Judges 13:3-25 says, “The Angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman...Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me; and His appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God...Then Manoah entreated Jehovah and said, Oh, my Lord! Let the man of God, whom You sent, come again to us, I pray; and let Him teach us what we should do with the boy that is to be born...And the Angel of God came again to the woman...And the woman hurried and ran off; and she told her husband and said to him, The man who came to me that day has just appeared to me. And Manoah rose up and followed his wife and came to the man...And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, Let us detain You, we pray, that we may prepare a kid for You. And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah...If you prepare a burnt offering, offer it up to Jehovah. For Manoah did not know that He was the Angel of Jehovah. Then Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, What is Your name?...And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, Why do you ask about My name, since it is wonderful? And Manoah took the kid with the meal offering and offered it up upon the rock to Jehovah; and He acted wondrously, while Manoah and his wife looked on. And when the flame went up from the altar to heaven, the Angel of Jehovah went up in the flame of the altar...Then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of Jehovah. And Manoah said to his wife, We will surely die, for we have seen God...And the woman bore a son, and she called his name Samson...And Jehovah blessed him. And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him at Mahaneh-dan.” Judges 14:19 and 15:14 say, “The Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon him.”
The Angel in Judges 13 is called the Angel of Jehovah and the Angel of God. However, He is also called a man. This was Christ as a man more than a thousand years before His incarnation. This fact cannot be systematized. The Angel of Jehovah and the Angel of God refer to Christ as the sent One of God. The Angel of Jehovah did not allow Manoah to offer anything to Him but told Manoah to make an offering to Jehovah (v. 16). Thus, the Angel kept His position as the sent One, just as the Lord Jesus did (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 7:16; 12:44).
The titles Jehovah, Lord, and God in Judges 13 refer to the Triune God. Thus, the Spirit of Jehovah was the Spirit of the Triune God. The kid that Manoah offered typifies Christ as the burnt offering for God’s satisfaction, and the meal offering typifies Christ for God’s food. The rock upon which Manoah made the offering typifies Christ as the ground for God to grace His people.
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Manoah’s wife for the producing of a son, Samson. This shows that the sisters are crucial for the producing of the overcoming Nazarites. However, both times that the Angel appeared to the woman, she went to her husband. This indicates that she did not take the place of the head but took her husband as her head. It is very good for the sisters to aspire to produce those who meet God’s need, but they must not take the position of the head. The sisters should not become proud or independent when the Lord appears to them. There was much coordination between Manoah and his wife. Such coordination between sisters and brothers in their married life is needed in the church life today. Sometimes the Lord may come first to the wife, but she should not forget her husband, who is still her head.
Manoah asked the Angel of Jehovah, “What is Your name?” Manoah’s wife needed her husband to negotiate. The Angel came to her twice, but she did not ask who He was. When we deal with others, it is important to know their name, especially if we may need to reach them again. Manoah attempted to discover the Angel’s identity, first by trying to offer something to Him and then by asking His name. The Angel of Jehovah answered Manoah in a peculiar way, saying, “Why do you ask about My name, since it is wonderful?” A few hundred years later, the prophet Isaiah received a revelation concerning this One. Isaiah 9:6 says, “A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us... / And His name will be called / Wonderful Counselor, / Mighty God, / Eternal Father.” When Manoah made an offering to Jehovah, the One whose name was wonderful “acted wondrously” (Judg. 13:19). There is no record of exactly what He did, because it was too wonderful to explain. When something is truly wonderful, we cannot explain it. Then Manoah and his wife saw the Angel of Jehovah ascend in the flame of the altar. This was truly wonderful and caused Manoah to know that He was the Angel of Jehovah. When Manoah realized that he had been speaking to the Angel of Jehovah, he said to his wife, “We have seen God.” Thus, in Judges 13 the Angel of Jehovah is called the Angel of God, a man, and God.
The riches of the Divine Trinity were involved in bringing forth Samson to defeat the enemies by the mighty Spirit of the Triune God. Similarly, we can defeat the enemies in today’s situation by the Triune God. The riches of the Divine Trinity revealed in the case of Samson are God, the Spirit, and Christ the Son as God’s sent One, a man, the burnt offering, and the meal offering. Thus, we can see the Triune God in a full way. We can also see incarnation, redemption, resurrection, and ascension. Just as the Spirit came after the sent One ascended in the case of Samson, so the Spirit descended after the Lord’s ascension in the New Testament. Thus, the case of Samson prefigures many New Testament items. Just as the Spirit empowered Samson to defeat the Philistines, so the Lord Jesus was empowered by the Spirit to defeat God’s enemy (Matt. 12:28; Acts 10:38). This can be fully applied to us in today’s situation. We need to experience the riches of the Divine Trinity to produce the overcomers who, by the mighty Spirit of the Triune God, will release God’s people from the bondage, oppression, and usurpation of those who handle the divine things in a worldly way.