Samson: Part 1
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: Parents are charged by God to set their children up for a life of love for, consecration to and mission in Jesus.
A Mother’s Instruction
Mission
My God Who Stirs
A Mother’s Instruction
We should look to God for instruction on how to live consecrated (set apart) lives in Christ.
Judges 13:1-7 ESV
”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. 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. 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. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 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.” 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, 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.’”“
The challenge today is how to raise our kids in such a taxing world.
My dad continually says it was easier in his day.
The good news is there is a God who cares and is seeking to be involved as Lord and Savior of our family lives.
Mothers have an incalculable place in forming and shaping the lives of their children.
From birthing to feeding to nurturing and instructing, to comforting, providing, correcting and teaching, the responsibility list for a mother seems endless.
And often goes thankless.
Yet we honor and thank our mothers today.
Over and over again in Scripture, we see the awesome influence of mothers shaping kings and gospel heroes alike.
We have the model of a godly woman from the lips of a Spirit-led mother instructing her son on how to live:
Proverbs 31:1
“The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:”
and what things to look for in a godly wife:
Proverbs 31:10
“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.”
The apostle Paul speaking to his young disciple Timothy acknowledges the importance of his grandmother and mother:
2 Timothy 1:5
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
In the case of Samson, it was no different.
Samson lived about 50 years before Saul would be made the first king of Israel.
He would be the twelfth and last of the recorded judges who attempted to rule Israel at a time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes, lived in sin and consequently under the oppression of foreign peoples.
In Samson’s time, Israel lived under the constant oppression of the Philistines.
When God wanted to raise up a deliverer in Samson, he started first with a godly mother to whom he would give instruction that she would receive and bring to her family.
What Samson’s mother learned is that when God gives us children, they are to be a gift not only to the family, but understood as a God-given gift to the world for Christ’s purposes.
v. 5
“…and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
*Our main objective as parents should be to raise our children to know, love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Far too many parents are more interested in their kids making the team than making the Kingdom.”
-Dr. Tony Evans
Did you grow up knowing the gospel?
Do your children know the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?
A good tool created by Dr. Rice Broocks, author of God’s Not Dead, can be utilized as a memory tool unto this end:
Mission
We should parent and live with God’s gospel mission in view.
Judges 13:8-14 ESV
“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." 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. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me." 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." And Manoah said, "Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?" And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 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."”
Samson’s mother had the initial revelation from the angel regarding how Samson was to be set apart to God.
When this is the case, run to bring your husband in so that he too may develop a conviction before the Lord.
When possible, do not leave the child rearing to a single parent - Manoah also prayed to get revelation and a conviction from God as to how they were to raise Samson that they might do so before God in unity.
When Manoah prayed, the angel appeared again to Samson’s mother while Manoah was away, but she was quick to go get Manoah so that the angel might speak the same thing to Samson’s father.
“God, teach us how to raise this child!” should be our cry as parents.
God’s instruction to Samson’s parents was for them to raise Samson in a life of consecration.
The Nazirite vow was usually voluntary - in this case it was Samson’s calling from birth.
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?" And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 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."”
We need to ask as parents “what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is their mission?”
*The angel responded not with a detailed report of all that Samson would do, but that which would prepare him for his mission.
As parents, do not feel pressured to have a life plan for your child, but give them a plan of how they should live before the Lord.
What things?
Teach them who God is in Jesus as revealed by his word.
Teach them where to find God while committed to a Biblically grounded church community.
Teach them how to seek God’s face to serve Jesus as a part of his people on a gospel mission.
That is our responsibility as parents - to love our children and prepare them for their God-given mission by raising them in the instruction of the Lord.
“It is far easier to shape a child than to repair an adult.”
-Dr. Tony Evans
A good resource for this parenting task is:
My God Who Stirs
We should cultivate a life of encounters with Jesus that our families (both natural and spiritual) might be continually stirred to God’s Kingdom cause in Jesus.
Parents need to set their children up for encounters with God that will propel that mission by modeling encounters with God themselves.
Judges 13:15-20 ESV
“Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you." 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.) And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?" And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 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.”
All sustained Christian mission springs from encounters with the living God.
Judges 13:21-25 ESV
“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. And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." 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." And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
The same God who instructed Samson’s mother, and then father, began to stir Samson as he lived in Mahaneh-Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
As the children grow, we should help them cultivate a relationship with God so that God might bless them and the Spirit of the Lord might begin stirring them to his Kingdom purposes for their lives.
Samson’s name was derived from the Hebrew word semes, which meant “sun.”
So Samson would bear the attribute of God who is called “a sun and shield” in Psalm 84:11, acting as a protector and watching over the people of Israel in his generation, acting as its judge/leader.
“Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something that you do but someone you raise.”
-Andy Stanley
John and Charles Wesley's mother's story.
Mothers have a unique role in pointing their children to the better Samson.
We have a better Samson in Jesus whose birth and mission were also prophesied by the angel.
Jesus had parents who would raise him with the person, purposes and people of God in view (ref. The Gospel of Luke).
Jesus too was consecrated at birth, and would grow in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
Jesus would be stirred even as a child to be in his Father’s house, learning the word and presence of God that would prepare him for his ultimate mission - to save humanity not from the Philistines but from sin and death itself.
At the cross Jesus would fulfill that mission taking on the punishment that we all deserve for doing what is right in our own eyes as Israel did, living in rebellion to God.
Though we may have suffered consequences of our choices up to this point, we can be reconciled and set apart to God because of Jesus’ sinless life lived in our place, death on the cross for our wrongdoing and resurrection from the dead.
Through repentance and faith, we can come back to God and be stirred as his children, by his Spirit, for our Christ-honoring, God ordained purpose in life.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher