168
Counsels on Diet and Foods
334. When the Lord would raise up Samson as a deliverer of His
people, He enjoined upon the mother correct habits of life before the
birth of her child. And the same prohibition was to be imposed, from
the first, upon the child; for he was to be consecrated to God as a
Nazarite from his birth.
The angel of God appeared to the wife of Manoah, and informed
her that she should have a son; and in view of this he gave her the
important directions: “Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink
not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing.”
God had important work for the promised child of Manoah to do,
and it was to secure for him the qualifications necessary for this work,
that the habits of both the mother and the child were to be so carefully
regulated. “Neither let her drink wine nor strong drink,” was the angel’s
instruction for the wife of Manoah, “nor eat any unclean thing; all that
I commanded her let her observe.” The child will be affected for good
or evil by the habits of the mother. She must herself be controlled
by principle, and must practice temperance and self-denial, if she
would seek the welfare of her child.—
Christian Temperance and Bible
Hygiene, 37, 38, 1890
“Let Her Beware”
335. The words spoken to the wife of Manoah contain a truth that
the mothers of today would do well to study. In speaking to this one
mother, the Lord spoke to all the anxious, sorrowing mothers of that
time, and to all the mothers of succeeding generations. Yes, every
mother may understand her duty. She may know that the character of
her children will depend vastly more upon her habits before their birth
and her personal efforts after their birth, than upon external advantages
or disadvantages.
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“Let her beware,” the angel said. Let her stand prepared to resist
temptation. Her appetites and passions are to be controlled by principle.
Of every mother it may be said, “Let her beware.” There is something
for her to shun, something for her to work against, if she fulfills God’s
purpose for her in giving her a child....
The mother who is a fit teacher for her children must, before their
birth, form habits of self-denial and self-control; for she transmits to
them her own qualities, her own strong or weak traits of character.