 Good to see you all. Thank you all for praying. It's a joy to be with you in corporate prayer like that. I'm just grateful to the Lord for our evening services and grateful for you being back. Turn with me to Judges chapter 13. Come now to our time in the worship service, the evening service, where we can look at the word of God together and tonight continuing our series through the book of Judges. And we come now to Judges chapter 13. The narrative is picking up and we come to the birth of Samson. We'll begin looking at the life and times of Samson, the judge beginning in Judges 13. The title of our sermon this evening, a coming savior, a coming savior. And tonight we'll begin in Judges chapter 13 and look at this text that runs from verse one down through verse 14. So read along with me now as I read the word of God and let's consider this text together. Judges chapter 13 verses one through 15, one through 14. Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah of the family of the Danites whose name was Manoa 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 born no children but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink 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 Nazarite to God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. So the woman came and told her husband saying a man of God came to me and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God very awesome but I did not ask him where he was from and he did not tell me his name and he said to me behold you shall conceive and bear a son now drink no wine or similar drink nor eat anything unclean for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. Then Manoa prayed to the Lord and said oh my Lord please let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born and God listened to the voice of Manoa and the angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field but Manoa her husband was not with her then the woman ran and hastened and told her husband and said to him look the man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me and so Manoa arose and followed his wife and when he came to the man he said to him are you the man who spoke to this woman and he said I am Manoa said now let your words come to pass what will be the boy's rule of life in his work so the angel of the Lord said to Manoa of all that I said to the woman let her be careful she may not eat anything that comes from the vine nor may she drink wine or similar drink nor eat anything unclean all that I commanded her let her observe this is the word of God amen amen let's take a few moments now let's pray and ask for Lord's blessing on our time Father in heaven we thank you for this time together tonight I'm very grateful to you for our evening service and us to joy Lord the blessing of being able to come back together with the Lord's people on the Lord's day and to conclude our day as it were looking at your word together praying together singing psalms together enjoying the blessing of your worship together we're here to worship you Lord to praise you to be grateful to you to express our love our gratitude to you but it is such a blessing to us in your grace and mercy to us and we are grateful for that and Lord grateful for another opportunity to to study your word the more that we can be in your word Lord we know that you work through your word to inform our faith to build our faith mature our faith grow our faith preserve our faith and so Lord we we love you we thank you for that we want to be in your word I want to know you and I want to know you as you are revealed in your word and so we need you Lord now please help us as we come to this text show us wondrous things from your law and help us Lord to love you and serve you and follow you through the wilderness of this world thank you for our time together in Jesus name amen a coming savior the title of our sermon judges chapter 13 verses 1 through 14 well our text this evening judges chapter 13 opens with a refrain that we are only too familiar with hearing in verse one the text reads again that's how it begins with that word right again again again again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord it's amazing isn't it we come again to another chapter another story another account in the book of judges and here we find Israel in the same position that Israel has been in we see the pattern repeated again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord as they had done so many times before so many times just in our brief tour through the account of the judges Israel once again turns to idolatry it's interesting in verse one if you notice there's a definite article in the Hebrew in front of the word evil verse one again the children of Israel did the evil in the sight of the Lord it's not simply evil it's the evil that is the evil from which they have over and over and over again been rescued been delivered by the Lord namely that evil the evil is serving the bails idolatry and forgetting the Lord their God in their idolatry Israel has turned again to the evil now we should note from verse one that it's not a child of Israel who has turned it's not a group of children in Israel that have turned it is the children of Israel the nation it's it's amazing how pervasive this idolatry has become you know if if they were in a church our size for example one who would turn away from the faith and we've seen those before haven't we people who have turned from the faith who have gone apostate who no longer fought the Lord but this is the nation the whole nation of God's people God's covenant people God's covenant people en masse have turned from the Lord have forgotten the Lord and they've gone off again and done the evil serving the bails in their idolatry it is a staggering picture of betrayal of apostasy of shame of sin how just the group of the nation now has turned away from the Lord absolutely amazing these are the covenant people of God those who came out of Egypt God had delivered them out of Egypt and carried them through the wilderness and here they are canonized as the Lord warned way back in chapter two of judges this evil is pervasive the evil is pervasive the pagan nations that surround them the pagan nations that now even live among them because the Israelites have failed to drive them out those pagan nations have become a thorn in their side and their pagan idols have become a snare to Israel become a snare as we work through the book this return to wickedness we see isn't merely a repeated pattern right we see the repeated pattern virtually every account we come to but it's not merely a repeated pattern we need to remind ourselves of that it's a repeated pattern that's getting worse isn't it we see a continued downward fall right their foot shall slip in due time they are on a slippery slope and it continues to get worse and incidentally that's what happens and it would serve us well to remember that that's what happens with unchecked sin the life of anyone what a muck is it begins a downward slide it begins a downgrade notice God's response in verse one the Lord then delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years God giving them over into the hands of their enemies in judgment for their sin and then we're immediately introduced to Minoa and his wife in verse two from that brief statement in verse one to an introduction to Minoa and his nameless wife in verse two there's a statement that usually fits in there isn't there you notice a statement seems to be missing there's a statement associated with the pattern we've grown accustomed to hearing it generally comes just after the Lord has said to have delivered his people into the hands of their enemies but that statement is missing from this account do you recognize what it is it's something like this and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord that statement's missing the cry for help is missing they're they're growing weary of their circumstances and crying out to the Lord for relief is missing something that may even look like repentance anything about that is completely missing Dale Ralph Davis one of the commentators on the book of judges said this he said here then is Israel in the power of Baal under the power of Baal and Israel who does not only not cry out in repentance from sin but also does not does not even cry out for relief from her misery she doesn't as it were even have the strength to cry out in her misery doesn't even have the the understanding in her sin to see her circumstances she just doesn't see it as that bad anymore maybe she's resigned to being in the oppression that she's in it's interesting if you go forward in the book of judges to chapter 15 samson comes along to deliver them from the hand of the philistines and the children of israel like what are what are you doing can't you see we're under the oppression of the philistines or under the rule of the philistines as if that's the status quo and they're entirely okay with it they don't want samson coming along and upsetting the apple cart it's amazing absolutely amazing be sure that god most certainly will not be mocked right whatever a man sows that will he also reap the children of israel have sown themselves their own souls to idolatry and they are reaping what they sow on the surface that kind of that kind of indifference in sin may seem a matter of indifference to us as we read through the text but it is no matter of indifference when we become dull insensitive to our sin when we become complacent when we fail to see it as exceedingly sinful when we fail to be convicted when you can sit under the preaching of god's word day in and day out weekend and week out and not be moved over our sin condition there is a deep seated misery that is laid hold upon your heart that is scary isn't it should be terrifying the judgment of wicked men is not idle the destruction does not slumber the lord is not to be mocked he's not to be trifled with the lord knows how to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment but here's the truth right here's the truth sin is a snare and they've been ensnared by it it's almost like the story remember the story don't you of the the island of the lotus eaters right in the Greek mythology the ship wrecked on this island and they have a crew that goes in and they find these delectable plants the lotus flowers right and as they eat them they're lulled into a sense of security lulled into a sense of happiness and complacency and they lose all track of time and they don't realize that they've been trapped there by these delectable lotus flowers for their whole lives right decades years go by and they don't realize it sin is a deceitful snare sin will entrap you in its deceitfulness our heart wants sensitive soft understanding of or aware of our sin convicted by sin becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and that conviction no longer lays hold of our heart as it once did before and we become deceived indwelling sin has a hardening and a deceiving effect on the depraved heart of man sin left unchecked will not be satisfied until it ends with your death right sin the temptation giving birth to sin sin when it is fully conceived james says brings forth death well what we see then in the decline of the nature the nation into deeper and deeper sin we also see in a person who allows sin to reign in their heart when you allow sin to reign in your heart unchecked we see the same physical decline that we see here on a national level in israel john owen says this and listen no sinner no sinner like him that hath sinned away his convictions of sin what is the reason of this owen says sense of sin was in their convictions it was fixed upon their affections and as the sense of sin decayed in them they took no care to have it deeply and graciously fixed on their minds you hear what owen is saying when you begin to see sin influence you in that way hardening your heart deadening your sense of it when your convictions are being siphoned off and you no longer feel moved by the conviction of your sin you no longer feel moved by the word of god you no longer have a sensitivity to your sinful condition before a holy god there