Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts. (Psalm 119:141)
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:2-4
GOD IS PREPARING A TABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF YOUR ENEMIES
I once knew a woman of great faith and strength of character who was deeply despised by her husband. She loved God and she was deeply in love with her husband, but she was childless. Many, many years into the marriage and at a time when she had grown considerably older, and when it appeared that she would never bear a child, God gave her a beautiful baby son. I have seen her as the child has grown and he's a sweet boy. Even her husbands attitude changed through this incredible "gift of God."
We are told in God's word to "covet the best gifts." The best gifts speak of those gifts God sees as the best ones which should be in operation in our lives. Though the primary application of this in scripture, is to the manifestations of the Spirit spoken of in scripture as "spiritual gifts," the God gives gifts or rewards us with come in many ways, to build up the body of Christ, and those who are members inparticular.
The gift God gives you may not be a child. It may be a job promotion. Or a new home. It may be a miracle in your marriage, when your in-laws had for years been trying to sever the two of you and destroy the family. You may find your entire life changed by an invitation to go on a short term mission. You may suddenly feel moved by God to develope a God given gift or talent. I can only say that it is very important that as God begins to move on you in this way that you pray and seek His face and yield yourself to this miraculous visitation of the Lord.
ELKANAH, HANNAH PENNINAH: INFIDELITY'S FACE OF CONTEMPT
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14)
I Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name [was] Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.
"Elkanah" means whom God possesses. The name Elkanah is a common name among the Kohathites. He was a Levite in the line of Heman the singer. (1 Chr. 6:27, 34). An Ephrathite" (1 Sam. 1:1, 4, 8), residing at Ramah, a man of wealth and high position. Elkanah's ancestor Zuph was an Ephrathite, that is, of Bethlehem-Judah, which was called Ephrathah, Ruth, 1:2. There this family of the Levites was first seated, but one branch of it, in process of time, removed to Mount Ephraim, from which Elkanah descended. Micah's Levite came from Bethlehem to Mount Ephraim, Jdg. 17:8. Perhaps notice is taken of their being originally Ephrathites to show their alliance to David. This Elkanah lived at Ramah, or Ramathaim, which signifies the double Ramah, the higher and lower town, the same with Arimathea of which Joseph was, here called Ramathaim-zophim.
Ramathaimzophim means literally, "the two high places of the watchman." There were five cities of this name, all on high ground. This city had the addition of Zophim attached to it, because it was founded by Zuph, "an Ephrathite," that is a native of Ephratha. Beth-lehem, and the name "Ramathaim-zophim" is called Ramah elsewhere, and was located in the land of Zuph in the hill country of Ephratha. Others, considering "mount Ephraim" as pointing to the locality in Joseph's territory, regard "Zophim" not as a proper but a common noun, signifying watchtowers, or watchmen, with reference either to the height of its situation, or its being the residence of prophets who were watchmen (Eze 3:17).
2. The man Elkanah (a Levite) had two wives. The one called Hannah, (A prophetess) and the other Penninah, and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
GOING UP TO SHILOH FOR THE ANNUAL FEASTS
The autumn of the year brought the fall feasts, when Hannah and her family would make the pilgrimage from their home in Ramah to the religious center of the nation in Shiloh for the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Taberacles marked the annual celebration of the harvest, a time to renew the covenant between Israel and her God. It was one of the three holiest festivals of the Hebrew year.
Though Shiloh was just twelve miles to the east of Ramah, the journey could take two days. The narrow, rocky roads wound among the limestone hills and lush valleys, making travel slow and laborious. Caravans never move quickly. At the crest of a ridge, they could look below and view their destination. Encompassed by hills but on the southwest, the hot desert sun bathed the rooftops of the vilage of Shiloh, where fig trees dotted the landscape. Pastures and watering ponds were available nearby. At the towns center, were situated the courts of the Tabernacle, where the children of Israel had gathered since the days of Joshua.
