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The Life of Samson (4)

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The Life of Samson (4)

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"But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would He have showed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him" (Judges 13:21-24).

When the Man of God ascended into the flame, their eyes were opened, and they saw Him as the Angel of the Lord. Jesus Christ in the Old Testament was known as the Angel of the Lord, and in the New Testament He is known as Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God. As He ascended into the flame, they fell upon their faces, because they saw something of the holiness of God. When the Lord reveals something of Himself to a sinner, then he lies in the dust before God. When we see something of His holiness and His justice, then we cannot remain standing anymore, but we fall upon our faces before the majesty of the Lord. What is so necessary for us when we see nothing but the justice and holiness of God? That we may see something of the Lord Jesus Christ as we are lying there at the feet of Jehovah. That is a blessed place to be. God's people have found rest at the feet of Jehovah, knowing that Eternal Mediator between God and their soul. Then they do not need to look down anymore, but they may look upwards.

We read in verse 21 that the Angel of the Lord did no more appear unto Manoah and his wife. Twice He had been there and spoken unto them. There are times in the lives of God's people that they beg at the throne of grace to hear Him again. They cannot go forward unless they once again may hear words from the Lord. Is it so in your life? Has He ever spoken unto you, for the first time or by renewal?

The Lord spoke unto Samuel more than once when he was lying in bed, that he might know that it was the Lord who was speaking unto him. When the Lord instructs His people, then there are times in their life that they need it confirmed. They need the promise of the Lord confirmed in their lives, to know that it certainly is from the Lord. It pleases the Lord to lead His people through this wilderness journey with only a few promises in their life, but with many deeds, many deeds of the Lord. Do you know what the deeds of the Lord are in your life? The deeds of the Lord in His people's lives are that He upholds, strengthens, comforts, and cares for them during their journey here below. Think of Jacob. Between Bethel and Peniel there were twenty years. There were twenty years between the one promise and the other when God came back upon it. But, there were many deeds of God in his life during that time. The enemy could only come so close to him because the Lord set a fence around him to protect him.

"We shall surely die, because we have seen God." These words reveal a troubled husband. His wife might believe the words spoken unto them, but Manoah did not see that far. He was a troubled and fearing husband. When Manoah saw the Angel of the Lord, he recognized something of God, and he fell upon his face. That is a blessing in itself, my friends. We see something of that fear in Saul of Tarsus when he said, trembling, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Isaiah also had that fear when he said, "I am a man of unclean lips." The shepherds upon the fields of Ephratha were sore afraid. What a blessed fear that is when it reaches forth unto the Lord. Oh, Jesus Christ stands between them and that burning justice of God. Jesus Christ, although they do not see Him, has already come between, and He knows all their strife.

Manoah had a believing wife who might give wonderful instruction. In verse 23 we read that she said unto her husband, "If the LORD were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands." This woman pointed away from herself and pointed to the offering that was accepted by the Lord. As she and her husband lay in the dust, she might by faith believe and point to that offering that was accepted by the Lord. She pointed to the promise and made a pleading ground of it, saying, "The Lord has promised, my husband, He has promised. The Lord will bring it to pass, because I have heard it out of His mouth." We see here that the woman had more grace than her husband. This woman knew more than her husband, but do you know what was a blessing? Her husband was always so willing to accept it from her, because he knew that his wife was speaking about something that was a living reality in her life.

Husbands, you have to be careful when your wife speaks about the ways of the Lord, that you do not squash it and knock it down because you yourself remain in ignorance. It would be better if, like Manoah, you could together come upon your knees and pray, saying, "Lord, if Thou wilt come back once again and speak unto us." There are also husbands who have wives like Job's. Job was sitting upon the ash heap, and he had lost everything except what the Lord had planted in his heart. In the deepest poverty he sat there, and his wife came to him, saying, "Why not curse God and die?" It is as if she said, "You know there is nothing true in your life. There is nothing of God in your life, so just forget about it all, and curse God and die." It is hard when one has a wife or a husband like that.

It was so different for Manoah and his wife. She was strengthened in her faith by being able to see the offering that the Lord had received from their hands, and in turn she might instruct her husband. Here we may see that the Lord uses two different ways. For the woman it came straight from above and flowed into her heart. For the husband He used the wife to instruct him. You have a wonderful task, wives, if you may speak to your husbands in this way.

Step by step the Lord opened the eyes of this couple who would expect a child, the promised deliverer. "And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson." I wonder how it was in the nine months before Samson was born. The Lord had promised that they would have a son and that he would begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Would there have been times as they saw the promise of God growing that they doubted? I know that they say today that you always have to be positive and believing and never to doubt. But, my friends, when the Lord works in the heart of a sinner and gives a promise, then the devil is never far away. The devil always wants to break down what the Lord has planted. The devil builds a chapel next to what God has done, so he may be close and shoot his arrows upon it in the weakest and darkest moments. What if the child was a girl? Oh, if it was a girl, then the promise was not God's promise.

But, by and by, a baby boy was born to them. What joy there must have been in the home of Manoah and his wife when this son was born to them. There was a natural joy because of a firstborn child, but there was also a spiritual joy because the promise of God was fulfilled in their lives. I think they bowed their knees and acknowledged the Lord for what He had given. We read that they called him Samson. The word Samson means sun child. They called him Samson because they saw light, a light, as it were, descending with this child as a deliverer of the people of Israel. Blessed are those people who may receive in the darkness of their existence the light from above that begins to shine pertaining to the deliverance that God has promised in their life.

Samson was born in a dark time, but there was another child who also was born in a very dark time. Jesus Christ was born in a dark time, and He is the Deliverer of His people. God is a faithful God, and His promise will always be fulfilled.

— to be continued —

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van zaterdag 1 februari 2003

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

The Life of Samson (4)

Bekijk de hele uitgave van zaterdag 1 februari 2003

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's