This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:
Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418
HERE
Bro. Bruce's commentaries for the
books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.
JUDGES
CHAPTER 13
1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
Repeat, repeat, repeat. Again -- Israel "did evil in the sight of the Lord." And this time, God allowed them to be oppressed for 40 years.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Barely having time to receive the message of such a miracle, she is given directions as to what she should NOT eat or drink. She is told also that the son she will bear is to be a "Nazarite" from the day of his conception until the day of his death. The vow of a Nazarite is to eat no unclean thing, drink nothing from the vine, and not get a haircut and not touch any dead body. See Numberse 6:2-6 for details about the Nazarite vow.
8 Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
Manoah believed his wife and prayed that the Lord would come and show them exactly how to treat the child.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
But notice that the directions are repeated again for the woman, not for the child. The directions which come from God for "born again" Christians are to the CHURCH as well as to the individual. It is the responsibility of the CHURCH to educate new Christians.
15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
"Those that welcome the message, will be kind to the messenger," said Matthew Henry. Manoah recognized only that this was a man, and offered food for sustenance.
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
When Manoah made his offering to the LORD, then the "Angel of the Lord" did wondrously. One of the names for Messiah is "WONDERFUL" (Isaiah 9:6).
21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
And Manoah was deeply concerned for he knew of the statment that Moses had made about the Lord in Exodus 33:20:
23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
God gave the woman to the man to be a "help-meet." She is a partner with him in all things of life. And spirituality is part of life. Her counsel was good at this time and gave solace to Manoah.
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
The story of Samson is put in a "nut shell" here. He is born, grows and begins to show his "judgeship" (deliverance activity) by the Spirit of the Lord -- all that in just two verses.
Please continue to follow along with us in Bible Study.
Man is inherrently sinful. If we aren't overtly sinning, we are covertly sinning. We become lax in our worship, and negligent in evangelism.
Originally, I wrote this in July of 1999. I am thoroughly convinced that if God's people had not been lax in the performance of their spiritual duties that we would not have had the difficult time in the USA that we've had for the last 7 years.
Just as God was trying to get Israel's attention in Judges 13, so God is trying to get Christian America's attention in 1999.
If we didn't sin, says Matthew Henry of this passage, we would not need a Savior. But we do sin. And we MUST have a Savior. God is gracious to provide our need. He gives us grace and mercy when we deserve much worse.
Jesus appeard unto Manoah's wife telling her that she would have a son. She had been barren and unable to conceive. This was a miracle of God.
When we are "born again," it doesn't mean that we take the "vow of the Nazarite." However we DO need to live with character and integrity from the day of our rebirth until the day of our death (or until Jesus' return). The character and integrity of a Christian is on display to the world. And it is our duty to keep it as beautiful as we possibly can (Ephesians 4:1).
((We'll see in this story of Samson how he failed in that respect because of his lack of self-discipline.))
Manoah's wife tole him exactly what the Lord had said.
The Lord appeared to her again, and this time she ran to get Manoah. He went with her, and immediately asked the Lord how to "order," or direct the child.
Are you fulfilling your individual responsibility to God by being involved in your local church work?
The Lord refused the food, but told Manoah to offer it as a sacrifice. ALL or ANY work we do for God should be as a sacrifice to HIM. God does not NEED us, but He WANTS us to be involved. Therefore, what we do for God should be done willingly, humbly and as a special privilege to work for Him.
Manoah inquires as to the Messenger's NAME. But he is told that is secret. God has revealed all we NEED to know, and will reveal everything we need to know as wee need it. But God has NEVER promised to answer ALL our questions. Our relationship with Him is by grace through FAITH."The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 29:29)
When Manoah and his wife saw the fire devour the offering and the Angel of the Lord ascend to heaven in the fire, they realized WHO He was!
"And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live."
We should remember that women have a special place in God's heart, and that they have wise counsel. Though they are not to "teach" men or to "usurp the authority" of men, they certainly can be our "help-meet" and offer wisdom in times of need.
Our birth into the Kingdom of the Lord, Jesus is by His Spirit. Our growth is also by His Spirit. He provides for our growth, we must listen and learn.
Being born again, and growing in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord," are important events. But what is MOST important is what we do with what we've received!
When God's Spirit moves upon you, do you ACT?
Birth and growth are important. But what we do with the fullness of our lives in relationship to God's direction is MOST important.