As the caravan descended the slope, Hannah's thoughts traced the many pilgrimages to this place in years gone by. Hannah had visited Shiloh on numerous occasions. As a child, with her parents she going up to celebrate the feasts. Then later as the bride of the prosperous Elkanah where she'd enjoyed the company of other wives at the well each day. But as the years passed, Shiloh had lost its lustre for her. For at this national Festival of Thanksgiving, and gratitude for the harvest, she had yet no children - and, did in fact have a rival in her own home, for her husband Elkanah had taken another wife.
Dancing was engaged in at this annual festival of the Lord at Shiloh. The scriptures tell of men from the tribe of Benjamin who were without wives, finding wives at Shiloh." (Judges 21:16) (Judges 21:19-21,23). The Ark (with the two Commandment tablets inside) was put in a tabernacle in Shiloh, a city north of Jerusalem. A tabernacle was a "movable sanctuary in the form of a [rectangular] tent."7 The Ark was taken from place to place until finally secured in the Temple that King Solomon built in Jerusalem. Shiloh was a town located in ancient central Palestine, the modern Khirbet Seilun, on the West Bank, NNE of Jerusalem. In biblical times it lay in the territory of Ephraim. The Hebrews were, apparently, the first to build extensively on the site. Joshua set up the tabernacle after they entered Canaan. Israel, the father of the patriarchs had prophesied, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (that's Messiah, what we're about to speak on) come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be".
When there remained yet seven tribes which had not received their inheritance, Joshua sent three from each tribe out from Shiloh to describe the landmarks, and he divided the land before the Lord in Shiloh. A perfect type of the new division in Ezekiel which will be apportioned either side of Shiloh.
3. This man went up out of his city yearly to worship in Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law (Exo 23:15; Exo 34:18; Deu 16:16), probably at the feast of the Passover (compare Exo 13:10). And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.
In that place was the "earth's one sanctuary," and to this place he traveled at the times of the three annual solemn feasts, accompanied by his family at one of them--probably the passover. Although a Levite, he could not personally offer a sacrifice--that was exclusively the office of the priests; and his piety in maintaining a regular attendance on the divine ordinances is the more worthy of notice because the character of the two priests who administered them was notoriously bad. But doubtless he believed, and acted on the belief, that the ordinances were "effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in those who administered them, but from the grace of God being communicated through them."
THE MINISTRY OF THE LEVITES
The term �Levites� includes all people descended from Levi, including those who were priests. All priests were Levites, therefore, but not all Levites were priests. Thus, when �Levites� is used along with �priests� it refers to the members of the family of Levi who were not priests. Like the priests, the Levites served in the tabernacle, though they had a subordinate position to the priests. They also were professional men and were paid for their services. Though they did not inherit their own territory (no Levite could own any property), the Bible tells us there were a number of cities set aside for their use (Numbers 35:1-8). Pasturelands were also set aside for the Levites� animals. The Levites were divided into three principal families, the descendants of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari and each of these families had particular responsibilities involving the care and transportation of the tabernacle (Numbers 4). The sons of Kohath carried the tabernacle furniture (after it had been covered by the priests). The sons of Gershon were responsible for the coverings and screens. The sons of Merari carried and set up the tabernacle�s frame. These Levites could only be servants of the tabernacle between the ages of 25 and 50 (Numbers 8:24-26). Although many of the duties of the Levites were fairly mundane, they also had a very significant religious role. The law required that all the firstborn, including firstborn sons, be given to God, which reminded the Israelites of the time God killed all of the Egyptian firstborn sons before the Exodus. The Levites� role in religion was that of being accepted by God as substitutes for the firstborn sons of Israel (Numbers 3:11-13). In the same way, the Levites� cattle substituted for the Israelites� firstborn cattle. However, in a census taken in the time of Moses, the firstborn Israelites exceeded the number of the Levites, and a five-shekel redemption fee had to be paid into the priestly treasury for each person in excess (Numbers 3:40-51). Like the priests, when the Levites were substitutes for the other people in Israel, they were playing a part in the larger activity of mediation between God and Israel. The law recorded in Deuteronomy specifies a number of duties that may have fallen upon both priests and Levites (though the Bible is not completely clear). These duties included participation in the activity of the law courts as judges, perhaps with special reference to religious crimes (Deuteronomy 17:8-9), taking care of the Book of the Law (Deuteronomy 17:18), controlling the lives and health of lepers (Deuteronomy 24:8), and directly participating in ceremonies to renew Israel�s covenant with God (Deuteronomy 27:9).
