Judges chapter 13
Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.” And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”
So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?” So the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.” And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the Lord.) Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord.
And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.” So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
We can rely on God's word; He always come through. If you have heard a word from God, just trust in Him and in His name. He will see you through the hard times, and His word will never fade away. It will accomplish it's goal in your life.
In the past, the Lord manifested himself in many ways, as He still does today. In today's world, we are distracted by our own accomplishments and goals that we are not aware just how much God influences the world. Man is quick to believe that everything that happens here on earth is because of his own power and strength.
We cannot begin to comprehend the vast power and strength of the Lord. He gives His power and authority to whomever He pleases, and we are able to do mighty things in the earth according to God's will, and that covers small miracles up to the ones that man cannot deny or explain.
In the scripture above, the Lord visited a childless couple. He wanted to bring forth a judge into the land of Israel that could fight against their enemies. Notice that the Lord dedicated this child to Himself even before it was born, and that He ordered that the child live a holy life dedicated to Him. The first requirement for doing mighty works in the earth is that you have a close relationship with God, and that means that you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. This act gives you the power and authority to live in the earth as God's special representative and ambassador for the Kingdom of God.
The childless couple obeyed the word of the Lord, and the wife gave birth to a son. Now the son obeyed his parents and lived the holy life that he was commanded to live by the Lord. The Holy Spirit was given to God's special emissary and judge to the people of Israel. This is important, because Samson would not have been able to do the things he was destined to do without the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. Today, we must read the word of God and accept that it is the truth and our guide for righteous living. Once the word of God is in our hearts and minds, the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to live according to his word.
We cannot live the life that God expects us to live without the Holy Spirit. Anyone who says that they are a christian yet has no power or ability to live a holy life is deluding no one but themselves. People know when you actually believe the words that come from your mouth. The words of our mouths and the state of our hearts will testify against us when Jesus Christ comes back again to claim this world
for His Father and for the children of God.
If we were to follow Samson's story, we would find that he was not a perfect servant of the Lord. He would often do things that were worldly and selfish, but the Lord still chose to use him. He took advantage of Samson's questionable actions to punish the philistines. In the end, Samson killed many of Israel's enemies all by himself with the power of the Holy Spirit in his heart. God's people could never claim that they defeated their enemies on their own. Why would the Lord use such a weak and broken vessel?
It is a testament to God's power and glory. No one can function in this world and accomplish all of their goals without His authority to do so. It does not matter if the person is a believer or non believer. The Lord determines the fate of every living creature, and He will use anyone regardless of their weaknesses. The true believer understands this, but the non believer thinks it was their own effort that made them famous, powerful, productive, etc... The Lord will use anyone to manifest His agenda
upon the earth.
When you see the impossible manifesting itself into your lives, that is a sure sign of God working behind the scenes. Even the smallest miracle has a long determining effect on its environment. The Lord's word, power and authority has a major effect upon our lives and the whole world.
God's miracles can be subtle or grand, like the sign of a baby being born in a manger, or the epic struggle of the people of God walking through a sea to the other side to escape from their enemies. They are both miracles, but one is overlooked by many people because it is not big or grand, but the miracle of the the Son of God allowing himself to be born to human parents in the worst place ever for any child to be born is more significant than Moses parting the red sea. People often want to see the
big miracles so that they can believe, but even when big miracles happen in their own lives, they often dismiss it as a coincidence or luck. They never stop for a moment to thank God for their 'good fortune'.
A son was born, a life was given so that we may have hope that our lives here actually have meaning, that with all that we suffer, God is still in control of the earth and that He will make every tear and hurt count against the devil and his demons hold upon the world. Good will conquer evil and will bring true balance back into the world, meaning love, hope, and joy will destroy hate, despair, and nothingness.
The Lord visits us when we have a job or task to do for Him on His behalf. The 'angel of the Lord' came to visit this childless couple to declare the work the Lord would do in their lives. He showed His kindness to them and gave them the marvelous miracle of a son who would ultimately save his people Israel. God gave them this gift because He knew that they would be able to accomplish everything that
He commanded them to do regarding their child. It may seem like the Lord has abandoned you and you may not feel special or valuable, but that is far from the truth. He sees all of your struggles, and He is impressed by the fact that you have stayed within His will regardless of the problems and the pains of this life. He is ready to reward you with a special gift, a reward for your loyalty to Him.
This 'angel of the Lord', I believe that He was not just an ordinary angel. He came to tell them that they would have a child, and He told them how the child must live a holy life. They also had to live holy lives. In this story we see that the couple believes the story of this 'angel' which is important. You must believe the word of God before you will act upon it. They decide to make a sacrifice to God as a means of thanking Him for His mercy. When their sacrifice is made, the 'angel' shows His true power and authority by accepting the couple's sacrifice and traveling all the way up to heaven with that sacrifice as a confirmation of everything that had happened and what would happen in the future of this couple's lives.
When the husband saw what had happened to the sacrifice and the miraculous disappearance of the 'angel', he became afraid and started to wonder if he would die. He believed that anyone who would see God in this manner would die, but his wife, who was filled with wisdom and common sense, said to him if the Lord showed Himself to them and told them that they would have a son, that means that they would continue to live. This couple believed that they had seen God. I believe that this was one of many occurrences of Jesus Christ appearing in the world before he was born to Mary and Joseph in the manger. Father God wanted His Son to declare the message to this couple so that they would believe this word was from the Lord.
When the man asked the 'angel' what was his name, the 'angel' said his name was "wonderful". Where in the bible does the prophet declare the name(s) of the soon coming messiah into the world?
Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6:
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
WONDERFUL, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace......
The Lord shows up in our lives in the best of circumstances and in the worst of circumstances. Jesus Christ knows who He is and He knows those who are His own. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will make a way out of no way, and He will show the way that you must live for His mercy's sake.
The Lord is speaking to you right now about what He wants to do with your life. Don't ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit. You may believe that you can't be used by Him, but you are wrong. He can use anyone, and whatever that hope is in your heart, it is something that the Lord will do through you because He has already prepared you for what is coming in your life. Don't believe the fear and doubt that is speaking to your mind; put your trust in Him.
