Judges 13:16-20

Judges 13:16

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

 

The angel had told Manoah that even if he detains him he will not eat of the bread and if he offers the kid as a burnt offering, then it must be made unto the Lord.  The angel makes sure that he tells Manoah that the burnt offering must be made unto the Lord and not to any of the false gods which were prevalent at that time.  Manoah’s sincerity must be directed to the Lord.

 

Judges 13:17

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

 

Manoah then asks the angel a direct question.  He wanted to know his name so when the prophecy of the birth of Samson happens they will be able to honor the one who gave him the prophecy.  If this was a prophet of God, they wanted to know his name. 

 

Judges 13:18

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

 

It was at this point that the angel made known the fact of his deity and that it was not just an angel but a Christophany which is a pre-Bethlehem appearance of Christ.  The Lord tells Manoah that His name is “secret.”  This would mean that his name would be beyond comprehension just as we Christians must take the trinity by faith because it is way beyond our understanding.  The word “secret” may also be understood as “wonderful or extraordinary.”

 

Judges 13:19

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

 

Manoah then took the kid which he was going to prepare for the meal that he offered to the Lord but he made it into an offering to the Lord.  He combined it with a meat offering.  And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock:  (Numbers 15:3, KJV) This was not the proper place to offer a burnt offering unto the Lord.  The Tabernacle was in Shiloh at this time and that would have been the place for a burnt offering but in this case the Lord had allowed him to make that burnt offering on a rock.  It was probably a large rock where there had never been any of man’s tools touching it or else it would have become polluted.  And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.  (Exodus 20:25, KJV)  Then at the time of this offering, the angel had done something wondrously and that would have been something supernatural as Manoah and his wife looked on.  The event they saw is detailed in the next verse.

 

Judges 13:20

For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

 

Then Manoah and his wife saw a tremendous event and that was while the flame of the burnt offering was still burning, then the Lord ascended into Heaven inside the flame off the altar.  This was a tremendous prophecy of the Lord’s coming ministry on earth.  In Revelation chapter one, we read about John’s heavenly description of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.  (Revelation 1:15, KJV)  John saw His feet as if they were burned in a furnace.  Both Judges and Revelation speaks of the Lord Jesus and His association with fire which means that when He came to earth, He would go through the fires of judgment for all the Elect of God on Calvary.  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.  (1 Corinthians 3:15, KJV)  According to 1 Corinthians 3:15, if the works of a believer are burned up because they were of no value yet he himself will be saved by fire and that fire is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary simply because no type of physical fire can save us, not even a thousand burnt offerings but only the sacrifice of Christ.  Once Manoah and his wife saw this event, then they knew that this was the Lord Himself and fell to the ground face down.

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