(Elkanah and his family) Went up out of his city yearly to worship
As the ark was at Shiloh, there was the temple of God, and all Israelite males were bound by the law to go once a year, on each of the great national festivals: i.e., for Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles. The site of ancient Shiloh, a city in the Ephraim hill-country, situated north of Beth-El, east of the Beth El-Shechem highway and south of Lebonah in the hill-country of Ephraim (Judg. 21:19). It has been identified with Khirbet Seilun by E. Robinson in 1838. Shiloh is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an assembly place for the people of Israel where there was a sanctuary containing the Ark of the Covenant until it was taken by the Philistines.
It was at Shiloh that the "whole congregation of Israel assembled...and set up the tabernacle of the congregation...", ( Joshua 18:1) being the tent which housed the ark. Later on, the portable tent seems to have been enclosed within a compound or replaced with a standing structure with "doors" (1 Samuel 3:15) a precursor to the Temple, that survived until the time of the town's destruction. Here lots were cast for the various tribal areas and for the Levitical cities. Shiloh was the center of Israelite worship. During one religious celebration, the daughters of the city danced in the vineyards, an occasion used by the Benjamites, who could not get wives in any way except by abducting them (see Judg. 21).
When the Israelites were defeated at the battle of Aphek, their Philistine foes (who had already captured the Ark of the Covenant) apparently destroyed the shrine (1 Samuel 4, [Psalms 78:60] and [Jeremiah 7:4
THE LORD OF HOSTS
The Lord of hosts "Yehovah tsebaoth," Jehovah of armies.
As all the heavenly bodies were called the hosts of heaven, tseba hashshamayim, Jehovah being called Lord of this host showed that he was their Maker and Governor; and consequently He, not they, was the proper object of religious worship. The sun, moon, planets, and stars, were the highest objects of religious worship to the heathens in general. The Jewish religion, teaching the knowledge of a Being who was the Lord of all these, showed at once its superiority to all that heathenism could boast. This is the first place where Lord of hosts is mentioned in the Bible; and this is so much in the style of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, to the supposition that this book was written by a person who lived in or after the times of these prophets. See the preface. What was going on in the nation of Israel at the time in which Elkanah, Penninah and Hannah lived? We are told in a later chapter, that there was "no open vision." During the period of the Judges, foreigners had overrun the land and were oppressing the people. The nation of Israel in many ways had rejected God's reign over them. There was no central government to maintain law and order. At the close of the Book of Judges, the Word of the Lord says, "...every man did that which was right in his own eyes." It was an especilly difficult time in which to live, but it was especially difficult for those who truly desired to serve "the Lord of Hosts," as God is called in Hebrew as this story opens. The nation was at an all time low both morally and spiritually.People weren't hearing from God has they should.
THE ADVERSARIAL POSITION IN A HOUSEHOLD
The name Hannah i.e. Channah, signifies fixed or settled, and the other Peninnah, means "a jewel or pearl."
As the story opens, we see a family in which a man named Elkanah has married two wives, struggling. Hannah is doing her level best in her situation, and is seen accompanying the rest of Elkanah's entourage to services at the temple in Shiloh. Services where they met together with their friends and relatives, who were always full of many questions, and comments about how the children had grown. And which ones resembled Elkanah and which looked like Penninah. And oh don't you and your wife Hannah have a baby y-e-e-t? And "Shalom Elkanah! Where are those lovely children of yours? Oh there's Penninah and the children! And how is Hannah? What? Hannah has no child yet? Hey! With those sons like olive trees around your table, and daughters -- the problem sure isn't yours Elkanah, ha ha ha!" Prior to marriage with Penninah, comments may have resembled: "But who is going to care for you in your old age?"
