Judges 13:1-24

In the name of Jesus

"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." Again. This behavior was not something new for the Israelites. Time and time again the cycle would repeat itself. Periods of rest would inevitably be followed by a reversion to idolatry and corrupt ways. And the Lord would cause Israel to fall into the hands of their enemies. Only then would they call upon the name of the Lord and cry out to Him for help.

This behavior is not something altogether new to us, either. How often has it not been that in times of blessing and rest we have become complacent in the faith? Our devotion to the word of the Lord grows cold, our zeal for walking in His ways fades. False gods creep more easily into our lives and take hold of our hearts. We revert to worldly ways.

It is a sign of the Lord's undying love for His people, then, when He disciplines Israel and us. He does not wish to let us go. He shakes us and breaks our hearts that we might again call upon His name and look to Him alone for help and deliverance. As a surgeon He wounds us so that He may heal us.

In our desperate need the Lord sends a deliverer, a Samson, a Savior to rescue us from our enemies and bring us back to His Fatherly embrace. The Angel of the Lord comes to Manoah and his wife. Manoah's wife up to this point had been barren, unable to have children. But the Angel of the Lord now declares to her, "You shall conceive and bear a son . . . and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

So just who is this Angel of the Lord that speaks to Manoah and his wife? He is not a created angel like Gabriel or any of the myriad others that God made in the beginning. This Angel is uncreated. This is an eternal and divine Being. "Angel" literally means Messenger; we might even translate it as "Word," as in John 1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This is the Messenger of the Lord, the Word of the Father, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Angel of the Lord is the Son of God, Jesus, before He was born among us and became man. Here the Son of God has come down to man to announce a miraculous birth through which God the Father would deliver His people, just as centuries later the Son of God Himself would be miraculously born of the Blessed Virgin to bring eternal deliverance to His people.

When the Angel of the Lord came to Manoah's wife with the message that she would have a son, she believed the Word of the Lord, even as Mary believed when God told her that she would give birth to the Messiah. Both of those women had good reason to question God's message. One had been unable to conceive for years and years. The other was a Virgin. And yet they both were given to accept the message in faith, as Mary said, "Let it be to me according to your Word."

The Angel of the Lord then appeared to Manoah himself, just as God also came to Joseph after he found out that Mary was pregnant. Joseph was told in a dream that what was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. So also the Son of God comes to Manoah to declare to him the truth of what his wife had said and how their son should be raised.

Specifically, Samson was to be raised as a Nazirite, one "set apart" and "dedicated" to the Lord. Being a Nazirite involved never drinking wine and never cutting one's hair. But the larger point of being a Nazirite was that you were separated out as holy to the Lord for devotion to His work. Is that not precisely also a description of our Lord Jesus? He was set apart by the heavenly Father from the very moment of His conception, dedicated for the work of redeeming His people from their sin and delivering them from the power of the devil. The Word of the Lord came to Mary, "That Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God." Jesus was set apart in order that He might make us holy.

Manoah asked the Angel of the Lord to stay so that He might prepare a goat for Him to eat. For Manoah didn't yet fully grasp in whose presence he was standing. The Angel of the Lord said that He would not eat Manoah's food; rather, He directed him to offer a burnt offering to the Lord. Then Manoah asked Him, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" And the Son of God answers, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?" His name, you see, like His countenance, was awesome and beyond human comprehension. His is the name that is above every name, a name that was not yet to be revealed but would later be made known as Jesus, the One who saves His people from their sins. His name is indeed Wonderful, as it is written, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Manoah did offer a sacrifice to the Lord. And then the One whose name is Wonderful did a wondrous thing. He ascended in the flame of the sacrifice on the altar out of their sight! This reveals to us the purpose of Christ's coming and His birth. He descends to earth as one of us in order that we might ascend to heaven as one of His own. He comes down to bring deliverance to His people, to sanctify our human nature, so that through His perfect sacrifice we might arise with Him to new and everlasting life.

When the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame, Manoah and his wife finally recognized who had been in their presence. Manoah said, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" They rightly believed that sinful people cannot stand in the presence of a holy God and live. But it is written in John 3, "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." Jesus took on your flesh so that you would be able to stand before God and live. Christ, being both God and man, has brought God and man back together. In Him God and sinners are reconciled. Jesus is your Samson, born to be your eternal Deliverer and Savior.

In the name of Jesus

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Judges 14:1-20

In the name of Jesus

The reading you just heard makes today's soap operas seem not so bad. There is illicit love and lust; there is a big celebration turned into a disaster, there is womanly wiles and deceit, there is murder and a twist in the plot at the end. All of it seems like so much anarchy and foolishness. But in the middle of this, it is written of Samson's desire for the woman of Timnah, "His father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord-that (the Lord) was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines." Even in the midst of this sin-cursed, mixed-up world, the Lord accomplishes His purpose of saving His people from their enemies. Even in the midst of apparent disarray and disorder, the Lord of history is at work to bring His salvation to fulfillment.

