Transcript [00:06] Let's enjoy the word of God together [00:08] tonight. I thank the team uh so much for [00:11] all they uh they do to help prepare our [00:13] heart for the hearing of the word. [00:16] Hopefully, you got a chance to pour your [00:17] heart out before the Lord. Tell him how [00:19] much you love him, right? That's what [00:21] that's about. Hallelujah. Tell him how [00:22] much you love him. Praise the Lord. [00:24] Well, welcome all of our family members [00:26] back at home to King of Kings. Welcome [00:28] all of our visitors as well. Happy to [00:30] see you tonight and welcome everybody [00:32] watching online. Kings Community Live, [00:34] Facebook Live, YouTube, Alpha Omega [00:36] Ministries all around Europe and the [00:38] world. Welcome to Jerusalem. We're so [00:39] happy and honored you would join us here [00:42] at King of Kings. Um we also want to say [00:45] thank you to those that you get to see [00:46] serve up front. Uh and especially to [00:49] those that serve in the back that you [00:50] never get to see. Those in the control [00:52] room, our media team, our lyrics, our [00:54] children's workers, our nursery workers. [00:56] Thank you guys for being such great [00:58] servants and making this community truly [01:01] uh what we try to do is model a first [01:03] century congregation. We got some [01:05] special visitors. I got some dear [01:06] friends here today. Uh uh Andrew and [01:09] Daphne Kirk from generation to [01:11] generation. Thank you guys. Blessings to [01:12] you. Great to see you again. Uh we've [01:15] been friends probably it's got to be [01:18] close to 15 years now. You know when [01:20] since we met in Memphis, Tennessee the [01:23] very first time long time ago. Also, [01:26] blessings to our friends from Grace [01:28] Baptist today. Blessings to you guys. [01:30] Glad you're here today. It's an honor. [01:31] Pastor Dan, thank you so much for uh [01:34] bringing the the team to be with us. Uh [01:36] hopefully you're engaging and you're [01:38] finding yourself at home. So, feel feel [01:40] free uh uh to to feel at home, feel like [01:42] family with us today. Hallelujah. Uh I [01:46] said this earlier on the King's [01:47] Community Live broadcast before the [01:49] service. Somebody texted me and they [01:51] said, "Are you guys okay? I heard Iran [01:53] bombed you this week. And I said, you [01:56] know, I I don't think they did. I think [01:57] I would have heard about that. I I [02:00] usually hear about these things. People [02:01] call me, they they text me, my phone [02:04] blows up, it goes crazy. Uh so I thought [02:06] maybe I missed something. I was like, [02:07] man, am I so I'm so deep in the spirit. [02:09] I didn't even realize that, man. So I [02:11] start I start checking on my news [02:13] sources. I said, I I don't I don't think [02:15] you heard that right. There's a lot [02:16] going on in Iran right now. I don't even [02:18] know if they can uh handle uh dealing [02:21] with us right now. And then, you know, [02:23] the next day somebody said, "Hey, I want [02:25] you to be safe. We're praying for you. I [02:27] heard you just got, you know, attacked [02:28] by Hezbollah." And I thought, you know, [02:30] I was I was in I was in Katarin, the [02:33] northeast of Galilee last night. True [02:35] story. I was preaching at one of our [02:37] congregations there and I was just a [02:39] couple of kilometers away from Hezbollah [02:41] and I didn't remember anything. It [02:42] seemed pretty peaceful while I was [02:44] preaching. So, I thought, man, maybe I [02:45] missed out preaching so good last night. [02:47] I better check my phone. And uh and no, [02:50] nobody fired anything that I'm aware of. [02:52] So, we're good. Everybody online. Bless [02:54] you. Thank you for your prayers. People [02:56] are watching today from all over the [02:57] world. I I just got a list from uh from [03:00] Norway and Belgium, Singapore, Scotland, [03:04] all over the world. So, we're happy [03:05] you're with us. Listen, turn in your [03:06] Bibles, Judges chapter 13. [03:10] It's going to be a fun passage in the [03:12] word tonight. Uh we're going to ask the [03:13] Lord to open our hearts so we can [03:15] receive. Father, would you open us up? [03:18] Our heart, our mind, our spirit. We [03:21] don't want to leave the same way we came [03:22] in here tonight. We want to be changed. [03:25] We want to be transformed. And we want [03:26] to conform to the image of your son, [03:28] Yeshua. [03:30] Let the Holy Spirit, we invite you to [03:33] blow throughout this room. Touch our [03:35] heart, mold us. We give you permission, [03:38] Lord, to change our character today and [03:40] as we learn from your word in Yeshua's [03:43] name. Amen. Well, if you're joining us a [03:46] little bit late, you can always go on [03:48] our archive, catch all of the previous [03:49] sermons. We've been in a sermon series [03:51] called the Covenant Table, and we're [03:54] highlighting some very important moments [03:57] in the in the Bible where where uh the [04:00] patriarchs and the matriarchs are eating [04:02] a covenant meal with, you know, a [04:05] surprised guest. Now, sometimes that [04:08] surprised guest is very known from the [04:11] beginning. And sometimes the the people [04:13] eating don't know who it is at first, [04:15] but by the end of the story, they do [04:16] know who it is. And and it's often [04:19] Yeshua himself. It's God in the flesh in [04:22] the Old Testament, eating a covenant [04:24] meal, and exposing the future to his [04:27] people. God has never done anything in [04:29] secret. He doesn't hide anything from [04:31] us. He says to his servant Abraham, "Am [04:34] I going to hide from Abraham what I'm [04:35] about to do? I do nothing but first I [04:38] reveal myself to the prophets. Right? [04:40] God wants you to know the book of [04:42] Revelation should be a clue. I want you [04:45] to