I imagine the visitor waiting calmly in the field, while the wife ran off to inform her husband of the second visitation. I also wonder why the angel did not go straight to Manoah wherever he happened to be. Maybe that was so that the couple would see him together.
The fact that Manoah believed his wife tells us of the good marriage relationship they had. Many people I know would not have that reaction, and would tell their wives they are crazy! But the reaction of this man was to pray, and seek confirmation of what had been promised.
When we read the story of Samson, we get the impression that he hovered between the will of God and his own. He can come across as a spoilt child of ageing parents. We have to remind ourselves that he was chosen from conception to do the things he did.
The Old Testament is a recurring cycle of Israel turning to God, then as things improved, or the next generation grew up, forgetting Him, turning to their own ideas and failing once more, until He raised up a new prophet to turn the hearts of the people back to Him.
After the death of her parents, Esther was still young and was adopted and brought up by a cousin, Mordecai. He was the third generation living in Babylon since the exile. We suppose that Mordecai had no other family, and he educated Esther in the things that he knew about.
This chapter of Revelation goes on to say that a dragon, worse than anything you might have seen in a horror movie, was ready to devour the new born baby! The nativity story tells us that King Herod heard about the new born Jesus and set out to kill him.
The sad story of Jacob and his two wives, sisters who hated each other, began when his uncle who became his father in law tricked him into sleeping with the wrong sister on his wedding night. But this study is about babies and children. Maybe marriage is for another study!
Jacob and Esau were the result of the prayer that Isaac had prayed. The babies jostled each other is what our verse says today. In fact these two babies jostled each other for much of their lives. They were totally different, just as the prophecy Rebekah had received, had promised.
God welcomes new Christians into His worldwide family, and He grieves when we do not follow His commands, when we go off the rails. But He is always present and always ready to welcome rebellious ones on their return home. As we read in the story of the prodigal son.
We do not have too much information about these visitors, where they came from, or how long it was after the birth of Jesus that they finally arrived to visit Mary, Joseph and the baby. But it is clear that this young family were no longer living in a stable!
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