Penninah may have been the second wife, but she did not intend to take a back seat to anybody. If she lacked anything at all by coming into marriage with Elkanah last of all, she more than made up for by the children she bore him. Polygamous marriage was never God's initial command, but in Genesis, we read that marriage was intended to join one man and one woman as one flesh in a secure love relationship, entered into by the leading of God. Scripture has examples of monogamous and Holy Spirit led marriage, such as that of the Patriarch Isaac. The Patriarch Jacob had more than one wife due to the deceitful trick of his father in law, who made him work for 7 years for his beloved, but at the marriage exchanged her for the older daughter he wanted to marry off first. (Genesis)
Why is it that there are those who seem to lack true fidelity in marriage? Sometimes it is a critical or covetous heart, that is never satisfied. They lack the ability to be an enouragment to others in their lives. To be content. Instead of trusting the Lord to complete that good thing begun in a marriage and to bring the marriage to completion and fruition, they quit before the goal is reached. Their own short sightedness robs them. The scripture tells us to encourage one another to good works. With the bible as our guide book which teaches us God's plan of salvation and what God wants us to do, good works are the result of relationship with God and obedience to His word. His word says not to multiply wives. The marriage relationship was intended for one man and one woman to cleave together as one flesh, and produce a happy, godly family. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Gen 2:24, KJV) But there were times in Israel's history when this one husband/one wife principle was broken and not always because of divorce, which God clearly says He hates, though permitted at times due to the hardness of mens hearts. (Malachi 2:16,Matt 19:7-8 )
GOD WANTS TO BE HONOURED IN YOUR MARRIAGE
As the whole family went up to Shiloh to the annual festivals, Peninnah had both sons and daughters to accompany her, 1 Samuel 1:4, but Hannah had none; and Peninnah took this opportunity particularly to taunt Hannah concerning her barrenness, by making an ostentatious exhibition of her children. Hannah was a godly woman whose infertility was an opportunity for God to be glorified in her situation. Finding herself one of the wives in a polygamous marriage, certainly must not have been what she believed would be her lot in life from the very beginning. She must have married Elkanah as full of hopes and dreams as any other Jewish bride.
The scriptures speak of times in which Hebrew people were involved in multiple marriages. Esther was the wife of a monarch with wifes. King David had several wives. When Xerxes anger with his queen Vashti for not obeying his royal command had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made. 2 So his personal attendants suggested, "Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king. 3 Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Susa." (Esther 2:1) King Solomon also loved many women. (But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. (1 Kings 11:1)
In the case of Elkanah's second wife and the children by her, Hannah could have proved a valuable asset to Elkanah and Penninah with all of her children to care for. Hannah does not appear to complain about the second marriage, so much as the child that she desires to have but does not possess. The onslaught of opposition from Penninah made it tremendously difficult for Hannah to serve her husband in this way. Instead, Hannah who was barren prayed fervently for a son of her own.
The scriptures state that in the last days people will be without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.(Romans) This phrase without natural affection is the translation of one Greek word, astergeo. It was a characteristic of many pagans of the ancient world. Significantly, it is also prophesied to be a characteristic of the humanistic pagans of the end-times. "In the last days . . . men shall be . . . without natural affection" (II Timothy 3:1). These are the only two occurrences of this word in the New Testament.
The word stergeo ("natural affection") is one of four Greek words for "love," but it is never used at all in the New Testament. It refers to the natural love that members of the same family have for each other. It is such a common characteristic of all peoples that there was apparently no occasion to refer to it at all except when it is not present, when people lose their instinctive love for their own parents and children, and thus are "without natural affection." One thinks of the widespread abortionism of these last days, as well as the modern breakdown of the family in general.
