Samson's Hair (part 1)

Finally he told her his secret.  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, for I have been dedicated to God from the time I was conceived.  If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” – Judges 16:17  (NET)

The story of the maddeningly enigmatic character, Samson, begins in a familiar way for the Hebrew Scriptures, which is with a barren woman.  It is said that there was “a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe.   His wife was infertile and childless” (Judges 13:2).  The God of Israel steps into this situation, and the “The Lord’s angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son” (13:3). 

Immediately upon hearing this, one is reminded of the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Rachel.  Because the patriarchs of Israel had all experienced, to an extent, what was now being experienced by Manoah and his wife, those hearing this story already know that there is going to be something special about this child.  They know that the Creator God of Israel has a special purpose in mind for this family, in line with His larger purposes for Israel.   

From the angelic messenger, Manoah’s wife is said to have received explicit instructions in relation to the treatment of the boy that is going to be born to her.  The messenger tells her, “Now be careful!  Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.  Look, you will conceive and have a son.  You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth.  He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines” (13:4-5). 

With this, thoughts are moved beyond the patriarchs of the nation to Israel itself.  This mention of ritually unclean foods hearkens to the Mosaic law, and the use of “son” is a reminder that in the Exodus narrative, which was intensely programmatic and definitive for Israel, the Creator God refers to Israel as His firstborn son (4:22).  Naturally then, like Samson, Israel was a child dedicated to God from its birth, with certain restrictions in regards to ritual purity.  If one was to think big picture, then Israel, ultimately, was going to be the means by which the Creator God acted in history to deliver the whole of His creation from the power of death.  Thus, Samson becomes a microcosm of Israel. 

When Manoah is given the privilege of encountering the angelic messenger and the instructions are recounted to him, he is told “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.  She should not drink anything that the grapevine produces.  She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean.  She should obey everything I commanded her to do” (13:13b-14).  Fascinatingly, the very thing upon which so many focus when it comes to Samson and the sign of his covenant, which was the instructions related to his hair, is not reiterated to Manoah. 

Instead, the messenger tells him, twice, that his wife should pay attention to everything that she has been told to do in regards to her and her son.  In this case, she has received further instruction and it is going to be incumbent upon her to share these instructions with her husband.  It is also incumbent upon her husband to trust his wife in regards to this matter of their son’s hair, which provides an interesting twist to the dynamic of the story, especially within a society ordered around patriarchal dominance.  The report of this situation is yet another compelling reversal of social norms, as it elevates this woman and forces her husband to rely on her in a way that was quite uncommon and potentially revolutionary in that day and age. 

Token Of Submission (part 1 of 2)

Don’t listen to Hezekiah!  For this is what the king of Assyria says, “Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern.” – 2 Kings 18:31  (NET)

Hezekiah is the king of the nation of Judah (the two tribe southern kingdom after the division of the Israel into north and south following the death of King Solomon).  At this point in the Scriptural narrative, Assyria has already conquered the northern kingdom, and has now set its sights upon furthering its conquest and bringing the southern nation of Judah into submission as well.  In fact, it is reported that “King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them”(18:13b).  Quite understandably, this action provoked alarm on behalf of Hezekiah and the people of Judah, causing Hezekiah to respond to the emissary of the King of Assyria by saying “I have violated our treaty.  If you leave, I will do whatever you demand” (18:14b).  Upon this statement, a duty was laid upon Judah.  This duty would be a regular payment of some form, as an indication of subservience 

Subsequently, in customary fashion in these matters and in order to cement Hezekiah’s loyal service, Sennacherib sent a messenger to Hezekiah.  The purpose of the messenger was to inform Hezekiah, through his subordinates, that he was powerless to stand up to the might of Assyria.  Accordingly, continued subjection should be considered to be the best course of action for Hezekiah and his people.  In addition, Sennacherib’s messenger communicates information that could very well have had the effect of conjuring up thoughts of the promised covenant curses of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and the judgment of God upon His people if they failed to live up to their relatively simple covenant responsibilities, when he says, “The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it’.” (18:25b) 

The messenger goes on, resorting to intimidation tactics and invoking the name of Israel’s God as the One Who has not only sent Assyria, but Who will not in any way be able to stem the tide of destruction if the people choose to rebel.  At this point, the messenger of Sennacherib says, “this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern’.” (18:31)  It is the words that follow this that should give one pause, and in so doing, offer a mental transport from this scene of ancient Israel into the very present life of faith as lived by Resurrection power, which is somehow delivered through the agency of the Spirit of the Creator God. 

