Men of Renown
Part xlii
(XLII) (42)
~
The Sitting Women
~
Mystery, Babylon The Great
The Woman
CONTINUES
in the Third and Last Woman
in the book of the Revelation
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
This series called Men of Renown will begin with these verses in Chapter 6 of the book of Genesis because it is the perfect scene setter for whatever and whoever follows that enables men of renown to act in conflict against God and His Word. Verses 4 and 5 is an accurate definition of men of renown.
The game plan is to cover all SIX mentions of a woman, and the woman in Revelation Chapter 17 of Revelation.
1. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:3)
2. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (Revelation 17:4)
3. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. (Revelation 17:6)
4. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:7)
5. And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (Revelation 17:9)
6. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:18)
We are currently exploring the following section of the woman sitteth, or the woman sitting.
5. And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (Revelation 17:9) 6. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:18)
◆
The Nameless Woman Sitting in the Field
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her. (Judges 13:9)
The theme of ‘women sitting’ is directly connected to the last mention of a sitting woman in Revelation 17:9. This is one of the many supernatural wonders of the Bible. Since God the Holy Spirit wrote the words within the written revelation of God to man, the placement of words, phrases and actions ALL have meaning, ALL connect, ALL are controlled by the Great Wordsmith breathing His mind, will and thoughts onto the magnificent pages of time and history.
This is what you missed in previous articles of the ‘women sitting.’ In Hagar, the woman sitting represents the beginning of ALL evil that will come against Israel, and where the hatred against Israel germinated: Ishmael. Then in the second woman sitting we have Rachel, sitting on the stolen idols, she represents the beginning of idolatry that was brought into the camp of Jacob. Tamar represents the historical dual role of Babylon as the lady of kingdoms, and as the glory of kingdoms. As Tamar covered her action of righteous indignation with robes of prostitution, Babylon covers herself with garments of false righteousness to veil her true whoredoms. Through Tamara, the open field exposes how sexual corruption spreads and takes over the world, the things of God and the people of God.
Although Tamar and Samson never met and were separated by decades there was a distinct connection between Tamar and Samson through the town of Timnath. And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. (Judges 14:1) Tamar and Timnath can be traced in Genesis 38:12 -14.
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her. (Judges 13:9) In this fifth nameless sitting woman there is another connection to Samson. This time it is a physical connection. The history of Samson begins in Judges Chapter 13 and ends in Judges Chapter 16. Four chapters that begin with God manifesting Himself as a man of God, an angel, the Angel of the Lord, the Lord Himself, a prophetic announcement of the birth of Samson, and God using this yet unborn person to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Through all of Samson’s history, the name of his mother is never mentioned. She is always referred to as the wife of Manoah. The place of the final destruction of the Philistines takes place in Chapter 16, in Gaza, in the Temple of Dagon. Now let us venture into Chapter 13 and consider this verse And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her. This nameless woman sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her.
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. (Judges 13:1)
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. (Judges 13:2)
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. (Judges 13:3)
Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: (Judges 13:4)
For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (Judges 13:5)
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: (Judges 13:6)
But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. (Judges 13:7)
Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. (Judges 13:8)
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. (Judges 13:9)
And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. (Judges 13:10)
And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. (Judges 13:11)
And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? (Judges 13:12)
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. (Judges 13:13)
She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. (Judges 13:14)
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. (Judges 13:15)
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:16)
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? (Judges 13:17)
And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? (Judges 13:18)
So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. (Judges 13:19)
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. (Judges 13:20)
But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:21)
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. (Judges 13:22)
But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. (Judges 13:23)
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. (Judges 13:24)
And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. (Judges 13:25)
God, in the visible image of the invisible God, once again came to earth and presented Himself as a heavenly visitor in an earthly recognizable form to interact with His creatures. But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:21) And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. (Judges 13:22) But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. (Judges 13:23) God the Holy Spirit also discloses who this angel of the LORD was through the following verses. And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? (Judges 13:17) And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? (Judges 13:18)
God was known to Israel as Jehovah, Adonai, God <‘elohiym>, and through His titles, but His preexistent name and His earthly name were not yet made known to Israel; however, the Angel of the Lord revealed Himself when the sweet savor of the meat offering (which represented the perfection of His Body offered in obedience to the determinate counsels of God) and the burnt offering mingled with the flame of the altar all ascended upward into the heavens . . . then Manoah and his wife both knew that they had seen God.
