God's Gracious Intervention

Well, good morning. It's good to see all of you this morning.

I want to encourage you, if you would please, to open your Bibles to Judges chapter 13.

Judges 13 · chapter mention

! Judges 13. If you're using the Pew Bible, it's on page 100 to 13.

213.

Yes.

Yes. Before we really dive into the text this morning, I want to just let you know about some exciting things that are happening.

As many of you are aware of, we've had a chance as a church to partner with several sister churches over the last several years.

And men from our congregation, from our fellowship, have had the chance to fill pulpits and to encourage, with the Word, churches that are part of our fellowship in other parts of the city of Columbus.

And that, of course, is really a blessing.

I am so grateful for godly men who are gifted to teach the Scriptures and that we have a chance to do that just around Columbus.

This past week, I got a call from a church.

They have an interim pastor who's been at their fellowship for the last couple of years.

He had kind of a medical issue the past week.

And they said, hey, can you please send us, the church, will you please send us someone to fill a pulpit so that we can do our services on Sunday?

And it's been neat.

We have several young men who are trying to raise up and be part of what we hope to become kind of a pulpit team, a preaching team.

And investing in their lives, younger men who are either in seminary right now, have finished Bible college,

or have plans to move into ministry at some point.

And being able to invest in them and help them along the process, but also give them opportunities.

So, this morning, one of our young men has a chance to preach and teach.

And we trust that in the subsequent weeks, there may be opportunities to do some more of that.

That's something that God has done for us.

You know, we have a heart for investing in young men and a chance now to be able to give these young men the opportunity to preach and to teach for another congregation.

Our hope is that every second Sunday of the month, beginning in, not October, but beginning, excuse me, not in September, but in October,

every Sunday of the, second Sunday of the month, to have someone from our fellowship be able to put these gifts to work,

a younger man, raising them up, and discipling them in this process.

So, just wanted to share that with you and ask that you would pray with us and pray for these men as God is raising them up.

We are in the book of Judges.

And so, for those of you who may be here for the first time, we've been working through the book of Judges this summer.

And now we're kind of in the last leg, as it were.

We're kind of closing things out.

And anyone who's read the book of Judges will come to understand that the further you go into the book, the worse things get.

The darker things are.

The more this moral decline is taking place among the nation.

And we've traced that along.

And the summary phrase for us is found in Judges chapter 2, verse 19,

Judges 2:19

that talks about every subsequent generation,

when the children rise up,

then they depart further from the Lord.

But you might think that this story,

while it's getting darker,

becomes a lesson for us as it relates to,

well, we can't be those kinds of people.

And God has turned His back on these individuals.

And there's no hope for them anymore.

And actually, this morning and next week,

will help us to realize that while the nation continues to decline,

that God remains faithful to His Word.

We have a God who initiates with His people.

We have a God who's faithful.

A God who's trustworthy.

A God who is the main character of this book.

And while all the judges are departing from God,

or so it seems,

or the nation is moving further away from God,

God remains fixed.

His promises are true.

He is dependable.

And He continues to exercise and to demonstrate His faithful love to them.

There is one main character.

The Lord Himself.

Who stands preeminent over the book of Judges

and calls us to see Him and to experience Him

the way He wants to be experienced.

In His holiness.

In His trueness.

We're meant to acknowledge that He is not only the one who's the main character,

but He is the main deliverer of all of the experiences that we have.

All the crisis you may go through,

there is one solution.

There's one fix.

Know the Lord.

Serve the Lord.

Follow the Lord.

So we come to Judges chapter 13.

Judges 13 · chapter mention

We begin this study.

We pick up this study in verse 1.

Let me read this for us.

And you can see,

as we get going here,

that we have an initiating God.

That this story,

all along,

we've been looking at various judges

throughout the timeline,

or the history,

of this nation.

In the early stages of this nation.

And while there may be many judges,

there is one main figure.

And I want to just draw our attention to that main figure,

the Lord Himself,

as we work our way through these couple of chapters.

First is,

we have an initiating God.

Notice this.

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 there was a certain man of Zorah,

of the tribe of the Danites,

whose name was Manoah.

