Scripture to Read: Judges 13:1–25
As Judges 13:1 opens, we read this, “Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.” The people of Israel continued to rebel against the Lord God Almighty. God’s discipline is never easy, but God’s goal in His discipline is shared with us in Hebrews 12:11, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” The peaceful fruit of righteousness means we are restored to right fellowship with God. It also means that our hearts have been so transformed by God because of our willingness to repent and confess our sins. Due to God’s work in our lives, our lifestyle choices and our choice of attitude seek to be completely conformed to God’s will and purpose. God had to continually discipline the nation of Israel because they constantly broke fellowship with God and followed the false gods of the lost nations around them. In Judges 13, we see how God blessed Manoah and his wife (from the tribe of Dan) with a baby boy. God had already chosen their son, Samson, to be the next Judge of Israel. The angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s mom and told her, “The boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.” God set His plan in place just as He does for us (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:13).
Challenge & Application
Why did God bring His loving discipline upon the nation of Israel for forty years?
Why does God lovingly discipline us, as His children, according to Hebrews 12:5–11?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!