancy test. Can you imagine? Not only that but God tells you that you are going to have a son that will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. I love how she describes the Angel in verse 6 she said he was very awesome. She was still buzzing when she came to tell her husband.

THE NAZIRITE’S VOW

What God told her was that her son was to be a Nazirite from birth. So much so that she was to abstain from the same things while she was pregnant. A Nazirite was not to drink alcohol, not eat any unclean food, not to touch anything dead, and they were not to cut their hair. The point of the vow which was often temporary although it was not to be for Samson. It meant that they were to be laser focused in that time. That they were to focus on the task that God had before him and not get distracted by anything else.

Illustration: No shave November to focus on hunting :)

Let me tell you that you and I should be laser focused in our lives to do what God wants us to do. Now I am not suggesting that you just don’t shave, or cut your hair, but what I am suggesting is that you have a nazirite type focus on your relationship with God and what he wants us to do.

THE ANSWERED PRAYER

(ESV)

8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.”

I’m sure there are some parents here this morning that have prayed a similar prayer to that with our kids. Lord what do you want me to do with these kids. Or Lord how do I do this parenting thing, I need help.

9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”

So Manoah’s prayer is answered and the angel came back and appeared first to his wife and then to him. And the Angel reiterates what she is to do and says to Manoah, let’s make sure this happens. The Angel enlists Manoah as the helper to make sure this happened.

THE SACRIFICE RECEIVED

(ESV)

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching.

It is significant that they offered the sacrifice, and Manoah offered it to the Jehovah, the Lord who works wonders. He is the worker of wonders. He does marvelous things in our lives. Listen the God we worship this morning is the same God of wonders that was at work then and He is at work now and he wants to do marvelous things in your life.

20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”

THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF SAMSON

(ESV)

24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

This one verse covers a lot of time and the summary of it all is that the boy grew to a man and the Lord blessed him and Spirit of the Lord began to work in him. I hope that you and I are focused enough on the Lord and what he wants that we are sensitive to the stirrings of the Spirit in our life.

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