This is a simplified version of the Bible story found in Judges 13, written for children to understand. For the original version, please refer to the Bible passage.
Once upon a time, the people of Israel were not obeying God and were doing bad things. So, God allowed their enemies, the Philistines, to rule over them for 40 years.
In a town called Zorah, there was a man named Manoah who had a wife who could not have children. One day, an angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and told her, “You will have a baby boy, and he will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from birth. Make sure you do not drink wine or eat anything unclean, and do not cut his hair. He will help save Israel from the Philistines.”
When Manoah’s wife told him what the angel had said, he prayed to God, “Please, Lord, let the man of God come back to us so that we can learn what to do with the boy when he is born.” God listened to Manoah’s prayer, and the angel appeared to Manoah’s wife again.
When Manoah saw the angel, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” The angel replied, “I am.” Manoah then asked, “When your words come true, what will the boy’s manner of life be, and what will be his mission?” The angel answered, “Your wife must do everything I told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her, she must observe.”
Manoah then asked the angel to stay and have a meal with them, but the angel said he would only eat a burnt offering to the Lord. Manoah did not realize that he was speaking to an angel of the Lord. So, he asked the angel, “What is your name so that we may honor you when your words come true?” The angel replied, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”
Manoah and his wife then prepared a young goat with a grain offering and offered it on a rock to the Lord. As the offering burned, the angel of the Lord went up in the flames, and Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground in awe.
After the angel left, Manoah was afraid and said to his wife, “We will surely die because we have seen God.” But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, He would not have accepted our offering or shown us all these things.”
In time, Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son, and they named him Samson. As he grew up, the Lord blessed Samson, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Biblical Lessons
- When we ask God for guidance, He will answer our prayers.
- It is important to follow the instructions that God gives us.
- We should show reverence and respect to God, who is wonderful and powerful.
- God keeps His promises, even when they seem impossible.
- God can use anyone to do great things, no matter how young or small they may seem.