Judges 13: 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.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 anything 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.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?
This extends and invitation to all. An angel appeared to Manoah’s wife. Times were bad then. They are now. There is still a God in heaven that helps those who call on his name. The best thing we can do is seek God, believe God and live for God. There are lots of books to read, but the Bible is still alive and real. Its Savior is still alive. Its words are truth. You can count on it.
Manoah wanted a family just like others had. Our need for God is as much as theirs. Times used to be safer and make more sense. Manoah wanted that, so he sought the Lord. Their house was empty. God filled it. An angel came with a message. He appeared to the woman and later to Manoah. No matter your home situation, God can help. It may be full of wrong things. It may be empty. Your heart doesn’t have to be. There was danger of the Philistines, but God appeared. As long as she trusted the Lord she was safe. That’s our safe place, the foot of the cross. The angel told her she would conceive. The impossible happens when God says so.
The child would be a judge of Israel. He would be different from other judges; he would be a Nazarite. It came with beware. She was to do the same thing. She may not eat of anything 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. She had to live right too. If you want your child to believe God, you need to believe. If you want your child to live right, you need to live right. If you want your child to be obedient to God, you need to be obedient.
They detained the angel to make a sacrifice. The angel asked why. They asked his name and was told why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? This angel was no angel. It was the Lord all the time. God is in our lives; many times we don’t recognize him. It is only a secret to those who keep it. God wants us to know him. He wants our children to know him. He wants our communities, our nation, and the world to know him. John 3:16 shows us his interest in everyone.
There is hope for your family and you if you put things in order. In order to do right by our children, we have to do right ourselves. Beware. It starts with you and me. Dad and mom, wives and husbands, children—it starts with all of us. When we’re willing to turn things over to God they fall into place. Bring your self to God. Fall into the place God wants you to be.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 