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Samson - part 1: The birth of Samson

An angel visits Manoah and his wife.
Contributed by Richard Gunther
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, German
1
Samson was a judge in Israel and for 20 years helped people trust in God and obey His commands. However in the last part of his life he disobeyed God, lost his supernatural strength and became a prisoner. – Slide 1
2
Samson’s story begins a long time ago in the land of Israel. The city of Zorah where his parents lived was close to a region ruled by the fierce sea warriors known as the Philistines. – Slide 2
3
For 40 years the Isrealites had not obeyed God and been bullied and harassed by the Philistines as a result. – Slide 3
4
One day the Angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of a man called Manoah who was from the tribe of Dan. The Angel said ‘Even though you have no children, you will soon conceive and have a son! Don’t drink any wine or beer and don’t eat any food that isn’t kosher. Your son’s hair must never be cut, for he shall be a Nazirite, a special servant of God from the time of his birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.’ – Slide 4
5
The woman ran and told her husband what the Angel had said to her. Manoah prayed, ‘O Lord, please let the man from God come back to us again and give us more instructions about the child you are going to give us.’ – Slide 5
6
The Lord answered his prayer, and the Angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting alone in a field. – Slide 6
7
So she quickly ran and found her husband and told him, ‘The same man is here again!’ – Slide 7
8
Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, ‘Are you the man who talked to my wife the other day?’ <br/>‘Yes,’ he replied. – Slide 8
9
‘Be sure that your wife follows the instructions I gave her. She must not eat grapes or raisins, or drink any wine or beer, or eat anything that isn’t kosher.’ <br/>‘What is your name?’ Menoah asked. <br/>‘My name is a secret,’ the Angel replied. <br/>Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it as a sacrifice – Slide 9
10
As the flames from the altar were leaping up toward the sky, the Angel ascended in the fire! – Slide 10
11
Manoah and his wife fell face downward. <br/>‘We will die,’ Manoah cried out to his wife, ‘for we have seen God!’ – Slide 11
12
But his wife said, ‘If the Lord was going to kill us, He wouldn’t have accepted our sacrifice or told us these wonderful things and done these miracles.’ – Slide 12
13
Just as the Angel promised she had a baby boy and they named him Samson. The Lord blessed him as he grew up. They followed God’s instructions and never cut his hair. – Slide 13
14
The Lord’s power began to strengthen Samson while he was living in Mahaneh Dan which is between Zorah and Eshtaol. – Slide 14
15
To find out what happened next go to part two of this story ‘Samson and his riddle’. It is found at FreeBibleimages.org. – Slide 15
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Slide 16