Let God Be Magnified

As I was preparing for a lesson something struck me as odd. In the book of Judges, there are five instances where, as the text declares, Israel “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” After each of these instances, we see that God “sold them into the hand” of a king or strengthened that king so that they would rule over Israel as a punishment for their disobedience:

Judges 3:8,14

Judges 3:12

Judges 4:1-3

Judges 6:1-6

Judges 13:1

In each case after having been sold into the hands of their enemies by God, we see that Israel cries out to the Lord. In response to these cries, He, in His grace and mercy, sends a Judge to help them. These cries from Israel are true in all cases but the final instance in Judges 13:1 which is what got me thinking.

In this case, Israel does not cry out to God yet He sends a deliverer named Samson. Now many of us have heard the story of Samson and his strength as he toppled a temple by pushing aside two columns crushing all those who were inside, including himself. But why, in this case, didn’t Israel cry out to God and why, therefore, did He send a deliverer?

A little analysis and background would be helpful here.

Starting in Judges 13:2 we see that a family of the tribe of Dan was to be blessed with a special child – Samson. The woman is instructed by the angel of the Lord not to drink “wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing” (Judges 13:4). Why? Because the angel of the Lord has told her that he is to be a special child called out by the Lord:

“For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” – Judges 13:5

Now, at a surface level, who does that remind you of? Perhaps Jesus?

There are some interesting parallels that develop here. But first we need to look and understand what a Nazirite was and did. Let’s go to Numbers.

The fundamental issue with the vow of an Israelite who decides to become a Nazirite was total dedication to the Lord (Numbers 6:2). He was to abstain from a multitude of items that would render him unclean or not pure such as those listed in verses 3-12 such as:

1. not eating anything produced at all by the grape vine (including seeds and skin)

2. he shall not cut his hair all the days of his vow

3. he shall not go near a dead person (even family members)

Now when you get down to particular rules and regulation, the parallels between Jesus and Samson begin to break down. But that’s to be expected – Jesus is God and these are vows of men. But when you look at the overarching themes of both Samson’s dedication and Jesus’ dedication it paints an interesting picture.

Themes

A. Both Jesus and Samson were born to woman who was barren and had no children:

“There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children.” – Judges 13:2

“Mary said to the angel, ‘How an this be, since I am a virgin?’” – Luke 1:34

B. In both cases, the birth of the male child was proclaimed by an angel of the Lord:

“For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” – Judges 13:5

“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” – Luke 1:30-33

C. Their titles are similar enough suggest that to a Jewish person, one term would have reminded them of the other:

“So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, ‘A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb.’” – Judges 13:17a

“and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” – Matthew 2:23

D. A complete dedication to God is assumed and required for their roles:

...He shall be hold until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord…” – Numbers 6:5b

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” – John 5:30

While the associations are admittedly loose, the parallels are interesting. And there is one final bit that could be considered although it is weak when analyzed deeper. And that is this: when the days of his vow are over, the Nazirite is required to bring a sacrifice to the tent of meeting:

“Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting.” – Numbers 6:13

What is interesting, is the type of sacrifices required by the Nazirite:

“He shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering, and a basket of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering.” – Numbers 6:14,15

Do you remember what John the Baptist said of Jesus when he first saw Him?

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’” – John 1:29

And what does the book of Hebrews say about the quality of the sacrifice of Jesus?

“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” – Hebrews 9:14

So we see, then, that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Levitical Law that called for the sacrifice of the male lamb without defect for both/either a sin or burnt offering (Leviticus 9:3; Exodus 12:5) that typified or pointed to Christ. And we see that there are other aspects of the Nazirite’s vow fulfillment that typify Christ:

a) the death of Christ on the cross as the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7),

b) the believer’s holy walk and complete break from the old life, pictured by the absence of leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7,8) (others think the unleavened bread pictures the sinless humanity of Christ),

c) the resurrection of Christ as prefigured by the firstfruits of the barley harvest (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

(NOTE: for more information on these topics check out these links:)

Three Sacrifices

Grain Offering – Salt

Burnt Offerings

All of these are contained in some fashion in the requirements of the Nazirite when his days of his vow are fulfilled.

Concluding Thoughts

So why did God send Samson when Israel didn’t cry out for help after they “did evil in the sight of the Lord”? While not definitive, the illustration of the Nazirite has some interesting similarities to the sacrifice of the Nazarene, our Lord Jesus Christ. In this case, after the Old Testament closed there was a period of 400 years where there were no recorded prophetic utterances. During this time Israel fell more and more wayward from God and his statutes and commandments. There is no record of Israel crying out to God for help or, for that matter, the desire to have help. But in God’s grace and mercy He sent His Son to save us. We didn’t ask for it. We don’t deserve it. Yet, He loves us so much that He provided a way for us to avoid the His righteous and justified wrath through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. How wonderful He is!

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” – Romans 5:6-11