He Will Take The Lead In Delivering Israel

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

Judges 13:1-7

Many natural disasters have left people destitute, homeless and jobless. But in Tacloban, Philippines, in 2013, an estimated 10,000 died, and one birth took place. Although the weather brought back painful memories, residents worked together to find a midwife to deliver the child. The mother and newborn were transported to a clinic. The child survived, thrived, and became a symbol of hope during a time of despair.

Forty years of Philistine oppression marked a grim period in Israel’s national history. During this time, an angel informed an Israelite woman that she would give birth to a special son. According to the angel, the baby would be a nazirite – a man set apart to God – and would “begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” The infant Samson, was a gift of hope in a troubled time.

Trouble is unavoidable, yet Jesus has the power to rescue us from despair. Christ was born “to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.”

Jesus is the hope that calms life’s storms.

Our Daily Bread – March 20, 2015