Often times the reason individuals fall into this negative way of life, is that they have not pursued a Spirit led life, but have placed themselves in the preeminent position, rather than service to the Lord, and they feel unfulfilled. As a wife of a husband with an unfulfilled life, he may make you or his children the focus of his anger, and become abusive or lapse into varying degrees of infidelity, from lusting to committing an act of adultery which will produce guilt and not bring forth the fulfillment he so desires. The insecure person who does not find their worth in the stoning work of Jesus Christ can develope a miriad of problems.
COMFORTED IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
v. 4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions. Elkanah gave gifts to his household. To Penninah "a portion." The scriptures say he "gave to Hannah "a worthy portion."
The sacrifices which were made at Shiloh were probably peace-offerings, of which the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar; the fat was burnt on the fire; the breast and right shoulder were the portion of the priest, and the rest belonged to him who made the offering; on it he and his family feasted, each receiving his portion; and to these feasts God commands them to invite the Levite, the poor, the widow, and the orphan, Deuteronomy 16:11.
4.) Hannah (poor woman) could not hear the provocation: She wept, and did not eat, v. 7. It made her uneasy to herself and to all her relations. She did not eat of the feast; her trouble took away her appetite, made her unfit for any company, and a jar in the harmony of family-joy. It was of the feast upon the sacrifice that she did not eat, for they were not to eat of the holy things in their mourning, Deu. 26:14; Lev. 10:19. Yet it was her infirmity so far to yield to the sorrow she experienced in these yearly visits to Shiloh, rather than the celebrative mood of the holy joy in God. Those that are of a fretful spirit, and are apt to take provocations too much to heart, becoming enemies to themselves, and stripping themselves of the comforts of life and godliness. God seems to have taken notice of this ill effect of discontents and disagreements in the conjugal relation, that the parties aggrieved covered the altar of the Lord with tears, insomuch that he regarded not the offering, Mal. 2:13. When Israel as a nation partook of the sacrifice and left Egypt, it's said in scripture that there was not "a feeble one among them." It's highly possible that Hannah's barrenness was directly related to her grief, which became to outwardly evident that she failed to even partake of the sacrifice. However, as Hannah poured out her soul to the Lord, God made her the recipient of a miracle. She wanted a son whose birth would remove the reproach of her barrenness, in a nation who regarded such as very probably a punishment from Yahweh. God wanted a deliverer for Israel.
In this giving of portions we understand that Hannah appears to have had special favor of some sort. The Hebrew here is very obscure, yitten manah achath appayim; he gave her one portion of two faces; which the Syriac renders, he gave her one DOUBLE PART; and the Chaldee, he gave her one CHOSEN part; the Arabic is nearly the same; the Vulgate Annae autem dedit unam partem tristis, but to Anna he being sorrowful gave one part. As the shew-bread that was presented to the Lord was called lechem panim, the bread of faces, because it was placed before the face or appearances of the Lord; probably this was called manah appayim, because it was the portion that belonged to, or was placed before, the person who had offered the sacrifice. On this ground it might be said that Elkanah gave Hannah his own portion or a part of that which was placed before himself. Whatever it was, it was intended as a proof of his especial love to her; for, it is added, he loved Hannah.
She was greatly distressed, because it was a great reproach to a woman among the Jews to be barren; because, say some, every one hoped that the Messiah should spring from her line.
v. 7 And as he did so year by year..."
Elkanah seems as blessed and contented as a man could be in this scriptural account because he had two wives, each meeting his needs in her own special way. And he has several children. But Hannah who did did not have a child of the marriage, did not share her husband's optimism. Her husband Elkanah enquired as to whether the marriage relationship with him, were not enough, saying:
Therefore she wept...
