“Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family 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, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” 6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”” Judges 13:2-7
“So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” Judges 13:24
Father God,
This passage always reminds me of your announcement to Zechariah father to be of John the Baptist. On both occasions the child was chosen to serve You before it was born and both parents were given instructions about keeping to the Naderite lifestyle.
But there the similarity ends. Both boys were born as promised, raised as requested but one chose to follow Your will and way when He was old enough to make his own decisions. The other followed the desires of his own will and caused himself, his parents and numerous others endless trouble. Yet Samson is a popular Bible character and I cannot but wonder what he might have achieved had he left the ladies alone? But then You knew him before He was in his mothers womb (Psalm 139)? Sometimes my questions just give rise to more questions. But we all have our own particular weaknesses.
Samson’s lust (for something other than God) and pride was deadly. You did give him a last chance and he used it. You, God continually give us opportunities. We cannot get everything perfectly right all the time, but we have Jesus who continually forgives and repurposes us as we go. Thank You God. We do not deserve Your grace, we cannot earn Your grace and are not good enough to warrant Your grace. It is a gift. Help us to grow in Your grace.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Who breaks the power, of sin and darkness?
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger
The King of Glory
The King above all kings
(Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh)
This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You laid down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh, Jesus, I sing for
All that You’ve done for me
Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder
And leaves us breathless, in awe and wonder?
The King of Glory
The King above all kings
Chorus
Lyrics: Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle, Phil Wickham