“Then one day the Angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah. . .” Judges 13:2
We have heard sermons about Samson, and we have watched movies about Samson and Delilah, but I don’t recall ever hearing anyone teach or speak about Samson’s mother. The Bible doesn’t even mention her name — only that she was Manoah’s wife, and Samson was her first child.
Samson! The son who would be extremely strong and a special servant of the Lord, and lead Israel for twenty years and rescue them from the Philistines.
God knew her. “The Angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah . . .” two times. He didn’t appear to her husband first, but to her. He told her that although she was barren, she would conceive and give birth to a son. She told this to her husband later, and he never doubted her story.
She received instructions from the angel regarding abstaining from certain foods and drink, and that Samson’s hair should never be cut.
The angel wouldn’t tell her his name. After his second visit, he ascended to heaven (in the offering fire), and she never saw him again.
She wasn’t the kind of mother that people remember. She was never the celebrity, but God knew her and entrusted her to give birth to and raise an extraordinary leader. Her husband believed and trusted her.
She knew God and God knew and trusted her..
Father, thank You for the millions of mothers who are never in the limelight, but raise their children the way You instruct them to. The mothers who love You and are faithful and true. You know them, and You will reward them. Amen.
By Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission
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