So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. (Judges 13:19)
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. (Judges 13:20)
But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:21)
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. (Judges 13:22)
Side Note: Burnt Offering and Meat Offering. Why did God the Holy Spirit document two offerings in Judges Chapter 13? There are five offerings in Scripture: the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering and trespass offering. All offerings reveal different aspects of Christ. However, only two offerings were mentioned with Manoah and his wife: the burnt offering and the meat offering for a specific reason. The burnt offering is the first offering mention in the book of Leviticus, but it is in the book of Genesis Chapter 22 when Abraham took his son Isaac, at God’s directive, to offer him to God that the burnt offering is first associated with a father’s close bond and relationship to a son, or it can also be written “a Father’s close bond and relationship to a Son.” As with all biblical references, the very first reference sets the tone and meaning for all that follows.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:2)
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. (Genesis 22:3)
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:6)
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here [am] I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering? (Genesis 22:7)
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8)
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (Genesis 22:13)
The burnt offering was an offering directed BY God, FOR God, TO God, and THROUGH GOD. The burnt offering is not about sin. It is about LOVE, the love of a Son FOR His Father and TO His Father, and the love of a Father FOR His Son and THROUGH His Son. Both of them together willingly experience the most supreme act of love ever exhibited in the Supernatural realm of God for ALL of creation . . . and they went both of them together. The burnt offering is exclusively God’s . . . God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1st John 3:16)
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2)
Then we see the meat offering in Judges Chapter 13. The meat offering is also NOT related directly to sin, and it is also a sweet savor offering to God. It is through the meat offering that Christ is seen as that holy thing, the holy child and the Holy One given to man, sent from God.
The perfection of the Man from heaven is directly connected to the meat offering. If I am not mistaken, I believe that the words “flour mingled with oil” only occurs in the meat offering. Flour symbolizes manna (bread) that feeds man, and oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit of God, and mingled together represents the invisible and visible union of the manifestation of the Godhead bodily.
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. (John 6:31)
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. (John 6:32)
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:33)
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. (John 6:34)
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
I am that bread of life. (John 6:48)
The burnt offering was the first offering documented in Scripture because it represented what God offered of Himself for ALL of His creation. The meat offering came next because it represented what the Son of God, through the determinate counsels of God, offered of Himself as the visible manifestation of the Godhead bodily. In Judges 13:16, the following reference sets the tone of the burnt offering: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD, for it was of the LORD. And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he [was] an angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:16) But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these [things], nor would as at this time have told us [such things] as these. (Judges 13:23) ◆ End of Side Note: Burnt Offering and Meat Offering
This event was supernatural. Why would God come as the Angel of the Lord, and as the Meat Offering and the Burnt Offering, and as the sweet savor of acceptance, and in the flame of the altar, (the righteousness of God in the judgment and acceptance of His sacrifice) to announce the birth of the last judge of the nation of Israel, Samson? Was this child to be a great man? Was this child to be a great judge for Israel? What was God’s purpose in announcing the coming birth of this child of Manoah and his wife? May God, through this article provide the answers to these questions.
◆
The Woman Sitting in the Field was Barren
Twice God informs us that this nameless woman was BARREN. God certifies through the number two (2) that this woman could not have children. Here is possibly more evidence of a supernatural birth for nothing is impossible with God. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. (Judges 13:2) And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. (Judges 13:3) The Holy Spirit of God sets the stage, the location and the individuals who will become a part of an earthly supernatural event.
There have been a number of women in Scripture described as barren, however, the Holy Spirit of God always provides evidence of God’s active workings behind the unseen scene of His sovereignty within the realm of His creation. For instance, remember the woman named Hannah in 1st Samuel. I will select just the references that will aid us in this article. Read this section, for in it you will also see much more than the birth of a child to a former barren woman. Look for the vow of the Nazarite because the vow of the Nazarite may very well become the hidden theme within this article.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: (1st Samuel 1:1)
And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. (1st Samuel 1:2)
And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. (1st Samuel 1:3)
And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: (1st Samuel 1:4)
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. (1st Samuel 1:5)
And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. (1st Samuel 1:6)
And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. (1st Samuel 1:7)
Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? (1st Samuel 1:8)
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. (1st Samuel 1:9)
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. (1st Samuel 1:10)
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. (1st Samuel 1:11)
And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. (1st Samuel 1:12)
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. (1st Samuel 1:13)
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. (1st Samuel 1:14)
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. (1st Samuel 1:15)
Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. (1st Samuel 1:16)
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. (1st Samuel 1:17)
And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. (1st Samuel 1:18)
And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and; and the LORD remembered her. (1st Samuel 1:19)
If you know the history of Hannah and her son Samuel, then you could possible say that Samuel was to be a prophet of the LORD. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel [was] established [to be] a prophet of the LORD. Now a small note: notice the similar number of 1st Samuel 3:20 and Acts 13:20. And after that he gave [unto them] judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. The Age of Judges lasted for 450 (four hundred and fifty years) UNTIL Samuel the prophet.
Let’s move on. Samson and Samuel were the only two men in the Old Testament who were Nazarites from birth to death. The vow of a Nazarite was voluntary and only for a limited time, thus making Samson and Samuel responsible to God during their entire lifetime. The birth of Samuel by Hannah was NOT supernatural as most people think of the word supernatural because Elkanah knew Hannah his wife. Thus, Hannah gave birth to Samuel by her husband Elkanah, And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. (1st Samuel 1:11)
Let us now go back in time to a supernatural birth that God performed through His servant and friend, Abraham. But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. (Isaiah 41:8) Barrenness is not an obstacle for God to overcome in His creation, especially barrenness due to age. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. (Genesis 17:15) And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. (Genesis 17:16) Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? (Genesis 17:17) From the Old Testament to the New Testament the natural world judges possibilities by the numerical law of probabilities; however, the spiritual world judges all possibilities by faith. As Sarah and Abraham were both dead reproductively in the Old Testament, so, also this same principal is seen through two reproductively dead individuals in the New Testament with Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth in the gospel of Luke Chapter 1.
The following references were specifically selected to add to the theme of supernatural births, which is the supernatural birth of John, the last Old Testament prophet in the New Testament.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. (Luke 1:5) And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:6) And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. (Luke 1:7)
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (Luke 1:11)
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. (Luke 1:13) And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:14) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:15)
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. (Luke 1:18) And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. (Luke 1:19)
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, (Luke 1:24)
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. (Luke 1:36) For with God nothing shall be impossible. (Luke 1:37)
Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. (Luke 1:57)
CLICK HERE to read more about Zacharias and Elisabeth.
Back now to Judges 13. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. (Judges 13:3) No where in Genesis Chapter 17 (with Abraham and Sarah) and in Judges Chapter 13 (with Manoah and his wife) do we have the words “and he knew his wife” appear. Notice where these words appear and where these words do not appear in Scripture. So, consequently, this statement, but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son was a supernatural event. God through supernatural birth prepared a people for Himself through Isaac, and God through a supernatural birth prepared an individual called Samson, BUT Samson’s life was a tragedy, it was an existence lived and based on the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1st John 2:16)
Why would God set Samson up BEFORE HIS BIRTH to be something that Samson never fulfilled? Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. (Judges 16:27) But, you see, Samson DID live to fulfill what God had prepared him for . . . and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Samson judged Israel twenty years. At his death it is recorded in Judges 16:27 – 31 that Samson slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. This last Old Testament judge slew more at his death then he slew in his life; compare this to the last Judge in the New Testament, the Man SENT from heaven who through His death gave LIFE to all those who DIED in Him. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:15) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. (1st Thessalonians 5:10) And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (2nd Corinthians 5:15)
◆
Sitting in the Field Alone
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her. (Judges 13:9)
Since the 13th Chapter always represents judgment against iniquity, where is this judgment theme in the 13th Chapter in the book of Judges? And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. (Judges 13:13) She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. (Judges 13:14) It is judgment against what this nameless barren woman sitting in the field spiritually represents. Manoah’s wife represents Israel, spiritually barren sitting restfully in the field of the world. She was told to BEWARE! And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. Beware of what?
Samson was not only the ONLY son of Manoah and his wife, but he also spiritually represented that he was the product of this nameless barren woman who sat in the field of the world as a type of Israel. Here in Samson and his mother we have a type producing the consequence of a type. Israel had chosen not to obey God and found herself alone sitting in the world without her Creator God (her husband) and outside of God’s protective blessing; thus, Israel was barren, fruitless and empty for God.
To understand the present and the future always turn to the past. The Lord appeared to a certain man of Zorah by the name of Manoah. Zorah means ‘she was smitten with leprosy,’ ‘hornets’ town,‘ and/or ‘a stinging wasp.’ This speaks volumes of sin as stinging bitter death. Manoah means ‘rest.’ CLICK HERE to read more about the tribe of Dan. So, at the very beginning of Judges Chapter 13, God the Holy Spirit describes the adversary through the name of Zorah, and the family of the Danites. Remember that the number thirteen also contains a warning of judgment. Every Chapter that is titled ‘Chapter 13‘ in Scripture has a double progressive theme. It is the sin of rebellion and the judgment of God against that sin. In Judges Chapter 13, God sets the theme of rebellion through the mention of the family of the Danites, and He also reveals in the same Chapter that this unborn child will become a weapon of God in judgment to deliver Israel from the bondage of the Philistines. For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (Judges 13:5)
Twice, the woman is declared to be barren by the angel of the Lord. Then, through the wife of Rest (Manoah) God prepared a man of the earth to successfully war against the enemies of God at the very heart of the Philistines’ evil in the Temple of Dagon, the fish-god, in the city of Gaza. Nothing is impossible with God. Man is spiritually frightened by the word Supernatural because in his heart this word leaves mankind out of the picture. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. (Judges 13:24)
The name Samson means ‘little sun,‘ or ‘sunlike.’ To aid those who are currently reading this article who has not read any previous articles: the field is the world, and the nameless woman sitting in the field symbolizes Israel. (Compare the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter 13, verse 38, The field is the world.) This is all in a previous article.