know what's coming. So we covered [04:48] Abraham's meeting with Melkisedc, right? [04:50] And we talked about they took the bread [04:52] and the wine together. So basically they [04:54] took communion together. Then MelkiseDC [04:56] speaks a priestly blessing over Abraham [04:59] and then Abraham pays the tithe to [05:02] Melkisedc. Abraham also um uh met with [05:05] the Lord and the angels. Remember before [05:07] the Sodom and Gomorrah saga took place [05:10] and and it was Abraham who said that was [05:12] the Lord. Right? At first he didn't you [05:15] know he knew the two angels but remember [05:17] what we said about Abraham is in the [05:19] heat of the day and the opening of his [05:21] tent he looked across the field and he [05:23] saw somebody he recognized which is why [05:26] he stood up and he ran. [05:28] He recognized him. He had met the Lord [05:30] before. Right? Chapter 12, chapter 13, [05:33] chapter 15. So by the time you get to [05:35] Genesis 18, he knows the Lord very well [05:37] by now. He got up and he ran and he [05:40] hurried to the Lord because he [05:41] recognized him. That was week number [05:43] two. Week number three, we talked about [05:44] Moses. This was Pastor Wayne when he [05:46] presented this. It was Moses and the 70 [05:49] elders of Israel on Sinai and they [05:51] welcomed the Lord for the covenant meal [05:53] there as well. And he told him what was [05:55] coming. And then last week we talked [05:58] about Joseph being a a symbol or a [06:01] foreshadowing, a prototype of Yeshua [06:03] himself, having been rejected by his [06:05] brothers. His brothers were staring him [06:07] in the face and didn't recognize him. [06:10] And yet the redemption story that [06:12] happened around that meal where we we [06:15] talked about the the 10 brothers [06:17] represented the gentile nations. Of [06:18] course, Joseph represents Yeshua and [06:20] Benjamin represents the Jewish people. [06:23] And remember, the 10 brothers needed [06:25] Benjamin in order to go see Joseph. You [06:28] got to put the connections. It's in the [06:30] archive. Listen, let's pick it up today. [06:32] Judges 13, [06:34] verse one. And I first want to tell you [06:37] what's going on in Israel at the time. [06:40] It says, "Again, the Israelites did evil [06:42] in the eyes of the Lord." I I don't love [06:44] that our people have this history, by [06:46] the way. You know, it's almost like the [06:49] author was like, "Okay, again, [06:52] again, they did evil in the eyes of the [06:54] Lord." So the Lord delivered them into [06:57] the hands of the Philistines for 40 [06:59] years. [07:01] Well, God doesn't put these verses in [07:04] here with if they don't have meaning. [07:05] There's a meaning behind that. Why did [07:07] God in a time of evil [07:11] deliver the Israelites into the [07:13] Philistines hands for 40 years? You [07:15] might think that's random, but it's not [07:17] random. As we know, 40 represents a [07:19] generation. It's a generation flip, [07:21] right? But it also corresponds with one [07:24] of the other times Israel rebelled [07:27] against the Lord in the wilderness. I [07:28] read this passage from Numbers 32:13. [07:32] The Lord's anger burned against Israel, [07:34] and he made them wander in the [07:35] wilderness for 40 years until the whole [07:38] generation of those who had done evil in [07:40] his sight was gone. [07:43] That story is referring to, by the way, [07:44] the spies, right? That one leader from [07:48] every tribe. So, the 12 spies went into [07:51] the promised land. They were supposed to [07:53] by faith bring a good word back so that [07:56] we could obey the Lord and go in and [07:59] take possession of the covenant land. [08:00] The problem was 10 of them came back [08:03] with a bad report, with with fear. [08:05] Joshua and Caleb came back with faith. [08:08] And because they convinced the rest of [08:10] the people to be afraid, they decided [08:13] not to obey the Lord, not go in the [08:15] land. And the Lord said, because of that [08:18] 40 years in the desert, we were never [08:20] supposed to be in the desert. [08:23] Your choices will affect your life. [08:28] Okay? God may forgive your sin upon [08:31] repentance, but it doesn't always mean [08:33] he erases the consequences of those sin. [08:37] And they experience that. And so this is [08:39] why God is saying to the Israelites for [08:41] you're you're walking in evil again. [08:44] It's going to be another 40 years. Man, [08:46] I would have been I would have been [08:48] yelling at everybody. [08:51] I listen I I grew up playing sports [08:54] right a long long time like in the [08:56] 1900s, man. It was like long time ago. [08:58] And I thank you for who got that late. I [09:01] appreciate that. Yeah. Got the quick [09:03] people crowd and then the the second [09:05] layer there. That's good. Let it ripple. [09:07] That's good. We um you know, I can [09:10] remember uh our coaches if we did [09:13] something wrong in college, man, they [09:15] would make us run. And I tell you, I [09:17] would get on my own players. I would be [09:19] uh like, I know I'm one of you, but I'm [09:21] about to let you have it cuz I am so [09:23] tired of running because of the laziness [09:25] that you're displaying. But I I feel [09:27] like that would have been me in Israel. [09:28] Like y'all would have been very annoyed [09:30] at me cuz I would have been telling all [09:32] of us, I'm not doing 40 years again. [09:36] If I got to whip everybody into shape, [09:38] I'm not doing 40 years again. Let's [09:40] learn the lesson. Let's be a little bit [09:42] quicker. And I feel like that, you know, [09:44] somebody in Israel should have done [09:45] that. That was the role of the prophets. [09:47] They tried and of course, Israel didn't [09:49] listen. But this is the situation. So, [09:51] we're we're we're doing evil. We got [09:53] another 40 years. The Philistines are [09:55] overtaking us. We pick it up in Judges [09:58] 13:2. But a certain man in Zorah named [10:01] Monoak, uh we'll switch that into [10:04] English. We'll say Manoah from the clan [10:06] of the Danites had a wife who was [10:09] childless, unable to give birth. Well, [10:12] the notation here of of Monoah's wife [10:15] being childless and unable to give birth [10:18] is an indication that she is advanced in [10:21] age. That's why it's described that way. [10:23] Otherwise, they could have just said, [10:24] "Well, she didn't have any babies yet." [10:26] That would have indicated a younger [10:28] woman. But by saying it this way in the [10:31] original Hebrew, it's indicating she was [10:34] advanced in years and that was important [10:36] to the story that we would know that. So [10:39] here we have Monoah. We have his wife. [10:41] They have no children. We don't get her [10:43] name here. Um so for a while we're going [10:46] to refer to her as wife tonight. Okay? I [10:49] don't want to hear any texts or emails [10:51] about, you know, dishonoring women. It [10:53] doesn't say. So we're just going to go [10:55] with wife tonight. That'll have to be [10:56] sufficient. Now, if you think back about [11:00] the history of God moving on our blessed [11:05] women in the Bible, our matriarchs of [11:08] faith, it's actually a very common story [11:12] that he [11:14] lets them advance in age first and then [11:18] brings the miracle children. [11:20] And there's a reason. It's a way for God [11:22] to emphasize the miracle child, right? [11:25] Like if you had a child right away, you [11:27] might not think about it. But if you've [11:28] waited 15 years, 20 years, whatever it [11:30] may be, and and then you've really cried [11:32] out to the Lord, that child has become [11:35] even more precious to you than if you [11:38] just popped out a whole bunch. [11:41] I I was in the car today with one of our [11:43] leaders and uh we we were just going [11:46] over my kid had a birthday, your kid had [11:47] a birthday. When you have lots of kids, [11:49] there's lots of birthdays, right? So, I [11:50] was trying to keep up with all of his [11:51] kids and and and and he was like, "No, [11:54] we had we had uh four kids in five years [11:56] and we had five kids in six years and [11:58] six kids in seven years." I was like, [11:59] "Man, slow it down, bro." [12:04] You know, I I I even asked him [12:06] something. I was like, "Do you know all [12:07] their names?" Like, that's a that's a [12:09] lot of kids. [12:13] But this wasn't the case with Monoah's [12:15] wife. She she was she was barren for a [12:17] long time. And it follows the pattern of [12:19] Sarah having Isaac at an advanced age, [12:22] the promised child, or Rachel having [12:24] Joseph and Benjamin at an advanced age, [12:25] or Hannah having Samuel, or Elizabeth [12:28] having John. And this pattern continues [12:30] in the scripture so that we'll pay [12:31] attention to how important that miracle [12:34] child is. [12:36] So, if you've been waiting in the spirit [12:39] on something, I want to encourage you [12:41] tonight that that spiritual child. And [12:43] that child could represent anything in [12:45] your life that you've been holding on to [12:47] as a promise from the Lord. Whatever [12:49] that thing is, sometimes the Lord lets [12:52] it delay so that you will have greater [12:54] emphasis on the fact that it was a [12:56] miracle from God and it's special to [12:58] you. So, don't give up hope. Be in faith [13:02] like these great women of God were. [13:04] Let's look at verse three. Judges 3:3 uh [13:06] 13:3. [13:09] The angel of the Lord appeared to her. [13:11] Notice her, not him. I think that's very [13:13] important here. He appeared to her and [13:15] he said, "You are barren and childless, [13:19] but you are going to become pregnant and [13:20] give birth to a son." And the Hebrew [13:23] here, you know, is malak Adonai, [13:27] the yud vave, tetetrogrammatan, Yhovah, [13:30] Yahweh, you know, we go through that. [13:31] whatever your preferred pronunciation [13:33] is, but it's the angel of the Lord. And [13:36] the reason I pointed out the Hebrew [13:37] here, Malik Adonai, is it does not say [13:43] Malak [13:45] Adonai [13:47] or Malak Adonai. It doesn't say angel of [13:51] the Lord. It doesn't say angel from the [13:53] Lord. It actually it actually just says [13:56] angel God. [13:58] crucial in your understanding of how God [14:00] works in his in his ver veritous nature [14:04] where he has different forms at [14:06] different times. It's it's much more [14:09] cohesive to just read the text and [14:11] understand what it says. It says angel [14:13] God. [14:14] God shows up sometimes in the form of an [14:17] angel [14:19] just like it doesn't say son of God. By [14:21] the way, just to be clear, son god. [14:25] God in the form of the son. Right? You [14:28] understand? It doesn't say spirit of God [14:30] either. [14:31] Spirit God. God shows up in spirit form. [14:34] And you understand the unity of God even [14:36] though he can display himself in various [14:39] ways. And this is what happens here. [14:40] Malakadonai. [14:42] This is uh this is angel God form. And [14:47] uh Manoah's wife, she doesn't know who [14:49] it is right away. So that means she's [14:51] never met him before. Different than [14:52] Abraham. Remember I pointed out Abraham [14:54] had seen the Lord several times and when [14:56] he saw him he ran because he recognized [14:58] him. But Mano Noah's wife doesn't [15:00] recognize him. That indicates to me this [15:02] is the first time she's encountered the [15:04] Lord uh visibly. Maybe in her heart, [15:06] maybe in her ears, yes, but visibly [15:09] maybe the first time she has experienced [15:11] uh the presence of the Lord. So let's [15:13] read what he what he tells her. Judges [15:15] 13:4 and5. Now see to it that you drink [15:18] no wine or other fermented drink and [15:21] that you do not eat anything unclean. [15:23] You will become pregnant and have a son [15:25] whose whose head is never to be touched [15:28] by a razor because the boy is to be a [15:30] Nazerite dedicated to God from the womb. [15:33] He will take lead in delivering Israel [15:36] from the hands of the Philistines. [15:39] So what the Lord is telling Monoah's [15:42] wife here is that she's not allowed. [15:45] It's interesting because at first you [15:46] think that that that prophecy or that [15:49] instruction is about the child. I've [15:51] heard this actually preached wrong many [15:53] times. [15:55] He he doesn't talk about the child [15:57] first. He talks about the mom first. [16:01] And he says you the one carrying the [16:04] child. You can have no strong drink, no [16:07] alcoholic beverages, no wine, no grapes. [16:11] you must also eat kosher according to [16:13] the scriptures. All of it's right here [16:15] in the text. Eat no unclean thing. [16:18] And when her son is born, he must also [16:22] follow these same regulations. Plus, the [16:26] son is not allowed to cut his hair. Now, [16:29] you might say, well, why didn't why [16:30] didn't he tell the mom not to cut her [16:32] hair? Probably because she already [16:34] didn't cut her hair, [16:36] right? The the the hair is the crown of [16:38] the of the glory of the woman. So a lot [16:40] of times in ancient Israel, they didn't [16:41] cut their hair anyway. So that may not [16:44] have needed to be said. [16:46] So he emphasizes that part, the not [16:48] cutting your hair about the son that [16:51] she's going to have in the future. I'm [16:53] just putting a lot of details in here uh [16:55] for you. So while Monoah's wife [16:59] must consecrate herself during the [17:01] pregnancy so that the son Samson, I [17:04] think we're all on the same page with [17:06] who this boy is, right? Shimon, Samson. [17:11] And what it means is that Samson and the [17:15] mom [17:16] are gonna take a Nazerite vow. [17:19] The difference will be that the mom will [17:22] have a Nazerite vow during the pregnancy [17:25] and then she can come off the vow, but [17:27] Samson is a Nazerite for his whole life. [17:30] Very important. What it also means, and [17:34] I loved I loved that the Holy Spirit [17:36] highlighted this. It means that Samson [17:41] was a Nazerite [17:43] already in the womb. [17:47] Hear me on that. He was dedicated to the [17:50] Lord, already living a life with no [17:53] uncoser food through his mom through his [17:56] nourishment and no fermented drink [17:58] through his mom through his nourishment. [17:59] He was already sanctified as a Nazerite [18:03] while he was in the mother's womb. What [18:06] does that tell you about life in the [18:08] womb? [18:10] It's not only that God has great plans [18:12] for you. God knows your days are [18:14] numbered. All of these things. God's [18:16] actually working on his calling while [18:19] he's in the womb. [18:22] If there were any questions about what [18:25] God thinks about children and life in [18:28] pregnancy, it should now be answered. [18:30] You should never again have that [18:32] question. God believes the child in the [18:35] womb is an alive human being, a child [18:38] made in his image. He has a calling. He [18:41] even has a way of life for them even in [18:44] the womb. [18:45] So Samson is a Nazarite from his birth, [18:48] actually even from his conception. So, [18:50] what does this mean and where does it [18:52] come from? Well, if you just want to [18:53] make a quick note, Numbers chapter 6, [18:55] the first five verses will tell you a [18:57] little bit of the background of the [18:58] Nazerite vow. I'll read it for you. The [19:01] Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the [19:03] Israelites and say to them, if a man or [19:05] woman wants to make a special vow, a vow [19:07] of dedication to the Lord as a Nazerite, [19:10] they must abstain from wine and other [19:11] fermented drink, and must not drink [19:13] vinegar made from wine or other [19:15] fermented drink. They must not drink [19:17] grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. I [19:20] was always sad raisins got thrown in [19:22] there. [19:24] As long as they remain under the [19:26] Nazarite vow, they must not eat anything [19:28] that comes from the grape vine, nor even [19:31] the seeds or the skins. During the [19:34] entire period of their Nazarite vow, no [19:36] razor may be used on their head. They [19:39] must be holy until the period of their [19:41] dedication to the Lord is over. They [19:43] must let their hair grow long. [19:46] Samson, of course, never got to come off [19:48] of the vow. He lived his entire life as [19:51] a Nazerite. The mom has the vow during a [19:54] pregnancy, but once he's born, she's [19:56] released from the vow. Okay, that's kind [19:59] of how it plays out here. It is also [20:02] clear from the text that you can you can [20:04] claim the Nazarite vow period of time as [20:07] a man or a woman. Either one can claim [20:09] it. It doesn't matter if you're [20:10] dedicating a special time to the Lord, [20:13] you're allowed to take this vow before [20:15] the Lord. So that's why Samson and the [20:17] story, the famous story about his hair, [20:19] why he didn't cut his hair, where the [20:21] strength came from, it all comes back to [20:24] this verse and this vow that Yeshua uh [20:28] the angel of the Lord had told uh the [20:31] mother. Okay. So we continue. Now we see [20:37] that this happens the first time [20:40] that the Lord visits Monoah's wife and [20:42] he predicts the special child. She goes [20:45] back and tells her husband Monoah, "Hey, [20:47] I had a visitor. He was kind of special. [20:49] He prophesied that I would have a [20:51] child." So at this point, at this point, [20:54] it may be that the wife thinks it was a [20:57] prophet. It was a visitor. Maybe she [20:59] even thought it was an angel. [21:02] She's not quite sure who it is. maybe a [21:04] prophetic type person in Israel. But she [21:06] goes back and tells the husband [21:08] and then the husband Monoah prays to the [21:15] Lord and says, "I really want you to [21:17] come again. [21:20] Please come. I I I want to meet you. I [21:22] want to hear for my myself what you say. [21:25] I I I want to know who you are. Would [21:27] you please?" So he prays [21:29] and it may be that Monoah is praying [21:32] because he knew who it was. Even though [21:35] the wife didn't quite know who it was, [21:36] it was that he sensed it. Maybe in the [21:38] spirit, he sensed this. I think this was [21:41] this was someone from God. So he prays [21:43] and says, "Lord, send the visitor [21:45] again." So we pick that up in Judges [21:47] 13:10. [21:49] The woman hurried to tell her husband, [21:51] "He's here. The man who appeared to me [21:54] the other day." So Monoah got up and [21:56] followed his wife. And when he came to [21:58] the man, he said, "Are you the man who [22:00] talked with my wife before?" "I am," he [22:03] said. So Monoah asked him, "When when [22:06] your words are fulfilled, what is to be [22:09] the rule that governs the boy's life and [22:11] his work?" The angel of the Lord [22:13] answered, "Your wife must do all that I [22:15] have told her. She must not eat anything [22:18] that comes from the grape vine, nor [22:20] drink any wine, or any other fermented [22:21] drink, nor eat anything that's unclean. [22:23] She must do everything that I have [22:25] commanded her. So again, [22:28] Monoah prays. God answers the prayer. He [22:32] comes back, but notice he comes back to [22:33] the wife again, not to the husband. Why? [22:37] Because it was the wife that was going [22:39] to need to make the sacrifice. It was it [22:42] was the mom who was going to have to [22:43] take the Nazerite vow. So the child [22:45] would be a Nazerite even from conception [22:48] in the womb. That's why the Lord came to [22:50] the wife twice. But she she sees him the [22:54] second time. Notice she recognizes him. [22:56] She runs just like Abraham did. She runs [22:59] to go get her husband and says, "He's [23:01] back. Quick, hurry." [23:05] If you want to see something that's [23:07] funny about that story, something's [23:09] catch me funny in the Bible. It was that [23:10] she was out in the field working and he [23:12] was not. [23:15] You know, you got you got to read slow [23:17] sometimes to really catch these nuggets [23:19] of truth. But what happened was she was [23:20] in the field. I don't know what he was [23:22] doing. Maybe he was got his feet up [23:25] watching a game. I'm not sure what was [23:27] going on. But the fact that he wasn't in [23:29] the field is probably why the Lord [23:30] didn't come to him. [23:33] Get yourself out in the field and work. [23:35] Why are you making your wife work? You [23:37] know she's about to be pregnant. [23:40] So she's out in the field working. The [23:42] Lord comes to her again. She recognizes [23:43] and she runs. Man, you got to come. He's [23:46] back. So now they're both running over. [23:48] Remember, they're advanced in age. So [23:49] they're running kind of slow. [23:51] And they get to the Lord and and Monoah [23:53] says, 'Are you the one that said and how [23:55] do we have to live? And he reiterates, [23:57] listen, this vow is for your wife as [23:59] well and your future son. What does it [24:02] mean? [24:04] It means that [24:07] she is responsible for the preparation [24:10] of this child and his physical training, [24:13] his spiritual training. She's [24:15] responsible for it. They together are [24:17] responsible. I give you the key phrase [24:19] of the night. [24:21] If you're waiting for a miracle, this is [24:22] important for you. Preparation for the [24:24] miracle is important to God. [24:27] If he has told you something's going to [24:29] happen in your life, that is an active [24:32] waiting. It is not a passive waiting, [24:35] being lazy, doing nothing. It is an [24:38] active waiting. God, you said, so I'm [24:41] going to start preparing. his wife's [24:43] God, you said, so I'm going to change [24:46] the way I live to fit the calling that [24:49] you gave me. Faith is an action, [24:52] friends. The book of James tells us, I [24:55] will show you my faith by the deeds that [24:58] I do. Our faith needs to be backed up by [25:01] action. And and here in this story, the [25:04] family certainly does that. There's an [25:05] importance to God about the preparation [25:08] phase, the miracles that we're waiting [25:10] for in our life. Yes, it's fasting and [25:12] it's prayer, but it's also the physical [25:14] way that we that we prepare [25:17] for the for the blessing of God to come. [25:19] And really, what it means is when we [25:21] were talking about different kinds of [25:23] covenant the other day, it means that [25:24] this is a conditional covenant. It's [25:26] it's one of the ones that comes with a [25:28] condition. If you will do it this way, [25:31] then the boy will get to be this [25:34] deliverer for Israel. But if you don't [25:36] do it this way, then he doesn't get [25:38] that. You understand? So that's what we [25:40] call a conditional covenant and they [25:42] agreed we will do everything you've said [25:46] and they fulfill that covenant [25:47] responsibility [25:49] and that's why the supernatural power of [25:51] God was flowing through Samson. Let's [25:55] continue here. Now in our series we've [25:58] called it the covenant table which means [26:00] in most cases there's a meal right? [26:02] There's always a meal they sit down. [26:05] There's something uh amazing and [26:07] miraculous that happens at these meals. [26:09] But I want you to look at this story and [26:11] and notice there's a little different [26:13] perspective on it. Let's read Judges 13 [26:16] verse 15 and and 16. [26:20] Monoah said to the angel of the Lord, [26:22] "We would like you to stay until we [26:24] prepare a young goat for you." The angel [26:27] of the Lord replied, "Even though you [26:29] detain me, I will not eat any of your [26:31] food. But if you prepare a burnt [26:34] offering, offer it to the Lord. Monoah [26:37] did not realize that it was the angel of [26:39] the Lord. So as far as that point in the [26:42] story, he might have thought it was an [26:45] angel. He might have thought it was a [26:47] prophet or a special visitor. But now we [26:50] know that his wife and Monoah, neither [26:54] one of them knew yet it was God. [26:58] They knew it was from God. They knew it [27:00] was a a a person of God, a man of God, [27:02] an angel of God. They didn't know it was [27:03] him. It's very very clear here. So, [27:06] something starts to change. [27:09] But I want you to notice his reaction. [27:11] His reaction is to have a covenant meal [27:15] because he senses the importance of this [27:17] relationship. And he is immediately [27:19] moved to say, "Would you stay? Would you [27:21] sit down? I'll go prepare. I want this [27:22] covenant meal. I want to have a covenant [27:24] table with you." And it's interesting [27:26] here because the Lord says, "No, not [27:29] today." But he he doesn't offer him [27:32] nothing. He says, "Listen, I'm not going [27:34] to eat any of your food, but whatever [27:36] you were going to prepare, I want you to [27:38] prepare as a burnt offering to the [27:40] Lord." You know, he could have let us in [27:43] on the clue right there if he would have [27:44] just said, "I want you to prepare the [27:46] burnt offering for me." [27:48] That would have that would have clued us [27:49] in on who it was. But he says to the [27:52] Lord [27:54] a little bit different than than our [27:56] other story. So Monoah takes the animal, [27:58] they prepare it, they make the offering [28:00] to the Lord. And we pick it up in verse [28:02] 17. [28:04] Then Monoah inquired of the angel of the [28:06] Lord. And he said, "What is your name so [28:09] that we may honor you when your word [28:11] comes true?" And he replied, "Why do you [28:14] ask my name? It is beyond [28:17] understanding." [28:19] It's a tricky one here. Now remember [28:22] before [28:24] a couple of verses back when Monoah [28:27] first met the Lord, he said, "Are you [28:30] the man that came before to my wife?" [28:33] And the Lord said, "What? I am." And I [28:37] thought, "I see what you're doing. I got [28:41] you there. You didn't slip that one by [28:43] me, Lord. You gave us the big I am word [28:46] right there." But when you look it up in [28:48] Hebrew, it's not [28:50] it's not [28:53] a it's not it's not that it's not that [28:57] holy spoken name of God by the high [28:59] priest. It's not it's actually not the [29:01] translation. So then I was like, "Oh [29:03] man, I thought I was on to something [29:05] there. I thought it was going to make a [29:06] great connection. It was going to be a [29:07] great point in the sermon [29:09] and then you pulled it away from me, [29:11] Lord." [29:12] And then I read a couple more verses [29:14] down and he says, "What is your name [29:17] then?" Well, it's beyond understanding. [29:21] And I just stopped there and I said, [29:23] "No, that's not what you meant." [29:26] You didn't mean you can't understand my [29:29] name. What the Lord said was that is my [29:33] name. [29:35] My name is beyond understanding. [29:39] Call me that. you can call me that. Call [29:43] me beyond. And I was like, "YES, I GET [29:45] IT. THAT'S THAT'S THE the God I know. [29:48] That's the God I want to worship. I want [29:50] to be able to worship the God that you [29:52] can't put boundaries around. [29:55] I want to worship the God that it's even [29:56] hard to describe him because he's so big [29:59] and powerful." [30:02] When you go to the Hebrew here, the [30:04] original, you'll you'll see it. It'll be [30:06] up on the board. [30:08] feli and it means it means wonderful and [30:11] miraculous. That's what he said. Call me [30:14] call me wonderful and miraculous. It's [30:16] I'm beyond understanding. I do so many [30:19] wonderful things. I'm beyond [30:20] understanding. I said wow what a great [30:22] revelation that Monoah got here. And you [30:24] say, "Pastor Chad, are you sure about [30:27] that? I'd love a second verse to help us [30:31] confirm it." Well, as it turns out, the [30:34] Lord gives us another verse. Let's read [30:36] it in Isaiah 9:6. [30:40] For unto us a child is born, and to us a [30:42] son is given, and the government will be [30:44] on his shoulders, and he will be called [30:48] Pelleoets, [30:50] Elgib, a sar shalom, all the words in [30:52] Hebrew. He will be called this wonderful [30:55] person. [30:57] He will be called almighty God. He will [30:59] be called father. He will be called the [31:02] son, the prince. All of those unified [31:06] attributes of God show up in the same [31:08] name list of Yeshua the son being born. [31:12] And notice in the Hebrew you're going to [31:14] get the same ch the same root pelleoets. [31:18] You can see the two words of feli and [31:21] pelle. It's the same. God wasn't saying [31:24] you can't understand my name. He was [31:26] saying my name is [31:29] pretty wonderful. [31:31] You know, he could have said could have [31:34] gone a lot of ways with that. You know, [31:35] if he was really good in the comic [31:36] books, he could have said, "I'm Mr. [31:38] Wonderful." [31:41] Those of you that know Marvel, [31:46] you know what? But what I'm what I was [31:48] just reminded of this week in the text [31:50] was [31:51] if we'll come before the Lord and just [31:53] say, "Lord, I I'm here. Just I'm I'm [31:55] 100% in your presence right now. I'm [31:57] gonna read slow and every time I I hit [32:00] something that you want to press the [32:02] button on, just press it. I'm gonna stop [32:04] and I'm gonna listen and I'm gonna [32:06] absorb what you're saying. Whether it's [32:08] that she was advanced in age so that the [32:11] Lord would highlight the miracle child [32:13] that was coming or or whether it was why [32:16] he came to the woman twice and not to [32:18] the husband because she was going to be [32:19] part of the miracle story of the [32:21] Nazerite vow or or that the miracle of [32:25] the child was already happening after [32:27] conception in the womb and he was [32:28] already a Nazerite while still in the [32:30] womb. or here where God is saying it's [32:33] not that you can't comprehend me or my [32:37] what my name is it that is my name my [32:39] name is I'm hard to comprehend and I [32:42] thought yeah that that's the god I serve [32:47] so Monoah goes through with the [32:51] sacrifice look at verse 19 as we start [32:53] to close [32:56] goes through with the sacrifice verse 19 [32:58] then it says the Monoah took a young [33:00] goat together with the grain offering [33:02] and sacrifice it on the rock to the [33:04] Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing [33:06] while Monoah and his wife watched. [33:08] What's important about the verse? He [33:10] sacrifices to the Lord. So the word used [33:14] there, [33:16] right? He gives the offering to the Lord [33:18] and then that same person does a miracle [33:22] right in front of him. It's important [33:24] because he's sacrificing to the one [33:25] who's doing the miracle, but he still [33:27] doesn't know who it is. [33:30] He's sacrificing to the Lord and the [33:32] Lord is saying thank you right in front [33:34] of him. I think that's the moment it [33:37] might have clicked like, "Okay, [33:40] your name, you weren't telling me your [33:42] name. I couldn't understand it. You were [33:43] saying what your name is. Oh, I got it. [33:46] Oh, you're the one not just telling me [33:48] about the pregnancy. You're the one [33:50] causing [33:52] the pregnancy. I got it. I see what's [33:54] happening here." And I think something [33:56] started to shift in the revelation that [33:58] Monoah had. [34:00] So, not only has he seen the miracle of [34:02] the visitor show up twice, not only did [34:03] he receive the one of the holy names of [34:06] God, not only did the the the visitor [34:08] allow Manoah to sacrifice to it, but [34:10] look at verse 20. Let's let's look here [34:13] and wrap this up. Verse 20. As the flame [34:17] blazed up from the altar toward heaven, [34:21] the angel of the Lord ascended in the [34:23] flame. And seeing this, Monoah and his [34:26] wife fell with their face to the ground. [34:28] And when the angel of the Lord did not [34:29] show himself again to Monoah and his [34:31] wife, Monoah realized that it was the [34:33] angel of the Lord. We are doomed to die. [34:36] He said to his wife, "Why? We have seen [34:40] God. Now he gets it. Now he knows it was [34:45] God himself in angel form." [34:49] So when you're talking through the [34:51] theology part of this and you're talking [34:53] through let's see say even in religious [34:56] context with people who say no that's [34:58] not God it's only an angel. Well if you [35:01] think it's only a regular angel you [35:04] actually disagree with the eyewitnesses [35:06] on the ground. [35:09] Same thing we said about Abraham when he [35:11] saw the three visitors and one of them [35:13] was the Lord and he recognized them [35:14] because when they take the private walk [35:16] together, it's Abraham saying, "You are [35:19] the Lord. You're Adonai, my God." [35:21] Abraham said it was God. How can a rabbi [35:24] tell you it wasn't God when Abraham said [35:25] it was? How can a rabbi tell you it [35:28] wasn't God when Monoah and his wife said [35:30] it was God? How can a rabbi say that [35:33] that Jacob didn't wrestle with God when [35:37] Jacob said, "I wrestled with God." How [35:39] many times are we going to let people [35:41] tell us opposite what the Bible actually [35:44] tells us? [35:47] You want to know why people do that? [35:50] Because they don't want the Bible to [35:53] have authority. [35:55] They want to have authority. And here at [35:57] King of Kings, we we don't ever want to [35:59] have that kind of authority. We gladly [36:01] and joyfully yield ourselves under the [36:05] scriptures, empowered by the Holy Spirit [36:08] to understand. Yes, with the Jewish [36:09] roots context, of course, and with the [36:12] totality of our theology starting from [36:15] Genesis to Revelation, it better make [36:17] sense through the whole thing. That [36:19] contextualization is important. But here [36:23] once again, a covenant meal was offered [36:27] and Yeshua says, "No, I'm not going to [36:29] eat it this time. I'm going to do [36:31] something different for you, Monoah." [36:33] And it wasn't that he was rejecting the [36:34] meal. What he wanted to do is he wanted [36:36] to show Monoah that it was him, God. And [36:39] so what he did is he said, "Why don't [36:40] you make the sacrifice? I'll stand here [36:42] with you." So Monoah takes the goat and [36:44] he makes the sacrifice. And as the flame [36:47] from the sacrifice went up, just like [36:50] the flame [36:52] above the ark of the covenant in the [36:54] Holy of Holies, [36:56] the only person worthy to be inside that [36:59] flame was God himself. [37:03] And he said, "Manah, watch this. Hey, [37:05] pay attention. Manoah, I'm over here. [37:07] You remember you weren't in the field. [37:08] Focus up. [37:11] I know the wife is focused. I need the [37:12] man to focus." [37:14] And he said, "Listen, don't I'm not [37:15] going to eat with you. Make the [37:17] sacrifice. I want to do something [37:18] special for this child." He does the [37:20] sacrifice. The flame starts to go up to [37:23] heaven as a