should be deep and careful effort taken to arrest a conviction of that sin upon your heart and your mind and owen says they they took no care to have it deeply and graciously fixed on their minds they were content without the conviction owen says this is the deceitfulness of sin deprived them of and so ruined their souls owen says that this can be in some measure also true of believers this happens in the life of genuine christians if as the sensualness of the affections decay if as they grow heavy and obtuse great wisdom and grace be not used to fix a due sense of sin upon the mind and judgment which may provoke excite enliven and stir up the affections every day owen says great decays will ensue it should be a matter of alarm right when we become or when we grow insensitive to our sin when we again go to the evil before the lord whatever the evil in your life happens to be and there's not a fixed sense of conviction on your heart and soul it should be a matter of alarm it should be something that you then immediately take measures to rectify you should immediately cry out to god right immediately go to the spirit of god you immediately deal biblically with that sin otherwise as owen says great decays will ensue we have to be engaged in the battle in israel as well as in the heart of every sin sinner who allows sin to run amok the sense of sin decays in them and along with it their sense sense of any conviction their sense of any remorse their sense of any sorrow godly worldly or otherwise their sense of any need for god and what flies out the window with it is any desire in the heart to do anything about it and that's sort of the state that we see israel here in judges chapter 13 they've just lost the desire to do anything about it they've lost the strength they've lost the will they've lost really frankly the understanding or the knowledge to do anything about it they're simply under the oppression of the philistines it's like a a deadly carbon monoxide that will kill you in your sleep right we've heard those stories it seems like it happens every year at some point around the winter months a family is killed in the middle of the night in their sleep by deadly carbon monoxide they don't even realize that it's happening israel now apparently lies dead and helpless under the power of bail under the power of their idolatry incidentally this is the condition of every sinner apart from the grace of god in christ if you've never turned from your sin to trust christ alone that is the helpless condition of every sinner apart from faith in the lord jesus christ apart from the new birth they are dead in trespasses and sin their carnal mind is at enmity with god their depravity has rendered them uninterested indifferent unable to turn from bail they're complacent they have no desire to forsake the world they have no desire to forsake the sin which so easily ensnares them they're so deceived by their oppressor they're just sucking down lotus flowers right oblivious they don't even realize they're being oppressed their slaves to sin imagining that they're free and they're not free well what does our gracious god do better remember that as bad as we see things in israel as bad as the the picture of the nation is in the book of judges what we see upstanding above that transcending that is the grace and mercy the continued steadfast patient loving kindness of god and that is an amazing picture in this book because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses he made us alive together with christ and the lord here intervenes in the case of israel what do we see god doing beginning in verse two of our text verse two without any cry for mercy without any cry of repentance god simply intervenes god simply acts in beginning in verse two god makes provision even in this condition god makes provision for the salvation of the nation for the deliverance of the nation it isn't that true of god in our salvation right when we were sinners even when we were ungodly god steps in to save he is gracious look at verse two now there was a certain man from zora of the family of the danites whose name was manoa 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 you've born no children but you shall conceive and bear a son now therefore please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink not to eat anything unclean for behold you shall conceive and bear a son no razor shall come upon his head for the child shall be a nazarite to god from the womb and he shall begin to deliver israel out of the hand of the philistines well this is the account of the birth of samson and we'll be studying samson in the coming weeks but like Jeremiah like john the baptist samson would be called to his work for the lord before he was even born samson is set apart to god the notice how the text especially in verse two here emphasizes that it is a work of god that samson was raised up the angel of the lord wants to make that point clear his mother verse two notice she goes nameless it's not the important fact that the lord is communicating here she's barren and she has no children and the angel of the lord appears to her and wants to make that point clear to her also exactly he says the same thing to her in verse three he said to her indeed now look i want you to get the point right you are barren and you've born no children and we see the same point made to sarah don't we in genesis chapter 11 the angel of the lord comes to abraham she's going to have a son in your old age abraham in her old age she's going to have a son and there god provided a son of promise to abraham and sarah in their soul their old age what's the purpose of giving them a son in their old age the point is to show or to say this is god's work god is the one who is doing this we want to make that really clear look nameless wife of manoa you're barren you understand you've had no children and look what's going to happen you're going to be given a son who's going to do that god most high the lord is going to give you a son because the lord has determined to save his people after pointing out that she was