Judges 20: 1 – 25
The Angel of Yahweh Is?
Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 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.’” 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?” 13 So 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 anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.” 15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.” 16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.) 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass 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 upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.” 24 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.
This chapter relates the birth of Samson, another ‘judge of Israel’. Many teachers relay that his birth was first foretold by an angel. I believe that this Amazing Heavenly Being Is our Lord Jesus Christ. I will point out through these Scriptures proof for my assertion.
The story of Samson is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. It demonstrates quite clearly that God can use the inadequacies of a man within His purposes. When God rose up Samson from birth He knew the propensities that he would have for good or evil. He gave him every opportunity for success but knew that he would eventually fail. Yet from that failure He purposed to produce success. Our Holy Jehovah Elyon – our Lord Most High Is that Awesome. There is nothing that He cannot accomplish. This story will give us more understanding toward His Holy Majestic Power and Authority.
Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
The sad story of Israel’s failure was again repeated here. It reminds us how little men learn from history or from what happens to others. For Israel were not unique in this failure. The nations continually did evil in the sight of Yahweh. But Israel was more blameworthy because it had received the revelation of Yahweh, and had become His own people bound by the covenant of Sinai. For a generation after entering Canaan they had remembered Him, meeting together at the three annual feasts at the central sanctuary and maintaining a general unity. But then they had begun to go astray. And as they went astray so their attachment to the covenant weakened. Not all came together for the periodic feasts, the three gatherings a year before Yahweh, although at times particular situations could arouse them to act together. The past became a distant memory, gloried in when some of them came together for their united feasts, sung about at their local feasts, but in practical terms almost forgotten by many. They began to compromise with their neighbors, they turned to worship foreign gods or to incorporate them with their own worship of Yahweh, they made light of the requirements of the covenant, their unity was loosened and they failed to live in accordance with God’s requirements. And yet every now and again something would occur to unite them and bring them back to Yahweh.
In this particular situation now in mind we are speaking at the most about Judah, Simeon and the remnants of Dan, all of whom were affected by the Philistines who were their neighbors. Dan were to the north of the Philistines, stretching eastward. Judah and Simeon were to the east and the south. And what is described here may well have been going on at the same time as the invasion of Gilead by the Amorites. Different parts of Israel were being affected by different enemies.
‘And Yahweh delivered them (mainly Judah and Dan) into the hands of the Philistines forty years.’ The Philistines were a part of the inflow of Sea Peoples from Crete and the Aegean, who had fairly recently invaded the coasts of Syria and Egypt.
The Philistines were a type of foe that Israel had never faced before since leaving Egypt. They were united under five ‘Tyrants’ (seren - used only of Philistine leaders) in their five principle cities, and, as a military ruling class, had to keep together a strong army and maintain firm unity and discipline, carefully watching over those who reluctantly lived and served under them. They maintained a monopoly on working iron, (learned from the Hittites), and were thus more powerfully armed than those around. They were a genuine occupying army, controlling the conquered almost literally with a rod of iron. In the days of Samson’s escapades the territory they controlled was the coastal plains and the surrounding lowlands, and the Danites and parts of Judah at least were crushed under their weight to such an extent that they offered little resistance. They were in complete subservience. That was probably why a large number of Danites had left their inheritance and had settled in a different area not originally allotted to them during Joshua’s leadership.
We see in the statement ‘Delivered into the hands of the Philistines’ that at least Dan and parts of Judah had become tributary to them. ‘Forty years’ indicated a long period of domination, a whole generation and more, longer than any other of the previously mentioned trials. The Philistines would not be so easily dealt with now they were settled in. It should be noted that there was no cry to Yahweh for help from ‘Israel’. Those under Philistine control appear to have been fairly content with their lot, which suggests that the Philistines, while maintaining iron control, did not treat them too harshly. But God knew that left in these circumstances they might well lose their faith in Yahweh altogether and be assimilated into the surrounding peoples. When the USSR was causing all kinds of problems for the United States there were many who used the message, ‘better Red than dead’ as their motto.
