Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20061119.htm

THE PREINCARNATE MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST
Part XV: Christ's Work With Manoah And His Wife: A Call To Holiness In View Of Unholiness In Relatives
(Judges 13:1-25)
  1. Introduction
    1. As humans, we all have relatives who impact our outlook and behavior due to relationships with them.
    2. That impact becomes a problem if our relatives are unholy. For this reason, when a believer chooses to live a life separate from sin in contrast to the choice of ungodly relatives, God loves to encourage him in that decision, a fact illustrated in the ministry of the Preincarnate Christ to Manoah and his wife:
  2. Christ's Work With Manoah And His Wife: A Call To Holiness In View Of Unholiness In Relatives.
    1. To appreciate the meaning of the significance of the appearance of the Angel of the Lord to Manoah's barren wife in Judges 13:1-3, we view the history of the kinfolk of Manoah and his wife (as follows):
      1. Judges 13:2 NIV reveals that Manoah lived in the town of Zorah in the territory God had originally allotted to the tribe of Dan, cf. Joshua 18:10; 19:40-41.
      2. Now, between their town and the nearby town of Eshtaol was "Mahaneh Dan," literally translated as the "Camp of Dan," cf. Judges 13:25 NIV.
      3. That "Camp of Dan" was so named to mark the camp of faithless kinfolk of Manoah and his wife just as these kinfolk planned to move away from their God-assigned tribal lot and into religious apostasy:
        1. The tribe of Dan had failed to trust God and so drive out the pagan oppressors in the land God initially assigned to them, a land where Zorah and Eshtaol were located, cf. Bib. Know. Com., O. T. , p. 409; Joshua 1:1-3 with Judges 1:28, 34 and Joshua 18:10; 19:40-41.
        2. A faithless group of Danites from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol had then moved north to conquer land God had not assigned to them as they tried to avoid their pagan oppressors rather than heeding God by driving them out, Jud. 18:2, 8-11, 27-29; Ryrie Study Bib., KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Jud. 18:7.
        3. Now, as they moved, these Danites made a syncretistic religion, a mix of truth and error, Jud. 18:30!
        4. When this group began this move, they camped between Zorah and Eshtaol at "Mahaneh Dan," the "Camp of Dan," where Samson, the son God later gave to Manoah's wife, later saw God begin to stir him to do exploits in preparation for defeating Philistines, Judges 13:25; 18:11-12 NIV!
      4. Hence, opposite their erring blood relatives from Zorah in their ancestral lot of Dan, Manoah and his wife had stayed with a few other clansmen from Dan where God had Biblically assigned them, refusing to move and thus slip into the syncretistic apostasy of the relatives who had moved, Judges 13:2!
    2. Accordingly, the Preincarnate Christ appeared and announced the birth of Samson to encourage Manoah, his wife and the rest of the Danites who had stayed in the God-ordained lot of Dan to live separate from sin in contrast to their erring relatives, and that this was the key to handling pagan oppressors, Jud. 13:1-5:
      1. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife to announce that she who had been barren would be blessed of the Lord in having a son, Judges 13:1-3. We know from our past lessons that this Angel of the Lord is the Preincarnate Christ, "the Second Person of the Trinity," Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Gen. 16:10.
      2. He told Manoah's wife to rear her son as a lifelong Nazarite, a man who would be holy to the Lord in contrast to the apostate kinfolk who had moved away, and that Samson just opposite the unholy kinfolk who had moved away from the oppressors would begin to deliver Israel from such foes, Judges 13:4-5!
      3. When she told Manoah about this appearance, and Manoah later met with the Preincarnate Christ, the Lord emphasized their need to be separate from sin, Judges 13:6-14; they also were led to worship the Lord in truth in contrast to their kin who mixed the worship of God with false beliefs, Judges 13:15-24.
      4. So, in the same location where their apostate Danite kinfolk had once prepared to leave their oppressors and turn apostate, Samson, the holy Nazarite, began to be mightily used of the Spirit of God to be prepared to begin to overcome the Philistines who plagued the people of Israel, Jud. 13:25; 13:5b.
Lesson: When Manoah, his wife and remaining clansmen of the tribe of Dan refused to move out of God's will into apostasy with the rest of their relatives, the Preincarnate Christ encouraged them to focus on separation from sin opposite their errant relatives so that they might enjoy God's blessing.

Application: May we always subject our interaction with our blood relatives with a focus on separating from the sin these relatives tolerate or pursue so that we might be blessed of God!