God listens

And God listened to the voice of Manoah… Judges 13:9. NKJV.

This chapter of God’s amazing Word — Judges 13 — records a visit by the Angel of the Lord to a man named Manoah and his wife.  She had no child, but the Lord promised they would have a son, and he would begin to deliver the people of Israel.

As is always the case, God’s Word reveals some great truths.

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Judges 13:3. NKJV.

Notice that (the NKJV) it says the Angel of the Lord.  Capitol A.  This is none other than Christ.

There are other appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ;

• Genesis 18:1-3. 
• Genesis 32:24-30.

Christians generally agree that the above passages and others that mention “the Angel of the Lord” are appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ (Christ before He came in the flesh).

Many theologians refer to the appearances of God in these passages, and others like them, as “theophanies” (Greek: theos = “God” + phaino = “appear”) or “Christophanies.”  So these words mean “appearances of God” and “appearances of Christ,” respectively.

Manoah’s wife had no child, but the child she was to miraculously bear, would be a deliverer.  Perhaps a foreshadow of another Child whose birth would be miraculous and who would be a Deliverer!

Remember Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17:19), Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 25:21), Elkanah and Hannah (1 Samuel 1:17), and Zacharias and Elizabeth (Luke 1:18).

God loves to bring fruitfulness out of barrenness.  He loves to move and work and do stuff in response to the cry of the human heart.  Being childless in those days was not good.  It was a bitter burden especially for the women.

Maybe it seems there is barrenness in your life.  Maybe the deepest desire of your heart has not yet become a reality.  Is it a calling, a passion, a dream, a promise of God not yet fulfilled?

Know that God listens to your heartfelt cry.  He hears and knows and understands.

But in my reading of this chapter this morning I was fascinated by these few words; And God listened to the voice of Manoah.

I noticed it was the word listened.  There are many occurrences in Scripture of the word heard, for example;

• And God heard the voice of the lad. Genesis 21:17.
• So God heard their groaning… Exodus 2:24.

But Judges 13:9 uses the word listened.  God listened to Manoah’s cry to appear again.  And He did.  The Angel of the Lord appeared to him.

The word listened and heard are similar but have unique differences.  We listen to something, say a piece of music, our child, or the birds singing.  However in the course of life we hear many things, maybe not things we are concentrating on, but we hear them none-the-less.

We may listen — pay attention to, and we may hear — perceive by the ear.  We would say that listening is a more concentrated focus, whereas hearing may not always have our attention or focus.

Now we know that God always listens and hears us, and His ear is always focused toward our cry.  But we read that God listened to Manoah.  He heard him.  He gave attention to his prayer.

God listens to your cry and mine.  His ear is turned toward us, His focus is on us at all times, His attention is not diverted away to other things, but He is watching, looking over and concentrating on our lives.

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3. NKJV.

God waits to bless us!  He loves us.  He cares for us.  He waits to bless us until we call to Me.  God promises a revelation in response to prayer; I will answer you.  Prayer is never fruitless.  The full omnipotence of God is behind His I will.

Mysteries are not forever hidden.  Spiritual truths are not revealed by speculation and logic, but by communion.

You don’t know what you don’t know.  That lack of knowledge can get us into trouble.  Through prayer, we can know what we should know.  Call unto me — God can show us stuff we don’t know, to protect us and save us making a mistake.

In response to Manoah’s prayer, Jesus Christ Himself appeared.

In response to our prayers God will manifest Himself to us.  The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, is with us!  God in His graciousness heard Manoah’s prayer and Christ appeared to him.  By God’s grace when we cry to Him, His presence will be with us and in us.  That, is one amazing aspect to answered prayer!

We live in a human world, but the answers we seek to our prayers and the cries of our heart are fulfilled in God’s divine timetable.  In the meantime we have Immanuel, God with us.

Sometimes when writing these Brief Words I feel (and that is an emotional word, but it is true) that this is a specific word for someone.  Please know that God listens.  Eternal history will record that; God listened to the voice of ____________________ .  (Insert your name there!).

Interesting also that Manoah was keen for the appearance of the Angel of the Lord.  We’re always passionately keen for the answer to our cries, but there’s something perhaps even better; the appearance to us of the presence of the Lord.  Jesus Christ with us.

God with us, God in us, God walking beside us, is something we might need more that the things our heart desires.

Let’s passionately pursue, with devotion and desire, the presence of God.  Lets be like Manoah who desired for the appearance of the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ).

In the course of time Manoah and his wife received their answers.  In the course of time you and I too will receive the answers we’re praying for.  In the meantime the presence of Almighty God is with us.