It should be further noted that Samson did not try to raise the tribes and rebel against the Philistines. They were too powerful for tribes whose faith was as weakened as that of Judah, Simeon and Dan, and the other tribes probably did not want to get involved. This was possibly a part reaction to past attitudes. Samson was instead a provocative one man band, and God used his propensities as tools against them, in order to weaken them until someone would arise with faith to defeat them.
2 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.
The name ‘Manoah’ means ‘resting place, condition of rest’. It may be intended to indicate that his spirit was at rest even in the trying circumstances. But he shared an emotional ‘unrest’ with his wife. She had had no children, she was barren. When God wished to show His power He often chose a barren woman for the purpose. We see this condition with Sarah, Abraham’s wife in the book of Genesis chapter 16; Rebekah, Jacob’s wife in Genesis chapter 25; Hannah, the prophet Samuel’s mom in 1 Samuel chapter 1; and with Elizabeth, Mary’s aunt in the Gospel of Luke chapter 1. This was to indicate that the resulting birth was God’s work and the child born was thus His in a special way. This was also true in this case.
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.
Once again, as we have witnessed in chapter 2, and with Gideon in chapter 6, the Angel of Yahweh appeared when God’s people needed deliverance. In other words God Himself came to their assistance. This time His promise was of a special child who would be set apart as God’s, even from the womb.
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.”
The child that was to be born would be dedicated to God from the womb. He was to be a permanent Nazirite. Thus his mother was to abstain from wine and strong drink, and be especially careful of unclean food. Nor was his hair to be cut. He was to be God’s initial weapon in preparing to deal with the Philistine menace.
Abstinence from the fruit of the vine was possibly to ensure that the Nazirite never lost their full faculties which might put them in danger of breaking their vows unwittingly. Full dedication can be marred by the influence of wine and strong drink, which can produce unseemly behavior. This was one reason why ‘the Priest’ must not be under its influence in the Holy Place. But that it symbolized more comes out in that here Samson’s mother was to abstain from wine and strong drink and to abstain from eating any unclean thing. She too was under a vow, although possibly not a full Nazirite one.
‘And he will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.’ This was the reason for his dedication. He was to be an instrument of Yahweh in beginning to deliver Israel from the Philistines, and it would require the whole of his life to achieve it. But take a look again at the word ‘begin’. A good thing to remember was the fact that final deliverance of the people of Israel would take longer than the life of Samson. The Philistines were to be a continual test for Israel as to whether they would obey Yahweh.
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.
This bugs me sometimes. Here we have an awesome theophany of our Precious Holy Lord and Savior and all we get is that His appearance was ‘very awesome’. I wish our Great Holy Spirit would have given us more. Paul does this to us also. He gets to see Heaven and what does he say to us. Look at what he says in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 12, “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
The woman had been so awestruck that she had not asked where He came from. He had not revealed His name. To reveal the name would have been as a bond between the two, as it would mean that the Holy One revealed something of His inner qualities and being. She did, however, remember what He said to her.
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.’” 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
Manoah stands out here as the firm believer in Yahweh. He recognized Who it was Who had revealed Himself, and so he prayed to ‘Yahweh’. He was clearly not convinced by his wife’s message as to what should be done and prayed for clarification and confirmation. She had been too vague. The whole circumstance was unusual. Now suppose this happened to your spouse. How would you react? What would you do? I would want to this Holy Visitor to come and see me also?
13.9 ‘And God heard the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.’
I sometimes seem to see our Great God’s humor. Look again at what happens. It says our Holy Adoni Yahweh hears the prayer and responds and what does He do? He shows up again when Manoah is not around.
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.
I think also our Lord in teaching the woman through this exercise. for He causes her to take some action. He wanted her to know that His dealings were in fact with her, for she would be mother to the one who was to be born and was herself to come under a solemn vow.
10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”
Immediately she ran back home to find her husband to tell him that the Man whom she had previously described to him had returned.
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.”
Here we go! Do you remember a time when you heard the statement, ‘I AM’? How about the book of Exodus when Moses saw this bush burning? It was Jehovah Shammah – The Lord Who Is Present speaking from the bush in chapter 3, “13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Okay some might right now be thinking, so how are you claiming that the One that we read about in Exodus and the One that we read about here in the book of Judges Is our Lord Jesus Christ? Good question grasshopper. Turn with me to the Gospel of John chapter 8. Let our Holy Ghost’s words speak for themselves, “48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” 52 Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
Manoah submitted humbly to our Lord’s will and sought further guidance on the bringing up of the child. How were they to bring him up? What was his future work to be?
13 So 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 anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
The Angel of Yahweh renewed His instructions. She was to be under a vow and to abstain from wine and strong drink and unclean foods. This latter stress may be an indication that many Israelites had now begun to ignore the dietary requirements of the Law for it is additional to ‘anything that comes from the vine’. Ungodly practices produced ungodly eating.
15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
Like Gideon who we read in chapter 6, Manoah desired to honor Him fully. Manoah sought to extend hospitality to him.
16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)
Our Lord replied that He would not eat food even if it were brought. This would often be a sign of hostility, but in this case should rather have suggested to Manoah the urgency of his errand and that he had come from an untainted place. He then suggested that instead he should prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, as a sign of worship, dedication and obedience. His gratitude was due to Yahweh. We can compare with this where Gideon also prepared a meal but it became a burnt offering
‘Manoah did not know that he was the Angel of Yahweh.’ From verse 8 we know that Manoah thought that the visitor was a ‘man of God’, a prophet, and he still held that view - thus the offer of the meal. His wife may still not have been sure Who the visitor was. Thus the Lord’s reply clarified the situation for the wife, and directed Manoah as to where his main responsibility lay. Honour was not to be paid to God Himself Who was standing right in front of him.
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
Manoah still desired to pay due respect to the messenger. He wanted to be able to give due credit to once His prophecy came to fulfillment, or even send him some present to express his gratitude. They had been longing for a son for so long. So he asked his name.
18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
Now here is another verse that makes me believe that this ‘angel’ is our Lord Jesus Christ. Look with me at Isaiah’s description of the Messiah in chapter 9, “6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
‘Wonderful’ means precious and important beyond measure. Our Lord Jesus Christ Is that and more.
Do you remember back in the book of Genesis when Jacob wrestled with a supposed ‘angel’ The same thing happened as it does here in chapter 13 of Judges, “22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.”
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.
Manoah offered the kid and the meal offering on the rock to Yahweh just like Gideon did. For as the fire burned, consuming the burnt offering, the Angel of Yahweh seemed to merge with the sacrificial flames and ascended upwards, disappearing from sight. He had returned to Yahweh God The Father to Whom the offering was offered. Such was the mystery of it that both man and wife fell on their faces to the ground in awe and wonder.
21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.
When Manoah saw the Angel of Yahweh disappear in the sacrificial flames he knew Whom He was, and that they had been face to face with God.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
Manoah was terrified when he realized what they had seen. It was a common perception among the Israelites that to see God face to face was to die. No man could see God and live. And they were right in fact, for as God told Moses in Exodus 33 none could see the fullness of what He was and live. The awesomeness of His fully revealed presence would be more than the human frame could stand. But as here, His revelation of Himself was always partly veiled, and thus men survived the experience.
23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”
We see here how his wife was wiser and more established in her belief of God. She pointed out that if Yahweh had intended to kill them He would not have sought or accepted their burnt offering, nor would He have revealed such wonderful things to them, nor would He have promised them a son. All this only served to demonstrate that He intended good towards them.
24 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.
Eventually the son was born as Yahweh had promised, and they gave him the name Shimshon. It was probably a common name in Canaan. The name is based on shemesh, ‘the sun’. They saw him as the sun rising on Israel, remembering the words of the song of Deborah in chapter 5 of Judges, ‘let those who love Him be as the sun when it goes forth in its might’. For The child was dedicated to Yahweh and through him Yahweh had promised some measure of deliverance to Israel from their dreaded enemy.
‘And the child grew, and Yahweh blessed him.’ Samson grew up under his godly father and mother, for we can have little doubt that the visitation had changed their whole lives. They knew now that they were an essential part of the covenant of Yahweh through which He intended good towards His people. And as he grew they taught him in the way of Yahweh, and Yahweh blessed him, especially in giving him a strong body which, especially when inspired by His Spirit, was able to accomplish mighty things.
Verse 25 should be listed as verse 1 in chapter 14. So, next time we will start out with this verse.
