Yesterday was my Wednesday night to teach the ladies at church. It is always such a blessing to come before the ladies with the lesson that I feel God is laying on my heart. Due to the holidays, it has been several months since I've gotten to teach. That has given God a while longer to work this lesson into my heart. I am going to try to adapt it to a blog, but if something seems weird, that's probably why. I hope God speaks to you through this. (All scripture, unless otherwise quoted comes from the English Standard Version.)
Hannah’s Story
1 Samuel 1:1-28
· In verse one, we are introduced to Elkanah. We are given his lineage here.
· Verse two introduces us to our main character and her nemesis, if this were an action movie.
· Elkanah had two wives. Hannah is listed first. She is our focus tonight. Peninnah is listed second. Most biblical historians believe that Hannah was Elkanah’s first wife and Peninnah, his second based on the order of their names. Most likely, Elkanah married Hannah. When she did not produce a male heir timely, he would have taken Peninnah to ensure that he produced a male heir to continue his lineage.
· In verse two, the phrase “Hannah had no children” literally means she didn’t have any children. She had not carried any children. What this scripture does notsay is that Hannah was barren.
· Continuing on to verse five, we see that Elkanah gave Hannah a double portion to sacrifice because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. According to the Moody Bible Commentary, “Hannah’s infertility was not merely a biological weakness; it was also the direct result of God’s sovereignty” (p. 404). “Shut up/closed” here is often used in reference to shutting a gate or door. The idea here is that God literally shut Hannah’s womb – but doors don’t stay shut forever, just like Hannah’s womb wasn’t shut forever. It specifically says God closed her womb. That shows us that God was working in Hannah and through her situation.
· The nemesis part comes in verse six. “And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.” Can you imagine living with another woman who was constantly provoking you? Who constantly shoved what you desired most in the world in your face, day after day? That is how Hannah lived.
· This wasn’t a short-term problem, either. Verse seven says, “So it went on year after year…”
· I couldn’t decide when I was originally planning to teach this scripture to you if I was going to teach on verse 8 or just skip right over it. Verse 8 says, “And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you that ten sons?”My intention in bringing this up is not at all to bash Elkanah or men in general at all. My desire is to bring to your attention what most of you probably already know. Sometimes men just do not understand the pain that we feel. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to them, and that’s okay. Sometimes things that men face don’t make sense to us. Elkanah just didn’t understand the depth of sorrow that Hannah faced at being unable to bear him children.
· Let’s keep going: Verse 10 tells us that Hannah was “deeply distressed”. She was brokenhearted and struggling. Have you ever been there? I have. With Hannah’s particular struggle even. And I will tell you that it has tested my faith more than anything else has in the ten years I’ve been a Christian.
· Let’s look at how Hannah chose to respond to her pain. She “prayed and wept bitterly.” Hannah allowed herself to feel the pain, but she did not turn away from God. She “poured her soul out before the LORD”, as verse 15 will tell us. Do we actually do this? Do we honestly tell God exactly how we are feeling? Or do we settle for fussing and discontentment? Out of her “great anxiety and vexation” (v.16), she cried out to God. Why do we fail to do this? We just grumble and complain and resign ourselves to our terrible plights in this life. Maybe we should follow Hannah’s example.
· Verse 11 – Hannah made a vow to the LORD. “A vow is a promise made to the LORD as an act of worship” (MBC, 404). What are some common vows that we make? Marriage, baby dedications, etc. It is interesting to note that Hannah is the only woman in the bible who is said (specifically) to have made a vow to the LORD.
· It is important to note that Hannah’s prayer demonstrates her understanding of God’s ability to open her womb and give her a child.
· In verse 18, after Hannah had poured out her heart to God, she got up and “went her way… and her face was no longer sad.” After she dealt with God, her face was no longer sad. She got up from that place trusting that God was going to move. She had released her worry to God. Her joy at meeting with the Lord transformed her face.
· Listen to this Psalm (18:6), “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” God hears our cries, just like He heard Hannah’s that day she was in the temple.
