Good morning.
My name's Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.
A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good.
They don't need God's grace.
And no one's so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.
We're continuing our series in the book of Judges,
and you'll remember that the book of Judges is about a number of things.
It's about the need for constant renewal and revival among God's people.
It's about the need for a true and faithful king,
a king who can do what no human can do,
which is to change the hearts of men.
It's about the power of spirit-filled leadership,
and it's about God's mercy to hard-hearted people,
people like you and me.
Last time we were in Judges, we finished the story of Jethwa,
and you'll remember that it did not end well.
There was disunity among God's people,
so much so that they were fighting and killing one another.
This morning we move on to the story of the judge Samson.
Samson's going to be the last judge we encounter in Judges,
and so we've made it quite some time.
And you'll remember our principle,
the main principle I've been pressing home in interpreting Judges,
comes from chapter 2, verse 19,
which tells us each generation was more corrupt than the one before them.
And so we see this constant downward trajectory or this spiral.
So the very first judge, I told you,
Othniel was the best judge of all time.
Samson, the last judge, the worst judge of all time.
And so things are getting worse and worse in Israel,
if that can be believed,
that they're even worse than under the judge Jethwa.
But in fact, that is the case.
And after we end the story of Samson,
we will see Israel continue in decline.
And so our question this morning as we come to Judges chapter 13 is very simple.
What is our hope when it appears that the lights have gone out?
What is our hope when it appears that people have forgotten God completely?
What is our hope in our lives when we look and we see tragedy and devastation behind us?
Not just because of what other people have done,
but because of what we have done as well.
So with that, I invite you to turn with me to Judges chapter 13.
You can turn in your Bible.
You can turn on your phone.
You can turn in your worship guide.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.
Proverbs chapter 30 tells us every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to those who take refuge in him.
And so that's why we read now Judges chapter 13, starting at verse 1.
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
So the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years.
There was a certain man of Zorah of the tribe of the Danites whose name was Manoah.
And his wife was barren and had no children.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her,
Behold, you are barren and have not born children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean.
For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.
No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb.
And he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
Then the woman came and told her husband,
A man of God came to me.
And his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome.
I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name.
But he said to me, Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.
So then drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean.
For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Verse 8.
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said,
O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us
and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.
And God listened to the voice of Manoah,
and the angel of the Lord came again to the woman as she sat in the field.
But Manoah, her husband, was not with her.
So the woman ran quickly and told her husband,
Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.
And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him,
Are you the man who spoke to this woman?
And he said, I am.
Verse 12.
And Manoah said, Now when your words come true,
what is to be the child's manner of life and what is his mission?
And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah,
Of all that I said to the woman, let her be careful.
She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine,
neither let her drink wine or strong drink,
or eat any unclean thing.
All that I commanded her, let her observe.
Verse 15.
Manoah said to the angel of the Lord,
Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.
And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah,
If you detain me, I will not eat of your food.
But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.
For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.
And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord,
What is your name?
So that when your words come true, we may honor you.
And the angel of the Lord said to him,
Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?
So Manoah took the young goat with a grain offering
and offered it on the rock to the Lord,
to the one who works wonders.
And Manoah and his wife were watching.
And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar,
the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar.
Now Manoah and his wife were watching,
and they fell on their faces to the ground.
Verse 21.
The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife.
Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.
And Manoah said to his wife,
We shall surely die, for we have seen God.
Verse 23.
But his wife said to him,
If the Lord had meant to kill us,
he would not have accepted a burnt offering
and a grain offering at our hands,
or shown us all these things,
or now announced to us such things as these.
And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson.
And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.
And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him
in Mahanadan, between Zorah and Eshtel.
I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's Word.
Our Father in heaven,
we do thank you one more time
that you have spoken to us.
You haven't left us to figure things out on our own,
or to stumble around,
but instead you've given us your Word
to guide us and direct us.
We thank you that it does more than that.
It doesn't just guide and direct,
but it shows us your Son and our Savior,
our Lord Jesus,
who died for us even when we were still sinners.
It shows us your grace and your mercy,
which we have not earned,
and we do not deserve.
And we ask that you would remind us
of those things this morning,
that we would see them in a fresh way.
We'd believe them more than before.
We'd live with greater hope.
We thank you that we don't have to worry
about whether we've earned these things
or deserve them.
We know that we don't, and we haven't.
And so we simply ask for them
in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
If you've been with us through the book of Judges,
I hope that you recognize the very first phrase
that begins this chapter.
It tells us,
and the people of Israel again
did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
And this is the phrase that begins
basically every section.
It's what we saw that began the story of Jethpah
in Judges chapter 10.
It's the same phrase that began the story of Gideon.
It's the phrase that began the story of Deborah
in chapter four, and then Ehud and Othniel.
We see the same thing,
that there is this pattern in the book of Judges.
And so hopefully you're getting used to it at this point,
that the same things occur over and over.
We find out also in verse one, what does the Lord do?
The same thing he does every time, right?
When they turn away from him,
he gives them into the hand of a foreign country.
This time it's into the hand of the Philistines.
We get a hint though,
that something is worse than before
because it is not like last time.
Remember when they're in the hands of the Ammonites,
it's for 18 years.
This time we get more than twice that.
They are oppressed for 40 years.
And so we've seen this before.
It might be tempting for us to go into autopilot
as we read chapter 13.
Okay, here's another judge and another cycle.
We know what has happened before.
We know what's going to happen this time.
Except suddenly there's a disruption.
There is a deafening silence that we should feel here.
There is something that has happened every other time
that does not happen this time.
There is something that God's people always do
that they don't do.
There is something missing between verse one and verse two.
The people of Israel do not cry out to God.
The people of Israel do not repent.
The author of Judges is telling us this.
Israel is closer to death than ever before.
Israel has become so bad
that she doesn't even need no to cry out to God for mercy.
Israel has become so twisted in her view
and understanding of the world
that it feels normal at this point
to have a foreign oppressor.
Of course the Philistines are over us.
That's just how life is.
Of course we live among a pagan nation.
That's just how things go.
Israel has finally come to the point
where she is inoculated
against the presence of foreign rulers and foreign gods.
This is normal, right?
This is just the way it should be.
It's been this way for years in the past.
It'll be this way for years in the future.
This is the pattern that I've told you about all along.
Judges chapter two, verse 19 tells us
every generation is getting worse.
Every generation, the phrase is,
is more corrupt than the generation before.
They refuse to give up the ways of their fathers.
Things in Israel are very bad.
Israel doesn't just need help.
Israel really needs help.
Israel is not just wicked.
Israel is really wicked.
Israel is not just gone.
She is real far gone.
And it's not because of the Philistines.
That's not the ultimate problem.
The ultimate problem is that Israel has forgotten her God.
The ultimate problem is that they are removed from reality
more than ever before.
It's with that missing section there
that we come to verse two
and we find out there is not just a problem
for the people and nation of Israel.
There's also a problem being faced
by this particular couple.
Manoah and his wife have a challenge.
And the challenge is that they are not able
to have children.
And we might think this is somehow a coincidence,
but in fact, these two things are meant to go together.
The problem of Israel
and the problem of Manoah and his wife
are intertwined with one another.
You'll see this on page nine of your worship guide.
Just as Israel was helpless and hopeless,
so were Manoah and his wife.
Hopeless nation, hopeless couple.
Not a coincidence.
And so that returns us to our question,
what does God do?
What is our hope when it appears
that the lights have been turned off?
What is our hope when things are so bad
that Israel does not even know
that she needs to cry out to God?
Well, again, we see these two things
going side by side, hand in hand.
Verse three,
the angel of the Lord appears to Manoah's wife
and says,
behold, you are barren
and have not born children,
but you shall conceive and bear a son.
Okay, great.
That's a solution to the problem
of Manoah and his wife.
What's the solution to the problem
of the people of Israel?
Well, it turns out they are one and the same.
Verse five,
this son's going to be a Nazarite
and he shall begin to save Israel
from the hand of the Philistines.
What God does for Manoah and his wife
is the same thing he's going to do for Israel.
He is going to bring hope
where there is no hope.
He is going to bring new life
where there is despair.
He's going to bring literal life
to literal barrenness.
He's going to bring spiritual life
to spiritual barrenness.
Now you'll note here in verses five and seven,
we're told that this son
who's going to come as the solution
to both problems
is going to be a Nazarite.
We're not going to talk a lot this morning
about what it means to be a Nazarite
because we have a lot of other things to discuss,
but it is going to become
incredibly important next week.
So just remember a couple things.
If someone is a Nazarite,
they are set apart to God
in a special way
for a time of focus and dedication.
And there are three rules
that they need to keep.
Those are laid out here.
They should not touch alcohol,
can't cut their hair,
can't touch dead bodies.
Okay, just remember that.
That's going to become incredibly important
in chapter 14
and chapter 15 and 16 as well.
So we have this situation of barrenness.
There's despair for Manoah and his wife
and also for the people of Israel.
God comes in in the midst of that.
He intervenes.
He brings life into those situations.
And then we're presented
with the rest of this narrative,
which appears to be
simply a comedy of errors.
Verses 8 through 14,
Manoah is not happy,
it appears,
that the angel appeared to the wife,
but not to him.
And so he starts praying to God like,
hey, I want the angel to come back to us.
So Manoah wants his own word.
He wants to speak directly with the angel.
And the angel,
it says God answers his prayer,
but either God or the angel or both
seem to troll Manoah a little bit here.
He says, I want the angel to come to us.
God says, fine.
He sends the angel to his wife again.
Manoah is cut out.
And so then she has to run to Manoah
and get him.
And he comes and he says,
look, I want all this new information.
Tell me about the mission.
Tell me how we're supposed to raise the kid.
And what does the angel do?
He just repeats the exact same information over again.
Manoah wants new things.
He gets the same things all over again.
He seems to maybe have missed something
in his wife's communication.
The only time that's happened
in the history of the world.
He's asked in verse 12,
what is this kid's mission supposed to be?
Well, we've already been told in verse five,
his mission is to begin to save Israel.
And so at the very best,
Manoah seems to be very confused.
He goes on to be afraid at the very end
that they're actually going to die,
that God's going to kill them
because they've seen his presence.
And his wife has to step in and remind him,
this is verse 23,
actually, honey, that doesn't make sense.
If God killed us, we couldn't have the kid.
Okay, so these things are not adding up here.
In the midst of that,
Manoah decides it's time for him
to offer this young goat as an offering.
And there's all kinds of debate
about what is Manoah trying to do here?
Is he simply offering hospitality
because he's in the ancient Near East?
Is he trying to exercise
some sort of power play over the angels
so he can get the upper hand in the situation?
Whatever he is trying to do,
we know this.
Manoah is very confused.
Manoah is unclear on what's happening.
He doesn't even realize who this figure is
that he's speaking to.
He doesn't know that it's a representative
of God himself.
And so everything really that's happening
in this section can be summarized.
Verse 18,
Manoah asks the angel for his name
and the angel says,
why do you ask my name
seeing it is wonderful?
In other words,
not only do you not know what's going on,
but even if I were to explain it,
you would be confused.
This is way out of your league, Manoah.
What is happening is above your pay grade.
Okay?
You can ask my name,
but there's no point.
This is wonderful.
This is more than you can wrap your head around.
This is more than you are set up
to comprehend and understand.
And so in the midst of all of this confusion
and running around and drama
and comedy of errors between Manoah and his wife,
underlying all of the details is this.
Israel, Manoah, Manoah's wife,
can thank no one but God.
They are clearly not smart enough,
competent enough, or good enough
to deserve any of this.
No, in the midst of Israel's rebellion,
in the midst of her inoculation
against foreign-occupied,
God comes in and saves them.
And so as we look at all these details
and these stories, we see this.
They are not smart enough or clever enough
to figure things out on their own.
The point of the story is not Samson.
The point of the story is not Manoah.
The point of the story is not the angel
or Manoah's wife.
The point is this.
Israel may have forgotten God.
God has not forgotten Israel.
In the midst of rebellion and dysfunction
and sin and confusion,
God is still at work.
Doesn't mean that there aren't consequences
for what Israel's done.
It doesn't mean they're not going to suffer
for their rebellion and mistakes.
Doesn't mean that their disobedience
doesn't hurt them, right?
We've seen it.
We've seen the sobering effects of sin.
We saw it in the story of Jethro.
As we've gone through the book of Judges,
we have seen the warnings are many
and the consequences are real.
And so I'm not saying this morning
that sin doesn't matter.
What I am saying is this.
There is still hope.
God never gives up on his people.
In fact, we already sang it this morning.
Because of his great love,
we are not overcome.
That brings us back to our question.
What is our hope when it appears
that the light has gone out?
What is Israel's hope when she has forgotten
even to cry out to God for hope and help?
And our hope is simply this.
God does not give up on his people.
God does not give up on us.
Even if it means life support,
God is still there.
God does not give up on us.
What is our hope when it appears
that the light has gone out?
Our hope is that it only appears.
In the midst of sin and apostasy
and rebellion and confusion,
the sun still rises.
The sun still rises.
Brothers and sisters,
the same is true for us and our sin
if we love and follow and trust Jesus.
God still brings hope
to hopeless situations.
God still brings life
to barren places.
You might look at your own life
and think about your ongoing battle against sin,
things that you have said
and you can't take back.
People you've hurt,
addictions that you've entertained
and coddled.
And the Bible says this,
if you are still alive,
the story is not over.
If you are still alive,
God is at work.
If you're still alive,
there is still hope.
You might be a parent
and look back
at your numerous failures.
And this passage reminds us
that God is more powerful
than your mistakes.
His arm is not too short to save.
Those things do not have the last word.
You might look at the disappointments,
perhaps betrayal,
that you've experienced
in your marriage
and wonder if it's all over.
And the truth is this,
God has not abandoned you.
We might look at the church broadly
and around the world
filled with confusion
and division
and disagreement
and error.
God is still at work
redeeming a people
for himself.
You might look,
not at the church around the world,
you might look at this particular church,
Cheyenne Mountain,
in the midst of our preferences
and disagreements
and failures
and mistakes.
God is still using this church
to bring his kingdom
on earth
as it is in heaven.
God's grace
is greater
than our sin.
And so we're reminded
of the promise
from 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 9.
But as it is written,
what no eye has seen,
nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared
for those
who love him.
someone about a month ago
who is not a Christian
asked me this question.
He said,
what do you think
is going to happen
to our world
in 10 years?
And he was asking me
in light of
all the wild things
that are happening
in politics
and finance,
what's happening
with artificial intelligence,
what's happening
with people being changed
by their phones
and technology
and media.
And part of his question
was like,
are we even going
to be here
in 10 years?
And what I told him
was this.
I said,
as a Christian,
I believe
that God
holds our world
together.
And so I have
sort of this
inherent optimism
that in the midst
of all of these things,
God has not given up
on his world.
And then I told him
the other side
of the coin,
I said,
it's not just
that I have
this great optimism,
it's also this.
I'm confident
that if God
was not holding
us together,
you and I
would not be
having this conversation
because we would
have already
crumbled.
Left to ourselves,
we would have
already destroyed
this world.
So the hope
of Christians
is the same hope
we're reminded of
in Hebrews chapter 1.
God holds
the world together
by the word
of his power.
That we are not
victims of chance
and circumstance.
Yes,
things are bad
in judges.
Things are bad
in this world.
Hope
never
disappears.
God
never
gives up
on his
world.
God's people
may forget
him.
God
never
forgets
his people.
Christian,
God
has not
given up
on you.
That's what
we're told
in verse 19.
Manoah
offers this
offering to the
Lord
to the one
who works
wonders.
The one
who holds
the world
together.
the one
who has
not
forgotten
his people.
The one
whose eyes
are still
on you
when you're
distracted.
The one
whose love
is for you
when you're
worried.
The one
who works
wonders.
Now
this great
hope is
coming to
Israel.
They're
oppressed
by the
Philan.
Samson
is the
worst
judge
of all
the
judges.
Samson
is going
to prove
to be
incredibly
disappointing.
Samson
is ruled
by his
lusts
and his
desires.
Samson
is a
misogynist
who's also
incredibly
violent.
He has
no
self-control.
He seems
to disregard
God's call
on his
life and
the importance
of being
a Nazarite.
And so
as we
go on
here,
our hope
is not
going to
be lifted
up by
Samson.
Yes,
he's going
to be
used by
God.
he is
going
to kill
a lot
of
Philistines.
But we're
also given
a hint
here that
Samson
is not
enough.
Note on
verse 5
what we're
told,
he shall
begin
to save
Israel
from the
hand of
the Philistines.
In other
words,
as God
intervenes
to save
and rescue
his people,
this fallen
and sinful
man will
not be
enough.
Yes,
God has
remembered
Israel and
they will
need something
and someone
much greater
than Samson.
And so
Samson reminds
us once again
of our need
for a true
and faithful
king.
A king who
can do what
no human
can do,
which is to
change the
hearts of
men.
Samson's
birth and
the angel's
visit to
his mother
points us
forward to
another visit
by an
angel to
another
mother.
You may
be wondering
why we
read the
Christmas story
this morning
from Matthew
chapter 1
and that's
the reason
because Samson
tells us
there is
something more
that we
need.
We're told
in verse 5
here he's
going to
begin to
save Israel.
If you go
back on
verse 3
of your
worship guide,
what are we
told about
our Lord
Jesus?
verse 21,
he is not
going to
begin.
She will
bear a
son and
you shall
call his
name Jesus
for he
will save
his people
from their
sins.
Israel
needs
something and
someone greater
than Samson.
They will
not have it
until this
son is
born.
Jesus will
not begin
to save
them.
He will
save them.
He will
not just
start.
He will
also
finish.
That's our
hope as
Christians.
Our hope is
not in
Samson.
Our hope is
in the one
who truly
and really
does hold
the world
together.
What is
our hope
when it
appears that
the lights
have gone
out?
Our hope
is what the
children's
storybook
Bible reminds
us of,
of God's
never stopping,
never giving
up,
unbreaking,
always and
forever love.
Our hope
is what we're
reminded of
in 2
Timothy 2
verse 15.
If we
are faithless,
he remains
faithful,
for he
cannot deny
himself.
Let's
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we do
praise you
and thank
you that
we don't
rely on
earthly leaders
and rulers.
That as
they always
disappoint and
fall short,
as they
always only
begin to
save,
we have
great hope
in your
son and
our savior,
our Lord
Jesus,
who doesn't
just begin,
he also
finishes.
We ask
that you
would remind
us of that,
that it
would grow
our hope
and our
faith and
our confidence
in you,
that we
would follow
you with
joy no
matter how
dark our
world seems.
We ask
these things
in the mighty
name of
Jesus Christ.
Amen.