pillar, it says. And then, [37:25] can you imagine? He just is like, [37:28] "See y'all later." [37:31] Jumps in the flames, elevator to heaven. [37:36] And I'm wondering how long it took him [37:38] to realize it was God. [37:41] like I don't want to sell them short and [37:42] they'd be like, "Man, that was that was [37:45] pretty amazing. I guess we're done with [37:47] that. Let's go back to work." [37:50] Or did they like, [37:52] "What did we just see?" [37:55] Look back at the text. [37:59] It says, "Seeing this, Monoah and his [38:02] wife fell on their face to the ground. [38:05] They realized that when he didn't come [38:07] back, it was the angel of the Lord. we [38:10] have seen God. What did they do? They [38:11] fell on their face. [38:14] That's the same prayer we're going to [38:16] have today. [38:17] That when we ask the Lord to come like [38:21] he did, he asked him and he came and he [38:25] gave us that calling for our life and it [38:27] and it made us consecrate oursel in [38:29] faith to do an action. [38:32] And then the Lord didn't do what he [38:35] might normally do and say, "Yes, I'll [38:36] sit down and have this covenant meal [38:38] with you. I've done that a dozen times. [38:40] He said, "No, I'm going to do something [38:41] different. I want you to get to see me [38:43] do a miracle." [38:46] Allowed him for the sacrifice. Notice he [38:48] received the sacrifice knowing it was [38:50] God. Flame goes up. God [38:54] is in the flame and then up to heaven. [38:58] So much is going on here. I'm sure his [39:00] mind was all over the place. But I was [39:02] reminded of the pillar of fire [39:05] above the ark of the covenant in the [39:08] holy of holies. I was reminded of the [39:09] pillar of fire that led Israel in the [39:11] wilderness. Right? I was I was reminded [39:13] of the the the the fiery bush that [39:16] ministered to Moses. And I was reminded [39:18] of the fiery furnace with Shadrach, [39:21] Meshach, and Abednego. And who showed [39:22] up? [39:24] Yeshua showed up. How do we know? [39:27] because they said, "Hey, didn't we throw [39:29] three people in the fire, but now [39:30] there's four and that fourth one looks [39:34] like God." [39:38] Very consistent story here that he [39:41] connected in the fire. So, let's [39:43] summarize it this way and then we'll go [39:45] back into worship. [39:47] Monoah and his wife realized that they [39:49] had seen the Lord toward the end of the [39:51] story. They were the eyewitnesses just [39:54] like Abraham and Moses, Joshua, Jacob, [39:57] Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and others [40:00] who saw the Lord in the flesh even in [40:03] the Old Testament. The eyewitnesses said [40:06] it was God in whatever form he he showed [40:09] up, but it was God that shows up in [40:12] physical form. And Yeshua used this [40:15] covenant moment, even though he did not [40:17] eat the food, he still used the covenant [40:19] moment to to do several things. Number [40:21] one, he he introduced the promised [40:24] child. He gave instructions for the [40:26] consecration. He shared one of his [40:28] ancient names with us in this text, [40:32] Phalee. And then he announced that the [40:36] judgment of the 40 years was over. That [40:38] the son Samson would deliver Israel from [40:42] the hand of the Philistines. That's [40:44] quite a moment. That's a lot happening [40:47] in the spirit. And I think that every [40:50] time the Lord sits with us, when we [40:52] invite him into our presence, that he [40:54] wants to do that kind of thing with us. [40:56] He wants to reveal himself. He wants to [40:58] empower. He wants to do miracles. I [41:00] don't think it's God falling short, [41:03] guys. I think it's usually us falling [41:06] short. [41:07] Maybe we're too busy. Maybe we're not [41:09] focused. Maybe we're not where we're [41:10] supposed to be when the Lord encounters [41:12] us. So, can you stand? Let me pray this [41:14] prayer over all of us. It's for me as [41:16] much as it is for you. [41:19] If you want to take a posture of [41:20] receiving something from the Lord, just [41:22] take that posture, whatever it may be. [41:26] Lord, just like Monoah, we say we want [41:28] you to come. We want you to visit us. We [41:32] want to be able to confirm words. We [41:33] want to be able to receive prophetic [41:36] words for our future. We want to receive [41:38] your instructions. God, what we commit [41:40] to you is in faith, we will be moved to [41:43] action if you will speak to us, Lord. [41:46] And the richness of your word was [41:47] evident today. We receive it. [41:52] Lord, we thank you for the revelation of [41:54] your your names, your various names from [41:58] Adonai [41:59] to [42:01] Elohim to Elon to El Shadai to all of [42:05] these names and here to Feli. [42:09] We receive all that you are. You're a [42:11] God that's too big to be defined with [42:14] human words. And for that, we're so [42:17] thankful. And Lord, for the miracles [42:19] that you're about to do in our life, [42:22] whether it's a child that is promised or [42:25] something that represented by the child [42:27] in this story, whether it's a meal we [42:29] thought we were going to eat with you [42:31] and you you adjusted it to do a [42:33] different miracle in our life, either [42:35] way, you did miracles [42:38] in this story. and we say yes. Our hands [42:41] are up. Our heart is open. Hear us, [42:44] Lord. We want miracles in our life to do [42:47] what you've called us to do because you [42:49] will receive power when the Holy Spirit [42:51] comes on you. And you will be my [42:53] witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, [42:55] to the ends of the earth. But you will [42:57] receive power when the Holy Spirit comes [43:00] on you. We say yes to that. Receive our [43:03] worship tonight in Yeshua's name. Amen. [43:05] Let's take that into a time of worship.
