All God's Women

Did you have many parenting theories back before you had children? Did you actually apply those practices once you had kids or did you scratch it all and parent by the seat of your pants? What was the best parenting advice you ever received? Did it work? What if God himself appeared to you before you were even pregnant and told you what to do after your child was born? Would you listen? Would you obey? On today’s episode of All God’s Women we look at Samson's mom, a humble woman, wife of an obscure man, who received parental advice from the Angel of the Lord himself. The Angel of the Lord appeared to an unnamed woman, wife of Manoah, and told her she would conceive a son. This in itself was great news, as she’d previously been unable to conceive. But God didn’t end there. He gave her specific instructions for what to do during her pregnancy. She was not to drink any alcoholic beverages or eat anything unclean. And when the child was born, she was not to ever cut his hair because he would be a Nazarite to God from birth. Oh, the pride she must have felt when she found out not only was she to have a child, but that he would be a lifetime Nazarite. What an honor to be bestowed on her, to be given the responsibility of raising a man of God. I imagine she likely had an image of what this son would be like, a meek and mild man, obedient and godly. But while Samson was indeed, a man of God, He was also an impulsive, strong willed young man with a violent temper and a weakness for the ladies. Even though Samson’s mother likely felt discouraged by his choices, perhaps even blaming herself, wondering if she had failed her son and that’s why he turned out the way he did, she wasn’t to blame. God knew that Samson had a weakness for pagan women and a violent temper, and God used those for his glory. Scripture Background Judges 13-14 Additional Reading All the Women of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer All of the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen The Woman’s Study Bible Life Essentials Interactive Study Bible