barren after pointing out that she's born no children the angel of the lord gives here what must have been a cause for great rejoicing in her life right you shall conceive and bear a son in other words this will be a work of the most high god the psalmist said that children are a heritage from the lord the fruit of the womb is a reward and she's going to be rewarded here by god hannah was also barren wasn't she and hannah when hannah prayed she said the lord kills and the lord makes alive he brings down to the grave and he brings up the lord is the one who does these things so where does the lord begin then in the record of samson the lord begins where there is no human ability notice right no human ability no way for them to have done this no human will no human effort samson isn't a grown man and strong as an ox right now right no human ability no human will the lord begins at a place of human hopelessness of human destitution and the lord begins there and it is a work from start to finish of the lord our god completely not even any human desire here on the part of israel no crying out this is a work of god and god alone it is all of grace do you see this can be conceived of as initiating or carrying out this work of deliverance on the part of god and god alone this should be the truth that causes us to look to him in faith god does the same in us it's all of grace it's all of his work you are to strive as though it depended upon you the lord commands you to strive but we know don't we it is all of grace every step of progress that is made in the battle with sin is all of grace every step in the walk of the christian life every step that is made is in the power of god's grace in the strength that he supplies right every growth of faith every shred of growth is supplied by his spirit nothing by us the lord begins at a place of entire human inability so the angel of the lord wants her to know this you are baron you've had no children and then the lord gives her two sets of instructions one for her and one for her child notice that in verse four first he gives instructions for her now therefore nameless wife of minoa 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 then verse five instructions for her child no razor shall come upon his head for the child shall be a nazarite to god from the womb and he shall begin to deliver israel out of the hand of the philistines the notice the instructions for both mother and son are in keeping with samson's dedication as a nazarite and a nazarite from the womb incidentally that's why the terms of the nazarite vow are to be upheld by his mother during her pregnancy right she's not to drink any fruit of the vine or any other any other similar drink either because he'll be a nazarite from the womb from the womb and we know that mothers have that impact influence on the children in their womb right what they eat and drink so the noun here means to dedicate or to consecrate that's what being a nazarite entails someone would take a nazarite vow when they were set apart for a sacred task set apart to do some sacred task wanting to take some sacred measure they would dedicate themselves or consecrate themselves to the to the lord now specifically in the vow of a nazarite the vow was voluntary when someone wanted to dedicate dedicate themselves to the lord and the vow was temporary the vow was voluntary and the vow was temporary it could be ended after a period of time and where we see laws regarding the nazarite vow they're set forth in numbers chapter six so turn there with me to numbers chapter six let's take a look at this together laws regarding the nazarite vow and look at numbers chapter six beginning in verse one verse one the lord spoke to moses saying speak to the children of israel and say to them when either a man or woman that's interesting isn't it right either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a nazarite to separate himself to the lord he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink neither shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh grapes or raisins verse four all the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine from seed to skin all the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the lord he shall be holy then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow all the days that he separates himself to the lord he shall not go near a dead body he shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother for his brother or his sister when they die because his separation to god is on his head notice that all the days of his separation he shall be holy to the lord so these are the laws regarding the nazarite vow so a man or a woman to demonstrate their consecration their dedication their separation of the lord would do so in three ways right they would consecrate themselves in three ways one no wine or similar drink no intoxicating drink but no fruit of the vine of any kind no eating grapes from seed to skin none of that right not even raisins really has nothing to do with alcohol now people confuse that with respect to the nazarite vow doesn't have anything to do with that really what it has something to do with is setting aside the enjoyment of something that is a physical or a senses sensual pleasure a sensual enjoyment it's setting that aside in order to dedicate yourself to the lord now in that under that covenant we might under this covenant think of that as being ascetic under that covenant it really was a demonstration a way to say i'm willing to set aside the pleasures of this world for consecration to god it was an illustration it was a picture right setting apart myself to the lord setting myself apart from the pleasures of this world to serve him and serve him alone but secondly the second way they consecrated themselves to the lord was to avoid haircuts no haircuts like many of us during the corona thing no haircuts it's interesting the word for separation there is related to the word that refers to the crown that went upon the high priest's head so you can imagine the analogy right that's what it is it's an analogy