The Creator God makes a claim upon His divine image-bearers and their lives, trumping the claim of all other kings and principalities and powers as He, through His messengers (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor/teachers, and His Word) speaks to them and says, “Send me a token of your submission and surrender to Me.”  To what are they submitting and surrendering?  They submit and surrender, by the act of faith (manifested as confessing allegiance to Jesus and His ways in both word and deed) to the message that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah---the crucified and resurrected Lord of all (the Gospel).  What is the token of that submission and surrender?  Naturally, the token is love, which is both concrete and abstract.  However, two very real, tangible, and visible tokens of such are baptism and the communion. 

Beginning Of Deliverance (part 2 of 2)

What follows?  As the story goes, “The Lord’s angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son” (Judges 13:3).  Clearly, this is understood to be a miraculous intervention.  Though infertile, this woman was promised a son.  This is not an uncommon story within Israel’s controlling narrative.  In the midst of cursing (both nationally and individually), the Creator God breaks in and chooses to render a blessing to one of His chosen people.  The messenger repeated the report, saying “Look, you will conceive and have a son” (13:5a), adding “You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth” (13:5b). 

With that said, we of course find that we are in the midst of the story of Samson.  It is said of him that “He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines” (13:5c).  In this, we are able to hear the message of God’s salvation, not just in that He will be providing rescue and deliverance for His people Israel, but from our post-Christ event position, we can hear the message of deliverance for those that would come to be His covenant people through believing and declaring that Jesus is Lord through (faith).  In addition to that, we also hear the message of the salvation of the Creator God that is going to be extended to His once very good creation.  How so? 

As can be here seen, it is in the midst of Israel’s evil that God enters in for the purpose of providing His blessing.  If we make a wider application, appropriately thinking of Israel’s story (both as a people and as a land as a microcosm of all peoples and the entire creation), we can look to Israel as being representative of all peoples.  With that, we can then transpose the Samson story to see the promised son as Jesus, as the same Creator God (that is to be understood through the Israelites narrative that stretches back to the creation and Adam) breaks in to history amidst a race of people condemned to experience nothing beyond the wrath of God (as understood by Israel---the Levitical and Deuteronomic curses?), to deliver the blessing of His salvation---the renewal, re-creation, restoration, and life of the age to come in the here and now to be had through union with Christ---to people of all nations. 

In the Christ (a very Samson-like figure) and in His people, the kingdom of heaven has been established on earth, and is daily extended as His lordship is declared over all rulers and all powers.  Through His people, which is the renewed Israel under the new covenant marker of faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord of all, the Creator God demonstrates His power, as it flows through His people as vessels for the communication of the Gospel in both word and deed, as they participate in His purposes for His creation.  Just as we can see the gift of a Son into the midst of fallen humanity as God’s faithful action for the salvation (deliverance from exile from the ability to rightly bear the divine image) of those that He declared to be His people from before the foundation of the world (all peoples, not national Israel alone---the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant family was not a surprise, but always God’s intention, as is fairly clear from the Abraham story and the initial announcement of the covenant), we can also see a foreshadowing of God’s intention to restore and renew a world of His creation that was marred by that fall, when we read about the fact that this promised son would “begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines.” 

