09/09/2008
Judges 13:8 - 12 (HCSB) 8Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “Please Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”
9God listened to Manoah, and the Angel of GOD came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband Manoah was not with her.
10The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me today has just come back!” 11So Manoah got up and followed his wife.
When he came to the man, he asked, “Are You the man who spoke to my wife?”
“I am,” He said.
12Then Manoah asked, “When Your words come true, what will the boy’s responsibilities and mission be?”
Judges 13:17 - 21 (HCSB) 17Then Manoah said to Him, “What is Your name, so that we may honor You when Your words come true?”
18“Why do you ask My name,” the Angel of the LORD asked him, “since it is wonderful.”
19Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD, and He did a wonderful thing while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the Angel of the LORD went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw [this], they fell facedown on the ground. 21The Angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the Angel of the LORD.
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Manoah and his wife are to be the parents of Samson. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and announced that although she had been barren with no children, she would bear a son who would rise to deliver Israel from its enemies.
What fascinates me is the exchange between the couple and the Angel of the Lord. Remember, that “the Angel of the Lord” is commonly understood to be the pre-incarnate Jesus. He appears to the couple as a human, no wings, no halo. And as far as the couple knows, He is a human. The verses above recount the second appearance of the Angel of the Lord to the couple.
In other stories were a prophecy is given regarding a child to be born, people either express disbelief, or ask for some sign. But Manoah’s response is different. Rather than ask for some confirmation or scoff at the idea, he inquires about how he is to raise the son and what will be the son’s life work. I find that to be a wonderful picture of faith. Here he is, childless, his wife in her older years and barren, yet they are told by a person whom they presume to be human that they will have a child.
I must admit, my response would probably be one of skepticism. I’d want to know, what does this fellow know that I don’t know? How can he make such a claim? And I would have plenty more questions, I am sure.
But Samson’s parents, we must assume, where still worshiping God even though most of Israel had fallen away. They had the faith enough to simply believe.
Our country is swiftly falling away from God. It would be so easy for us to go-with-the-flow. We would be more accepted by people and we would have plenty of company. But is it the right thing to do? Is following the world more important than following God? Do we have the fortitude to follow God no matter what the world does?
Samson’s parents believed and as was customary, they wanted to prepare a meal for their guest, but He proposes that they offer the meal as a burnt offering. When asked His name, he eludes the question by simply saying it is “wonderful.” Then when the altar is prepared, the fire consumes the offering and the Angel of God ascends into heaven in the flame.
It is only then that they couple realizes that they have been in the presence of God.
Have you ever been in the presence of God? Are you close enough to Him that you would recognize His presence? Are you willing to follow God no matter what? Do you have the faith to simply believe without question?
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
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