it's a picture the one who took a nazarite vow consecrated himself to the lord did not cut his hair and that was so that the crown of his separation might be seen might be witnessed right in the same way the high priest was separated to god and the high priest often didn't cut their hair the way that the high priest was separated to god was analogous to the way that the nazarites separated themselves to god by letting no razor come upon their head it was a picture of their separation it was to be witnessed in other words it was to be seen in any israelite who saw a nazarite the nazarite would have been a walking illustration if you would if you will of someone separated to god's service and frankly it was it was really a way in which a normal israelite man or woman who was not in the priesthood could consecrate them to god's service in some special way the priests were consecrated the priest anointed dedicated to god this was the way a normal israelite woman or a normal israelite man could have consecrated or dedicated themselves even though they weren't a priest does that make sense all right and then thirdly no contacts with no contact with the corpse no dead body no contact with a dead body not even if his mother or father or brother or sister those closest to him not even if they died could he have contact with a dead body the notice the nazarite vow for samson is unique right it wasn't voluntary god dedicated samson as a nazarite before he was born so samson didn't in essence you know sign up for that so to speak god chose him before birth to be a nazarite from his birth and it wasn't temporary notice in our text that samson was to be a nazarite his entire life until the day that he died in other words god was making it obvious that he was setting samson apart to himself for his particular use he is a chosen vessel of mine god would say it's a paul right in that in that way he says this here to samson now what we'll find in working through the chapters of judges related to samson is that samson continuously breaks his vow as a nazarite samson cannot keep his vow every way possible that you could break a nazarite vow samson breaks his vow not only did samson take a wife from the philistine philistines which is against the law he took a foreign wife a wife from outside of israel samson didn't show any concern for the prohibition regarding touching a dead body if you remember from the story or the account of samson samson takes honey doesn't he out of the corpse of a dead lion not showing any concern whatsoever for his commitment dedication consecration as a nazarite that was in judges 14 and then he has we'll see what amounts to a drinking party with his buddies in judges 14 after his wedding and then samson would eventually sin himself into a circumstance where his hair is cut and samson allowed that circumstance to take place all showing a disregard for his vow as a nazarite so samson's not the only one who sinned in their commitment as a nazarite the nazarites were sinners and it should remind us that the nazarites were sinners but it also should point us to the fact that samson was a notorious sinning nazarite samson was a flawed deliverer a flawed savior and that's why it's interesting that's why nazarites upon completing their dedication upon completing their vow were required to bring sacrifices they had to bring a burnt sacrifice for sin why because the nazarites were sinners even a nazarites best efforts to faithfully uphold his vow would never be enough to be seen as blameless in the sight of god never our best efforts our most complete dedication as it were on this side of eternity is tainted corrupted by sin john bunion said there's enough sin in my prayer my best prayer to damn the world therefore numbers chapter six dropped down to verse 13 this is what happens verse 13 now this is the law of the nazarite when the days of his separation are fulfilled he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and he shall present his offering to the lord one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering one you lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering one ram without blemish as a peace offering and a basket of unleavened cakes a fine flour mixed with oil unleavened wafers anointed with oil and their grain offering with their drink offerings then the priest shall bring them before the lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the lord with the basket of unleavened bread the priest shall offer its grain offering and its drink offering then the nazarite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering offering and his consecration as a nazarite would come to an end so what we see in the physical dedication or the you could say the human dedication of a nazarite to god is a flawed dedication isn't an incomplete dedication it's marred by sin right we serve the lord jesus christ and if you're a genuine christian and dwelt by the spirit your deepest longing the ache of your heart is to be separated more to him right i desire god to be free from sin to worship you as you are worthy to be worshiped to serve you as you are worthy to be served god please lay hold of my heart help me lord strengthen me to serve you as you are worthy to be served i don't want to love you more i want to serve you more faithfully i want to put away all my sin god help me right that's the cry of the christian's heart and lord i want to do that for a week and then go right no forever god please into eternity help me nazarite vow can't compete with that right can't fulfill that longing can't fulfill that ache in the believer's heart it's temporary and it's over and at the end of it here's samson he's gotta you know if he were to follow that law would have to bring his sin offering to the altar what is real ultimately needs and what you and i ultimately need is not a flawed nazarite we need a flawless nazarene amen the one who would perfectly fulfill that which the nazarite could only point to could only foreshadow complete full separation from sin total complete consecration dedication of heart soul mind and