Study of Samson -- Part 2

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 Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. — Judges 13:24-25

In a theophany, the Angel of the Lord came down and appeared first to Manoah's wife with a promise of a child then to both parents in response to Manoah's prayer for guidance.  They understood that, though all children entering this world have a destiny, few are so marked before they are even conceived.  I get the impression that the mother was content to have a son, but the father may have harbored visions of his son's success and greatness, not unlike a modern father, watching his boy struggle to find the handle on a slow rolling grounder, wonders if he might grow up to play shortstop in the Majors.   And Manoah said, "Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission? " (v.12)

We want the specifics, the end at the beginning.  The Lord rarely gives us such a detailed map.  Instead He wants us to head in the right direction, to follow a few simple rules, and to do the right thing.  Thus the Angel replies, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.  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."  (vv. 13-14)

No grand plan.  Nothing complicated or elaborate.  Parents do not need a doctorate in child psychology.  They do not need to be experts or possess special skills or knowledge.  They do, however, need wisdom, and the essence of wisdom is a wholehearted trust in the Lord and a willingness to follow Him themselves. 

The Angel of the Lord departs.   The child is conceived and born into the world.  His mother names him Samson which means “sun-like”.  No doubt this baby was the light of her world.  As Samson grew, it was clear that the hand of the Lord was upon him. 

There is an old gospel song that says in part, “As the eagle stirs her nest/ So her young ones have no rest/ So the Lord in that same way/ Stirs up His people to watch and pray.”  Though Samson was blessed as the son of Manoah -- whose name means “rest” or “quiet”, as he grew older, he became more agitated.  Like the sun, Samson appeared to move within certain boundaries – “between Zorah and Eshtaol”.  He was not able to rest, or camp, as his father could in Mahaneh-dan – that is, the “camp of Dan”.  Zorah means “hornet”, and Eshtaol is “a way”.   

The hornet reminds us of Joshua 24:12 – “And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.” 

Now for this, at least, I can see an application in our own lives.  We tend to think of everything as going in a linear, cause-and-effect direction.  What we find is that indirect and unintentional vectors are often more influential in the end than direct, intentional actions.  God did not simply raise up a hero and deliverer in Samson.  He brought up a flawed, frequently misguided man with extraordinary gifts to break through the complacency and apathy of a nation. 

Israel had gotten so far from God that they no longer sought out His help in their distress.  In fact, they no longer recognized that they were in distress.  Bondage seemed now to them the normal state. If we look around, we see millions around the world in exactly this condition, whether we are speaking politically or spiritually.  Oppression must become truly oppressive in order for most people to wake up to it.  It is the old story of the frog in the pot, except that the human frog – a few, at least, will try to leap out when it gets really hot.  Except, perhaps, for the Frogs, as evidenced by this week's election results. 

The life work of Samson was to cause strife, dissension, and discontentment, to anger and frustrate the enemy, and to worsen the plight of the people of God to the point that they would begin to seek the Lord for their deliverance.   

It is a ridiculous plan if you think that God is about fairness or justice or a social gospel or making people happy.  He is not.  He is about making sons and daughters of the kingdom through the blood and pain of the new birth.  He is in the business of creating warriors and rulers and heroes for a new heaven and a new earth.   

Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah 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 Timnah. 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 our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. (Judges 14:1-4)