His wife was barren,

and had no children.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman,

and said to her,

Behold,

you are barren,

and have not born children.

But you shall conceive and bear a son.

Therefore,

be careful,

and drink no wine or strong drink,

and eat nothing unclean.

For behold,

you shall conceive and bear a son.

No razor shall come upon his head.

For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb.

And he shall begin to save Israel

from the hand of the Philistines.

We have an initiating God.

The story of his initiating power is remarkable,

as it comes to light in the story of Samson.

It's a story of us as well.

And that's important for us to understand and to recognize it.

That while things are getting darker and darker

for the nation of Israel,

back in the time of the judges,

we can all sense,

I trust that you are sensing,

in our day and age,

darker and darker times,

one generation after the next.

We're living in those times.

But we have an initiating God.

The same God who initiated his love to his nation,

to his people,

back during the time of the judges,

is the same God who initiates love for us.

One of our favorite verses,

John 3.16,

you could probably quote it with me,

for God so loved the world,

that he gave his only begotten son,

that whosoever believes in him,

will not perish,

but have everlasting life.

We have in initiating God.

And God's initiation happens in spite of our rebellion.

God extends his love,

his offer of forgiveness,

his invitation for relationship with him,

in spite of our rebellion.

It's incredible.

Why does he do this?

We are undeserving.

It's because he's an initiating God.

He's a God who extends himself.

He's a God who invites us to participate in fellowship with him.

He's a God who wants to reveal to us the areas of our life that are out of step.

But it doesn't mean that we are turned away.

We're invited closer.

We're invited inward.

We're invited to participate with him

as we come to a place of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ,

and then we'll be saved.

Of confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

and then enjoying the offer of forgiveness.

Understanding our sin,

turning our hearts to him,

confessing our sin,

repenting from our sin,

and enjoying the benefits of forgiveness.

John will also say in his letter in 1 John 4, verse 19,

1 John 4:19

he will say this.

You know this.

We love him because he first loved us.

That is our initiating God.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He is the same God today as he was during the time of the judges.

He initiated his kindness to people who did not deserve it.

That is our problem so often, though,

is we often think that we deserve the kindness of God.

We do not put ourselves in the category of rebels.

And so we think that the love that God has extended to us

is because we are so lovable,

when in fact, we are rebels.

And God, in his kindness,

has extended that love so that we can experience it.

And here in Judges chapter 13,

Judges 13 · chapter mention

this final leg of this journey, as it were,

before we turn the page to 17 to 21,

where there are no more judges,

and the people have essentially pushed God away in totality,

God graciously extends himself one more time

to a wayward people.

We find here, again, verse 1,

the people of Israel again did what was evil

in the sight of the Lord.

Now, in some translations,

I believe this is misleading

because it gives the impression

that at some point in time,

there was spiritual reform.

There was some sort of revival that had taken place,

some sort of awakening that had happened,

and now they're turning again to things that were evil.

Well, what we need to recognize

is that Judges 13 is bound together

with Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

It's one story in two parts.

So just turn with me for a moment to Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

You can see this in verse 6 and 7.

It says this,

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord

and served the Baals,

and the Ashtore,

the gods of Syria,

the gods of Sidon,

the gods of Moab,

the gods of the Ammonites,

and the gods of the Philistines.

You see that?

The Ammonites were the gods and the people

that God used Jephthah to oppose.

The gods of the Philistines,

we're going to find in our story,

are the gods that God is opposing through Samson.

Then it goes on, verse 7.

So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

He sold them into the hand of the,

now in reverse order,

the Philistines,

and into the hand of the Ammonites.

One story,

two parts,

bound together in this passage to help us know,

this is a unit.

We're to see this together.

We're to understand the rebellion of God's people

as this continuing pattern

that will now work its way out from,

to the end,

till we finally get God showing up in the book of Samuel.

And that's the next story.

This is one movement in two scenes.

And the Hebrew word again,

again is actually the word to add.

It's the word to increase.

It's the word to do more.

The word will only mean again

if it's coupled together with an adverb,

which it's not here.

