TYPES OF CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2001 James Melough
SAMSON - HIS BIRTH
Samson is rarely perceived as
a type of Christ - some commentators have even gone so far as to state
adamantly that he is not such a type - but it is to be noted that in Heb 13 he
is included in God’s list of heroes who are specifically declared to have been
men and women of faith. There were sin and failure in his life, as there were
in the life of David, for example, and of virtually all the types, but a
careful study of his life leaves no doubt that he is indeed a very clear type
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is to be noted further that
his name means little sun: sunlight, and few will fail to see the
parallel with the fact that the One he typifies is called “the light of the
world,” Jn 8:12. See also the many references to Christ’s being light in John
chapter 1, and in Mal 4:2 where He is described as “the Sun of righteousness.”
“And there was a certain man
of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife
was barren, and bare not,” Jgs 13:2.
Here we are introduced to
those who were to be the parents of the deliverer of Israel, and the points of
similarity between them and Joseph and Mary are too obvious to miss. First
there is the barrenness of the wife, a condition that rendered the birth of
the deliverer impossible apart from the miraculous intervention of God. The
virginity of Mary likewise precluded the possibility of her giving birth to
the Deliverer apart from the intervention of God.
Then there is the fact that it
was the woman who first received the angelic communication, Manoah himself
being addressed only after he had prayed for instruction concerning the
training of the promised child. So was it with Joseph. He was addressed only
after the announcement had been made to Mary.
The name of the place where
Manoah dwelt also contributes instruction, for Zorah means she was smitten
with leprosy, but since leprosy is a type of sin, we are reminded that
Joseph, like Isaiah, could well have said, “Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips....” Isa 6:5. Joseph also dwelt spiritually in “Zorah,”
i.e., in a place “smitten with leprosy (sin),” in the midst of a sinful
people.
Manoah was “of the family of
the Danites,” and inasmuch as Dan means judging: a judge, we are
reminded that while Joseph was literally of the tribe of Judah, he was
spiritually also a Danite, for all the tribes of Israel were under divine
judgment because of their sin, yet there was in the midst of that judged and
sinful nation a small remnant, including such as Joseph, Mary, Simeon, Anna,
etc., who judged themselves and sought to walk obediently before God. Manoah
and his wife appear to have been a part of that godly remnant in their own
day.
“And the angel of the Lord
appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and
bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I
pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and 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,” Jgs 13:3-5.
The announcement to Mary in Lk
1:31 was, “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a
son.” The parallel is too obvious to require comment.
The law governing the Nazarite
is recorded in Numbers 6:1-21, and may be summarized briefly: wine and strong
drink were forbidden, as was any product of the vine; the hair was not to be
cut; a dead body was not to be touched.
The purity personified by the
Nazarite was God’s ideal for Samson, but the son of Manoah defiled himself in
all three areas: he touched the dead body of the lion, Jgs 14:10; it is to be
presumed that the feast he prepared in 14:10 included also drinking wine and
strong drink; he had illicit relations with a harlot, 16:1; and in 16:19 he
allowed his hair to be cut. This is in stark contrast with the true Nazarite,
the Lord Jesus Christ, Who glorified God in His perfect sinless life as a man
on the earth. (It is to be noted here that the Lord was not a literal
Nazarite. He drank wine; and the fact that “they plucked the hairs from his
face” rather than from His head, implies that, as was the custom among men,
His hair was short, even though the artists would have us believe it was
long. Whether He ever touched a dead body is uncertain, for in regard to
Jairus’ daughter whom He did touch, He Himself said that she was not
dead, but sleeping, Mk 5:39, and it is to be noted that the word used in
connection with her sleeping is different from that used in connection with
Lazarus.
These instances of failure on
Samson’s part, however, do not exclude him from the list of those who are
types of Christ, any more than do the instances of failure in the lives of
David and the others who are also types in spite of the imperfection of their
lives. In using men as types of Christ, the Holy Spirit has been selective,
choosing the good that He can use, and ignoring the sin which He can’t.
“... and he shall begin to
deliver Israel.” Samson would only begin to deliver, but sadly, he
never completed that work. God, however, would have us see in that partial
deliverance a foreshadowing of the complete deliverance wrought by Christ.
Having perfectly completed the work of deliverance, “He said, It is finished,”
Jn 19:30.
“But he said unto me (Samson’s
mother), Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine
nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a
Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death,” Jgs 13:7. This
reference to his death carries us forward to Jgs 16:30, where we read that,
“the dead which he (Samson) slew at his death were more than they which he
slew in his life,” reminding us that the mighty victory won by the true Samson
was accomplished by His dying on Calvary’s cross. Christ was born to die,
because, apart from His death, there could be no remission of sin.
A further discussion of Samson
as a type of Christ will be available next week, God willing.
For a detailed discussion of
Samson as a type of Christ, please consult Judges chapters 13-16, also
available on this Web site.