She was greatly distressed, because it was a great reproach to a woman among the Jews to be barren; because, say some, every one hoped that the Messiah should spring from her line. v 8. Am not I better to thee than ten sons? Is not my especial affection to thee better than all the comfort which you could gain, even from having a numerous family? But Hannah seemed to find no comfort in is endearing words: "Am I not better than 10 sons?" She loved her husband, but there was something driving her that was yet to be fulfilled, and it was from God. This unfulfilled desire drove Hannah to find comfort in the presence of God. Like the psalmist, she made her requests known to God, and He in turn poured back upon her that prophetic anointing which lifted her into that heavenly realm, poured forth God's answer and birthed a song of praise.
When you have loved and in return have been forced to endure scorn, hatred and contempt from a loved one and prayed till you thought your heart would break and then suddenly a miracle occurs, nothing can measure your heartfelt joy! God sees every circumstance in your life. Recently the Lord burdened my heart with a very specific message. It's about the gift God gives as a recompence to those who are despised. He wants you to believe Him for that specific gift or gifts of the Lord that is/are so specific and strategic for your own life. There will be a "breaking forth" in the manifestation of this work of God. You must not strive in the flesh, but look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of your faith as the Mighty Way Maker, as Israel did when their back was to the Red Sea and the armies of Pharoah were behind them. The recompence is coming soon from the Most High God and will speak and will declare the word of the Lord. God will be glorified in your life as His holy name is lifted up. As believers we are living epistles read and known of all men.
v 9. Eli-sat upon a seat
al hakkisse, upon the throne, i.e., of judgment; for he was then judge of Israel. By a post of the temple of the Lord.
I think this is the first place where heychal Yehovah, "temple of Jehovah," is mentioned. This gives room for a strong suspicion that the books of Samuel were not compiled till the first temple was built, or after the days of Solomon. After this the word temple is frequent in the books of Kings, Chronicles, and in the prophets. Perhaps those Psalms in which this word occurs were, like many others in the Psalms, not of David's composition; some of them were evidently made long after his time.
UNDER THE YOKE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
v.11 She (Hannah) made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head."
Elkanah was consecrated to the Lord enough to allow Hannah to fulfilled the vow which she made to the Lord of Hosts at the temple in Shiloh. A faithful and godly woman, Hannah's one hiding place in the midst of her troubles, was the Lord. That's not to say that God won't be your hiding place, even if your situation becomes so desperate that you have to move in with your parents, a friend, or even into a battered women's shelter. But in all of our lives there are circumstances in which we must "stand" and often times the situation requires us to behave in a mature manner, guard our tongue which does help to keep things from escalating oftentimes, and we must submit to God and His word, and keep that carnal nature under and we can't run. But we must be strong and very courageous. Of course I realize there are life threatening situations one must flee from. But even those blessings we once knew to be from God will be tested. The single person prays to be married and God brings a wonderful mate who can be an irritation at times. We begin a new ministry that is filled with surprises. The new pastor may arrive to find out soon enough some of the reasons why the old pastor left. Or a youth leader has such a seductive spirit that you fear to leave your teenage son or daughter at the meetings. The precious new baby you asked the lord for grows into a teenager that can be testy. The couple becomes middle aged and one take the major focus from off of godliness and holiness and compare their mate to the worldly standard of "cute and sexy."
What about situations in which a marriage doesn't seem to clik like it once did? In the case of Hannah, the statement is made that Elkanah knew his wife and she conceived. In a number of polygamous marriages in scripture, there's an older wife, and one or more younger women, whether wives or concubines in the picture, such as the story of Abraham, who bore a child by Hagar, Sarah's servant. There was domestic tension in the home. Sarah gave Hagar a slap in the face, and she was eventually driven out of the home. The Patriarch Jacob had two wives and an additional two servant girls or concubines, who gave birth to the 12 sons of Israel. Did Old Testament husbands have favorites among their wives, or treat them as equals? Some of the wives were idolatrous foreign wives. Today, there are couples dealing with divorce and remarriage issues in which the non custodial parent has visitation rights and the custodial parent often times has some serious emotional pain to deal with, and vice versa.