So it's better to understand

if the people increased in their evil against the Lord,

or the people continued to do evil against the Lord.

this is a rebel people.

This is a people that haven't turned to God in decades.

And God initiates in spite of a rebellious people.

Marvel at the wonder of a God who initiates.

A God who demonstrates his kindness that's undeserved.

In Romans chapter 5 verse 8 it says,

Romans 5:8

But God shows his love for us

in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

We were hostile towards him.

We were in enmity against him,

enemies of him.

We pushed him away,

and God still sent and demonstrated his love

in spite of our rebellion

to draw us to himself

in spite of what we deserve.

What a great God.

But God is showing initiative also

in spite of their track record.

In spite of their track record.

The Danites that we're looking at here,

the text is zoomed in on verse 2.

You see 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.

Now the Danites from the very beginning

of this book

are those who had been characterized

by incomplete obedience.

In chapter 1 verses 34 and 35

they were the ones who were pressed back

into the hill country by the Amorites.

They refused to do what God had said

and to fill out in full obedience to God

and to press in and trust him

by taking and occupying the land.

Instead they were pushed back

and they were okay with it.

Then in Judges chapter 5 verse 17

Judges 5:17

Deborah will sing this song

of the victory that God has wrought

for the people,

for the nation of Israel

and the Danites are mentioned.

They're mentioned as those

who were unwilling to participate at all

in the victory over Sisera.

They wanted no part of it.

They wanted to remain comfortable.

They wanted to remain distant.

They will be mentioned again

in our final chapter.

So the Danites kind of formed

this bookends to our book of Judges

to help us see apostasy,

to help us see incomplete obedience,

to help us see that this is a rebel people.

And so when we come to chapter 13

and we read about the Danites,

what should go off in our mind

is this is a people

that have rebelled against the Lord.

But God shows his initiating love

and kindness in spite of their track record.

They have a track record.

And I imagine that many of us in this room

have a track record.

You have history.

You have things you're a little ashamed of.

Maybe things that you're embarrassed to talk about.

Maybe skeletons in the closet as it were.

But we have a God who is willing

to extend mercy in spite of our track record.

We have a wonder-working, merciful Savior.

He does that.

He shows his wonder-working mercy

here at the beginning of this story,

initiating this miraculous birth

that we're going to read about in just a moment.

And as Samson walks onto the scene,

his story welcomes us with a hope

of real change.

Maybe, finally,

God will do something in the people.

Maybe, maybe God's Spirit

in coming on this barren woman

and birthing this miraculous son,

maybe, finally,

something will change.

The moral climate of this nation

will be turned around.

That's the hope we get.

Maybe this time,

it'll be different.

It harkens back to the days of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob,

who each had barren wives.

And the work of God

to interact in their life

and to allow these men

and their wives

to experience miraculous delivery

is meant to showcase

the dependability

and trustworthiness

of our God.

That's what is meant

to be on display.

God is faithful.

God will preserve his people

in spite of their track record,

in spite of their rebellion.

And then this,

in verses 3 to 5,

God initiates

in spite of ignorance,

in spite of their ignorance.

It says,

This birth announcement

is given to this barren woman.

We are, again,

reminded of the faithfulness of God.

His promise

to preserve his people.

His promise

to deliver them.

His promise

to eventually

give them a king.

And now,

this birth announcement

is carried

with conditions.

We see those conditions

that are built in.

He's to be a Nazirite

to God.

And this word,

Nazirite,

is the Hebrew word,

Nazir.

It's from a root,

a Hebrew word

that means consecrate

or to dedicate.

You see,

the first salvation,

the first reform

that needed to take place

was a reform of the heart.

It was a reform of the man.

If God was going to use

the man

to change a country,

to change a nation,

he had to begin

with the man.

God is

intentional

in prioritizing

spiritual reform.

We've been learning

about that in our time

through the book of Judges.

That God is interested

in a people

that are

worshiping him

with their heart,

soul,

mind,

and strength.

And if you're ever,

if we are ever

as moms and dads

going to influence

our culture,

influence our families,

we have to be influenced.

We have to be transformed

by God himself.

