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The Call of Samson

Judges 13.

 Introduction.  God is never silent in the darkest hours of His people’s history.  When sin multiplies, when oppression settles in like a heavy fog, and when hope seems exhausted, the Lord still speaks.  He still intervenes.   He still raises up instruments for His purposes.  In Judges 13, we meet one of the most unlikely of those instruments – and the equally unlikely couple through whom God began to meet Israel’s need.

The story of Samson doesn’t begin with a strong man tearing a lion apart or carrying off a set of city gates.  It begins with barrenness, darkness, and a divine announcement that cuts through both.  Let’s take a look at the text.

Another childless Jewish couple.

 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.  (Judges 13:1 | TNIV)

The word “again” is heavy.  It signals the tragic cycle that runs through the Book of Judges:  Apostasy, oppression, crying out, deliverance, and then relapse.  Israel had already tasted the bitter fruit of idolatry under earlier oppressors, and now the Philistines, a seafaring people with iron weapons and highly organized military strength, held them for four decades.  Forty years is a Biblical generation.  Children grew up never knowing freedom.  Fields were harvested under the watchful eye of foreign masters.  Worship of the living God was compromised by the allure of the Canaanite and Philistine deities.

But what we see here is not just political subjugation; it is, in fact, spiritual consequence.  The text  is unambiguous:  The people “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and the He Himself “delivered them” into Philistine hands.  Divine judgment is never pleasant nor is it arbitrary.  When God’s people persistently choose the gods of the surrounding culture, God often gives them over to the very powers they preferred.  The darkness is real, and it is deserved.

We need to pay attention here.  Many of us live in days that feel similarly heavy – moral confusion, cultural pressure against Biblical faithfulness, political corruption, and a sense that the Church’s voice has been muted.  The first step in hearing an urgent call from God is honest recognition of the darkness.  Pretending all is well when it is not only prolongs the night.

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. [3] The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.”  (Judges 13:2, 3 | TNIV)

Into this national gloom, God introduces a private sorrow.  Manoah’s wife is barren.  In ancient Israel, childlessness was not a private medical matter; it carried social weight and personal anguish.  And yet Scripture repeatedly shows that the barren womb is one of the places God loves to display His power.  Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth – again and again the Lord opens what human strength cannot open.

Notice the sequence.  The angel of the Lord does not first appear to Manoah the husband, nor to a national leader, nor to a prophet already recognized.  He appears to the woman who has lived with the ache of emptiness.  God’s call often begins in the quiet places of personal limitation.  He doesn’t wait for ideal conditions.  He creates them.

The announcement is direct and gracious:  “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.”  The contrast is obvious and deliberate.  Human inability and acknowledged; divine ability is asserted.  This is the pattern of grace.  God doesn’t deny the darkness or the barrenness; He overrules them.

For every believer who feels the weight of national or personal barrenness – spiritual dryness, unanswered prayer, long seasons of waiting – this text is a reminder:  The God who spoke to Manoah’s wife still speaks.  The same angel of the Lord who stood in that dusty courtyard in Zorah is the One who later took on flesh and walked among us.  Hope is not wishful thinking; it is grounded in the character of the God who interrupts barrenness with promise.

The conditions given.

“Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. [5] You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  (Judges 13:4, 5 | TNIV)

The promise comes with conditions – not conditions for earning the blessing, but conditions that define the character of the child and the calling placed upon him.  This son is to be a Nazarite from the womb.  Don’t confuse Nazarite with Nazarine – they aren’t the same thing.

Numbers 6 describes the ordinary Nazarite vow – temporary separation involving abstaining from wine, avoiding corpse defilement, and leaving the hair uncut.  Samson’s consecration is different is three crucial ways.  First, it begins before birth and continues until death.  Second, the restrictions are placed on the mother, also, during pregnancy, underscoring that the set-apart life starts in the womb.  Third, the purpose is explicitly stated:  “He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Here is the call brought into sharp focus.  God isn’t just giving a child to a childless couple.  He is raising a deliverer.  The Nazarite marks – uncut hair, abstinence from wine, separation from anything unclean – are all visible signs that this life belongs to God, completely.  Strength will not come from natural sources or cultural norms.  It will come from the Spirit of the Lord resting upon a man who has been marked as holy.

We live in an age that resists the very idea of being set apart.  The pressure is to belong, to blend, to accommodate, to soften distinctives.  Yet the God who called Samson still calls His people to “come out” and “be separate.”  Not every believer is called to a Nazarite lifestyle, but every believer is called to a life that is no longer his or her own.  The New Testament language is even stronger:

You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 | NIV)

The call of God always includes the call to holiness – visible, costly, Spirit-empowered separation unto Him.

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. [7] But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death. ‘ ”  (Judges 13:6, 7 | TNIV)

The wife doesn’t keep the revelation to herself.  She goes immediately to Manoah and reports everything.  Later in the chapter, Manoah will pray that the man of God return and teach them how to raise the child (vs 8 – 12).  The angel does return, confirms the instructions, and receives their offering.  Husband and wife together seek the Lord, receive the same word, and prepare to obey.

Now, this is no small detail, by the way.  The call of God upon a child is best answered by parents who stand united under that call.  Divided homes always struggle to raise consecrated children.  When father and mother hear the same word, pray the same prayers, and embrace the same standards, the atmosphere of the home becomes a greenhouse for faith.

Manoah’s response is pretty instructive itself.  He doesn’t dismiss his wife’s testimony.  He doesn’t demand to be the primary recipient of revelation.  He listens, believes, and seeks further clarity from the Lord.  In a culture that often pits husbands and wives against each other or isolates spiritual leadership in one spouse, this text models partnership.  The call on Samson’s life required the co-operation of both parents from the very beginning.

The greatest gift a mom and dad can give their children is not perfect circumstances but a united front of faith.  When you pray together, when you receive God’s Word together, when you agree on the standards of holiness in the home, you create space for the Holy Spirit to work.  The call upon the next generation will be answered most effectively by parents who themselves answer the call in unity.

Blessings bestowed.

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him,  (Judges 13:24 | TNIV)

The promise is fulfilled.   The barren woman becomes a mother.  She names the boy Samson – likely related to the Hebrew word for “sun,” making the boy’s name something like “Sunny Boy.”  In a season of national darkness, a child whose very name suggests light is born.  The text simply tells us that the boy grew and the Lord blessed him.  No fanfare.  No immediate exploits.  Just growth under the quiet blessings of God.

This is often how God’s call works.  The dramatic moments come later.  First there is the hidden work of growth, the ordinary days of a child becoming a young man under the favor of the Lord.  Many of us grow impatient with the slow work of God.  We want deliverance NOW, the breakthrough NOW.  But the God who announced Samson’s birth was content to let him grow.  Blessing isn’t always spectacular.  Sometimes it’s the steady favor of the Lord resting on a life being prepared.

…and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.  (Judges 13:25 | TNIV)

Here is the decisive moment.  The Spirit of the Lord begins to stir Samson.  The wording suggests a restless energy, an inner compulsion, a divine initiative that will not leave the young man alone.  The same Spirit who hovered of the waters at creation, who empowered the judges before him, now begins to move in Samson.  The call is no longer merely a word spoken over a womb; it’s the living presence of God activating a life for the purpose of deliverance.

Notice the location:  Mahaneh Dan – “the camp of Dan” – a place between Zorah and Eshtaol.  Ordinary geography.  God doesn’t wait for a temple or a mountain.  He stirs His servant in the everyday places.  The Spirit’s work is not confined to sacred spaces; it invades the ordinary.

This verse is both  encouragement and warning.  Encouragement, because the same Spirit who stirred Samson dwells in every believer through faith in Christ.  Warning, because Samson’s later story shows how a man can quench and grieve that Spirit through compromise.  The stirring is a gift; the response is responsibility.

Conclusion.  Most of you know that Samson’s story will prove to be very complex, ultimately tragic in so many ways.  He will be used by God even while failing personally.  His strength will be legendary; his weaknesses will be costly.  Yet the birth narrative we have looked at today stands as a clear word from the Lord:  In the dark days, God still issues calls.  He still opens barren places.  He still sets people apart.  He still unites parents under His Word.  He still blesses growth.  He still stirs by His Spirit.

But we need to look beyond Samson.  Every judge in the Book of Judges points forward to a greater Deliverer.  Samson began to deliver Israel; Jesus finished the work.  Samson was set apart from the womb; Jesus was the Holy One from conception, conceived by the Holy Sprit; Samson’s strength was temporary and mixed with failure; Jesus’ power is perfect and everlasting.  Samson died under the weight of a collapsing temple, taking his enemies with him; Jesus died under the weight of our sin, rising again to give life to all who trust Him

The call of God in our day is first and foremost the call of the Gospel.  It is the call to turn from the evil that brings oppression and to trust the One who alone can deliver.  For those who have already answered that call, the ongoing summons is to live as people set apart – holy, Spirit-stirred, united in our homes, and ready for whatever God wants us to do.

The darkness of our time is real.  The Philistines of our age still oppress.  But the God who spoke in Zorah is speaking today.  The Spirit who stirred Samson is still stirring the hearts of His people today.  And the greater Samson – Jesus Christ the Lord – has already won the decisive victory!