Birth Of A Superman
- You know the drill: Israel does evil, so boom—40 years of Philistine captivity.
- "And there was a certain man […] whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not" (KJV 13:2).
- "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, […] thou shalt conceive, and bear a son" (KJV 13:3). Sound familiar?
- The angel continues, "[A]nd no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines" (KJV 13:5). You might want to note this no-haircuts policy. It comes up later on.
- Manoah's wife tells her husband what the "man of God" said to her (KJV 13:6-7).
- Manoah entreats the Lord, "O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born" (KJV 13:8).
- He can't really order any parenting books, so naturally he wants some coaching.
- The Lord sends the angel again, who reiterates what he already said.
- Manoah offers him some food. This isn't just a man of God he's dealing with, though, but a straight-up angel. The angel's like, "Dude, I'm an angel. I can't eat your bread. Why don't you offer the Lord a burnt offering?"
- Manoah's like, "Oh, sorry," and asks him his name, but the angel's like, "Man, why are you asking me to reveal my secret name, bro?"
- Things are getting awkward, so Manoah burnt-offers a baby goat on an altar, and as it burns the angel ascends up in the flame toward heaven.
- Manoah finally realizes what this guy was, and he's really worried that they'll have to die now that they've seen him.
- His wife tells him to settle down, because why would God have sent an angel to tell them about their son if he was just going to kill them?
- She has her baby, and names him Samson.
- "[A]nd the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times" (KJV 13:24-25).