Old Testament: Jdg 13.22–23

To read the Bible in a year, read Judges 12–14 on April 4, In the year of our Lord Christ 2021

By Don Ruhl 

The Angel of the Lord appeared to the future mother of Samson, but Manoah her husband was not present. He prayed that God would send the Messenger again. He did. After their conversation, the Angel of the Lord did something spectacular that persuaded Manoah that the Messenger was divine. 

When Manoah realized with whom he had been talking, it frightened him and he believed that he and his wife would die. However, pay attention to how she reasoned with him: 

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.”

– Judges 13.22–23 

Think about it: God selected them as parents of a future judge, but then God has to kill the parents-to-be because they saw Him? It does not make sense, and she knew it and talked with her husband, reasoning with him. She was kind to him. She was a knowledgeable and wise woman. 

Questions: 

• What had the Angel of the Lord accepted from Manoah and his wife? 
• What women in your life do you consider to be wise? 

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