· I love what comes next. Verse 19 tells us that after she went her way, she worshipped before the Lord. I love that. I’ve been trying to learn how to just worship God – not worrying about if the music is just right or if other people feel the spirit, but just worshipping God all on my own. I pray that you experience that as well.
· I love what comes next even more. Hannah and Elkanah and the rest of the family went home, back to their every day lives. This most likely means that Peninnah was still tormenting Hannah because her childlessness seemed to continue. But listen to what God does: “Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. Isn’t that exciting to think about? Because if He’s going to remember Hannah, He will also remember us.
· This is not to say that there was ever a time that God didn’t remember Hannah (or us). She (and we) are always on God’s mind. God is not imperfect and forgetful like we are. When the bible tells us that God remembers someone is means that He will act in a special way on that person’s behalf.
· Let’s look at some examples of where this word (Hebrew zakar (pronounced zah-hair)) is found in scripture:
o Genesis 8:1 – “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” God moved in a special way through Noah, didn’t He?
o Genesis 9:15 – “I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” God still acts in a special way by this one every time we see a rainbow.
o Genesis 30:22 – “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.” This is the same situation that Hannah is in. Perhaps she had heard the story of Rachel and her barrenness and was counting on God because of it.
o Exodus 2:23-24 – “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” God doesn’t forget.
· Verse 20 tells us that Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, meaning “I have asked for him from the LORD.” What a beautiful ending, right? Hannah has the baby she’s always longed for. She has her happy little family: her, Elkanah, and Samuel. End of the story, right? Not quite. Hannah made a vow to the Lord, remember? She promised that if God would give her a son, she would give her son to the Lord.
· Let’s look at the fruition of Hannah’s faith. Verses 21-28 tell of what happened after Samuel was born. Hannah stayed home from the yearly sacrifice for a few years until Samuel was weaned. Some scholars believe Samuel would have been between the ages of 3 and 5 before he was weaned and taken up to the temple. Hannah had prayed for yearsfor a child. Maybe five, maybe ten. Who knows? It was long enough for Elkanah to think, “Maybe I can’t get an heir from Hannah. I need to marry to ensure a male offspring.” So she prays for years for a child, promises him to God if God gives her a son, and then only gets to keep him for five years, tops. I cannot imagine how hard that would be. I think about my sweet nieces. They are four. I can’t imagine Jessi taking them to a temple in some far off place and leaving them there to serve God, as honorable as that would be. It would break my heart. And I’m not even their mama. I can’t even think about them moving away.
· So let’s imagine Hannah here. She’s weaned her son, and she’s going back to the temple. The place where she met God and worshipped Him. She’s taking this long journey to leave her son with Eli, the priest. One source said that this was a 14-mile trip. Not long by any means today. I drive more than that to work and back every day. In bible times, that trip is much longer than the 15 minutes it takes me to drive to work.
· Imagine how Hannah must have been feeling. That trip may have been possible in a day. Maybe it took two. They were travelling with Peninnah and her children, Elkanah, and any number of servants and/or animals. For this child, she had prayed, and she was taking him to leave him in a foreign place. I think about how kids may react to that. This about the first time you took your child to a new place – maybe it was school or daycare or even nursery at church. They may have started crying and squalling. They wouldn’t have wanted to leave their mama. I imagine maybe Samuel was like that. Maybe he cried as he realized that he wasn’t going home to the comfort he had always known up to that point in his life. I’m not a mother yet, but imagine the heartbreak of this whole situation. But imagine also the joy at having your child grow up serving God.
So what are some things that we can learn through Hannah's life and apply to our own?
1) When Hannah faced a problem, she cried out to God.
2) She trusted that God would hear her plea and move in her situation.
3) While she waited and trusted, she worshipped.
4) When God granted her request, she was faithful to keep her vow to the Lord. Even if God doesn't grant our requests, we still must be faithful to Him.
Thanks for reading.
In God,
Emily
All references to MBC are for the Moody Bible Commentary (2014) published by Moody Publishers.
Comments
Post a Comment