Through Samson, there would not be a complete deliverance, but a beginning.  So too can we understand, through the power that is unleashed in a marred world by the proclamation of the Gospel, as a measure of that power that raised up Jesus from the dead is graciously shared, by the Spirit of God, through His people, that even the creation itself is beginning to be delivered from the power of death under which it is held and under which it groans.  Creation’s complete renewal will be consummated upon Christ’s return, in conjunction with the resurrection of His people, as they are brought forth into a renewed physicality in the exact same way that Jesus was brought forth from the grave.  This beginning of the deliverance of creation (His people and this world) from the bondage of death to which it was unwillingly subjected by mankind’s rebellion against God, occurs because of the deliverance from that same bondage that is realized by those that share in eternal life, here and now, through their union with Christ.   

John's Inquiry (part 3 of 3)

At least some portion of the people of Israel were expecting the return of Elijah, as the herald of the messiah and the messianic age  Because Jesus quotes from the third chapter of Malachi (of course, there were no chapter or verse divisions in His day) in regards to God’s pre-revelation-of-the-Lord-and-messenger-of-the-covenant/messiah forerunner, it was quite natural for Jesus to continue on to the fourth chapter of Malachi and make the reference that connected John to Elijah.  As Malachi comes to a close, we can read “Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives” (4:5).  That great and terrible day, which Israel looked to as the day of the establishment of God’s kingdom, by the exaltation of His covenant people over all nations, would certainly have been a great day for Israel and a terrible day for everyone else (and especially for any nation in the unfortunate position of ruling over Israel.  This great and terrible day, as was expected by a great number of God’s people, would most likely be brought to pass through the triumphant use of military force, that would drive the enemies of God and His people from the land, while executing terrible wrath and punishment on those evildoers in the process.

It seems that it was God Himself that created this expectation of Elijah’s return before the messiah appeared, and Jesus makes it clear that this promise of God had been fulfilled in John the Baptist.  So what do we know about Elijah?  When we think of Elijah, what is the thing that springs most quickly to mind?  Is it not his famous showdown on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal?  Perhaps it is the fire falling on the groups of men that we seeking him, as recorded in the first chapter of the second book of the Kings.  Either way, Elijah becomes associated with the falling of fire, and Jesus’ disciples desire to call down fire on possible adversaries reminds us of this popular Elijah-esque imagery.  This collective thinking about Elijah may have been true for Jesus’ fellow citizens as well. 

In the Mount Carmel story, Elijah mocked those who opposed the God of Israel.  There, Elijah asked his God to answer with fire from the heavens to consume the sacrifice and prove the Lord’s superiority to all other supposed gods.  There, Elijah commanded that the people seize the prophets of Baal---seize the enemies of God---and he had them executed.  This is most likely what the people were expecting the pre-messiah Elijah to do as well.  A sizable number of the people may have wanted this Elijah to mock those who oppressed God’s people.  These people, in all likelihood, would have wanted this Elijah to call down fire from heaven to prove Israel and it’s God’s power.  The people would have wanted this Elijah to begin stirring up the people to seize and execute the enemies of God (the Romans, representative of all Gentiles) that were polluting their land and continuing their exile from God’s long-standing promises to them. 

John the Baptist, however, did none of these things.  He actually called the people to repent from such ideas, saying that the Creator God of Israel did not need to act in this way in order to usher in and put His kingdom in place, but that the kingdom of heaven itself was already at hand (Matthew 3:2).  We find Jesus picking up on this theme as well (4:17).  Jesus said that “All the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared” (11:13), so essentially it was John’s appearance on the scene of history that effectively brought the time of looking forward to the kingdom to an end.  When John began speaking forth about the kingdom, the kingdom was being made manifest, as the good news of God’s coming messiah and king would have been part and parcel of John’s kingdom message.  Even during John’s lifetime however, during the time that he was preaching his message of the kingdom, men were rising up in Israel in their ongoing attempt to force God’s hand and establish His kingdom by revolutionary overthrow.  That is, at least partly why Jesus said “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it” (11:12).    

Just as John was a different type of Elijah than the one that was being looked for by many within Israel, so Jesus was a different type of messenger of the covenant, yes, a different type of messiah than the people had been trained to expect.  So it is understandable why Jesus would round out His discourse about John (and Himself) by saying “The one who has ears had better listen!” (11:15)  With any attempt to sincerely and faithfully endeavor to contextually understand the life and message of Jesus, that warning about listening ears continues to stand.      

John's Inquiry (part 2 of 3)

Are we to understand that somehow John was disappointed in Jesus?  Was John offended at the way Jesus was conducting His ministry?  Were these words of “takes no offense” directed at John?  While all of that is possible, because we don’t really have a basis upon which to determine John’s mindset as he sat in prison, the likely answer is no.  Considering the context of the words that He spoke, and the fact that His experience in Nazareth (at least according to a comparative chronology) would have come before this question from John, along with the record of Jesus going on to offer high praise and honor to John in the following verse, it is far more reasonable to presume that it is the Nazareth incident that Jesus would have in mind when He provided His answer to John and said “Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at Me.” 

Though Matthew’s story makes no reference to the attempted murder of Jesus in Nazareth as reported by Luke, because Jesus’ response to John’s disciples in Matthew contains words quite similar to those that provoked the harsh response in Luke, because the people of Nazareth certainly took offense to Jesus’ words, and even though we treat the Gospel stories differently because they have different purposes (the separate stories of John’s disciples and Jesus’ Nazareth experience are isolated to Matthew and Luke) and don’t necessarily rely on one to make sense of the other, making the connection that Jesus may have been thinking of Nazareth as He spoke the words of “take no offense” seems to be a reasonable step.

Not only did Jesus insist that a state of blessing arises from not being offended at Him (Matthew 11:6), He makes it equally clear, through the pronouncement of the terms of His ministry, that apart from dashing certain messianic expectations, there was truly no reason to take offense.  Unless, that is, somebody wants to take offense to the way that Jesus went about the business of His work of causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, lepers to be cleansed, the deaf to hear, the dead to be raised, and the poor to have the good news of the breaking in of God’s kingdom preached to them.  Jesus was not thundering down from on high, condemning people according to His checklist of “sins of the flesh,” or setting Himself up as the ruler and arbiter of the people in an attempt to exercise an overt control over their lives and actions.  He flatly rejected any and all attempts of the people to force Him into this position.  Of course, there were those that did take offense (especially the Temple authorities), but we can be reasonably certain that John the Baptist was not one of them, as “Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John” (Matthew 11:7), doing so in a very positive manner. 

After John disciples had gone away, presumably to return to John with Jesus’ response in confirmation of his inquiry, Jesus says, “What did you go out to see?  A prophet?”  (11:9a).  Here, Jesus honors John the Baptist by classing him with the prophets of old, those who did so much to call the leaders of the people to account, adding “Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet” (11:9b).  More than a prophet?  Yes, “This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You’.” (11:10)  With these words, Jesus has continued the subtle reinforcement of His statements about Himself that can be taken to confirm His status as Messiah.  Here, He quotes from Malachi. 

Looking to the prophectic work, we find those words followed with, “Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming” (3:1b).  These words from Malachi, in Jesus’ time (and certainly at the time of the composition of Matthew), were taken to be a clear reference to one who would precede the messiah, as well as to God’s messiah Himself.  So Jesus, in assigning this accepted role of “messenger” to John (with this concept of the one to come and the one preceding him reinforced elsewhere in the Gospels---the “who do you say that I am” question and its attendant responses), has continued to indirectly declare His own Messiah-ship.  He further reinforces this claim about John (and therefore also about Himself) by adding “And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come” (11:14).  Clearly, Jesus takes no issue with John at all, and gives no negative thoughts to his inquiry, as He will also say, “among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist” (11:11a).    

God's Time Of Visitation (part 3 of 3)

Is such guiding of “feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79b) really a reference to the way in which God intended His covenant people to interact with the world around them?  When Zechariah speaks of giving “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (1:79a), is he really referencing what God had charged Israel to be for the Gentiles, and by extension, what God charges to all those that He brings into covenant with Himself through Christ?  Let’s see.

