Theophany #44 — Manoah’s Wife and the Promise of a Deliverer Judges 13:1–7
- Ken Kalis
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Have you ever been down a road that seems to have no way out?
---That's where the Children of Israel were, oppressed by cruel enemies.
---God sees us our oppression and suffering and He cares
---Call out to Him today and He will deliver you.
Read how he sent SAMSON to deliver His people.
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“Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?”— The Angel of the LORD to Manoah’s wife
Israel was in one of its darkest hours. The Philistines ruled. The people had grown spiritually dull. The judges were failing. And heaven, it seemed, had gone quiet.
But God does some of His greatest work in hidden places.
And in this moment, He chose not a priest, not a prophet, not a king —but an unnamed woman whose heart was ready.
1. The Angel Appears — Not to Manoah, but to His Wife
The text is deliberate:
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman…”— Judges 13:3
Not Manoah. Not a military leader. Not a well-known judge.
A quiet, faithful woman whom Scripture never names.
This is a pattern in theophanies:
Hagar, alone in the wilderness
Manoah’s wife, alone in the field
Mary of Nazareth, alone in her home
The Angel of the LORD (whom many identify as the pre-incarnate Christ) delights to meet the overlooked.
He begins His redemption where the world does not think to look.
2. A Promise in the Darkness
The message is astonishing:
You shall conceive.
You shall bear a son.
He shall begin to deliver Israel.
The similarity to Luke 1 is striking:a barren woman, a heavenly visitor, a promised deliverer.
This is Advent hundreds of years early.
God always begins deliverance with a promise and often with a child.
3. Holiness Before Power
Three commands are given:
No wine
No unclean food
No razor on the boy’s head
Before Samson was to deliver Israel,God was delivering Samson to holiness.
This is a pattern: God sanctifies the instrument before He uses the instrument.
And that includes us.
4. Manoah’s Confusion, His Wife’s Faith
Manoah asks for clarification, details, instructions, and repetition. His wife believes immediately.
When the Angel ascends in the flame of the altar and Manoah panics, crying out, “We shall surely die,” his wife responds quietly:
“If the LORD were pleased to kill us,He would not have received our offering.”
A calm, reasoned, faithful theology.
She is the spiritual center of this story.
Like Mary, she is:
chosen
overshadowed by divine promise
entrusted with a child who belongs first to God
5. Christ in the Story
The Angel of the LORD speaks as God, receives sacrifice like God, and reveals a “secret” name — the same mystery revealed in Revelation 19:
“His name is called The Word of God.”
This is Christ before Bethlehem. The same Christ who came to a woman in Galilee once came to a woman in Zorah.
6. Advent Application
In times of:
national confusion
spiritual coldness
cultural darkness
weakened leadership
God still comes —not first to the powerful, but to the humble.
He whispers promises in hidden places. He prepares deliverance in quiet hearts. He works through the overlooked.
And He still comes announcing:
“You shall bear a son…and he shall begin to deliver My people.”
There is always a Deliverer on the way.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for meeting Your people in hidden places. Thank You for speaking to the humble, for beginning great works in quiet hearts, and for sending the true Deliverer. Make us ready to receive Him, and teach us to walk in holiness,for Your glory. Amen.
Open my eyes, that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Open my ears, that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear;
and while the wavenotes fall on my ear,
everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Open my mouth, and let me bear
gladly the warm truth everywhere;
open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine!
--Clara H. Scott, 1841-1897
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Psalm 119:18
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