The reason why the Holy Spirit of God used these words, but Manoah her husband [was] not with her was that although Israel was in the land of promise, she was not at rest . . . but Manoah (rest) her husband (Jehovah) [was] not with her. The nameless, barren woman (Israel) was in a field (the world) ALONE without her husband (Jehovah, the LORD God).
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (Jeremiah 31:32)
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: (Jeremiah 31:14)
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. (Hosea 2:19) I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. (Hosea 2:20)
Israel SAT in the field of the world. Although God, as the husband of Israel, led Israel out of Egypt, through the Sea of death, to the sound of His voice, and to fellowship face to face with their God and Creator, after forty years (the time of testing) God escorted His people into the land that He promised was set aside as their inheritance. Nevertheless, they were to also fight the enemies of God who had settled into the exact place that God had promised to Abraham.
Side Note: From the River to the Sea. The Bible is not only relevant for our age, but it also speaks for our age of confusion and lies. After Israel was attacked on October 7, 2023, scores of witless people heard and believed the lies from the propaganda news agencies that Israel never owned the land between the river and the sea. Scripture has always made it clear where the boundaries of Israel began and where the borders ended.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18) The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, (Genesis 15:19) And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, (Genesis 15:20) And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (Genesis 15:21)
And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. (Genesis 23:31) Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. (Genesis 23:32) They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. (Genesis 23:33)
The phrase that is falsely being used to reset the borders of a people that are NOT a nation, nor are they a state, but they are professional refugees seeking to live off the work of others is “from the river to the sea.” It is Israel who was given the land between the great river to the sea. The same people who chant “from the river to the sea” not only are attempting to steal the land between the river and the sea, but they also have stolen the words of Scripture that states that all the land from the river to the sea belongs to Israel. It is their inheritance.
●Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. (Deuteronomy 11:24)
●From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. (Joshua 1:4)
● And the south side southward, from Tamar [even] to the waters of strife [in] Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And [this is] the south side southward. (Ezekiel 47:19)(Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:4) ◆ End of Side Note: From the River to the Sea.
◆
The Woman Sitting in the Field was to BEWARE
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. (Judges 13:13) She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. (Judges 13:14)
Israel was the ONLY nation among all the nations that have ever existed or will ever exist that God claimed for Himself. This is a dreadful position for any nation to be in. Yes, I wrote the word “dreadful.” God’s standards of holiness and righteousness are not of this world. What was required of Israel by God’s righteous standards? Separation from the nations around them would be essential. Consecration and dedication to God’s words would have to be before them every moment. To be a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation was not a small thing in this world of sin and unholiness; yet, that is what God required of His people. But God KNEW that man would fail and fall.
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; (Exodus 19:3)
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. (Exodus 19:4)
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: (Exodus 19:5)
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6)
And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. (Exodus 19:7)
And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. (Exodus 19:8)
God KNEW that they would fail and fall, BUT man had yet to learn this great truth that within man is no-good thing. Twice in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament we have the witness of the Holy Spirit of God that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
● They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14:3)
● Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 53:3)
● As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)
● They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12)
The greatest BATTLE of the UNSEEN universe is the greatest battle of the SEEN universe. The WAR in the heavens began with an insane rogue angel called Lucifer, ‘son of the morning,’ How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isaiah 14:12) The brilliant madness of this angel knows no rules or codes of war because war’s are not won by codes nor by rules. Wars are not won by signed treaties nor by good wishes, nor by social niceties. Earthly wars are won by men formed through their understanding of human weaknesses and evilness. The war of heaven was first won by CUTTING the enemy DOWN to the ground, and the war of heaven will culminate in CUTTING the enemy AWAY eternally and forever from the new heavens and the new earth. Mankind dares to judge The Judge of the earth by man’s own standards of goodness, but God’s standards are above and beyond all that is of mankind.
The minds, spirits and souls of mankind have been captured by the playthings of their imaginations.
God does not play by man’s rules and standards. God does not PLAY with man. Souls are not playthings with God. The minds, spirits and souls of mankind have been captured by the playthings of their imaginations. It is man who PLAYS with life and death. And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. (Jeremiah 21:8) When God said to Israel, And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face, God meant it. (Deuteronomy 7:10) God presented to man a means of escape from judgment, but He also presented judgment. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
Upon entering into the land of promise, many tribes (particularly the tribe of Dan) were unable to remove their enemies, especially the giants of terror from the land; consequently Israel was not at rest because the One who was Rest was not with her, therefore, Jehovah allowed their enemies to remain in the land and to enslave His people. The following verses reveal the condition of the children of Israel and God’s response to their refusal to obey His word.
They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: (Psalm 106:34)
But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. (Psalm 106:35)
And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. (Psalm 106:36)
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, (Psalm 106:37)
And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. (Psalm 106:38)
Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. (Psalm 106:39)
Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. (Psalm 106:40)
And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. (Psalm 106:41)
Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. (Psalm 106:42)
Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. (Psalm 106:43)
Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: (Psalm 106:44)
And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. (Psalm 106:45)
He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. (Psalm 106:46)
God gave Israel leaders called judges who successfully overcame their oppressors, but after each national recovery, the people were continually drawn to do evil over and over again. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: (Judges 2:11) And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. (Judges 2:12) God the Holy Spirit calls God long suffering. We should also see God’s long suffering as God’s LONG LOVING.
• And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,(Exodus 34:6)
• But thou, O Lord, [art] a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. (Psalm 86:15)
• [What] if God, willing to shew [his] wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (Romans 9:22)
• The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2nd Peter 3:9)
Since mankind lives in a very limited stage of existence he only views his own time period as the totality of God’s witness to mankind. Shutting himself away from the word of God allows mankind to avoid seeing that the long suffering of God is purposeful. Israel during the Age of Judges can also be viewed as the Age of Slavery, for they continually and willingly became the slaves to the Midians, Amorites, the Ammonites and to the five lords of the Philistines. The book of Judges, consequently is mainly about the constant battle with the Philistines.
Side Note: Palestine and the “palestinians.” The Philistines were NEVER called palestinians. The word “palestinians” was created to form a false belief that nomadic Arabs had claim to a territory that never belonged to them. A nation was invented to provide a means to destroy the true LEGAL inheritance and ownership of Israel. Satan is the master of the art of counterfeiting confusion: from a made-up pretend nation using the guile of greed and false victimization was behind the invention of people called “palestinians” and a land called “palestine.” The word Palestine is only mentioned one time in Scripture. It referred to Syria. It is not related to any territory other than Syria.) Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; (Joel 3:4) ◆ End of Side Note: Palestine and the “palestinians.” CLICK HERE for more information about palestine and the palestinians.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. (Judges 6:1)
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him. (Judges 10:6) And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. (Judges 10:7)
Just in case you are wondering why Judges is the7th book in the Old Testament and it is titled Judges, wonder no more. God sent judge after judge to lead Israel TO Him, and AWAY from the gods of the nations around them. Since the number seven is God’s number of completion, it therefore is the perfect placement for the book of judges. God’s divine work of leading His children into the land that He had promised was completed. His part of His covenant was complete in Israel’s acceptance of their homeland, however, now their part of the covenant had to be fulfilled . . . obedience to the word of God. And here is where Israel failed. Chapter 2 is the Chapter of witness against Israel. It is the introduction and the summary of the Age of Judges. God perfectly set Israel INTO the land of His promise, but Israel could not honor their promise. Under Moses, the people could not honor their promise, And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. (Exodus 19:8) And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. (Joshua 1:16) This seventh book discloses God’s perfect completion and man’s imperfect weak reaction to God’s perfection. And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. (Judges 2:1)
And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? (Judges 2:2)
Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. (Judges 2:3)
And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. (Judges 2:4)
And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. (Judges 2:5)
And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. (Judges 2:6)
And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. (Judges 2:7)
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. (Judges 2:8)
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. (Judges 2:9)
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10)
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: (Judges 2:11)
And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. (Judges 2:12)
And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. (Judges 2:13)
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. (Judges 2:14)
Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. (Judges 2:15)
Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. (Judges 2:16)
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. (Judges 2:17)
And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. (Judges 2:18)
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. (Judges 2:19)
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; (Judges 2:20)
I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: (Judges 2:21)
That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. (Judges 2:22)
Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. (Judges 2:23)
Judge after judge was sent to lead Israel. Samson was the last of twelve judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon and lastly Samson. And thus, Israel failed again to obey the word of God. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. (Judges 13:1) The Age of Judges failed God, however, the last judge that God chose failed God through sexual lust and by his disobedience to the Law of the Nazarite. Every leadership position that God gave to man, man failed. Man failed as prophet, priest, judge and king.
At the end of the Age of Judges, God chose Samson for a particular purpose: to show man’s total failure, and God’s sovereignty. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her. (Judges 13:9) As long as Israel was in the world surrounded by iniquity and sitting (passively accepting her evil environment) Jehovah was not with her. God stated LET HER BEWARE of the damage done and the judgment to come AND God stated that in connection with the Nazarite vow. And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. (Judges 13:13)
◆
The Law of the Nazarite
For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (Judges 13:5)
But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. (Judges 13:7)
Just in case in case you are wondering what Samson, Nazarite, and Monaoh’s wife sitting in a field all have in common . . . don’t worry . . . do I look worried? I am not worried because the Holy Spirit of God always ends these articles the way He wants them to end . . . I’m only the slow fingers on the keyboard typing the thoughts that He places into my mind and heart.
