Hannah’s barren womb is opened, and the Sovereign LORD Yahweh saves not only Hannah from disgrace but Israel through his Kingmaker Prophet-Priest. Yahweh saves through the humble poor, the righteous in the land. God is Getting Ready For His Christ by giving a boy child, Samuel, the King Maker (1 Samuel 2:10). The birth of Samuel in the Old Testament parallels the birth of John the Baptist in the New Testament (compare Luke 1).
Small things can make a big difference. A little decision can set the course of a whole life. And a life of conviction, under God, can sway the course of a nation. And a nation can be a light for the whole world. From little things, big things grow.
Much of our lives are spent not in the affairs of state, in matters of global importance, but as ordinary private people with family concerns and small vision.
What should I eat? What should I wear? What should I cook for dinner? Will he eat it? How can I get a boyfriend or girlfriend? Should we get married? How can I please my wife or husband? Should we start a family? How many children should we have? How can I give my kids the best? Where should I live? What should I do with my short time?
And often our problems likewise are domestic and personal. They have to do with us and our families. They have to do with our relationships, with our social group, with the necessities and comforts of this life. They are comparatively small and globally insignificant.
I’ve got to get the car fixed. I have to go to the chemist or the doctor. I’m having trouble getting on with my parent, my child, my sibling, my spouse. You fill in the blank.
But small decisions to be godly, to be holy, can make a big difference. Decisions to be holy can and do make a big difference. And we cannot see the great things that God will bring about.
Today we are going to see that a private problem for one poor women in a difficult domestic situation is given a solution that will save the nation. One humiliated woman prays earnestly for a child. One woman makes God a vow, and fulfills it. And God will change the course of Israel’s history as a result. By her decision to trust Yahweh and pray, she will usher in a new era for Israel. And we Christians, 3000 years later, are thankful that she did.
At the beginning of Samuel, we are introduced to a small blended family. Elkanah is the husband, and there are two wives: Hannah and Peninah. And while this situation is not God’s ideal, they are righteous people. They attend the temple to worship Yahweh for the yearly festivals, as the Law commands.
Why Elkanah took a second wife, we are not told. Probably, Hannah was the original wife, the first wife. She is mentioned first. But then Elkanah took Peninah to bear children when Hannah couldn’t. Probably to ensure that Elkanah had an heir, so important in Israelite culture.
And so, with the second verse of 1 Samuel chapter 1, we have been reminded of Israel’s sin. Because Israel were promised that they would have no barrenness if the obeyed the law of Moses[1]. But here is Hannah, barren. She is barren because Israel is experiencing the curses foretold in the book of Deuteronomy.
So Elkanah introduces a second wife to his bed. And all kinds of jealousies, animosities and powerplays are unleashed. Hannah’s experience demonstrates the difficulty of blended families. It shows the problem of polygamy.
One form of suffering, childlessness, has been replaced with another, family conflict and disharmony.
We see similar dysfunction in Jacob’s family life. Rivalry is built into the family relationships.
And while polygamy is hushed up in modern Australia, and is still taboo, we can observe similar dynamics in the various serial monogamies played out in our society, as we watch the consequences of partnering, separating, repartnering and separating again. This is the result of modern Australian use of divorce and remarriage, and our acceptance of adultery and fornication. And all these dynamics are heightened when there are children involved.
Blended families among the people of God are a reality as old as Abraham. They are part of our fallen world. But now in Modern Australia, we are being told that there is no ideal family to which we should aspire. Mr Howard, Prime Minister just over five years ago, expressed the belief that every child should have a mum and a dad. But now, we are supposed to accept that the ideal of a single parent family is just as good as the ideal of a mum and dad family. Or that a two dads family, or a two mums family, is just as acceptable. And it is discriminatory and offensive to say otherwise. Scientists and doctors say it doesn’t matter, so shut up you Christian biggots[2].
Now, perhaps you might take offense at what I say here. I’m not having a go at you if you are a single parent, or widowed, or divorced, or remarried, or raising your grandchildren, as has to happen in our broken world. I’m not saying you are a bad parent. For there have always been complicated family structures among God’s people, because of sin and death.
