Before the Humble Arrival (V)
“If God had a beginning, He is not God. All beings who have beginnings must assume to the role of the law of limit. God has no beginning; therefore, He has no limit. His power has no limit, His presence has no limit, and His attributes have no limit in His character. In contrast the devil is a created being, he has limited power, limited presence, limited definition of who he is. There is no comparing the two as rivals. One is a doomed created being, the other limitless, endless, and forever in all ways and so much more.”
Author Unknown
As we have been studying the preincarnate visits of Jesus Christ, we have been learning who Jesus was before His humble arrival in Bethlehem. We have been learning that Jesus Christ who claimed to be God, had proven He was God prior to arriving to make these statements. Elmer L Towns stated correctly, “When we consider that Christ would meet with men as He did throughout the Old Testament and then spend a life among men on earth, we cannot help but be impressed with the intense personal concern of Christ. He is intensely interested in our personal lives and takes a personal interest in the problems and decisions that face us day by day. As He existed in the past and demonstrated His interest in the affairs of men, so today He is interested in our problems. He desires to become involved in our lives.”[1] These visits reveal the character of Jesus as the Son of God and thusly God in precious ways. Our next event of Jesus on earth before His humble arrival in Bethlehem can be found in Judges 13.
“Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” Judge 13:1-7.
Once again we have someone seeing God in the flesh and being able to recognize immediately that it was Jesus. In verse 6, Manoah’s wife identifies the man as God, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome.” Unlike our previous lesson of awesome power being shown, here we have the gentle arrival of Jesus, here He is wanting to deliver a message and giving hope to the Jewish people. The story continues, “Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.” 11 Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” 13 So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. 14 She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.” Judge 13:8-14.
Here we see a clear stance taken by Jesus in the gospels already being portrayed in the Old Testament. He is listening to the Father. When God heard Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of the God came again. Jesus was sent back! He obeyed! This is in clear connection to John 5, “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” John 5:19. Yet, He is not done there, Jesus shows more of His character as He is patient to wait on those who doubt or need further clarification of who He is.
“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 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, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat 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.
Many wonder and contemplate the scenario of what will happen when they first get to meet Jesus. If it is anything like many individuals in the Bible, we will fall flat on our face. Manoah and his wife are able to further signify this is Jesus by their actions of falling with their faces to the ground. While this is not the only sign of God, this sign shows the power of God and not of a man. No man can perform what just happened before them. Nevertheless, Manoah and his wife’s discussion helps highlight the restraint that Jesus Christ uses. He is controlling in whatever he does, He is self-controlled to a degree that Manoah and his wife come to the realization they would have been dead if the angel of the Lord had wanted it. “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 surely 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.” Judges 13:21-23. This is huge for us to understand, Jesus Christ’s restraint should never be looked at as weakness, but as complete sovereignty over any situation. He is always in control no matter how desperate it might seem. This confirms His statement in John 10, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded” John 10:18. Our God Jesus Christ, is someone who we can place all of our faith in, He is not only God, but man perfected, He is the Alpha and the Omega. For those who wish to diminish who He is, is to diminish who God is. That is why we need to take His words so seriously, as Manoah and his wife did. They were able to see God’s promise of a son come true, and Israel having a hero to help save them. “24 Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.” Judge 13:24-25.
As we study the Word of God, never forget the old saying, “scripture answers scripture!” So, for Jesus to make some crazy statements about Himself in the gospels, you can already assume His previous actions have backed it up. When you read the story of Manoah and his wife, remember that Jesus is not just all powerful, but He is in control of every situation. We can rest assure that He is who He says he is, Jesus Christ is God in the flesh!
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming
JL
[1] Elmer L Towns , Concise Bible Doctrines, PG. 122