strength to god to the lord jesus christ the holy separation and the consecration of a perfect righteousness and he would then be the perfect and complete once for all sacrifice for sin no reason at the end of all that to bring a sin offering to the altar why because the lamb of god is our sacrifice the lamb of god is our substitute and by one offering perfecting forever those who are being sanctified that's a beautiful picture what's our response right think about it in our covenant as we serve the lord jesus christ together we want to consecrate ourselves to separate ourselves to him and listen we we should look for opportunities shouldn't we to further and further separate ourselves from sin from worldliness as we talked about this morning from this world to god right friendship with this world is enmity against god we want to separate ourselves from worldliness to him i don't mean that in an ascetic way you know uh what was the the stylite that uh sat upon a 50 foot pole and you know that's absurd um that doesn't make us holy but we should be consecrating ourselves more and more and more as we separate ourselves from sin to him we should consecrate ourselves more and more to him and paul tells us that essentially paul gives us the new covenant view you could say of an asrite vow in romans chapter 12 verse one listen to what paul says i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to god which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god so god in judges chapter 13 is raising up a savior god has visited his people to bring deliverance he does so through this figure that we've been introduced to before the angel of the lord look with me back at judges chapter 13 now in verse six let's consider this the woman came and told her husband that's a good wife right she doesn't stick around i'm gonna get manoa involved in this she says to him a man of god came to me his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of god very awesome but i did not ask him where he was from and he did not tell me his name he said to me behold you shall conceive and bear a son now drink no wine or similar drink nor eat anything unclean for the child shall be an asrite to god from the womb to the day of his death there are angels of the lord and then there is the angel of the lord right this is the angel of the lord the nameless wife of manoa describes him as uh at first as a man of god verse six well moses was described as a man of god prophets and priests were described as men of god something more was true about this particular man of god his countenance his appearance was like the countenance of the angel of god very awesome this was an informed guess on the part of manoa's wife i doubtful that she had seen the angel of the lord before so she's making an informed guess here she knew that there was someone of that title and this awesome man of god standing before her seemed to reflect what she knew of him moses has told had told the israelites about the angel of the lord in exodus chapter 23 listen what moses describes him as in verse 20 he says behold moses says i sent an angel god sends an angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which i have prepared beware of him and obey his voice do not provoke him for he will not pardon your transgressions for my name is in him but if you indeed obey his voice and do all that i speak then i will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries for my angel will go before you and bring you into the amorites and the hittites and the parasites and the canaanites and the hivites and the jebusites and i will cut them off you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do according to their works but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars moses's description in exodus 23 there of the angel of the lord authority right power so manoa's wife thought about this thought about what moses described him as and thought about this angel of the lord when she saw that man of god standing before her and she connected the two of those in her mind right his countenance the vision of him very awesome it means terrible in a awe-inspiring way right awe-inspiring uh not such that she ran away screaming fear fearing for her life right but he must have been magnificent to behold this would have caused someone to shake drop to their knees he is like the divine malak of god she said the divine messenger of the most high god very awesome she didn't stick around to ask about his name didn't stick around to find out where he was from so tell me your name where are you from but she didn't that wasn't the kind of conversation she had she simply ran back to her husband and we're going to find out more about this angel of the lord next week we know from previous texts and judges this is none other than the second person of the trinity pre-incarnate the son of the living god who is very awesome and we're going to hear about that more next week he would be the flawless nazarene he would be the one to deliver israel from her bondage fully and completely and forever he is the one to whom samson nearly points and we'll find out next week his name is wonderful amen let's pray father in heaven lord thank you for the lord jesus christ thank you for raising up for us a savior a flawless blameless spotless worthy man of nazareth one who would come to save his people from their sins and one who would buy his perfect sacrifice once for all perfect those who are his we're grateful to you lord for his person and work and all that is done for us thank you lord for your grace and mercy to us and making provision for our sin and redeeming us to yourself and calling us now sons and daughters in the household of our god grateful to you for the deliverance that you've given us when we are so undeserving and unworthy in our sin and yet you step forward in grace and stoop in grace and mercy to redeem us at such high cost and we now lord with grateful hearts worship and praise you and love you and rejoice to know that will be the case into eternity time without end for your praise and glory in jesus name amen