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The Angel of the Lord again appeared (cf. 6:11). This time He announced to a barren Danite woman that she would bear a son (cf. Gen. 16:11; Luke 1:26-38). Samson's birth by a barren woman indicated God's supernatural provision of him for a special purpose.244You may remember that Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth were all barren too. Mary the mother of Jesus also experienced a supernatural conception and birth. Each of these mothers produced a remarkable son.
"What does he [God] do when he has a people who refuse to forsake Baal and have no desire to forsake Philistia? A people grown so used to bondage they don't even have sense to call out for relief? At least here the very God who judges them (v. 1b) begins to work their deliverance--anyway (vv. 2-5). That is grace--grace greater than all our sin, than all our stupidity, than all our density."245
The appearance of the Angel of the Lord always marked a very significant event in Israel's history. The only other birth He announced was Isaac's (Gen. 18:1, 10). Samson would have an unusual opportunity to serve God.
Samson's parents were to rear him as a Nazirite from his birth (cf. Num. 6:1-21). Normally Israelites assumed the Nazirite vow voluntarily and temporarily. Three laws governed the person under a Nazirite vow in addition to the other Mosaic laws. He was to eat nothing that the grapevine produced, he was to let his hair grow, and he was to refrain from contact with a dead body. This vow placed the Nazirite in a position of separation to God in a special sense (Num. 6:2). Abstinence from wine would have freed Samson from bondage to that drink so he could operate under the control of God's Spirit consistently (cf. Eph. 5:18). Long hair was important because it was a public testimony to the Nazirite's separation to God. Contact with a corpse precluded worship at Israel's central sanctuary temporarily, but no contact with dead bodies would enable the Nazirite to have unbroken fellowship with God.
Samson's mother was to observe certain precautions during her pregnancy to safeguard her special child (cf. Heb. 11:23 NIV). "Wine"came from grapes, but "strong drink"(Heb. shakar) was the product of other fruits and grains. We know that the physical condition of a pregnant woman can affect her unborn child. For example, heroin addicts bear babies that need that drug. God did not want Samson under any other influence except Himself even from his conception.
Samson was to live as a Nazirite because God would "begin"to deliver Israel from the Philistines through him (v. 5). Samuel and David would complete this task (1 Sam. 7:10-14; 2 Sam. 5:17-25). Samson proved unfaithful in his separation to God. John the Baptist, another Nazirite from birth, was faithful. He shows us what Samson could have become if he had valued his opportunity to serve God and had preserved his dedication to God.
Evidently Manoah's wife assumed that the Angel was a prophet (v. 6).