How long did Hannah and Elkanah try to have a child, before he took an additional wife into the home? Penninah with all of her children, does seem to evidence that Elkanah was spending a considerable amount of time there. God saw it all, and nothing escaped His watchful attention as He cared for Hannah as the apple of His eye. For she, like you was of more value than many sparrows.
SALT IN THE WOUNDS
On the other side of the coin...Earlier considerations in a marriage can die. People marry with great hopes and expectations and experience deep disappointments. As these are not healed, and trials come, the marriage can seem lack-lustre. Or the mate less attractive. What small issues were over looked on dates before marriage can now escalate. She now thinks his breath is disgusting. So he buys a bottle of medicinal smelling Listerine. Listerine while it kills germs, may not be all that romantic. Try the cinnamon stuff! Women in scripture are told their hair is a crown of glory. The husband who is losing that mop his wife used to run her fingers through can feel he's less than attractive. Clothes may not make the man, but it's okay to believe God for a new suit once in a while. Put some gas in his car so he can go to the mens meeting! Surprise him by letting him read his own mail. The scripture places focus on women professing godliness. But the apostles quoted from the Old Testament, and all believers see the book of the Song of Solomon as an allegory of the love between Christ and His Church. You ought to read it as a devotional once in a while. Did Israel traveling through the sun-baked desert ever complain to their mate about body odor? Sarah was so gorgeous even as an older woman that she attracted attention. Did it just come naturally or did she work at it? Even the Shulamite, whom Solomon called "the choice one of her mother" grew older. Don't infer to your mate that because you're a "holy woman of God" it doesn't matter if you're attractive anymore! First get busy adding to all those virtues as the bible says. But don't stop there. Add skills, talents and abilities by the anointing, as the Lord leads. Change the house around. redecorate your bedroom. It's as much a part of the "house of God," as where Jacob fell asleep and dreamed of heaven. Show hospitality, and entertain angels unaware.
Abraham believed God would give him something wonderful to make up for any lack in his life and he said to God: What will you give me, seeing I go childless? While your wife is fixing that hair God calls a crown of glory just pray: Hey God, what will you give me to thrill my wife now that I'm hairless? You have not because you ask not! While you're at it, ask the Lord to reveal to you the pain of your own lacks or misgivings, so you can believe Him to "restore the years eaten by the locust and the canker worm."
Have you asked God by faith what He has for you? You say: I'm done having kids! I've raised all mine. Don't want any more. What God has for you will be as precious as your life was at the first! And the fulfillment of those dreams will be a tree of life, as you yield to the will of the Lord concerning you! Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! Don't feel that life has to be like caster oil! Look for the silver lining in every dark cloud!
Verse 13. Spake in her heart; only her lips moved She prayed; her whole heart was engaged: and though she spake not with an audible voice, yet her lips formed themselves according to the pronunciation of the words which her heart uttered.
V 15. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink Neither wine nor inebriating drink has been poured out unto me; but I have poured out my soul unto the Lord.
Hannah defends herself honestly and openly. There is a great deal of delicacy and point in this vindication, by the leading of the Lord, though God doesn't always inspire one to justify their position, and in the case of Messiah, at times He "answered them not a word!"
V 16. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial al titten eth amathecha liphney bath Beliyael; "Put not thy handmaiden before the faces of a daughter of Belial."
"If I am a drunkard, and strive by the most execrable hypocrisy (praying in the house of God) to cover my iniquity, then I am the chief of the daughters of Belial." Or, "Give not thy handmaid to reproach) before the faces of the daughters of Belial." Several of these probably attended there for the purposes of prostitution and gain; for it is said, 1 Samuel 2:22, that Eli's sons lay with the women at the door of the tabernacle, though this may refer to the women who kept the door. Eli's own experience with women at the temple, whom his own sons had lain with, may have lead to his harsh judgment. But as Hannah speaks the truth of her situation, the Lord causes this to bear witness in the old priest Eli's heart.
v 17. Grant thee thy petition
The old priest was satisfied he had formed a wrong judgment, and by it had added to the distress of one already sufficiently distressed. The fact that Eli supposed her to be drunken, and the other of the conduct of Eli's sons already mentioned, prove that religion was at this time at a very low ebb in Shiloh; for it seems drunken women did come to the place, and lewd women were to be found there.
