Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."
Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. But he said to me, 'You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.' "
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord : "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."
God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"
Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?"
"I am," he said.
So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"
The angel of the Lord answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."
Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."
The angel of the Lord replied, "Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord." (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)
Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding." Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
"We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"
But his wife answered, "If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."
The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 13
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As Judges, Chapter 13, opens, Israel has once again gotten into trouble with God, this time falling into oppression under the Philistines for forty years. Note that the duration of Israel’s oppression increased the longer they continued to return to their sinfulness. Once again, they found themselves in need of a deliverer.
The rest of the chapter shifts to a man Manoah and his wife who were members of the Danite clan. Similar to prior Old Testament women we have studied, Sarah and Rachel, Manoah’s wife was childless and sterile, something considered a sign of disfavor from God since Israel saw childbearing as one of God’s greatest blessings. And like we saw with Sarah and Rachel, God came to work a miracle in her life.
For we read where an “angel of the Lord appeared to her” and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Note that Manoah’s wife was to follow strict directions during her pregnancy, restrictions that modeled the required restrictions of a Nazarite.
What an encounter this must have been for Manoah’s wife! For it’s not every day that God sends a representative to give someone such a personal message and pending gift. So Manoah’s wife went to her husband and told him:
"A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. But he said to me, 'You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.' "
Manoah’s response is fantastic. For he doesn’t question his wife or even start to doubt what she told him. No…he automatically turns to the Lord and prays, asking for the Lord to send His representative back to teach him and his wife in “how to bring up the boy who is to be born."
Manoah and his wife’s actions from this point on offer a real parental primer for us and I believe we are very blessed with this account. Here are the first three points we should keep in mind as we seek to be better parents:
1. Trust in God.
Manoah’s wife didn’t question the angel of the Lord when he brought her holy guidance from God. Neither did her husband question God when she told him about the visit by the angel and what was to come. No…both trusted God so much that they never doubted that what He said would come true. We should strive to do the same from the moment we discover that God has blessed us with a chance to have a child through all the years that we’re blessed to raise them.
2. Communicate.
It’s important to keep in mind that communication requires not only a communicator but a listener. Both Manoah and his wife showed these skills as she first listened intently to God’s word from the angel and then communicated that word to her husband. In turn, her husband listened to everything she said and then turned his communications toward God in prayer. Successful parenting requires these same communication skills, with a husband and wife talking and listening to one another on all matters relating to a child but only after first communicating with God as to what His will is for the husband and wife in raising the child He has entrusted to their care. And this leads to the third point…
3. Always seek God’s guidance.
Notice that once Manoah learns that God was going to grant him and his wife a son, he immediately turns to God in prayer and asks how they should raise their son. We should do likewise because God will always guide us to do the right thing each and every time…no matter the circumstances. And we certainly cannot guarantee that level of success if we try to rely on our own understanding and wisdom.
So again…the first three important steps to follow as parents…(1) Trust in God, (2) Communicate and (3) Always seek God’s guidance.
Well after Manoah prayed to God asking for parental guidance, we read where God heard him and sent the angel of God back to his wife “while she was out in the field”. This prompted Manoah’s wife to run and tell him, “He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!" With that “Manoah got up and followed his wife” and “when he came to the man” he asked him if he was the one who had come to his wife to which the angel replied he was. Manoah then inquires about what the rule should be for his son’s “life and work”.
Instead of telling Manoah about what the son should do, the angel instead tells him what his wife is to do as she bears their son saying, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her." Manoah now knew what was expected of his wife, important since he would be responsible for helping her adhere to God’s guidance.
Out of hospitality, Manoah, who didn’t really realize that he was speaking to an angel of the Lord, offers to feed the angel. The angel turns down the offer for food but does propose that Manoah “prepare a burnt offering” and “offer it to the Lord." To this, Manoah asked the angel for his name so they could pay tribute when his word came true. Note once again that there was no doubt shown by Manoah. He fully expected everything that was said to happen just as it had been stated. Interestingly enough, the angel responds to Manoah’s question about his name by saying, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding." And indeed, Manoah still had no idea who he was speaking to.
So “Manoah took a young goat” and “together with the grain offering…sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord”. At that moment, scripture tells us that “the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched” the sacrifice burn. For “as the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame”. Imagine how this must have impacted Manoah and his wife for they had just been witness to an awesome display of the Lord’s power and wonder. They responded immediately by falling with their faces toward the ground and then Manoah finally realized that he had been talking to an angel of the Lord. That realization struck fear into his heart as he proclaimed to his wife, "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!" This led his wife to answer, "If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this." In other words, they were going to be fine. They had shown themselves to be obedient servants and God still had much for them to do.
So go on they did. Manoah’s wife “gave birth to a boy and named him Samson” who grew and was not only blessed by the Lord but stirred by His Spirit “while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol”.
As this chapter ends, we see three final points in Manoah and his wife to add to the three prior regarding parenting:
4. Always honor and pay tribute to God.
Manoah and his wife didn’t hesitate to want to show their gratitude to the angel for what he had done, even though at first they didn’t realize it was really an angel they were dealing with. After the angel turned down their offer of food and instead asked for a burnt sacrifice, Manoah and his wife honored him as he had requested…such was their sense of thanksgiving for what God was going to do for them.
As we parent, we should never cease to honor and respect God in everything we do as well. For He and only He is the One who can assure we parent properly and have a family that glorifies Him in all things and at all times. And He and only He is the One who blesses our families with every good and perfect thing from above in accordance with His will.
So given this, He and only He is worthy of all praise, now and forever. Parents need to exercise this principle and then teach it to their children.
5. Expect God to do amazing things in the life of your family.
Just as Manoah and his wife offered the goat to God in the form of a burnt offering, the Lord did an amazing thing before them as the angel ascended back to heaven through the flame. The action revealed to the couple that God was indeed in their presence and had found their offerings and sacrifice acceptable.
Truly, we do serve an awesome God who never ceases to do amazing things each and every day. In fact, His blessings are more abundant than can be humanly measured. As parents turn authority of their families over to God and allow Him to lead and guide them in the way they should raise their children, they will see over and over again the manifestations of God’s amazing works revealed in their lives and the lives of their children.
6. Always remember that God keeps His promises. When it was all said and done with Manoah and his wife, God delivered on His promise. For Samson was born to them just as God said He would be...born to be Israel’s deliverer. Indeed, God keeps all His promises and as parents we need to always remember the promises He has given us. We need to ever be in the scriptures, knowing and understanding all of God’s assurances so we can see them come to fruition in our lives and the lives of our children. And we need to teach our children those promises as well so they can see them coming true first hand in their lives and the lives of other children they are associated with. Through all this, we will all come to see our God, the one and only true God as who He is…always amazing and true to His word.
One last observation on this passage and one that I think makes it all the more incredible.
Because I see the passage as a sign of what’s to come for Israel. For soon a virgin named Mary will be visited by an angel of the Lord and be told that she will be with child and bear a son who will be called Jesus…a Son who will come to deliver all mankind from the oppression of sin and offer them an opportunity for life everlasting. And Mary, in an awesome display of faith and trust, will tell the angel to do to her as he said he would do…and so it was. Mary will bear our Savior, Jesus…the predicted Messiah…and He would live, die and ascend, saving us all through it all…just as God had promised. Thanks be to God.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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