Judges 13:15-23
15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”
16 But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.
17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words are fulfilled, we may honor you?”
18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is wonderful?”
19 So Manoah took the young goat along with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.
21 Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.
22 So Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God.”
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”
Manoah’s Offering
My name is “wonderful”
To be in fear when encountering the presence of God is a common characteristic of humans. Since the fall of Adam, humanity has been living with a conscious or unconscious fear of God. Do you have a fear of God? How do you resolve it? Manoah and his wife still did not understand who the angel of the Lord was. To them, this person was just a human, perhaps a prophet at most. (1) Manoah invited him (the angel of the Lord) to stay and share a meal. (2) He agreed to stay but instructed them to offer a burnt offering to the Lord instead of a meal. (3) Manoah asked him for his name. The reason was to praise and honor him as a prophet when the prophecy comes true. (4) He responded, “Why do you ask my name, for it is wonderful?” The word “wonderful” refers to the fact that this person is divine (ref. Isa. 9:6, Ps. 139:6). The God of the Bible performs wonders that are beyond our understanding.
Manoah’s fear
So, Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered them on the rock to the Lord. The act of offering to the Lord was typically reserved for priests, but here, since there was a command from the angel of the Lord, there was no issue. The rock on which the offerings were placed became a substitute for the altar. There, the angel of the Lord performed “wonders.” (1) Fire came out of the rock and consumed the offering. This indicated that the offering was accepted by the Lord. (2) The angel of the Lord ascended in the flames of the altar and went up to the heavens. (3) Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground. Manoah feared that they will surely die because they have seen God, but his wife reassured him that everything will be fine, since the Lord has accepted the burnt offering. It’s evident that her spiritual eyes were more open than Manoah. Are you still living with fear even after becoming a Christian? If God intended to destroy us, He wouldn’t have revealed Christ to us. Let’s receive God’s love and walk in peace the way of the Lord.
Today's prayer
Father God of Jesus Christ, I thank You that through the death of your Son, Jesus, I can draw near to You without fear. May I continue to walk, praising your name, today. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.