The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.” Judges 13:3
You may think that Bible stories are for kids, but there’s always a story behind the Bible story that gives us profound insight into what God is like.
The Bible story of Samson is an intriguing one. Samson was a supernaturally strong man with never-to-be-cut hair, who defeated the enemy of his people—but lost his own life because of moral weakness. Samson’s story began with infertility. Scripture says that the angel of the Lord appeared to a woman, known as “Manoah’s wife,” who told her, “Even though you have not been able to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son,” and “ … his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God … He will begin to rescue Israel” (Judges 13:3,5).
God saw the unfulfilled longing of both Manoah and his wife; we see the God of the Bible is intensely personal. He knows and cares about our deepest disappointments and longings. He also doesn’t look down on our uncertainty!
Listen to Manoah’s prayer: “Please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born” (Judges 13:8). The angel reappeared to Manoah’s wife who ran and got Manoah.
When “Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord (Judges 13:19), he said, “We will surely die for we have seen God!” but his wife reminded him, “If the Lord were going to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our … offering,” or “appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles” (Judges 13:23).
What an encouraging story behind the story—God speaks to, and gives good sense, to both men and women alike.