Twice in the 13th Chapter of Judges we have the word Nazarite. (Judges 13:5, 7). The first time in verse 5, this unborn child was to be dedicated to the service of God to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. In verse 7, the nameless woman was instructed to neither drink wine nor strong drink for the child that she would bear was SET by God to be a Nazarite to God, set apart for the service of God from the womb to the day of his death. Samson, the “little sun,” or “sunlike” was to symbolically be as the Son of God . . . SET apart for the service of God as The Servant of God. Samson in this one respect, was a type of Christ in His service, the service of a warrior judge that through his death he would destroy the enemy of Israel, the enemy of God. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. (Judges 16:30) As Christ, through His death on the cross of Calvary, overcame sin, death and the works of the devil, so also in limited type, Samson, the little sun, overcame those in the Temple of Dagon as they celebrated their victory over the man called “little sun.” There are many physical types in Judges 13 that relate to the greatest Judge in the spiritual realm, the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)
And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God [to be] the Judge of quick and dead. (Acts 10:42)
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11)
The vow of the Nazarite was made available to both men and women. It was a vow of separation from all that would defile and distract from the purpose of The Law of the Nazarite. And what was the purpose of The Law of the Nazarite? This 6th Chapter of Numbers is NOT about salvation, nor about eternal life. The book of Numbers is about the history of Israel’s wilderness experience, and therefore, much that was written about Israel and for Israel can also be appropriated by the Christian’s spiritual journey in the wilderness in the land of sin and iniquity where the enemies of the cross are behind every thistle bush and sand trap. In this 6th Chapter, God offers to every person a means to draw closer to Him, to personally communicate and to draw closer to His heart through The Law of the Nazarite. This 6th Chapter allows ALL to avail themselves to achieve spiritual power through consecration and dedication. Do not misunderstand that sentence, the Nazarite character was based on total surrender of all that was natural for man. Spiritual purity cannot be achieved by physical purity, nor can spiritual power be achieved by physical power. Spiritual power requires not only spiritual surrender but physical surrender, and The Law of the Nazarite is just that: to surrender all that is natural, even all that is NOT wrong.
The book of Numbers deals with numbering. In Chapter 1, every male from twenty years and upward who were able to go to war were numbered. Chapter 2, the entire camp was numbered according to their position that they camped in under their tribal flag and standard. Chapters 3 and 4 numbered the tribe of Levi with their particular assigned service to God. In Chapter 5, the camp was cleansed according to the Law of the Leper, and sin judged according to the Law of Jealousy. And then we arrive at the 6th Chapter where we have the sanctification of the camp. Everything is according to the perfect order of God. First and foremost, preparation for war had to be addressed first. Then in order to form an efficient fighting military it was necessary to establish a chain of command through the proper arrangement of the camp. Having prepared for military action, and having the tribes arranged to move quickly, the next numbering was of the priesthood. It was through two chapters that the priesthood was numbered and their responsibilities were detailed. All was set in the camp of Israel . . . then God dealt with SIN within the camp. Following sin and sanctification for sin was then the primary consideration within the camp. God is a God of order. And thus, here we are in the 6th Chapter of the book of Numbers dealing with the Law of the Nazarite. Separation is the key thought in the Law of the Nazarite. The word separate or separation occurs in the 6th Chapter of Numbers more than in any other book or chapter. So, therefore, it would be safe to say that this is the Separation Chapter. Fourteen times these words separate, or separation is mentioned.
Consider the three main points of the vow of the Nazarite: first, separation from the fruit of the vine; secondly, separation from the worldly perception of the dignity of manhood and finally separation from the dead. Each point is a manuscript waiting to be written, but not by me and not now.
Let’s consider the second point of separation from the dignity of manhood. The Nazarite was to let head hair grow and NOT to shave their hair. 1st Corinthians 11:14 documents, Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? This article is NOT about long hair or short hair, what we are to see in the Nazarite vow of Numbers 6:5 is that head hair was the OUTWARD expression of the inward commitment of the Nazarite to be seen by the world as totally committed to God even to the point of being unaccepted and different, separation from even that which is seen as natural. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. Samson’s long hair did not give Samson power, it was the INWARD commitment of the Nazarite vow that gave Samson power. Samson had NO power as a natural man, it was only through the inward sanctification by the Holy Spirit of God that gave Samson power, and the visible outward evidence of this inward sanctification was Samson’s hair . . . the outward power was the reflection of the inward power of God within . . . similar to the power of the Church and of the Christian is the power and glory of the GODHEAD bodily. All of our power comes not from ourselves, but from our HEAD, the Lord Jesus Christ. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. (Numbers 6:5) That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. (Judges 16:17) Through the Nazarite vow Samson was not to be as other men, he was to stand out among men to represent spiritual strength through physical strength. It is separation from what the world values: the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that gives a person strength for the battle against the flesh, and from the pride and vanity of life.