But what I am saying is, there is a biblical ideal. A natural child living with his or her biological parents is the norm. Of course, death and sin stuff that up, like everything else. Of course, some of us have to labour under severe disadvantages as single parents, or children caught between two households. But if we don’t have the ideal, we don’t know what we are trying to get back to, what we are trying to compensate for, or what disadvantages we must making allowances for. And we are saying that we can experiment with children. We can write the rules for family life. And there will be no harm. And of course, this assertion is consistent with human autonomy and sin.
Hannah shows us the difficulties that come with blended families. In verses 1 to 9, Hannah’s story is told for us. And Hannah has our sympathies. She, like Rachel, is loved by her husband[3]. Peninah, the rival wife like Leah, knows she is not loved[4]. Peninah, like Leah, pays it back. Hannah, like Rachel, is barren. Like Rachel, Yahweh closed her womb. And Peninah, like Leah, uses this fact to exalt over her rival. For years and years this situation persisted. The husband, Elkanah, like Abraham and Jacob before him, tries in vain to comfort his favourite wife. But without success.
As readers, we see that Hannah is the wronged party and to be pitied. Verses 6 to 8 evince her real torment at the hands of Peninah.
And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. (NIV)
There is a Hebrew word for a rival wife[5]. So usual is animosity and jealousy the result of polygamy, there is a word that describes the rival. The word for thunder is used of poor Hannah’s reaction[6]. The best argument against polygamy is its lived experience. Every polygamous marriage in Scripture is surrounded either by sin (Cain's line, Solomon) or strife (Abraham, Jacob, David). And Hannah’s position is pitiable.
So after years and years of such treatment, enough was enough. One year, Hannah refused to eat. Instead of feasting, of coping it on the chin, she refused to put on her happy face. 'I’m not eating my portion, even if its twice as much.'
We could be forgiven for accusing Elkanah of dullness[7]. His choices have placed Hannah in that situation. Yet he says in verse 8:
"Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"
Hannah may well be able to retort:
‘That’s rich. I don’t mean more to you than 10 sons, do I? That’s why you brought Peninah into your bed! Don’t talk to me about meaning more than 10 sons! You got the new and improved model, wife Mark 2, because of my deficiencies.’
[Compare Alec Motyer's comment: 'They were not helped by the bluff chauvinism of Elkanah who could only say, 'Am I not beter to you than ten sons?' when Hannah needed him to say, 'Are you notbetter to me than ten sons?: Roots: Let the Old Testament Speak, 123]
Perhaps Hannah was too godly to say such things. Hannah’s reproaches to her husband, if they occurred, are not recorded.
And there is one main reason for this. Hannah’s barrenness, her childlessness, is a matter between Hannah and God. Yahweh had closed her womb (verse 5). Yahweh, the God of Israel, is sovereign over the great affairs of our world, over floods and wars and famines and tornados and tsunamis. And Yahweh, the God of Israel, is sovereign over the affairs of a little family. Yahweh is sovereign over the womb. Why can’t Hannah have children? At rock bottom, because of God!
But God has already shown a preference for using the barren woman to fulfill his promises. Think of Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel! Each went through the torture and humiliation of barrenness. But each woman bore the child who would inherit the promise of salvation. Manoah’s wife was barren, yet she bore Samson, who saved Israel. So, paradoxically, the barrenness of Hannah brings us hope as bible readers. We know that Yahweh has form. He loves to take the poor and needy and rekindle their hope. Those beyond hope, but still put their trust in him, become a shining light for the nation and the world.
God has brought this pitiable situation about. Yahweh has closed Hannah's womb. So it is to Yahweh that Hannah pours her complaint. Hannah is in Shiloh, the place where the tabernacle is located. So Hannah goes to the vicinity of the tabernacle, and outside the gate, she prays. Cast your cares on the Lord, for he cares for you. Hannah takes this to heart. Verses 10 and 11:
In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son[8], then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." (NIV)
Do not be anxious, but pray. Present your requests to God. And in the midst of her misery, Hannah does this.
Are you caught in bitterness of soul? Are you bitter and twisted because of life’s circumstance? It is not un-Christian and unspiritual to find yourself such. It is human. But do what Hannah did with her complaint. Pour out your misery to the Lord. Take it to the Lord in prayer. And in prayer, you apply to the one who is mighty to save.
