Zorah

In order for us to really grab a hold of Judges 13, 15 through 20 that we read together, we must pray.

Go back to the second and third verse this morning, and this is where we find it says, "'There was a certain man from Zorah of the family, the Dananites, whose name was Manoah.

And his wife was barren, and she had no children.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "'Indeed now you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.'" Now, this wasn't a small detail in this story.

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty 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 you have not born children, for you shall conceive and bear a son.

Therefore be careful, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.

Rehoboam remained in Jerusalem and had fortifications built for the following cities of Judah and Benjamin.

Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Bethzur, Soko, Adulam, Gath, Maresha, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.

He had them strongly fortified and appointed a commander for each of them, and in each one he placed supplies of food, olive oil, and wine, and also shields and spears.

In this way he kept Judah and Benjamin under his control.

Any questions so far? And again, if you have some online, feel free to drop them in the comments.

Verses two through four: So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it.

And they said to them, "Go and explore the land." And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they lodged there.

So they stayed overnight.

Uh, any questions on that so far? So he's been...

These guys have been told, "Go in peace." So what do they do? "Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there and how they lived in security after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, 'What do you report?' They said, 'Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good.

And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go.

So the lord whom he killed so that the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshter in the tomb of Manoah his father.

He had judged Israel twenty

years."

"Then his brothers," that's Samson's brothers, "and his father's whole family went down to get him.

They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah, his father." Okay, so is anyone asking the question, "What's the big deal here, Joe? What's going on here?" Well, if you turn to Judges 13:25, you'll see something very interesting.

Samson got his power.

The Spirit of the Lord met Samson between Zorah and Eshtaol, and it's almost as if God was saying, "Okay, Samson, you feel like a loser.

Okay, Samson, you feel like a Philistine, like an unbeliever.

Well, I'm going to take you right back to the start.

In the final verses of the Haftarah we read, it says, And the woman bore a son and called him Samson, and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Machanedan between Zorah and Eshtoel.

Samson is clearly meant for greatness.

His mother was barren, a story that we hear all the time.

Then crying, let me die with the plishtim, he pushed with all of his might and the building collapsed on the chiefs and all the people inside.

So he killed more at his death than he had during his life.

His brothers and all his father's family came down, took him, brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtoel in the tomb of his father Manoah.

He had judged Israel for 20 years.

Rehoboam remained in Jerusalem and fortified various towns for the defense of Judah.

He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Bethzur, Soko, Adulam, Gath, Marisha, Ziph, Adorain, Lakish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.

These became the fortified towns of Judah and Benjamin.

Rehoboam strengthened their defenses and stationed commanders in them, and he stored supplies of food, olive oil, and wine.

God gave them power, Philistines, over them for 40 years.

During that time, a man named Zorah.

A man of Zorah, sorry, named Manoah from the tribe of Dan was married to a wife who could bear him no children.

So the messenger of the Eternal One, appearing to Manoah's wife, said to her, You are barren and have no children, but all of that is about to change.

You will conceive and have a son.

The boy grew.

The eternal God blessed him, and the spirit of the eternal one began to move in him.

What does that mean? Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah