And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets (Heb 11:32)
Our present times are not unlike the days of the Judges. In our society it is considered to be a mark of maturity, an indication of tolerance and liberation, when citizens are characterized by the principle embodied in the words, “did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 21:25). Christians ought not to be surprised when we see this spirit in the world around us; the unbeliever succeeds remarkably well in doing what he is programmed to do.
On the other hand, when we perceive this spirit in the church or, more humbling, in our own hearts, we wonder if a Nazirite—one set apart to God—is not called for. Such a call came to a godly couple that were childless in the days of the Judges.
An Unpretentious Arrival
It was in such times that a heavenly Visitor appeared to the wife of Manoah to deliver a message, the import of which was the beginning of a change in the course of history for the people of God in Israel. God was going to have a Nazirite in Israel through whom He would begin to deliver His people, a nation then subject to their Philistine overlords. Full deliverance would come when God’s King appeared.
The Angel’s arrival, like our Lord’s arrival in Bethlehem, came without display or ostentation. Manoah’s wife was alone when the Angel appeared, as was Mary at the appearing of the angel Gabriel in the town of Nazareth.
This woman and her husband were evidently a godly couple, instinctively seeking the help and guidance of the Lord when faced with a challenging situation. Manoah (Hebrew for “rest” or “quiet”) seems the more reticent of the two, yet he took charge when informed of this Visitor. His wife, on the other hand, was guided by simple logic and decisive action. She quickly reported her encounter with the Visitor, and later confidently assured her husband of the Lord’s kind intentions towards them. They complement each other.
Manoah’s wife, like Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth, was barren, an unhappy condition for a godly Jewish woman. It was to her rather than to her husband, unlike Sarah or Elizabeth, that the Lord appeared and delivered the message that she would have a son. She could share in the song penned later by Isaiah: “Sing, O barren woman, You who never bore a child; Burst into song, shout for joy, You who were never in labor.”
God chooses the lowly and despised things of this world to bring about glory for Himself. Wm. MacDonald observes, “The barren womb is often a starting place in the purposes of God. He calls life out of death and uses the things that are not to confound the things that are.”
A Revelation and Its Limitation
At first glance, the Angel seemed to Manoah’s wife to be a “man of God,” not unknown even in those dark days. In other times the man of God was well known, an outstanding leader, such as Moses (Dt. 33:1) or Elijah (1 Ki. 17:18). Sometimes he was an unnamed servant of God
(1 Sam. 2:27; 9:6). They were all quite human.
But this “man of God” was different; he was extraordinary! “His countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible,” she said to her husband. How else was this woman to describe this Visitor from heaven—no doubt the pre-incarnate Christ! He looked like a man, yet He was infinitely more than man! Not only so, but He spoke with authority, a rare quality in this time of anarchy. This was evident in His directions to Manoah’s wife and also in His instructions to Manoah regarding any burnt offering he might make. In the days of the New Testament, long after that encounter “in the holy mount” with the Lord, Peter recalled that he and the others were “eyewitnesses of His majesty.” Then the Lord’s “face did shine like the sun.” Awesome!
One of Manoah’s questions to the Angel stems from a rather simple motive: “What is Thy name, that when Thy sayings come to pass we may do Thee honor?” Evidently he didn’t realize that he was probing an area that will in its essence remain out of bounds for man. “Why askest thou thus after My name, seeing it is secret?” It is Wonderful! It is beyond understanding! The only other occurrence of “wonderful” is in Isaiah 9, where it clearly speaks prophetically of the Lord Jesus. It is true that many designations for the Lord are recorded in Scripture, all of which add to our comprehension of His Person. Yet we need to ponder Christ’s words: “no man knoweth the Son, but the Father” (Mt. 11:27). Joseph Conder could sing,
But the high mysteries of His Name the creature’s grasp transcend;
the Father only (glorious claim!) the Son can comprehend.
An Amazing Departure!
Then there was that amazing departure while Manoah and his wife watched in worship. We read that “when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar” (v. 20). The altar, the burnt offering, the consuming flame, and, above all, the Angel’s spectacular ascension to glory—surely we do not misread this scene when we see in it the likeness of our Lord’s “departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:31). We, too, bow in light of the cross where the flames of God’s righteous judgment blazed in all their fury.
Two remarkable supernatural events converge here in the lives of two very ordinary people. The first is the presence of God face to face with poor, fallen humanity. Manoah was right: by all accounts the consequences of this occurrence ought to have proven fatal for him and his wife. The sinners in Isaiah’s day could well cry out, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?” (Isa. 33:14). True it is: “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 13:29). God was there; the fire was there; Manoah and his wife were there in all their vulnerability. They need not have feared for they could not have been more secure: the fire that consumed their offerings carried the Angel of the Lord heavenward to the presence of God for them.
The second event was the pleasure God found solely in the burnt offering and the grain offering. We’re not told here about His pleasure in these offerings, but in Leviticus 1 we read, no less than three times, concerning the burnt offering: it is “an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord” (vv. 9, 13, 17). In Judges 13:20 we read, “the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar.” The Angel of the Lord, in all His holy perfection, in all His infinite worth, made Himself one with Manoah’s burnt offering, and in so doing identified the offering with His own Person, in all its inestimable value, bearing all heavenward! Manoah’s wife was right: Jehovah had accepted their burnt offering. None other than the Angel of the Lord Himself in heaven was now the focus of God’s pleasure and the pledge of their security.
Out of, and by means of, these two momentous realities came the realization of the sovereign purpose of God for Israel at that time. As we reflect on the grace of our Lord’s appearing on this planet, the glory of His departure heavenward, and the growing darkness around us, may we know that exercise of heart that will bring about a spirit of Naziriteship. It is not without precedent: God later reminded Israel that He had “raised up…of your young men for Nazirites” (Amos 2:11).
We need not fear, as did Manoah; our Burnt Offering was sacrificed for us and has gone heavenward through the flames of Calvary, now to appear in the presence of God for us. All the Father’s pleasure is found in that blessed One in glory! We too prostrate ourselves in worship, in light of the Saviour’s glorious departure. Reverence and awe seem fitting, even as we approach the throne of grace with confidence.
Our burnt offering was sacrificed for us and has gone heavenward through the flames of Calvary, now to appear in the presence of God for us.