Judges 13:8 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the story of a second visit the angel of God made to Manoah and his wife.

Manoah had earnestly prayed for it, and God answered him (Judges 13:8). He did not doubt the story his wife had told him. He knew she was a good woman, and he trusted her. He also knew better than to suspect her of making up a story about this stranger. Instead, he believed that this child of promise would be given to them in time. His faith was simple and strong. In that way, he was like the poor and humble people to whom God often reveals what others miss. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.

His main concern was what they should do for the child who would be born. That is how good people think. They care more about learning their duty than about learning what will happen to them. Duty belongs to us, but events belong to God. So Manoah asks for the blessed messenger to come again and give them more instruction about how to care for this Nazarite, a person set apart to God. He wanted to be sure he had not missed anything. He was eager to know more from heaven.

Notice that he did not send servants out to search for the man of God. He prayed and asked God to send him. That is the right way to seek God’s messengers. If we want ministers of the gospel to bring a word that fits our needs and teaches us well, we should ask the Lord to send them to us.

God kindly answered Manoah’s prayer (Judges 13:9). The Lord does not fail to guide those who truly want to know their duty and ask him to teach them.

The angel appeared a second time to the wife, while she was sitting alone. She was probably at work in the field, tending to ordinary tasks. Solitude is often a good time for fellowship with God. God’s people have often found that they are never less alone than when he is with them.

She hurried to call her husband (Judges 13:10, 11). She likely asked the messenger to wait until she returned with Manoah. She did not tell him to go with her. Instead, she brought her husband to him. Those who want to meet with God must go where he chooses to make himself known. Her joy was clear as she said, in effect, that her prayer had been answered, and the man of God had come again. Some think both visits happened the same day, since the passage suggests that possibility.

The man of God was willing for her to call her husband. In the same way, those who know God’s ways themselves should invite others to know them too. Manoah was not upset that the angel did not appear to him first this time. He gladly followed his wife to the man of God. This is a good correction to the sad story of the first sin, when Eve pressed Adam toward evil and he listened too easily. Let husbands and wives instead encourage one another to love and good works. If the wife leads in what is good, the husband should not think it beneath him to follow.

When Manoah came to the angel and learned that he was the same one who had appeared to his wife, he answered with humility. First, he welcomed the promise: “Let your words come true” (Judges 13:12). That was the language of faith, like Mary’s words, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Manoah was saying that he trusted what God had spoken and wanted it fulfilled.

Then he asked for the instructions to be repeated: “How should we bring up the child?” The directions had been given to his wife, but he saw that he also had a part in caring for this promised child. Both parents needed to be careful and united in bringing up a child devoted to God. One parent should not leave all the care to the other. Both should do all they can.

From Manoah’s question we learn something general. Whenever God gives us a mercy, we should ask how to use it well. A blessing is only truly a blessing when it is handled rightly. God has given us bodies, souls, and possessions. We should ask how to order them so we honor the Giver and give a good account to him. We also learn something special. Parents who receive children from God must be very careful how they raise them. They should work to drive out the foolishness naturally in a child’s heart, shape the mind and behavior early, and train the child in the right way. Godly parents will ask for God’s help in this. They will pray, “Lord, teach us how to order our children, so they may be set apart to you and become living sacrifices.”

The angel then repeated the same instructions he had given before (Judges 13:13, 14). He told them again to guard carefully against everything he had forbidden, and to keep all that he had commanded. This shows that carefulness and attention are needed in both our own lives and the training of our children. They must keep away not only from wine and strong drink, but from anything that comes from the vine. If people want to stay pure, they must stay far from what leads toward sin. Since this child was to belong to God, the mother was also told not to eat anything unclean. In the same way, those in whom Christ is being formed must clean themselves from every stain of body and spirit, and must do nothing to harm that new life in them.