For August 20, 2026
Touched by an Angel by Greg Holmes, D.MIN – Director of Missions serving 17 churches
THE STORY OF SAMSON begins with a theophanic angelic visitation to Manoah’s wife, who had been barren. “The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, ‘You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.” (Judg. 13:3) Her story is similar to Elizabeth’s in the NT. Both have in common the inability to conceive, a message from an angel that they will, that they will bear a son, and that the son will fulfill a mission from God. And, both sons will be dedicated as Nazirite from their birth—in Manoah’s wife’s case (she remains unnamed)—from conception. The angel specifically says of Samson, “The boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (Judg. 13:5)