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Manoah, His Wife, & The Angel

The Necessity Of Bible Teaching

The success of the early church under the Apostles came about due to daily intensive Bible teaching (Acts 6:2-4). Bible teaching was and is the first priority of the church. The story of Manoah, his wife, and Samson is the story of lost opportunity in receiving and teaching God’s word. Some opportunities come only once.

For more on the great tragedy of Samson, of what he could have been and what part he should have played in Israel’s history, see: The Great Failure.

Samson’s life began with great promise. He was a Nazirite from birth. He was supposed to be devoted to God all his life. The angel prophesied that he would begin the deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression (Judges 13:5).

Samson’s life was mostly ineffective, and almost ended in failure. He broke his Nazirite vows. He was never properly taught. He had the physical power, but lacked the spiritual foundation to really make a difference. He began the deliverance from Philistia as foretold, but he accomplished little. The lack of Bible training leads to ineffectiveness.

Judges 13:1-2 The story begins with a childless Danite couple during the time of the Philistine oppression: Manoah and his wife. The wife is never named, and often is referred to only as “the woman”, but she is central to the story. Although the writers of the Bible were men and heavily influenced by male traditions, God ensured that this important woman remained in the record. Important lessons are usually hidden in the Bible stories that involve women.

Judges 13:3a Only a few times in the Bible is it mentioned that an angel from God comes to a woman. The significance can be gauged by briefly looking at two other such incidents (Mary and Hagar). The angel’s annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Mary needs no further explanation. It was of earth shattering importance.

Hagar’s two meetings with an angel needs a little explanation. The first time, the angel told Hagar not to leave Abraham (Genesis 16:7-10). This ensured that Ishmael’s tender years would be under Abraham’s teaching. The second appearance was to save Hagar and Ishmael from the desert (Genesis 21:15-21). Had Hagar not stayed, the Arabs today would not consider Abraham their ancestor, and most likely would not be worshipping one god. These two angelic appearances to Hagar affected millions of lives.

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