Judges 13 Devotional

Grace Before Anyone Asked

“But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.””Judges 13:23 (BSB)

Israel does evil again and falls under the Philistines for forty years (13:1). This time the text records no cry for help. God moves anyway. His angel appears to Manoah's childless wife and promises a son, set apart to God from the womb as a Nazirite, who will begin to save Israel from the Philistines (13:3-5).

Manoah wants more instruction, and God hears his prayer and sends the visitor again (13:8-9). Asked his name, the angel says it is beyond understanding, then rises toward heaven in the altar's flame (13:18-20). Manoah is terrified that they will die for having seen God. His wife reasons more clearly. If the LORD meant to kill them, he would not have accepted their offering or shown them all this (13:22-23). Paul points to the same order in the gospel: God showed his love by sending Christ to die for sinners who had not yet turned to him (Romans 5:8). You can read God's past kindness toward you as a sign of what he intends.

To think about: What kindness from God in your past could you read as a sign of his good intentions toward you now?