We don’t even know her name, but we know what she did.

 

Let’s just say there was great strength in her household!

 

Known only as the wife of Manoah, from the Israelite tribe of Dan, this godly woman was unable to have children. But then, in a kind of foreshadowing of another, more famous visit by an angel hundreds of years later, she was told by the Angel of the Lord that she would become pregnant and have a son.

 

Samson!

 

Judges 13:24 says, “The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him.”

 

The last of the judges of Israel, Samson, was his people’s deliverer from the Philistines, who prospered along the coastline. Samson’s mother followed the angel’s instructions from the Lord to the letter, never cutting her son’s hair. It was in this that his tremendous strength was found.

 

And, just like Mary centuries later, she would see her son die a horrible death. But it came as he saved his people.

 

A mother’s love is strong. So strong that not even evil can tear it away.

 

Let’s pray.

 

Lord, you know her name, this mother of Samson. You spoke to her and guided her in life. Thank you for her example—a mother who believed the Lord when told she would have a child. That is strong faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.