Judges 13:1 – 14 “Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
Now there was a man from Zorah Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
Then the woman went and said to her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”
Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”
So 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. Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?” So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.” ”
The tragedy of barrenness may be one of the most heart – breaking of all tragedies that many women face. In some cultures, barren women are divorced, shunned, and scorned. Some families will put their daughters through all kinds of rituals, many of them harmful, just to “cure” the barrenness. Unscrupulous faith healers prey on childless women, encouraging them to ingest concoctions that may actually be harmful and that will not work. as intended.
When the angel appeared to Manoah and his wife, they may have already given up expecting her to become pregnant. At any rate, nothing could prepare these people for an angel appearing to the woman. And when the angel appeared, this lady very rightly referred the angel to her husband.
Manoah and his wife did everything right! This is important because as the story of Samson unfolds, we see a pattern: an incredibly gifted man wastes his gifts and calling because he cannot control his lusts. But in the beginning, Samson’s parents follow God’s orders completely.
What were the restrictions on Nazirites? The term Nazirite comes from the Hebrew word “Nazir,” meaning consecrated or separated. Those taking such vows had to do the following: 1. Abstain from all wine and anything else made from the grape vine plant, such as cream of tartar,grape seed oil, etc. (Traditional rabbinic authorities state that all other types of alcohol were permitted; however, Manoah’s wife was warned to avoid all forms of alcohol.)
2. Refrain from cutting the hair on one’s head; but to allow the locks of the head’s hair to grow.
3. Not to become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.
Although most individuals would only take a Nazirite vow for a limited amount of time (one month was the minimum), God told Manoah and his wife that He wanted their son to be a Nazirite “from the womb to the day of his death.”
Why was God so insistent on this boy being a dedicated Nazirite his entire life? God had a special purpose for this boy, one that could only be fully completed if he remained holy to the Lord his entire life. And God also knew ahead of time the consequences of this boy straying from the Nazirite vows later in liife.
APPLICATION: Sometimes pregnant women are very careless with their lifestyles before giving birth; however, prenatal influences are proving to be quite strong. Several years ago in Ghana, we knew a businessman whose mother had dedicated him to a fetish, a demonic god, from the womb because she had asked the fetish to give her a son. This poor fellow was demon – possessed for his entire life. At times the demons would hide and this man would be sweet and reasonable; however, we personally watched him explode into screaming tirades when he failed to get his way. As expected, this man had lots of problems, and we have no idea if he was able to get free of the demons before he died.
Why did God want this boy to be a Nazirite from the womb to the day of his death? The Israelites had fulfilled Moses’s predictions in Deuteronomy 29. Moses warned the Israelites of the consequences of refusing to worship the One True Living God and ordered them to teach their children the things of God. The Israelites failed miserably and were suffering the consequences. God required someone who was ritually pure and who would avoid all of the heathen practices to lead Israel. Manoah and his wife did their very best; however, as we will see, their son failed to take his calling seriously.
How are we raising our children and who is raising them? Are we leaving our children to be raised by whatever they see on TV, on cell phones, and on tablets? Do we leave our children’s education to the public school systems or are we involved enough to make sure our children actually have godly values? And are we discipling our children or are we merely hauling them to church a few times a year and hoping that something sticks? God help us if we are not as serious as were Manoah and his wife!
PRAYER: Father God, parents today are facing terrible stresses as they try to raise godly children. Lord, please help parents everywhere to learn Your ways and to model those ways for their children so that those same children wil learn of You and why You are the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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