Judges 13:6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
18 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
21 When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
The children of Israel were delivered into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years for doing evil in the sight of YHVH. Then a wonderful event takes place: an announcement to a barren and childless woman that she will conceive and bear a son. The announcement is given by one who is called “malach-YHVH”, literally “Angel (of) YHVH. This messenger, in two separate appearances, reveals God’s commandments concerning the boy to be born. At the angel’s behest, the couple offers a sacrifice to YHVH, then they ask to be told his name.
What happens next opens the eyes of the woman’s husband, Manoah. The angel asks why do they desire his name for it is, “פלאי”, a Hebrew word translated variously as, “miraculous”, “wonderous”, “supremely wonderful”, “secret”, “beyond understanding”, and a word seeming to be used as both an adjective and a noun. But then, as the flame of their sacrifice blazes up from the altar toward heaven, this angel of YHVH ascends in the flame! At this, Manoah exclaims to his wife, “We are doomed to die! We have seen God!” From this, we conclude that the Image of God, the pre-incarnate Yeshua has once again appeared to His beloved servants for deliverance at a critical moment in the history of His people Israel.
Forty years, often described as a number of testing, a long season during which time the Lord allows the sins of His people to produce their inevitable fruit of judgment and subjugation. Then, at His chosen moment, our God returns for deliverance. And He returns in Person, with unequivocal authority and deep wonder.
Are you also wondering, “When will God show up!?” The story of the birth of Samson may hold an answer. God will show up precisely when His time of testing has been accomplished! And when He does, you may need to deal with the divine impact of His revelation, and as you worship Him, stand in awe of how “absolutely and supremely wonderful” He is. So, don’t be impatient during the time of testing. The deliverance and the wonder will be well worth the wait.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]A woman once asked John Wesley what he would do if he knew that he would die at midnight the next day. "Why, Madam," he replied, "just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning, after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Martin's house...talk and pray with the family as usual, retire myself to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my Heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in glory."
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