Sharper Iron — Rebellion and Rescue: The Promise and Birth of a Deliverer

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Rev. Clint Poppe, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Judges 13:1-25.

The book of Judges slows down to give the account of Samson from the very beginning of his life. The angel of the LORD goes to the wife of Manoah. Her barrenness is the epitome of hopelessness, yet the LORD is the One who brings hope to His hopeless people. He tells her that the son she will bear will be a Nazirite from birth; he will be set aside for service to the LORD. Details throughout the account foreshadow both the miraculous birth of John the Baptist and the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The LORD is gracious to Manoah in coming a second time to speak His Word yet again. Manoah is not yet aware that this is the angel of the LORD, and so He graciously reveals Himself in the sacrifice Manoah is instructed to offer. Though Manoah fears he will die after seeing God face-to-face, his wife catechizes him in the truth of the LORD’s mercy. Their son’s name Samson foreshadows the LORD’s strength to save His people from the Philistines. Through this text, and as it points us to Christ, the LORD reveals Himself as the One who accomplishes the wonder of salvation for sinners.

“Rebellion and Rescue” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Judges. This book is characterized by a familiar. As the generations after Joshua forget the LORD and what He has done for Israel, they fall into idolatry. The LORD gives them over into the hands of their enemies in order to bring them to their senses. When they cry out to Him in repentance, He sends a judge to rescue them and give them rest for a time, until they relapse into idolatry once more. In this cycle, we see a picture of our own Christian life. Daily, the old Adam in us is drowned in contrition and repentance, and the new man emerges in Baptismal forgiveness to live in righteousness and purity before God forever.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

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Judges 13:1-25

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.

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.’”

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.” 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.”

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^[a] wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 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.” 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.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.