A Promise To Keep

Judges 13:1-25

 Please pardon the interruption. I have been transitioning and very distracted. But I am back now and will catch up to where I should be over the next couple days; so there will be multiple posts each day until I do. Ironically, there is also a rather large gap between the previous lesson and this one in the story of the Israelites.

Now that Gideon has died, of course the Israelites have gone back to their self-destructive ways. They have abandoned God's will and commands and followed after false gods. And, as per protocol, God has turned against them in anger, they were defeated and taken captive by their enemies, and now they are crying out to God for help.

This cycle never ceases to amaze and befuddle me. Why don't they just learn their lesson, or whey won't God just give up on mercy and leave them to the consequences of their actions? I know the answers to those questions (original sin and God's character), I just have a hard time understanding it in action - when it comes to other people. Of course it makes perfect sense when it comes to me (read sarcastically).

But I digress. So, we know the Israelites are back in the doldrums of their vicious cycle. What I did tar mention to this point is that they had been through it six times between Gideon's death and now. Six times!

Now, before he died, Gideon led his army of 300 into victory over the kings of Midian, despite the lack of support from neighboring nations. I fact, because they refused to help, once he defeated the
Midianites, he went back and destroyed them as well. After that, the Israelites asked him to be their
ruler and all his descendants, but he refused. He knew God had a different plan for them; he wanted them to have judges, not kings. So the Israelites lived in peace for forty years until he died.

And in true Israelite fashion, they went back to Baal. Gideon's son, Abimalech, tried to be king for 3 years, but ended up bringing more trouble on them...and God sent judges to rescue them. First came Tola, then Jair, then Jephthah, then Ibzan, Elon and Abdon. And that brings us to the current passage.

The Israelites were in the hands of the Philistines because of their rebellion. An angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, and told her she was going to give birth to a son. Not a big deal, except she had been barren and she was going to have to dedicate him to be a Nazirite from birth.

So, what's a Nazirite? A Nazirite is an Israelite consecrated to the service of God who vows to abstain from alcohol, let the hair grow and avoid defilement by contact with corpses (Numbers 6). Normally,
this vow was taken for a set time and purpose, but in this case, the vow would be taken by Manoah's wife on behalf of her yet-to-be-conceived child. This meant that she had to follow these guidelines until he was born, then teach him to do the same for his whole life.

She was so amazed by this visit that she ran and told her husband about it. Manoah wanted to see and hear it for himself, so he prayed for God to let the angel reappear; and he did. He told them the same thing he had told her previously and nothing more. But, Manoah wanted to do something for hi. For bringing such great news. So, he brought him an offering and it was consumed as the angel disappeared.

They stood in awe for a moment, afraid of being struck dead once they realized they had come face to face with God. Them Manoah's wife made a good point, if God were going to kill them, he wouldn't
have made them a promise for their future. So, time passed and everything the angel had said happened and Samson was born.

So, it seems to me that, like Samson's parents, when God gives us a promise, we have to believe it, work towards it and shake off any doubt or fear that we may have about it. Help us, Lord, to do just that. Help us to remember that your promises are yea and amen, they will be done. Remind us that you are always with us and will give us all the direction we need to reach the goals you set for us. Give us the desire and will to do what must be done while we wait on you. Let us not be idle, but active in our faith to see your Word fulfilled in our lives. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.