“We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”


Judges 13:19-24


19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”
23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”
24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him
Today’s title is “We Are Doomed To Die!”


Have you ever seen God? I haven’t. I wish I could see him. I am not quite sure whether it is doctrinally right or wrong to have such a wish. But I believe all Christians have such wishes. Why not? If we have someone who loved us so much, it is natural that we want to see him. At the same time, we know that it is very rare if not impossible to see God with our naked eyes. If you haven’t seen God like me, it wouldn’t make you any lesser Christian than others. Jesus said to Thomas who wouldn’t believe resurrection without seeing it, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Our faith is not based on what we see individually. As Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. We should be satisfied with Lord Jesus who came to us as God incarnate historically. When Phillip told Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:8-9). It is interesting that many Israelites in the Old Testament had completely different ideas about seeing God. They thought they would die if they see God. They were even afraid of looking at the glory of God that was reflected in the face of Moses. Moses had to cover his face with a veil. We see similar reactions of Samson’s father to seeing God or an angel of God in person. Having heard that the angel of the Lord visited his wife, Manoah wanted to make sure that it is surely an angel of the Lord. When he realized that it was really an angel of the Lord, he said to his wife, we are doomed to die. We have seen God.” There‘s a bit of irony in Manoah’s story. He wanted to see God make sure of the truth. But he fears for his own life after he had seen. Manoa’s wife had a more balanced view. We all feel a similar dilemma. Rarely we have a supernatural encounter with God. That is not bad at all. It is not necessarily a good thing either. The true spiritual discernment that leads us to a better understanding of God and His work should mostly be based on a more balanced and comprehensive consideration of God’s words and His guide. In today’s story, Manoa’s wife showed better spiritual discernment than Manoa. We are facing situations that demand such spiritual discernment every day. How do you discern the true spiritual knowledge in your daily life? How much do you endeavor to meditate on God’s words and interact with God to keep such spiritual discernment? We better diligently meditate on God's words and maintain spiritual fellowship with the Lord daily, don't we?