“Then Manoach prayed to Adonai, ‘Please, Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.”‘”-Judges 13:8
Following on the heels of yesterday’s post, since Manoach’s wife didn’t get the name of the mysterious visitor who she had encountered, Manoach knew he had to meet the the stranger himself to find out exactly who he was.
So Manoach prayed for the man to return so he could meet him and confirm what should be done with the baby now growing in his wife’s womb.
Some folks will say Manoach was demonstrating a lack of faith here by asking God to send the visitor back to them.
I think that’s a bunch of hogwash.
Why?
Because Manoach didn’t get the stranger’s name which as we discussed yesterday really meant the stranger’s character, mission and attributes.
Since there was some important missing info he needed to get, he was just acting out of common sense and also being a good Berean.
I would have acted the same way.
Fortunately, Manoach’s prayer is answered and the mysterious visitor from heaven appears once again.
He repeats the instructions he told Manoach’s wife.
“The woman should take care to do everything I said to her. She shouldn’t eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she shouldn’t drink wine or other intoxicating liquor, and she shouldn’t eat anything unclean. She should do everything I ordered her to do.”
Now one question that sometimes comes up at this point is why was it necessary for the mother to also have to abstain from grapes and alcohol?
She wasn’t going to become a NAZIR.
Her son was.
Well, you’ve heard of the concept of two human beings becoming one flesh, haven’t you?
That’s the reason why.
A mother and her baby inside her womb are considered to be one flesh…
Which means whatever the mother ate or drank, so did her baby.
However, I’m not just talking about the physical aspects only.
I’d say a mother’s spiritual characteristics were passed down to her own child as well.
Samson was a Nazarite even as a tiny fetus…and that’s why the mother had to act as a Nazarite as well.
As a guy, I’m aware I’ll never fully understand the deep love a mother has for her baby growing inside of her.
However, because of the deep one-flesh connection that is created when a woman becomes pregnant, I can imagine the emptiness she must feel when she makes the tragic mistake of killing her yet unborn baby.
There is an anguish in her soul that I imagine will never leave her…
Because not only has she murdered a life but she she has murdered a life that was literally a part of her.
I don’t know who to feel more sorry for in this case…
The mother or the baby.
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