Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 178

Day 178 of the Women’s Bible Plan: Read Judges Chapter 13 and reflect on the instructions given before Samson’s birth. Through the way Samson’s parents first received God’s direction, this devotional helps families consider an important truth: before parents guide their children, they themselves need to be taught by God. This page includes Judges 13 Scripture, a family devotional guide, reflection questions, a daily verse, prayer, and a closing response.

🌸  Dear Sister, welcome to Day 178 of our reading journey. 

When we think about raising children, building a family, or walking with the next generation, we often begin with questions about the child: What does this child need? What will this child become? What kind of education should this child receive? Will this child be safe, healthy, wise, and successful?

But Judges Chapter 13 first turns our eyes toward the parents. Before Samson was born, the angel of the Lord appeared to his mother and told her that this child would be set apart to God from the womb and would begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Later, when Manoah heard what his wife had said, he prayed to the Lord, asking that the man of God would come again and teach them what they should do unto the child that would be born.

This is a precious prayer. Before the child was even born, the parents came before God—not only asking for the child’s safety or success, but asking God to teach them how to raise, guide, and respond to the life He was entrusting to them.

A Minute of Grace

Judges Chapter 13 takes place during a time when the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord and were delivered into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. In this spiritually weary and oppressed season, God was preparing to raise up Samson, who would begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

The passage first introduces Samson’s mother. She had been barren and had borne no children, yet the angel of the Lord appeared to her with an unexpected promise: she would conceive and bear a son. This child was to be a Nazarite unto God from the womb, and God would use him to begin delivering Israel. Before God’s work was visible to the nation, He had already begun preparing within a family.

When Samson’s father, Manoah, heard the message his wife had received, he did not treat it lightly or rely on his own understanding. He prayed to the Lord, asking God to send the man of God again to teach them what they should do unto the child that would be born. Here we see a deeply important posture for parents: children are not private possessions, but lives given and entrusted by God. Raising them is not merely a matter of experience, method, or planning; it requires receiving instruction before the Lord.

Samson’s later life would be complex and full of tension, but Judges Chapter 13 especially reminds us that before the child was born, God had already placed His purpose within this family. Samson’s parents needed to hear God’s word first, learn to obey God’s instruction first, and recognize that this child carried a calling and consecration from God.

Today’s theme, “Instructions Before Samson’s Birth,” invites us to reflect: In parenting and family life, are parents willing to be taught by God first? Whether we are parents, grandparents, teachers, spiritual mentors, or those who walk with the next generation in church, we need to confess that children belong to God. We are entrusted to steward, accompany, guide, and bless them.

Whispers for the Heart

1 After Manoah heard that the child would be born, his first response was to ask God for instruction: “how we shall order the child.” When facing children, family responsibilities, or the growth of the next generation, are you willing to come before God first, instead of depending only on experience, anxiety, comparison, or human methods?

2 Before Samson was born, God said that the child would be a Nazarite unto God from the womb. How does it change your view of parenting when you remember that a child’s life is not a parent’s possession, but a stewardship from God? How might this shape your expectations, discipline, education, and prayers?

3 Samson’s mother first received God’s instruction, and Manoah also earnestly sought confirmation and guidance. In family life, are you willing to seek God together with your spouse, family members, or spiritual companions, instead of carrying every pressure alone? Do you need to grow in prayer, communication, and unity as you walk through parenting and family responsibilities?

As you read Judges Chapter 13 today, do not only notice the announcement of Samson’s birth. Also pay attention to how his parents learned to listen, ask, and respond before God. May this chapter remind us that a child’s growth does not begin only after birth; the spiritual preparation of parents also matters. The direction of a family does not begin with human anxiety, but with the fear of the Lord and a listening heart.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring your worries and hopes about family, children, the next generation, parenting responsibilities, and spiritual stewardship before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there.

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🪕 Response Hymn: 

Judges Chapter 13 (KJV)

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 forty years.

2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

8 Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

13 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

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.

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?

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

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

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.

21 But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

🪕 Response Hymn: 

💡 Closing Thought · Taught by God Before Walking with Children

After reading Judges Chapter 13, we see that before Samson was born, God was already at work in his family. He revealed His will to Samson’s mother and moved Manoah to ask, “how shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?” This reminds us that the spiritual foundation of parenting and family life is not something to begin only after problems appear. It begins in daily willingness to return to God and confess that we need His wisdom and instruction.

As we close this page and return to family life, perhaps you are raising children, walking with the next generation, serving as a grandparent, teacher, Sunday school worker, or caring for young lives in the church. Remember this: we cannot fully control a child’s life, but we can first place ourselves in God’s hands and let Him teach us how to love, guide, discipline, release, and pray.

May today’s Scripture remind you that parents and companions are not perfect people, but learners before God. May we first receive God’s Word and wisdom, then walk with children on the road of growth. May we first allow God to shape our hearts, then entrust the children to His faithful hands.

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