May the mumbling commence!
Let’s hear it for the girls and women in our lives! Their faithfulness to the Lord often outstrips
those of boys and men. Even though
Manoah’s wife is never given a name, she is the one that the Angel of the Lord
comes to – both times. Why? Perhaps the angel came to her because of her
faithfulness to the Lord. Read from
Judges chapter thirteen:
In those days, a man named
Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to
become pregnant, and they had no children.
The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and said, "Even
though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant
and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or
eat any forbidden food. You will become
pregnant and give birth to a son, and his
hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth.
He will rescue Israel from the Philistines."
The woman ran and told her
husband, "A man of God appeared to me! He was like one of God's angels,
terrifying to look at. I didn't ask where he was from, and he didn't tell me
his name. But he told me, 'You will become
pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other
alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to
God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his
death.'"
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord. He said, "Lord, please let the man of God come
back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be
born."
God answered his prayer, and
the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was
sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. So she quickly ran and told her husband,
"The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!"
Manoah ran back with his wife
and asked, "Are you the man who talked to my wife the other day?"
"Yes," he replied,
"I am."
So Manoah asked him, "When your
words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy's life and
work?"
The angel of the Lord replied, "Be
sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink
wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food."
Then Manoah said to the angel
of the Lord, "Please stay here until we can prepare
a young goat for you to eat."
"I will stay," the
angel of the Lord replied,
"but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare
a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord."
(Manoah didn't realize it was the angel of the Lord.)
Then Manoah asked the angel of
the Lord, "What is your name? For when all this
comes true, we want to honor you."
"Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the Lord
replied. "You wouldn't understand if I told
you."
Then Manoah
took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice
to the Lord. And as Manoah and his
wife watched, the Lord did an
amazing thing. As the flames from the
altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the Lord
ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their
faces to the ground.
The angel did
not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, and he said to his wife, "We will die, for we have seen
God!"
But his wife
said, "If
the Lord were going to kill us, he
wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have
appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles." (Verses 2-23)
The angel of the Lord came two times. Both times, he came to Manoah’s wife. The message was the same: they would have a
son who was to be a Nazirite from before birth.
I find it interesting that this part of the first message was given
emphasis, because the first message also included the prophecy that this son
would rescue Israel from the Philistines.
I would anticipate a man hearing this message focusing on the last part. The truest way to be rescued by the Lord is
through faithfulness. Manoah’s wife
understood this – faithfulness is essential.
May we show our faithfulness to the Lord by honoring Him
before all else – just like Mary did so long ago when she anointed the Lord
Jesus amidst the protests of the male disciples. Indeed, let’s hear it for the girls and
women! Read from John chapter twelve:
Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of
expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with
it and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with
fragrance.
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples –
the one who would betray him – said, "That perfume was worth a small
fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor." Not that he cared for the poor – he was a
thief who was in charge of the disciples' funds, and he often took some for his
own use.
Jesus replied, "Leave her
alone. She did it in preparation for my
burial. You will always have the
poor among you, but I will not be here with you much longer."
(Verses 3-8)
Faithfulness to the Lord is a matter of intentions and
actions, thoughts and words. All of
these things are important. Mary
understood that; Judas did not.
Let’s
listen and follow our sisters in Christ.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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