In the sixty-eighth verse, Zechariah speaks of “Israel” and “His people.”  In verse sixty-nine, he uses the term “us.”  In the seventy-first verse, we read of “our enemies” and those who hate “us.”  In verse seventy-two, we see “our fathers.”  The seventy-third verse presents “us” again.  In verse seventy-four, we find the use of “we” and “our,” with “our” used again in verse seventy-five.  The seventy-seventh verse presents “His people” yet again, along with the use of “their” in conjunction with sins.  Verse seventy-eight again says “our” and “us,” and verse seventy-nine once again posits an “our.”  Clearly, these words are given a corporate understanding, and are not to be taken primarily in a personal sense, with God revealing Himself and His light to individuals, so as to speak of this in terms of personal salvation and a personal relationship with God. 

Through the One Who was to come, of Whom John the Baptist was serving as His messenger---much like a slave would go before the Caesar in proclamation of the king’s greatness---God’s people would be brought into the way of peace, to be a light for the revelation of the glory of God.  As a follow-up to Zechariah’s prophecy of this way of peace, Luke records the message of the angels that was delivered to the shepherds of the field, as they exclaimed “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased” (2:14).  As we hear the words of the angelic host, something that should be remembered here is that such words would not be uncommonly spoken or heard in those days.  That slave that went before the Caesar would make such a declaration, speaking of the “glory” of the lord and god-man Caesar, and of the “peace” that he brings to his subjects that are pleasing to him.  In this case, however, they were being spoken by “a multitude of the heavenly host” (2:13b), which would tend to lend the message a greater degree of credibility.    

As we keep things in the context of a continuing narrative here in Luke, we can see that this declaration by the angels seems to be connected with a guiding of feet into the ways of peace.  The announcement, and its ultimate connection to the Gospel of the Christ, the declaration of the Lordship of Jesus, and the loyalty inducing belief in that Lordship that is brought about by the Holy Spirit’s evidencing exercise of faith as shown by the belief, is what brings peace.  That is what reconciles a man to his Creator God, and brings that man into renewal and restoration through the sharing of the power of the age to come (Resurrection power) that returned Jesus to life from out of the grave.  In the power of what was accomplished by Christ’s faithfulness to the long-standing covenant, and by the open confession of allegiance to the claims of the Christ as a man believes and proclaims the message that Jesus is Lord, that man has victory over death and the grave, also sharing in the life of the age to come, as both a repository and harbinger of that life.  That is a battle that has been fought and won.  Could there be a greater peace?  Should this not elicit, from God’s covenant people, “Glory to God in the highest”? 

In attempting to understand the implications of this time of God’s visitation, as it is referred to by Zechariah, we are brought by Luke to the story of Simeon.  Simeon is said to be “righteous and devout” (2:25).  When Jesus is brought to Jerusalem, Simeon takes Jesus into his arms and says, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace” (2:29a).  There’s that use of the word “peace” again.  It seems to be a recurring theme in Luke and of God’s visit to His people.  Simeon says that, in seeing Jesus, “my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples” (2:30-31).  This was part of the hope of Israel in that day, that their God would save them, redeem them finally from their ongoing exile from what He had promised to them. 

God’s purposes, however, went far beyond that.  The salvation of Israel, represented by Jesus, Whose Name means salvation, was for the purpose of Israel (the Creator God’s covenant people) being “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (2:32a).  This echoes what was said by Zechariah in the first chapter.  Additionally, this being the light of revelation was also “for glory to Your people Israel” (2:32b).  God’s covenant people truly attain to and reflect His glory, not when they are saved and assured of heaven and are satisfied with the hope of an escape route from hell at the end of life, but when they are being a light for the revelation of the Gospel (Jesus is Lord).  The proclamation of the Gospel is what spreads God’s glory, restoring fallen men and a fallen creation, as an allegiance to Jesus as the Christ brings a glorification together with Him.