Childless

O. T. #537  "Childless"
June 12, 2015
Judges 13
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.  Judges 13:2

LET IT GLOW

Being childless can be heartbreaking. We went through it in our family. In His time, the Lord blessed with a child. Working through the disappointments, the pain when seeing friends with babies, and being asked when you will have a child are only a few hard times endured. Today's lesson is about such a woman.

Let's skip down to verse 3. We read of the third preincarnate appearance of the Lord Himself in this book (a theophany). This must have been a very important time for the Lord Jesus to come. This time it was to another woman. What do we know about her?

• She was the woman who would be Samson's mother.
• She was Manoah's wife. He was living in the city of Zorah and of the family of the Danites.
• She was barren, without a child.
• She was told that she would bear a son.

Being the curious that I am, I looked back to find the other appearances of Jesus to men-when and to whom. This is what I found. Jesus appeared to:

1. Hagar (Genesis 16)
2. Abraham (Genesis 18)
3. Jacob (Genesis 32)
4. Moses (Exodus 3)
5. Gideon (Judges 6)
6. Mother of Samson (Judges 13)

How blessed one was during the O.T. time to have Jesus, the coming Savior, speak to you.
Do we listen when He comes to speak to us through His Holy Spirit? Is our hear ready to obey what He has to say to us?

LET IT GROW

What was the message to this sweet lady?This sterile and childless woman was going to conceive and have a son. She was given these specific directions:

• Consume no wine, a fermented drink, (verses 3,4)
• to not eat anything unclean. (verse 4)

Her son was to live by the Nazirite vow, being set apart from birth with the purpose of delivering Israel from the Philistines. In addition to those restrictions, Samson was supposed have no razor cutting his hair and to not touch a dead body, thus being defiles.

This mother-to-be told her husband what had happened. We will discuss that later.
Who were the Philistines?

• They were sea people who invaded the area  for nearly 2 centuries.
• They established the Pentapolis (5 cities).
• They oppressed Israel for 40 years, keeping them in subjection.
• They did not allow Israel to make iron swords or spears. (That's why Samson used a jawbone and David used a sling for weapons.)
• The Philistines soon combined their religious practices with those of the Canaanites, being idolatry.
• They were able to penetrate Israelite territory all the way to Shiloh, where they destroyed the tabernacle. (Falwell)

That helps us better understand the environment in which this couple was living.

Are we faithful to God when others around us are not? (job, community)

LET IT GO

Stay faithful to God.

Obey His leading.