There was a Levite, a descendant of Korah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. “His name was Elkanah and he had two wives…Hannah and Peninnah” ( I Sam. 1:1-2; I Chr. 6:33- 38). How many sad memories of domestic unrest this verse evokes: Sarah and Hagar, Rachel and Leah, the households of David and Solomon. Polygamy was permitted by the law of Moses. While ordinances existed to mitigate its abuses, it was certainly not the ideal: “From the beginning it was not so.”
Names with meaning
Hannah means “grace” (Yg’s), while Peninnah means “coral.” Coral is a beautiful substance but it speaks of death because it is made up of the skeletons of little sea creatures, and is the color of flesh. The names of the two women thus picture the extremes of inward and outward adorning. Their characters and subsequent actions reflect their names.
Trial for faithful Hannah
While Hannah was greatly loved by her husband, Yahweh had shut up her womb. So often we meet the barren woman in the divine plan.
Is God unmerciful to deny good things to His servants? Let us recognize that God in His providence often works through the adversity of His children. We must all be trained to subordinate our natural desires, even when they seem worthy in themselves, to the promotion of God’s will. It is possible that if God had immediately granted children to Hannah she may have been selfish or ungrateful. Those who conform to the will of God are guaranteed blessing ultimately, but for now they may face years of sore trial.
Sharing her burden
Hannah recognized herself as one who belonged to God. Therefore, her problems were His and she was not alone in her distress. Leaving the table of feasting for which she had no appetite, she made her way to the sanctuary where God might be approached. She knelt in the court, outside the veil of the holy place, sensing that her prayer of faith would pierce the heavy curtains and find its way to the golden mercy seat. And so “she prayed to Yahweh, and wept sore” (1:10).
Hannah’s beautiful and delicate prayer and her later song of triumph (1:11; 2:1-10) must have been the frequent study of a young maiden some 1,000 years later. Once Mary knew that the Messiah was developing in her womb, she would have seen significance in every phrase uttered by Hannah. Truly the affliction of all creation groaned for the man child who now sits at the right hand of the Father. How great will be the joy of the world when he returns.
Sharing her blessing
“If thou wilt give me a manchild, then I will give him unto thee” (1:11). The very thing that Hannah wanted most, she promised to giveaway. For her, there could be nothing short of total and absolute consecration. We wonder why she would want a child that would not grow up with her. But her vision was that of a faithful woman which looked to the spiritual fellowship she would enjoy now when they were occasionally in each other’s company and to the hope of eternal fellowship in the day when Abraham’s seed would inherit the world.
Do we feel the same about our own possessions? Do we view ourselves as belonging to God or do we view our time and possessions as our own?
A good woman, a weak priest
“Hannah spake in her heart; her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she was drunken (1:13).” We may sadly infer from Eli’s assumption that sin was more frequent than prayer at Shiloh. Eli knew of his sons’ adulterous (and probably drunken) consorts and most likely assumed that here was one of them (2:22).
We gain an insight into the character of this priest; he was severe when he should have been gentle with Hannah, and timid when he should have been severe with his sons. He was a parent who lacked firmness and discipline.
Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have…poured out my soul before the LORD…” (1:15,16). Her wise answer turned away the misdirected reproof of Eli. Such foresight and meekness prepared the way for Eli’s later reception of Samuel as a young resident at Shiloh. This, in turn, prepared the way for God to work through the young child to Israel’s benefit.
How could Hannah have expected her child to mature to faithful manhood in the midst of Eli and his sons? Someone had to be the deliverer! She had prayed for a son, a gift from God, so that she might give him back to God. At an earlier time, when Israel needed deliverance, a faithful woman cast her son upon the waters trusting in God to protect and use the goodly child for His purpose (Ex. 2:2,3; Heb. 11:23). Did Hannah view Samuel as the one who would be the prophet like unto Moses whom God would raise up from the midst of Israel (Deut. 18:15)?
An answer from God
“Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition…so the woman went her way, and did eat…and her countenance was no longer sad” (vs. 17-18). She had experienced the calm, composing influence of prayer. Her burden, which an hour before had seemed unbearable, was now laid upon another. Whether the response would be favorable or not, she felt a new peace.
The next morning the family rose up, worshiped and returned home to Ramah. In the full cycle of days, Hannah bore a son and called his name Samuel (v.20).
A vow
The next feast day Hannah was unable to attend as she had before, but it was no hardship at all, for she could now hold and cherish the long-awaited child. Elkanah wen t to Shiloh as usual having a special vow to perform (v.21) — possibly an indication that he had now made Hannah’s vow his own also. Had he so desired, Elkanah could have annulled his wife’s vow (Num. 30:6-8). Not only did he not do so, but it would appear he joyfully took up the pledge himself as a gesture of thanksgiving for the gift of the special child.
The strength of Israel
We can appreciate the great depth of sacrifice and knowledgeable faith in Hannah when weread her statement to Elkanah: “I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever” (v.22). Hannah was an extraordinary woman who saw beyond the present and the immediate future. Her eyes and her heart were fixed upon eternity!
What a great purpose the sorrow of one barren woman played in the development of God’s plan! The real strength of Israel lay neither in its judges nor in its priests. The strength of Israel lay in its godly households, few though they were, where women like Hannah created islands of purity, order and peace. Her quiet faith and subtle strength were victorious at last to move mountains and alter the landscape of the divine plan.
Israel’s destiny was in flux; there was apostasy, confusion and decline on every side. To remedy these great evils, God chose no grown man. Instead, the Almighty prepared through necessary affliction a special mother, and then caused a special and cherished child to be born. God does not hurry; in His own time, when the precious seed sprouted and grew to maturity, deliverance would come. The thankful mother, lost among the thousands of Israel but at one with her God, nourished at her breast one who would greatly benefit his people. With his mother’s milk and tender care, Samuel received also her simple faith. It was only for a few short years, but it was enough. Together they waited for the time to revisit Shiloh.
Lent to the Lord
At last the day arrived and the little family made its way to the house of God to stand before Eli the priest. Our minds readily leap forward a thousand years to another couple bringing a boy into the temple at Jerusalem. He was younger than Samuel but greater, and his mother, too, would eventually give him up to full-time service to God. The two scenes become almost as one to the eye of faith. It is surely no flight of fancy to see in them the epitome of every righteous parent’s hopes and longings.
May the words of Hannah be the words of every believer to whom God has entrusted the most precious gift of another human life to cherish and nurture in the fear of the Lord: “For this child we prayed, and the Lord hath given us our request. Therefore, also we have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One