Judges 13:8

Judges 13:8 says, Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.  Manoah asked God to send the man of God, the angel, to them again to teach them what they should do to the child that was to be born.  It is a good thing for parents today to ask God for guidance in how to raise their children in accordance with His will.  Verse nine adds, And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.  God answered Manoah's request, and sent the angel to the woman again while she was in the field, but Manoah was not with her.  God may not always answer our prayers exactly the way we ask, but He will always answer them.  Verse ten continues, And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.  The woman ran and got Manoah and told him the angel had appeared to her again.  As Christians, Jesus Christ has appeared to us spiritually and we need to make haste to share this good news with others, starting with our family.  Verse eleven states, And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.  Manoah then hurried to the angel and asked him if he were the one that had spoken to his wife, and the angel said yes.  We need to make sure that it is God or His messengers who are speaking to us today, even the Holy Spirit.  We can never afford to allow what we want to become the truth of God, but must always make sure that it is really God’s Voice that we are hearing.  Verse twelve adds, And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?  Manoah said to let what God said through the angel come to pass and asked what they needed to do to ensure this happened.  Children are a gift of God, and we as parents, especially Christian parents, need to seek His guidance how we raise our children.  Verse thirteen says, And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.  Verse fourteen adds, She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.  The angel repeated his instructions to the woman so that Manoah could hear them, and then asked that Manoah made sure that she followed them.  We need to support one another in doing what God has instructed us to do.  Verse fifteen states, And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.  Manoah asked the angel to stay with them until they had made a kid ready as an offering to him.  As followers of Christ, we should never attempt to keep those who are doing God's work from doing so.  Verse sixteen adds, And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.  The angel, whom Manoah still had not recognized as an angel, said even if they detained him, that he would not eat with them, and if they were offering a burnt offering, to offer it to the LORD and not to him. Some people today worship angels, but they should never be objects of worship.  They are God's messengers and warriors, doing what He sends them to do,  and we need to recognize this.  Verse seventeen states, And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?  Manoah then asked the angel his name, so that when his sayings came to pass that they might honor him.  Sometimes, we as Christians can begin to exalt preachers and teachers almost as much as we do God, and this should never happen.  Verse eighteen adds, And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?  The angel asked Manoah why he wanted to know his name,since it was a secret.  It is possible that this was the case so that Manoah would not begin to worship him.  When God is at work in our life, we don't need to know every detail about how He is doing this. Verse nineteen continues, So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.  Manoah then offered the kid to the LORD upon a rock, and the angel did wondrously as Manoah and his wife looked on.  We are not told what this wondrous thing was, nor does it really matter.  I believe that whatever it was, it was to allow Manoah to recognize that he was an angel and also to glorify God and not to bring glory to himself.