Battleground Earth 17: Samson - David Mitts

""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.""  Jdg 13:5 (NASB)

 

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God provides deliverers for His people even in their times of rebellion. Let’s look at Judges 13:1

 

"Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, so that the LORD gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years."  Jdg 13:1 (NASB)

 

The Hebrew word for “evil” is “ra” and is composed of the letters, reysh, which means head or authority, and ayin, which means sight or perspective. So “evil” is related to the perspective of authority.  Looking at today’s conflicts, we can see that there is much evil being promoted through the perspective of those in authority. Whether it’s the “health experts” or the proponents of “women’s rights” or “racial equity’ there are many voices that are pushing for an agenda of evil ungodly authority to drive the laws of the Land.

 

The term that the writer of Judges uses, “sons of Israel” gives us an important foundation for justice. This term is a covenant declaration through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who became Israel. This is more than a title. It is a condition of love and promise. 

 

Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. (Exo 3:13-15 NASB)

 

God has separated by covenant Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who became Israel unto Himself. The rest of the world was and is under the authority of the governmental and covenant structure of the nations with their gods who rule them. These gods were and are the same authority structure that was enacted at the Tower of Babel. This fallen governmental structure has an evil agenda to bring about a one-world government that is evil in the sight of God because it disregards the love of God and His righteousness. 

 

It could be called the government of the fallen sons of God. This is a different term than the redeemed sons of God.  This term represents a fallen authority structure which is also called the world.  Today it represents the attempt to secularize the world, strip it of God’s authority, and reform a tower of authority under the denationalized one-world government. God created nations. He separated one nation, Israel to be a light to the fallen nations. 

 

"I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations,(Isa 42:6 NASB)

 

The Church is grafted into Israel and as such is also to be a light for the world.  “Light”, in Hebrew is the word “Or” which is derived from the root word “Ar” which means order.  Israel and the grafted in church are called not to just be light but to bring God’s order to this fallen world. 

 

When we assimilate into the world and adopt its principles and ideas, we lose our mandate from God. We literally lose our light. Instead, we put on the “light” of the world which is actually a totally different kind of light that doesn’t shine in the darkness but is a light of the darkness. It is the light of Satan.

 

No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2Co 11:14 NASB)

 

The “light” disguise is not a physical thing but a different system of thought. Our perspective, the thoughts in our heart, what guides us, and motivates our actions and feelings in life, is the “light” of our life. 

 

Yeshua is the light of the world. This literally means He is the authority of love in the world. He brings a different set of thoughts and feelings in the heart which are the thoughts of love. When He called Paul into bringing the message of love to those under the authority of the fallen sons of God, He spoke it this way in Acts 26:12-18

 

"While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'(Act 26:12-18 NASB)

 

The light of Yeshua, the light of the sons of Israel is the true light of dominion or a kingdom of God and brings the inheritance into manifestation in our lives. The false light is the light which is really not a light at all but an understanding rooted in a set of ideas that are driving the agenda of Babel and of the fallen sons of God, chief among them being Satan. This is the root of socialism, and big government, and fear-based control, which is basically assimilation into the world system. I cannot emphasize it enough that it is an evil perspective, “ra”.

 

Yeshua said it this way: 

 

"No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. "Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays." (Luke 11:33-36 NASB)

 

In the case of Israel, in Judges 13, the authority, the false light, that drove them into judgment was expressed by the Philistines and resulted in bondage to the darkness for 40 years. Why 40? This is a sign that it was a complete generation that had come into the authority of evil. 

 

God is faithful even when we are not. Let’s read on in Judges 13:2-5

 

"Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family 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, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.""  Jdg13:2-5 (NKJV)

 

As we have progressed through the book of Judges in our pursuit of grasping God’s methods of justice, we are now at perhaps the most supernatural stage. God has used an illegitimate son, the son of an idol worshipper, a prophetess, a left-handed bringer of oneness. Now, God is moving into the supernatural realm with a signature move of His, bringing for the deliverer through a barren woman.  

 

Manoah’s wife is barren, and the Angel of the Lord appears to her and tells her she will bear a son who will be set apart as a Nazirite to God. Her son is destined to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Barrenness was a sign of being purposeless in the system of bearing children who could carry your inheritance forward.  The perversion of Genesis 6 was one of childbearing. Children are the carriers of light, of destiny and purpose. Barrenness means literally no purpose, no inheritance. It kills off the flow of seed and harvest of destiny. 

 

The Angel of the Lord, who is a son of God carrying the seed of God’s light speaks the words of light into the darkness of barrenness and declares that a child of light will be born. The mother is cautioned to be pure with respect to wine and to unclean food. Why is this? These were entry gates into worship, into the thoughts and intentions of the heart that come from the nations. 

 

The Nazirite instruction to not let a razor touch the head is interesting. When we look at the Hebrew word for “razor”, it is the same word root as the word for teacher. In the context of kingdoms of light and false light, the “razor” could also represent the symbol of worldly teaching or authority. (share Indian Viet Nam story).

 

I am not promoting hair growth just pondering the possibility that it may contribute to a sensitivity to the Spirit.  There is a reason we use the term, “let your hair down” to refer to entering rest. 

 

Returning to our story:

 

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. "But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"(Jdg 13:6-7 NASB)

 

The barren woman comes to her husband, Manoah, and tells him of the angelic encounter. This is important because they must agree. God honors the marriage bed and declares it undefiled. 

 

Like Joseph, the husband will be a natural father to the deliverer. The father then prays to have this confirmed:

 

Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting 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 the other day has appeared to me." Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" So the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. "She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded."(Jdg 13:8-14 NASB)

 

Now, Manoah has heard for himself. The light that will come into the world will be his to shepherd as well. 

 

Manoah realizing that he now has a purpose an inheritance in God’s light desires to honor the light by transforming mammon into true treasure. He wants to worship and knows the key is an offering. 

 

Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you." The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat 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. Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" But 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, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.(Jdg 13:15-20 NASB)

 

This is the power of consecration of our offerings. It honors the “wonderful” name of God’s light. The Hebrew word is “peleh”. It contains the “pey” which is the symbol for mouth, the “lamed” which is the Hebrew symbol for the “staff” of the shepherd, the authority, and “hey” the symbol for revelation. So the angel’s name is the declaration of the mouth that speaks the authority of the kingdom of light.

 

By bringing our offerings we open up our hearts to receive His light.

 

Activation: Wonderful. To activate His voice in our life, let’s let our hair down. Let’s open up our spiritual sense and ask the Lord for His voice of authority, His light to enter our heads and hearts, and reveal our purpose.