Wed Devo - From Death to Life

Wed. Devo
Read Judges 13
"And the children of Israel did evil AGAIN in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines 40 years....not again!?! So there is this man named Manoah and his wife who is barren. Ever notice how so many of the women in the Bible are barren women? Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, (the wives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). Then Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist in the New Testament. It is like being barren is a prerequisite for having a son that will be used greatly of God. As I meditated on this I realized that we are all barren before God visits us with His spirit and gives us life. Before that we cannot reproduce life. Once He is in us we give forth life everywhere we go.
This angel appears to Manoah's wife (apparently her name was not of significance) and told her she was going to conceive a son who was going to be a Nazarite from birth. He would deliver Israel from the Philistines. A Nazarite is a person separated unto the Lord. He can't drink wine or liquor, or eat grapes, raisins or anything unclean. He can't cut his hair, or come near a dead body, even if it is someone in his immediate family. He is to be holy to the Lord. (Num. 6)
Manoah missed the meeting with the angel so he asked for another one because he had some questions. God's angel came back and answered all his questions. Then, Manoah offered a sacrifice and the angel consumed it with fire and disappeared in the fire. How is that for the dramatic!
His wife got pregnant and conceived Sampson which means "a ray of sunlight". Then in the last verse it says , "And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. "Zorah" means a stinging hornet and Eshtaol means "intreaty". So it looks to me like God is saying that in between the times of his judgement (the stinging hornet) and their calling out (intreating) to Him that God began to move in their midst.
Lord, you saw us in our barrenness and put life in us through Your son, Jesus. We are so grateful. Let all that we do birth life to those around us. Let us be a ray of sunlight in someone's life today.