We have to see his word

and allow his word

to change us

from the inside out

so that we can have

the hope

of being able

to transform

the people

that God puts

in our circles

through his power.

You see,

Samson's entire life

was to be set apart.

Especially important

at this point

in our story

because God cares

about the moral decline

of the people

and he wants

to change the nation

but he has to start

with changing the man.

God cares about

the spiritual deliverance

because while man

looks on the outward appearance,

God looks at the heart.

Nothing is hidden

from his eyes.

God knows

the things that are going on

in your life

and he wants to reform you

before he can reform others.

So he is to be set apart

to God.

It says a Nazarite

to God

and it does have

an outward working.

He is not to drink

strong drink.

We see that in verse 4.

He is not to eat

anything unclean.

No razor is to touch

his head.

So,

Manoah's wife

takes this announcement

and she brings

that announcement

back to her husband.

She tells him

what is about

to happen.

this promise

of a son

that is about to come.

But notice verse 6.

Judges 13 verse 6.

Judges 13:6

She runs

to tell her husband

and she says,

A man of God

came to me

and his appearance

was the appearance

of an angel

of God.

Very awesome.

I did not ask him

where he was from.

he did not

tell me

his name.

He did not

tell me

his name?

How can you

be so oblivious

to the angel

of the Lord?

The angel

of Yahweh

that is standing

in front of you.

He is the one

who has been promising

to carry you

and you are totally

oblivious

to his work.

The angel

of the Lord

is standing

face to face

with you

and you

can't identify

it.

You know

it's a divine

messenger.

You can't

place him

in your inventory

of deities.

Manoah's wife

is totally

unaware

of God's name

and throughout

this narrative

in chapters 13,

actually 12,

13, 14,

and 15

and even spilling

into chapter 16

there is no

mention of Yahweh

like either Manoah

or his wife.

It's just Elohim

which is the word

for God

or Adonai

which is the name

for Lord.

Yahweh

is active

in this section

even though

he's not

mentioned by name.

She relays

these words

of the angel

to her husband

in verse 7.

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 Nazarite

to God

from the womb

to the day

of his death.

Now Manoah

wasn't able

to hear

this announcement

himself.

He prays

to the Lord

in verse 8

that God

would allow him

to hear this message

for himself.

God listens

in verse 9

to the voice

of Manoah

and then

shows up again

to Manoah's wife

and not

to Manoah

himself.

So then

Manoah's wife

has to run

and retrieve

her husband

and when

Manoah returns

in verse 11

he asks

this question.

Are you

the man

who spoke

to this woman?

And the response

was one Hebrew

word,

I am.

The angel

reiterates

the instructions

not to eat

anything

that's offered

that's from

the vine

or anything

unclean

and then we

have this

in verse 15.

Manoah

said to the

angel of the

Lord,

please let us

detain you

and prepare

a young goat

for you

and the angel

of the Lord

said to Manoah

if you detain me

I will not

eat your food

but if

you prepare

a burnt offering

then

offer it

to the Lord

to Yahweh.

The angel

of the Lord

is now

allowing Manoah

in on the story

of who he really

is.

And in this phrase

for Manoah

did not know

that he

was the

angel

of the

Lord

the angel

of Yahweh

completely

oblivious.

And Manoah

said in verse 17

to the angel

of the Lord

what is your

name

so that when

your words

come true

we may honor

you.

And the angel

of the Lord

said to him

why do you

ask my name

seeing it

is wonderful.

For 300

years

of history

since the

conquest

leading up

to this

point

God

had faithfully

delivered

his people.

And here

we are

in Samson's

story

and they

are completely

oblivious

now

to Yahweh

the God

who has

made promises

to a nation.

What is your

name?

What kind

of question

is that?

It's because

the people

have become

so distant

from God.

They have been

serving the

pantheon.

All of the

gods of

these other

countries

they know

them by

name

and they

want to

make sure

that whatever

service

they're to

give

they give

that service

to the

right deity.

Their service

to the deities

has been

aligned

to everyone

else except

for Yahweh

himself.