◆
The Law of the Nazarite Completed in the New Testament
Back to the Nazarite in Judges 13. The word Nazarite basically has two root meanings: to ‘watch,‘ ‘keep guard,’ and ‘a branch‘ as a ‘separation.‘ One root denotes preservation in protection and the other root is preservation through separation.
How does Nazarite in the Old Testament connect to Nazarite in the New Testament and why was Samson chosen to be this link in Judges 13, the Chapter of God’s judgment over man in his iniquity? In order to understand Scripture, it is always necessary to go to the beginning. To comprehend the depth within the service of Samson, and the depth within the perfect Service of Jesus Christ, we should read the first book of the New Testament (Matthew 2:23) and the fourth book of John verses John 19:19. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:23) And Pilate wrote a title, and put [it] on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19) Christ lived in a city called Nazareth before He began His ministry, thus, He was called a Nazarene, and He bore over His head, at His death, the words JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. Yet, these words did not represent His place of residence, but it represented that the Lord Jesus was the fulfillment and completion of The Law of the Nazarite. It was only Christ Jesus who could fulfill The Law of the Nazarite to God’s satisfaction as God’s High Priest and as King of the Jews.
Notice the messaging through God’s numbering system. The Law of the Nazarite is in the 6th Chapter of Numbers, six being the number of men, and Numbers is the fourth book of the Old Testament, four being the earth number; thus, the fourth book in the Old Testament connects to the fourth book in the New Testament. And Pilate wrote a title and put [it] on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19) The Law of the Nazarite begins in the fourth book in the Old Testament and the Law of the Nazarite is completed in the fourth book of the New Testament.
And this [is] the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: (Numbers 6:13)
This [is] the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, [and of] his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside [that] that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation. (Numbers 6:21)
When Paul was on the Damascus Road he encountered the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ introduced Himself to Paul, not as Jesus of Bethlehem, nor Jesus of Calvary, but I am Jesus of Nazareth. Why Nazareth?
And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. (Acts 22:6) And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts 22:7) And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. (Acts 22:8)
Christ, the Perfect Servant, was about to ordain and set Paul on a journey of service unlike any other apostle. I am Jesus of Nazareth, set the epitome of service to God, from birth to death. I am Jesus of Nazareth, is the flawless and faultless Servant of God, therefore, Paul HAD to meet Christ face to face as God’s ultimate Servant for the service ahead. To serve God requires the servant of God to live a life of separation, not from those he serves but to separate from the unholy and unrighteousness elements that consume the souls of man.
• Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,(2nd Corinthians 6:17)
• Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2nd Corinthians 7:1)
• Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. (Isaiah 52:11)
Spiritual separation is an offensive word for churchaholics. Separation is NOT monastic for monasticism is a form of pride and vanity, a means to cloak pride through garments of self-denial. Pride and vanity are religion’s sordid secret of the professional religionists. As the ancient Pharisees attempted to disguise their salacious actions through righteous words and wrongful judgments, so, also the current Pharisees of our age do the same. Through righteous words and wrongful judgments, contemporary self-proclaimed men and women of the cloth have made sexual perversions righteous by simply accepting the unacceptable and blessing evil and iniquity. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked [speaketh] frowardness. (Proverbs 10:32) Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) How does this relate to the barren woman sitting alone in the field? Israel was told to BEWARE being without the guidance of her Creator God. Israel was to BEWARE of rejecting the LORD God. Israel was to BEWARE of things that the Nazarite vow entailed: first, separation from the fruit of the vine; secondly, separation from the worldly perception of the dignity of manhood and finally separation from the dead. TOUCH NOT the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
• Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, (2nd Corinthians 6:17)
• Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. (Isaiah 52:11)
• And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4)
Spiritual preservation and protection are the roots of sanctification of the vow of the Nazarite. Through the Nazarite vow, death was to be renounced, and death was to be recognized because since Adam refused to renounce Satan’s lie when, . . . the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (Genesis 3:4); thus, Adam refused to recognize the severity of the Commandments in the words of God in Genesis 2:16, and 17. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (Genesis 2:16) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
The words thou shalt surely die are documented in Scripture ten (10) times. The number ten not only symbolizes the Commandments of God but ten also symbolizes God’s perfect order. The phrase surely die is found twenty-two (22) times in Scripture, and the words We shall surely die is only documented once, and that is in our study section of Judges 13:22, And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. Manoah “Rest” fully comprehended the importance of what he and his wife were experiencing, that God had visibly appeared to them through the visible image of His Angel, with a name so wondrously secret that would remain unknown to mankind until the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, and 8:7, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14) And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. (Isaiah 8:8) Then at His earthly manifestation, His name would be proclaimed in Matthew Chapter 1, verses 20 -23.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 1:20)
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (Matthew 1:22)
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:23)
From the beginning of the Law of the Nazarite to the end when the True Nazarite, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS the world could not see what God had planned for His creation for darkness was over the world, darkness was over God’s people, Israel. Darkness had blinded the hearts, minds and spirit of all of mankind.