And Hannah’s request to God is buttressed with a vow. If, hope beyond hope, she bears a son, literally, male seed, he will be dedicated to God’s services. He will be given back to God.
If God gives offspring to Hannah, Hannah will give him back to God.
The reference to the razor refers to a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:1-21). Hannah’s son, like Samson before him, is dedicated to Yahweh’s service before his birth. And so we expect that like Samson, this offspring will be Judge and Savior of Israel. (Although we hope he will be more godly and less a slave to his passions than Samson).
Now, at this point, Eli the Priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, steps into the story. And initially Eli increases Hannah’s sufferings. Hannah applied to Yahweh with her torment, and she earns a rebuke. Perhaps Eli is so used to ‘worthless women’ turning up to the tabernacle to service his worthless sons, that he takes Hannah for one. Eli, the old priest, who we later learn would become almost blind, was at this stage watching her lips. He sees her mouth trembling and moving without sounds. And he mistakes her grief for drunkenness. He is Israel’s Judge. Yet he cannot tell a righteous woman from a worthless one. Israel’s leadership crisis is serious indeed!
But when Eli discovers his mistake, he changes his tune. He goes from rebuke to blessing. Verse 17:
Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." (NIV)
And poor Hannah, oppressed at home, rebuked at the tabernacle, finally has something to smile about. Someone out there, an official in a high place, recognizes her pain and acknowledges her complaint. Not merely saying, ‘You shouldn't feel this way! Get over it. Aren’t I worth more than 10 sons? Come on, eat!' But, ‘May God give you what you’ve asked for’.
In the New Testament, Peter bids Christians with cares and troubles to humble themselves before God. 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 6 to 7:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (NIV)
God cares for us. It is a hard thing to believe, when you are in the midst of a trial or suffering. But God’s people are precious to him. Even though God puts his people through stresses and strains, he has our good at heart. He wants to shape us and mould us and make us more like his beloved Son Jesus. And so, we need to be humble under his hands. For at the right time, he will lift us up out of out humiliation and disgrace.
Prayer changes things. It changes the person praying. Hannah leaves off praying a different person. She goes to the tabernacle terribly sad, downcast, and unable to eat. She comes back, she eats, and her face is no longer downcast. And God will answer that prayer, bringing a better situation about, not just for Hannah, but for all Israel. God can do more than we ask or imagine.
Yahweh has heard Hannah's prayer. And He will answer it by giving what she asked for, and even more. James says,
‘You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.’ (James 4:2-3 NIV)
It may be that we don't have because we haven't asked God. And if we have asked God, we've asked with selfish motives. And so we don't have.
Well, here are two things that cannot be said of Hannah. She had asked God. And she doesn’t ask with wrong motives, to spend on her pleasures. She has vowed to give her beloved only son back to the LORD, to serve him his whole life at the tabernacle. She has asked with good motives, and she will receive.
And so the little family went home. And in the second part of chapter 1 verses 19 and 20,
…Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him." (NIV)
And while Hannah and Elkanah do the thing they need to do, Yahweh does his. Yahweh remembers Hannah. Yahweh steps in to act on her behalf. And the boy-child is given. He is called, ‘Samuel’, which means ‘Name of God’, a memorial to the fact that Hannah asked God for him.
Samuel stays with his mum at home until he his weaned (verses 21-24). So, the next year, when Elkanah goes up to Shiloh to pay a vow he has made, Hannah remains at home. Elkanah is not opposed to this vow of his wife. In fact, it is probable that he sees that God has a bigger plan than just providing children for his barren favourite wife. And so Elkanah says, verse 23, ‘only may the LORD make good his word.’
Elkanah looks to Yahweh to fulfill is promises. And Elkanah perhaps spoke better than he knew. For as we shall see, this child Samuel is the way God will fulfill he promises to Israel, promises of land, and blessing and rest.
And then, when Samuel has been weaned, because they are righteous, Hannah and Elkanah fulfill the vow that Hannah made. They return to Shiloh and the Priest Eli, this time with Samuel. Samuel is perhaps three.
And Hannah brings a large offering, perhaps reflecting how thankful she is. The NIV has a three-year old bull, but it can be taken as three bulls, as the RV and KJV say.