We would do well to remember this, especially in the midst of the disorder of our bodies and our lives and this world. God works all things, all things together for the ultimate and eternal good of those who love and believe in Him, who are the called according to His purpose. Nothing in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Our Lord Jesus is clearly portrayed in the events of this chapter, particularly in Samson's encounter with the lion. Samson was on his way down to Timnah to get a wife for himself. He was in the vineyards of Timnah, when suddenly, a young lion came roaring against him. So also, Christ came down to win for Himself a bride, the church, from among the nations of this earth. He was in His own vineyard, the vineyard of Israel, when one who prowls like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour came forcefully against Him. The devil launched a ferocious attack through Herod and the Pharisees and the religious leaders and Judas.

The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson, and he tore the lion apart, though he had nothing in his hand. So also Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power to overcome the devil and his work. Immediately following His baptism, Jesus was cast into the wilderness for 40 days to do battle. With nothing in His hand, only the words of the Scriptures in His mouth, Jesus quelled the might of this beast.

Our Lord finally routed and destroyed Satan on the cross. Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we would become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus Himself became the slain lion, Aslan on the cold stone table, to break sin's curse and empty the devil of his power.

From the holy cross now flows to us the Gospel in all its sweetness, Jesus' words of forgiveness and life like honey, as it is written, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth." The risen lion of Judah gives us from His holy wounds the pure water and blood of the sacraments which revive and cleanse us.

So it is that we have a change of clothing because of the death of another, the sacrifice of Christ. As it is written, "Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light . . . Put on the Lord Jesus Christ . . . For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ." In Him the riddle, the mystery of salvation is revealed.

In the name of Jesus

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Judges 16:4-30

In the name of Jesus

Today's reading is a vivid picture both of sinful humanity and of Christ the Redeemer. Can you not see in this account of Samson a depiction of how we all have fallen away from God? The Lord created man in His own image, causing Him to reflect divine strength and glory. But, a Delilah entered the Garden in the form of a serpent to entangle us and drag us down. Rebelling against God, disbelieving His Word, giving in to the enticements of the eyes, we have been overcome by the enemies of God, death and the devil. These enemies have captured and bound us. We are unable to free ourselves from their power. Our eyes have been gouged out and we are blind by nature to the things of God. Just as Samson became a grinder in the prison, so life is now for us often a daily grind in this dark world.

However, in Samson we see not only ourselves but also Christ. For Christ came to take our sin upon Himself, to put Himself into our fallen circumstances in order to save us. The Light of the World allowed Himself to be pummeled by the Philistine powers of darkness in order to free us. Jesus took our place in death in order to defeat our hellish enemies forever and redeem us. The rest of this account, then, is a living prophecy of the passion of our Lord.

Samson was betrayed for pieces of silver by Delilah, just as Christ was by Judas. After Samson's capture, all the Philistine officials gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god, Dagon. They worshiped Dagon, giving him praise for delivering Samson over to them. In the midst of this celebration, they brought Samson out to mock and make sport of him and to parade him around as the defeated enemy.

Is this not also what the Israelite leaders and Roman officials did to Jesus? Following the false god of their own man-made religion, they mocked and mistreated Jesus. Having captured Him through deceit, they bound Him and beat Him and spit on Him and put a crown of thorns on Him. They made sport of Him by putting a scarlet robe on Him and bowing down to Him as if He were their King. Jesus was alone and humiliated in His suffering.

Samson, however, positioned himself between two pillars which supported this unholy temple, one on his right and the other on his left. All the officials of the Philistines were there, over three thousand people all together. Samson prayed to the Lord that he would have strength one last time to take vengeance on these enemies of God. Then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on all the people who were in it. So the dead that Samson killed at his death were more than he had killed in his entire life.

Surely you can see how Samson's death foreshadows Christ's. Even as Samson was placed between two pillars, so Christ was crucified between two men, one on his right and the other on his left. And how was it that Samson defeated the Philistines? By pushing and extending his arms in the shape of a cross. So also Christ extended His arms in love for us at Calvary in order to deliver us. Samson conquered the Philistines through his death. So also, Christ won an eternal victory over our enemies in His death. In order to take them down once and for all, Jesus went down with them. Sin, death, and the devil were destroyed as Christ gave up His life. He caused them all to be buried under the rubble forever. Like Samson, our Lord won His greatest victory in His death. For it was an eternal and decisive victory. This is shown by the fact that Christ did not remain dead. Unlike Samson, Jesus came forth from the rubble as the victorious Lord of all. Through His death, you now have life again. Your strength is restored in Him, for it is written, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

This is the way of the Gospel, that Christ turns the instruments of the devil back around on him in order to conquer our old evil foe. It was through a virgin, Eve, that sin entered the world, and so it was also through a virgin, Mary, that Christ entered the world to destroy sin. It was through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Satan conquered man, and so it was also by a tree, the holy cross, that Christ conquered Satan and reconciled man to God again. It was through death that the devil sought to take away man's glory, and so it was also through the death of Christ that the glory of man was restored and he was given the light of immortality through the Gospel. Just as it was with Samson, what looked liked Christ's greatest defeat was in fact His most awesome victory. Our almighty Lord demonstrated the great power of His love in the weakness of the cross. That is His glory, to give of Himself completely for you that you might have the fullness of His life.

And so we live in this world under the cross, walking by faith and not by sight, as people who, though we are weak and afflicted, yet we are strong in the Lord. Living by faith in Christ, we hold to the truth of God's words: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

In the name of Jesus