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....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, 38, 1890. (Temperance, 90.) {1MCP 135.3}

Gud havde en vigtig gerning til det barn, der blev lovet Manoa, og det var for at sikre sønnen de nødvendige kvalifikationer til denne gerning, at såvel moderens som barnets livsvaner skulle indskærpes så omhyggeligt. "Vin og stærk drik må hun ikke drikke," lød engelens befaling vedrørende Manoas hustru, "og intet urent må hun spise; alt, hvad jeg bød hende, skal hun overholde!" Moderens vaner ville påvirke barnet i god eller dårlig retning. Hun skulle selv følge faste principper og vise afholdenhed og selvfornægtelse, hvis hun ville sit barns vel. - CTBH 38, 1890. (Hol 91.)