And after the sacrifice, the old priest Eli discovers that he has a youngling, a young apprentice, who will soon supplant his own sons. And Samuel, as a three year old boy, does what Hophni and Phineas fail to do. Verse 28:
And he [which I take to be Samuel] worshipped the LORD there.
With Samuel, hope is kindled, and not just for Hannah. God has cared for Hannah, and saved her from barrenness. Indeed, we read in chapter 2 verse 21, that after she gave Samuel to Eli, the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. (NIV)
But God is not just intervening in a domestic squabble, or the needs of a small family. This is about providing a judge and savior for Israel… Samuel. Samuel will be God's answer to the immediate leadership crisis in Israel. And ultimately, Samuel's rise is about providing an anointed one, the Christ.
And all this comes out in Hannah’s Song, in chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. Hannah is no uneducated country hick with no idea. She is a righteous and intelligent women, a believer in Yahweh, who has placed her hope in the God of Israel, who has acted throughout history to save his people. And all this comes out in her Hannah's song.
In Chapter 2 verse 1, Hannah rejoices in Yahweh and his salvation.
My heart rejoices in the LORD Yahweh… for I delight in your deliverance. (NIV)
Hannah rejoices in Yahweh, because she rejoices in the salvation that Yahweh brings. Hannah has a personal relationship with her God. She depends upon and exalts in him. Verse 2:
There is no-one holy like the LORD Yahweh; there is no-one besides you; there is no Rock like our God (NIV)
She depends on Yahweh as the only God. The only foundation of her hope is Yahweh. Yahweh is the righteous judge. Verse 3:
…for the LORD Yahweh is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. (NIV)
God has seen Hannah’s misery. He has heard her prayer. He is a just judge who weighs deeds. By giving her a child, Yahweh has vindicated Hannah against her rival. And as a result her enemy has been humbled. And she, the humbled, has been exalted.
And Yahweh is the sovereign God over the big and the small. He is sovereign over life and death, over the womb and the tomb. Verses 6 and 7:
"The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.
Yahweh closes the womb. And Yahweh opens it again, as Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah and Elizabeth all experienced.
Yahweh brings down to the grave, as we will all experience, unless Jesus returns soon. As in Adam, all die. The wages of sin is death. And Yahweh brings up from the grave. And we have seen this in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the earnest and promise of our own. So in Christ, all will be made alive.
Yahweh humbles and Yahweh exalts. In life, it is God who brings sickness and health, riches and poverty, success and failure. Yahweh makes people rich and makes them poor, he raises them up and brings them low again. He might use the stockmarket, the political system, the business, academic or social world, the weather, the seasons, or the wind and the waves. But no matter what secondary causes he employs, it is Yahweh – to us, the triune God – who is the sovereign creator and sustainer, without whom nothing happens, and who has our fortune and poverty in his hands.
And not only is Yahweh sovereign and in control. He is good, he is kind, and he looks after his people. Verse 9:
He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails. (NIV)
And that is the theme of Scripture again and again. It is not by strength, but by Yahweh, that the saints prevail. It is in weakness that the saints win. The women, Deborah and Jael, not the warrior Barak, beat defeat the enemy of God’s people, Sisera. The timid Gideon, with 300 men who lap like dogs, defeats the overwhelming enemy without sword and spear. It is the crucified Messiah, Jesus Christ, who wins the victory over sin, death and hell by his death on the cross. And the barren woman Hannah, bears the child who will bring the King. As Paul says, ‘When I am weak, then I am strong’.
But in the end, it can be said that Hannah’s hope is more specifically placed than merely in God, in Yahweh, the hope of Israel. She does hope in Yahweh. But her hope in Yahweh is directed more specifically towards the King and Christ Yahweh establishes. There is no such human king, at this stage of Israel’s history. But in 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 10, Hannah prophetically looks forward to the Messiah and Christ:
... the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. (NIV)[9]
'His anointed' is more literally, ‘His Messiah’. Hannah is looking forward to a King, and a Christ. Hannah does not just pray, but also prophesies. Just as Jacob spoke of the scepter not departing from Judah until he comes to whom it belongs, so Hannah speaks of the Messiah, even though he has not yet come. She looks ahead to the coming Christ. Even though there is no King in Israel, her hope is in the King and Christ to come.
