Judges 13:2-15 “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. 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. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 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. 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: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. 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. 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.

Text Luke 24:29 “But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening.”

In Judges 13 and Luke 24, two couples find themselves in God’s presence while being completely ignorant of their guest’s true identity. Even though they knew not His identity, there was something special about His company that caused both couples to encourage Him to linger with them. “Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee” (Judges 13:15). Cleopas said, “Abide with us.” Both couples want their guest to stay, continue, to assemble with them or keep close! What would be His response to their invitations? In both cases the Lord took pleasure in accepting the hospitality of His children. In fact, God delights in fellowshipping with His children. This truth is magnified in the words of our Lord when He said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). God’s heart was broken when the entrance of sin deprived Him of fellowshipping with His creation in the midst of the garden (see Genesis 3:1-11). Because of the complete and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, once again, we now have open access into the presence of God that we might sup with Him! While He delights in abiding with us, do we take advantage of every opportunity to encourage Him to linger a while longer! He is found in the Word; “Search the scriptures; for . . . they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). He is found in worship; “O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3). Will you bid Him to stay; He delights in being detained!