“Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: “‘O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.’”
~ Judges 13:8
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you hope to be really strong when you are your dad’s age? Do you know who the strongest guy is who has ever lived on planet Earth? Samson is the strongest guy who has ever lived on planet Earth. Samson was born about 3100 years ago. Samson’s dad and ma were members of the Dan tribal clan. Samson’s dad and ma lived in Zorah. When lots were picked to decide which area of land that each tribal clan among twelve Israelite tribal clans of God’s specially chosen guys and gals would get, the town of Zorah was located in the land area that was about 300 years earlier allotted to the Judah tribal clan. Land areas were allotted by lots to twelve Israelite people group’s tribal clans after God’s specially chosen guys ridded most of the enemy people group’s guys, gals and kids from the land that God was giving to them to always to have to live in as their very own land. At some point over the next 300 years, Zorah became a Dan tribal clan land area town. When the lots were drawn for the different areas of land where twelve different Israelite people group’s tribal clans of guys and gals would settle and live, the Dan tribal clan ended up with a land area just northwest of the land area that was allotted by lot to the Judah tribal clan. Zorah was located right on the edge of where the Judah tribal clan’s land area bumped against the Dan tribal clan land area. the Dan tribal clan’s guys and gals over the years kept moving further and further north until . . . this is probably the reason why the Dan tribal clan ended up with Zorah. To the south of the land area that had been allotted by lot to the Dan tribal clan was a narrow strip of land. The Philistine people group’s guys, gals and kids lived on this narrow strip of land. The Philistine people group’s guys, gals and kids were then and still are an avowed enemy of God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids – the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids. God had allowed the Philistine people group’s guys to beat up on His specially chosen guys and gals for forty years before Samson was born. God’s specially chosen guys and gals after living for over 300 years in the land that God had given them to always have to live in as their very own land had stopped from faithfully obeying His very specific commands to only serve and worship Him to making sacrifices to inanimate idol gods that were made from wood, stone or metal.
Samson’s birth is found in Judges 13. Manoah was Samson’s dad. Until Samson was born, Samson’s dad and ma did not have any kids. Until the angel of the Lord visited Manoah’s wife, Samson’s ma could not have kids. The angel of the Lord visited Manoah’s wife to her that she was going to have a baby boy. The angel of the Lord also told Manoah’s wife that she was to no longer drink wine or fermented drink, that she was to no longer eat the meat of any unclean animal and that she was to never ever let her kid’s hair be cut. The angel of the Lord told Manoah’s wife that her son was to be a Nazarite. A Nazarite is a guy who is separated or dedicated. A vow for a guy to be a Nazarite is a lifetime vow that is not done by or has been done by a guy who becomes a Nazarite. A dad and/or a ma make the vow for his or her or their son to become a Nazarite. Samuel and John the Baptist were Nazarites. What would you do if the angel of the Lord suddenly appeared out of nowhere to visit with you? Who would you tell if the angel of the Lord visited you? Manoah’s wife went to her husband to tell him about the visit that she had from the angel of the Lord. Manoah’s wife told her husband that a man of God – who looked like an awesome angel of God, had visited her. Would you believe a guy, gal or kid if the guy, gal or kid told you that he or she had received a visit by a man of God – that the man of God looked like an awesome angel of God? Verse 8 says, “Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: “‘O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.’” Manoah did believe what his wife told him about an angel of the Lord visiting her but . . . the angel of the Lord did return to tell Manoah the same things that had been told to his wife. Manoah did not know that he was talking with the angel of the Lord. Manoah wanted to give the angel of the Lord some young goat meat to eat. The angel of the Lord told Manoah to sacrifice the young goat instead to God. Manoah sacrificed the young goat and some grain on an altar as a burnt offering to God just as the angel of the Lord told him to do. As the young goat and the grain were burning on the altar as a burnt offering to God, Manoah and his wife saw the angel of the Lord ascending in the fire. When Manoah saw the angel of Lord ascending in the fire, it was then that Manoah realized who the angel of the Lord was and . . . while Manoah’s wife knew that everything would be okay.
Has God ever given you a wakeup call to remind you that He is in your life – that He is doing or going to do something very special for you? Manoah and his wife got a clear-cut wakeup call from God when He told them that they were going to have a son who would grow up to be really, really strong. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were not thinking of having any kids when they got married. God has blessed your grandmaa and grandpaa with two very special kids and two very special grandkids. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were really young when your dad was born. Your grandmaa and grandpaa had both your Aunt Lynn and your dad baptized when they were babies. Your dad was baptized as a baby in Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware – which is the same church where your grandmaa and grandpaa and your dad and ma were married. Your grandpaa baptized your dad in Bolivia by immersion in the river that is near Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez. God has blessed you with a dad and ma who know how to help you to live lives that will allow God’s glory to be reflected through you back to Him.
Judges 13 (309)