To understand 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 10, we must understand where the book of Judges leaves us. Judges records 200 years of social upheaval, verging at times on Anarchy. Judges evidences Israel’s degeneracy. Israel lurches from crisis to ever worsening crisis, with only bandaid solutions. At the end of Judges, we witness gang rape followed by civil war. The extinction of a tribe of Israel is avoided only by war crimes, mass kidnapping and forced marriages. The book of Judges aptly concludes:
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. (Judges 21:25 NIV)
The whole of Judges portrays a dysfunctional confederacy. The end of Judges verges on anarchy. And the last verse points to the solution... Monarchy. This Monarchy was permitted and even prophesied in the books of Genesis and Deuteronomy. And Hannah places her hope in a Monarch, a God appointed King, a Messiah. Chapter 2 verse 10 again
He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed, literally, ‘his Messiah’. (NIV)
1 Samuel Chapter 2 shows Hannah finding hope in her redeemer, Yahweh lifts up, lays low, destroys and brings to life. Her mouth must sing of the God who rescues her. And moreover, she looks forward to her Messiah.
And as New Testament people, we know that Jesus is her Song. Hannah’s Song, is Mary’s Song, is our Song. What Hannah looked forward to, we look back upon. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed one.
Eleven hundred years later, another barren woman would receive news that she would bear a son. And this son would turn the hearts of Israel back to God, and prepare Israel for their Christ (Luke 1:16-17). Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah, also bore someone who would prepare the way for the Christ a King (Luke 1:5). And Elizabeth like Hannah praised Yahweh.
The Lord has done this for me… In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people. (Luke 1:25 NIV)
And Elizabeth’s seed, like Hannah’s, would also be set apart uniquely for the Lord’s service (Luke 1:15). And he would grow up to prepare the people of Israel for their King.
What Samuel was for the Old Testament, John the Baptist was for the New. Samuel prepared Israel for the Old Testament Christ, David. And John the Baptist prepared Israel for the Lord Jesus Christ, a Christ for all nations.
Hannah was barren, so she asked God for a Son. Hannah was righteous, so she promised to give him back to God. And Hannah looked forward to God’s ultimate salvation, of which his provision of a child was an earnest. For she looked forward to God’s King and Christ, his Messiah. A family affair becomes an affair of state. A matter of personal grief becomes a matter of national hope. The Kingmaker, Samuel, has come.
We are people of small things. 99.999 per cent of our short, little lives consist of small decisions to act or not act, to speak or not speak, to pray or not pray, to act righteously, or to give way to sin.
We don’t know how or when God will bless our little righteous acts, and bring about his purposes through them. But one thing we know. God has brought in his Messiah, his King, his Christ, the Lord Jesus. He is now seated at the right hand of God. And God and his Christ cares about our small concerns. Our prayers change things, and are part of the way the Christ will save his world.
We don’t know how much Hannah saw ahead. Could she foresee us, here at the ends of the earth, 3000 years hence, thinking about her suffering, and deciding that we should be like her, and put our hope in the Lord?
May we make many small decisions of godliness and holiness. And may they lead to salvation for the world through God’s Christ, as Hannah’s did.
Let’s pray.
[1] Deuteronomy 7:14: You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. (NIV)
[2] Compare http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/gay-parents-the-childs-view/story-e6frg8h6-1226593075295
[3] There is an issue as to how much of the sacrifice Elkanah gave Hannah. The RV, NIV, ESV and HCSB says Elkanah gave her a ‘double portion’. But this is an over translation. Literally, the text says ‘also one portion’, although the noun ‘nose’, which I’ve translated ‘also’ is dual. The RSV says he only gave her ‘only one portion’. The LXX says he gave ‘one portion’ to her. This is the view of John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Preach the Word, 27
[4] While this fact explains her nastiness, because of her nastiness, we do not sympathise as much with her plight as the unloved wife, which is real. The law of Israel recognized her and her offspring, Deuteronomy 21:15-17: If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
[5] hr'c'
[6] ~[;r'
[7] John Woodhouse believes that this inference is unwarranted.
[8] Lit, seed, Heb [r;z<å Gk spe,rma avndrw/n
[9] Yahweh judges the ends of the earth, and he gives strength to his king (AKêl.m; toi/j basileu/sin h`mw/n) and he raises up the horn of his Messiah (Ax)yvim. cristou/ auvtou/)