But God

has taken

the initiative

with a

people

who are

rebellious

a people

who have

a bad

track record

and a people

by the way

who are

completely

oblivious

to him.

He does

it for

his name

for his

glory

and not

because the

people deserve

it.

We find in

Judges chapter

Judges 13 · chapter mention

13

21

the angel

of the

Lord

then appeared

no more

to Manoah

and to his

wife

than Manoah

that he

knew that

he was

the angel

of the

Lord.

Finally

there's

recollection.

Finally

there's a

truth that's

dawning on

his life.

the

governing

priority

has been

set.

This

obligation

these

conditions

that God

has given

now on

three different

occasions

to set

yourself

apart

and to

do it

this way.

This

reform

of the

heart

that works

its way

out

in a

reform

of life

a set

apartness.

One

commentator

says this

the

conception

and birth

of Samson

declare

emphatically

God's

refusal

to let

this

nation

die.

Israel

may be

doing

all in

its

power

to

destroy

itself

from

within

but

God

must

preserve

this

nation.

The

honor

of

his

name

and

the

cosmic

mission

of

his

grace

is

at

stake.

Oh

we

have

a

God

who

delights

in

keeping

his

promises

for

the

sake

of

his

name.

But

I

wonder

how

often

is

it

true

of

our

own

lives.

We

put

on

these

external

forms

of

spirituality

we

may

dress

ourselves

up

as it

were

in

the

Nazarite

vow

we

call

ourselves

as

those

who

are

a

Nazarite

to

God

and

of

course

I'm

using

language

descriptive

language

for

what

we

will

do

in

our

context

the

things

that

we

put

on

to

say

hey

look

I'm

dedicated

to

God

and

I

trust

that

is

true

because

it

does

have

outward

forms

but

we

allow

so

often

those

outward

forms

to

be

a

counterfeit

for

what

God

really

wants

he

really

wants

a

heart

a

heart

that's

devoted

to

him

that

we

would

love

the

Lord

our

God

with

all

our

heart

all

our

soul

all

our

mind

all

our

strength

that's

how

reform

begins

to

happen

it

happens

first

on

the

inside

and

then

is

able

to

spill

out

and

so

we

have

an

initiating

God

we're

going

to

see

in

chapter

13

verse

24

through

the

end

of

chapter

15

that

we

also

have

an

empowering

God

we

have

an

empowering

God

and

we're

going

to

pick

up

this

theme

about

the

Holy

Spirit

and

the

Spirit

of

Lord

coming

on

Samson

next

week

but

I

want

to

just

touch

on

this

here

chapter

13

verse

24

notice

and

the

woman

bore

a

son

and

called

his

name

Samson

and

the

young

man

grew

and

the

Lord

blessed

him

and

the

Spirit

of

the

Lord

began

to

stir

him

in

Mahan

and

Dan

between

Zorah

and

Eschatol

God

graciously

delivers

a

son

God

graciously

gives

his

promise

he fulfills

!

