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Sabbath School Lessons by Dr. Robert LaMay

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God Appoints a Deliverer

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January 25, 2009

Lesson: Judges 13:1-7, 8-13, 24-25

Key Verse: Judges 13:5

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Introductions

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Again the people of God did evil in the sight of the Lord, who placed them under the oppression of the Philistines (Judges 13:1). The Lord raises Samson, the last of the Judges of Israel, to deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. Samson was a peculiar Judge, different than his predecessors: “We never find him at the head either of a court or an army, never upon the throne of judgment nor the field of battle, yet, in his own proper person, a great patriot of his country, and a terrible scourge and check to its enemies and oppressors; he was an eminent believer (Heb. 11:32) and a glorious type of him who with is own arm wrought salvation. The history of the rest of the judges commences from their advancement to that station, but Samson’s begins with his birth, nay, with his conception, no less than an angel from heaven ushers him into the world, as a pattern of what should be afterwards done to John Baptist and to Christ” (Matthew Henry).

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The true Church of our Savior, Christ Jesus, are either oppressed by the enemy because of their sins, or persecuted because of the enemies’ hatred against God. There are two governments that seek to rule men. One is the government of unrighteousness, the other the government of righteousness. Unrighteous men seek to rule over all, planting their own world-view, which suppress men rather than free them. The Lord of righteousness rules through his chosen men, which will bring blessings to all nations. This is the only appearance of the separation Church and State, the nature of each being in opposing moral conflict to one another. When the visible church seeks to instruct Scripture as to what is evil or good according to their own world-view (i.e. same sex marriage, abortion) then they find rejoicing from the enemy, but judgment from God. The Church of Jesus Christ should not be afraid to stand on the truth of Scripture as being that which the Triune Creator-Savior has revealed. Matthew Henry encourages us in these words: “No power on earth can warrant us, much less oblige us, to sin against God, our chief Lord. Again, where the fear of God rules in the heart, it will preserve us from the snare which the inordinate fear of man brings.”

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The Promise of a Deliver –Judges 13:1-7

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Time of the Judges was coming to an end. But the subject of that time was the same, “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord.” Their punishment also was the same as the Lord placed them in servitude under the enemy: “and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.” Their deliverance came from the same hand, the Lord raising up another Judge, and his name was Samson.

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The deliverance of Israel begins with the barren womb of the wife of Manoah: “And there a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.” The angel Gabriel had the joy of bringing the message of deliverance of Jehovah when he spoke of the coming Messiah and King to Mary. The Old Testament does not speak of another God against that of the New Testament. God’s covenant deliverance is revealed in both Testaments, Christ Jesus whose Hebrew name was Joshua, “Jehovah is salvation,” because he would save his people from their sins; is the same Messiah and Delivered that the angel spoke of in the time of the Judges. This “angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.”

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This son was to be set apart as a deliverer. “Therefore,” spoke the angel to the woman, “Beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” Samson was to be set apart as servant consecrated to the Lord. M. Henry wrote: “Observe, This deliverer of Israel must be in the strictest manner devoted to God and an example of holiness. It is spoken of as a kindness to the people that God raised up of their young men for Nazarites (Amos 2:11). Other judges had corrected their apostasies from God, but Samson must appear as one, more than any of them, consecrated to God; and, notwithstanding what we read of his faults, we have reason to think that being a Nazarite of God’s making he did, in the course of his conversation, exemplify, not only the ceremony, but the substance of that separation to the Lord in which the Nazariteship did consist (Num. 6:2). Those that would save others must by singular piety distinguish themselves.” Would be that elders as under-shepherds of Christ would consecrate themselves in the manner of him who is the Great Shepherd of the sheep.

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Service as such in the Body of Christ is not a short-term job. It is a service that begins with the call of the Lord, confirmed at ordination, and continues unto death. Unless Elders, ruling and teaching, recognize such a commitment, their service will be lacking in enthusiasm and growth, especially in the Word of God. Samson was set apart in the womb to be a deliverer of Israel until death. As the angel spoke to the woman, “Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.” The mother who would give birth to Samson would be an example of the child to be born by the promise of the Lord

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Discussion: What was important about the birth of Samson?

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Birth of Samson Confirmed to Manoah –Judges 13:8-13, 24-25

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Manoah had confidence in his wife that she spoke the truth of an angel who said she would conceive and have a son; so he prayed to the Lord: “Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.” Manoah “takes it for granted that this child of promise shall in due time be given them, and speaks without hesitation of the child that shall be born” (M. Henry). God answers his prayer “and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field.” Her husband was not with her, so she “made haste, and ran, and showed (announced) her husband, and said unto to him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass.” Manoah then asked, “How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?” The angel spoke then of the warning that he had given to his wife that she would conceive, “and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither at any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.”

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The life of the parents would change dynamically, revealing the truth that their son was set apart to serve the Lord from the time of conception to his death. When the time came “the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” Samson was blessed of the Spirit of God, showing his strength in the midst of Israel, that he was the deliverer sent by the Lord to protect his people from the Philistines; “there Samson, when a child, appeared among them, and signalized himself by some very brave actions, excelling them all in manly exercises and trials of strength: and probably he showed himself more than ordinarily zealous against the enemies of his country, and discovered more of a public spirit than could be expected in a child” (M. Henry).

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Discussion: How did Manoah’s response to the promise of the birth of a son show his faith toward both his wife and the Lord?

Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2009 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.