A Name too Wonderful to Understand

        Jesus—name above all names. If you’ve read Revelation, you may have noted in the letter to the church at Philadelphia that Jesus gets a new name and He will write the name of God on all those who are victorious.

All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name. Revelation 3:12

Sampson's riddle:
Out of the one who eats some something to eat:
out of the strong came something sweet.
Can you find and answer this riddle?
Read Judges 14.

In this focus scripture for today, below, it begins to tell the story of the Old Testament character Sampson and his parents. Jesus, as an angel of the LORD, appeared to Sampson’s mother and then to his father, too. They were to have this wonderful son and were given instructions to keep him pure—a purity that had to begin with what his mother even ate and drank during her pregnancy. It must have been a bit frightening to have seen the preincarnate Jesus because just a few verses later Manoah, Sampson’s father, realized that they had seen God and was afraid that they would die. They didn’t die because God had a plan for them and their son. Sampson later becomes a judge over Israel, but he had a great weakness when it came to women nagging him. Read for yourself about Sampson in the book of Judges. See how Jesus was evident during that time. Is there any name that is too wonderful to understand? We’ll find out later in our lives when we see Jesus in heaven. For now…may His name be a blessing to all who call on Him.

 

In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and said, "Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines." The woman ran and told her husband, "A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God's angels, terrifying to see. I didn't ask where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name. But he told me, 'You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.'" Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, saying, "Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born." God answered Manoah's prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. ... "I will stay," the angel of the LORD replied, "but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD." (Manoah didn't realize it was the angel of the LORD.) Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, "What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you." "Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the LORD replied. "It is too wonderful for you to understand." Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing. As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground. Judges 13:2-9, 16-20 (Underlined for emphasis.)

 

Prayer – Lord Jesus, thank you again for revealing Yourself to us in the Old Testament. You have worked in wonderful and mysterious ways through all of history. Please give us wisdom to see You working in our lives…and with that wisdom, give us understanding and an ability to apply Your word to our lives. May we honor You in all that we think, do, and say.

 

Meditate. Consider God working in and through Old Testament history.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ "Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, 'You are under the penalty of death,' but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me. "If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too." Ezekiel 3:17-21

 

© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

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