His

word

the

things

that

God

says

you can

bank

on

you can

trust

him

and

the

woman

names

him

Samson

and

the

word

the

name

Samson

means

little

son

and

it's

caused

some

commentators

to wonder

what is

this

all

about

is he

just

a

bright

spot

in

the

darkness

of

this

culture

is he

is that

why

he's

the

little

son

but

I

think

what

might

be

a

little

closer

to

the

answer

is

that

just

a

couple

miles

away

from

the

place

where

Samson

grew

up

is a

little

village

named

Beth

Shemesh

and

Beth

Shemesh

was

known

as

the

focal

point

of

son

worship

the

focal

point

of

son

worship

so

just

in

the

back

door

as it

were

of

this

village

is

son

worship

that's

taking

place

and

Samson's

mom

calls

him

little

son

but

God's

activity

in this

narrative

has been

unmistakable

hasn't

it

a

promised

birth

a

divine

encounter

a

special

announcement

a

set

apart

to

the

Lord

a

miraculous

delivery

God's

blessing

can you

understand

God's

blessing

on

Samson

we have

learned

kind of

in the

church

age

that when

God

is

present

and his

blessing

is on

an

individual

we have

come to

equate

that

well

then

if

God's

blessing

and

God's

favor

and

God's

spirit

is on

an

individual

then

certainly

that

person

is

validated

by

God

he's

directed

by

God

he's

pointed

by

God

he's

confirmed

by

God

commissioned

by

God

and

what

becomes

quite

disturbing

or

perplexing

perhaps

is when

we

encounter

Samson

and wonder

how can

God's

spirit

be on

a

man

in

every

activity

of

every

decision

every

motive

of

Samson's

heart

his

Samson's

life

is

completely

self

directed

self

motivated

self

focused

and

it's

his

desire

his

fleshly

desires

that

drive

Samson

to the

various

things

he does

and

it's

this

vendetta

complex

that he

has

this

tit

for

tat

kind

of

posture

we

get

to

see

and

we

also

see

in

the

entire

narrative

it's

outlined

by

one

Hebrew

word

this

five

fold

repetition

and

it's

this

to

go

down

judges

Judges 14:1

chapter

14

verse

1

Samson

went

down

to

Timnah

judges

Judges 14:5

14

verse

5

Samson

went

down

with

his

father

judges

14

7

then he

went

down

and

talked

with

the

woman

judges

14

9

and

the

spirit

of

Lord

rushed

upon

him

and

he

went

down

to

Ashkelon

then

judges

Judges 15:8

chapter

15

verse

8

he

struck

them

with

hip

and

thigh

with

a

great

blow

he

went

down

and

stayed

in

the

cleft

of

the

rock

at

Etam

why

does

that

matter

because

it's

describing

this

continual

moral

decline

this

erosion

that's

taking

place

and

Samson

is

the

embodiment

of

this

moral

decline

he

goes

down

it's

not

coincidental

it

correlates

exactly

what we

find

as the

summary

statement

of this

book

with

every

step

of this

narrative

Samson

keeps

sinking

lower

but

God

still

blesses

God

still

blesses

and

God

still

knows

that

by

raising

him

up

that

even

Samson

will

unknowingly

unwittingly

be used

of God

to accomplish

God's

objectives

God

is still

sovereign

even

over

Samson's

life

and

God

still

not

just

blesses

him

but

God

empowers

him

this

is

a

credit

to

the

Lord

not

a

credit

to

Samson

God

keeps

his

promises

God

also

we find

in

verse

25

God

gives

his

spirit

he

gives

his

spirit

notice

verse

25

and

the

spirit

of

the

Lord

began

to

stir

him

in

Mahanan

Dan

between

Zorah

and

Eskel

this

is

one

of

the

most

incredible

parts

of

the

story

God

does

not

remain

distant

God

should

have

abandoned

his

people

he

did

not

abandon

his

people

as a

matter

of

fact

not

only

was

his

presence

there

but

his

power

was

on

Samson

God

steps

in

and

we're

going to

find

as we

work through

this

even a bit

more

next week

the spirit

of the

Lord

is upon

him

and

and

and

what's

incredible

about

this

is

seven

times

throughout

the

book

of

judges

we find

that

God's

spirit

comes

on

a life

on a

man

seven

times

four

of those

times

are here

in the

life

of

Samson

four

times

the spirit

of the

Lord

comes

on

Samson

and

is a

hallmark

of

God's

mercy

we're

meant

to

see

that

while

the

presence

of

God

is

here

we

should

not

equate

the

presence

of

God

with

God's

validation

Samson

had

the

greatest

resources

at

his

disposal

and

he

is

entirely

self

motivated

everything

he does

is

self

directed

we

find

that

in

chapter

14

verse

1

Samson

went

down

to

Timna

and at

Timna

he saw

one of

the

daughters

of

the

Philistines

then

he

came

up

and

told

his

father

and

mother

I

saw

one

of

the

daughters

of

the

Philistines

at

Timna

now

get

her

for

me

as

my

wife

but

his

father

and

mother

said

to

him

is

there

not

a

woman

among

the

daughters

of

your

relatives

or

among

all

the

people

that

you

must

go

to

take

a

wife

from

the

uncircumcised

Philistines

but