◆
The Field of Blindness
CLICK HERE to learn more about the open field. CLICK HERE to learn more about those who were and are spiritually blind.
God set man into the office of prophet, priest, judge and king, and all failed in their responsibilities to obey God and to honor His word.
The last prophet of the ten tribes known as Israel was Ahijah and in his old age he could not see, for he had become blind. And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. (1st Kings 14: 4)
The last priest of Israel (the ten tribes) (Eli) was blind. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see. (1st Samuel 3:2).
The last king of Israel/Judah (the two tribes) Zedekiah was blinded. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. (2nd Kings 25:7).
The last judge of Israel (before the division of the nation of Israel) was Samson who was blinded. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. (Judges 16:21) Finally, since the nation Israel became spiritual blind, they went into the first Babylonian captivity in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, as prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 28:15 and 16. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: Then thousands of years after the scattering of Israel in 70 A.D., the collectively blind nation of Israel became dispersed among the nations until 1948. Although they are once again united as a national unit, they still suffer from spiritual blindness. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. (Zephaniah 1:17) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)
◆
God Came Twice to the Woman as She Sat in the Field
First to Announce a Son and Secondly as a Sacrifice
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her. (Judges 13:9) The field is the world, and the woman sitting is Israel, by now you should have that down pat, but there is yet another point to consider. The words God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field discloses that God revealed Himself to Israel in two diverse ways. The first, He came as the Son of God and the Son of man . . . . a son to be born . . . . . And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. (Judges 13:13) . . . And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (Luke 1:31)
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7) (Through the words judgment and justice we see this SON coming as JUDGE . . .this also is a prophecy of the second coming of Christ.)
. . . . and the second time was when God revealed Himself in the sacrifice. And Pilate wrote a title, and put [it] on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19) . . . it was through the sacrifice of His Body that Israel would live . . . And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. (Judges 13:22) But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. (Judges 13:23)
The earthly woman (Manoah’s wife) not only symbolized the earthly nation of Israel, but Samson, the product of his mother (Israel) also became symbolically a blind nation captured by the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. This small nation that God had chosen to be completely for His service and for His glory slowly turned into a nation serving themselves and for their own glory. God had not only provided for His special nation, but He had also provided a Son for His nation, and for the world.
◆
The Journey from Individual Iniquity to National Iniquity
In Hagar, the woman sitting represents the beginning of ALL evil that will come against Israel, and where the hatred against Israel germinated: Ishmael. Then in the second woman sitting we have Rachel, sitting on the stolen idols, she represents the beginning of idolatry that was brought into the camp of Jacob. Tamar represents the historical dual role of Babylon as the lady of kingdoms, and as the glory of kingdoms. As Tamar covered her action of righteous indignation with robes of prostitution, Babylon covers herself with garments of false righteousness to veil her true whoredoms. Through Tamara, the open field exposes how sexual corruption spreads and takes over the world, the things of God and the people of God.
Judges Chapter 13 is a Chapter of warning, assurance, prophecy and revelation. Sitting in a corrupt world, surrounded by enemies, this nameless and barren woman (who typified Israel) was given hope through a son and a sacrifice. It was through the promised Son and His sacrifice that Israel would overcome her enemies. In the midst of their enslavement in their own land God provided salvation and temporary recovery. Each time that a sitting woman is seen in Scripture there is a message, a lesson, and instruction regarding spiritual failure or victory.
Chapter 4, verse 10 of the book of Micah summarizes the pain and labor of a nation dwelling (sitting) in an open, blind and bloody field of spiritual, physical and mental confusion (Babylon), and at their darkest hour facing total annihilation, God will deliver them from the hand of their enemies. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go [even] to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
If anyone has gotten this far in reading this article you are either brave or stubborn or maybe both; nevertheless, one thing that I hope you carry away with you is as the LIVING WORD of God is ONE GOD, so also the written word of God is one book. As Christ (the Godhead bodily) cannot be divided, so also His written word cannot be divided: the Old Testament is foundational, and the New Testament is the fulfillment.
Men of renown is a companion piece to Giants in the Earth series.
© Copyright 2024, Mary Haigh
Published on January 16, 2024 @ 12:12 AM
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)