It is understandable that many women in Hannah's position would feel a certain sense of futility but her prayers had built Hannah up on her most Holy faith, and from out of this, she uttered her defence, that she was not as one of the lewd women, but a holy woman of God. Her difficult domestic situation had driven her to the Lord for comfort.
Even in biblical times, there were spiritual leaders who "erred in vision and stumbled in judgment." This happens when leaders themselves stray from God and begin to dispense advice based on their own defiled spirit. This judgmentalism is harmful, for they become shepherds who "scatter the flock in the cloudy dark day." (Ezekiel) But in Hannah's case, Eli heard. On this occasion of the "yearly" visit to Shiloh, and Hannah being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed her, and after initially misunderstanding her character and harshly condemning her conduct in 1 Sam. 1:14). he listened to her explanation, and retracted his injurious charge and said to her, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition."
v 18. Let thine handmaid find grace Continue to think favourably of me, and to pray for me.
For many individuals in this world to contemplate why anyone would subject themselves to endure a situation in which they did not want to be, is often the case. But in God, many times we stand in difficult places and do spiritual warfare against the unseen powers of darkness assailing our homes and families. For the baby boomer generation trained discipled by the music gurus, don't you just:
Not according to God's Word! In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said this: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." The rest is walking in God's Word and in being in the Lord's will for you, which people sometimes tremble at the thought of, because they have not exercized sufficient faith in God to see the right kind of miracle. Tis the gift to be simple. Tis the gift to be free. Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in the place just right. Twill be in the land of love and delight! Allow God to give you days of heaven on earth, as is promised in His eternal Word! God's will took His Son Jesus to the cross to die for the sins of all mankind. To the truly uncommitted, there are always options. But to the believer, our choices are only those in God's Word. God's will is a thing to be ascertained through prayer and the study of God's Word, and as we yield to this, He will give us "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning." Then as we embrace it, God's will propells us forward to the breakthrough we truly desire. There will be aspects of this which may be difficult at times, like the Apostle Paul spoke of enduring shipwrecks, and other calamities. But in the understanding that we are in the center of our Heavenly Father's will, there is peace.
When our lease was recently up, my husband and I went apartment hunting and settled on one similar to the apartment where we lived in Redmond. The witness of the Holy Spirit was there between us both, for this one particular place. We rented an apartment on the 4th floor too, because we both could use the daily hike up to the top of the stairs. I said to my husband, that I liked the apartment, but it was kind of dark because of the foliage surrounding the building, and I needed light for my paintings. more more light.
We weren't there but a day or two, when we heard the sound of bull dozers clearing the property next to our apartment building. Now some days later, I have more than the light I could have ever hoped for. This may well be the only place we could have moved in the area, with so much glorious light streaming in the windows. But we had to trust God's leading. The new construction was not a project belonging to our landlord and was probably not looked on as a selling point! But it was an issue that God knew was important to me. Is it a necessity that God's will conform to my own personal desires? No! He is Lord. I must surrender to His will for me.
GOD'S WILL IS A TREE OF LIFE VS THE UNFILLED DESIRES OF THE SOUL
We all have unfulfilled desires or expectations. There are dreams which have yet to turn into reality. How do we live with these unfulfilled dreams? How do you react physically, emotionally, spiritually as the years pass by and still your most cherished hopes have not materialized?
The story of the woman named Hannah gives us hope. She lived 3000 years ago with the pain of an unfulfilled desire. This was an obvious loss in her life, for she's born no child in her youth, and missed the joys of having a baby at the time her young married friends had their children. Meeting at the well to draw water, she could not say: "My son walked at nine monthes! Or he's getting his first tooth now!" Yet Hannah's overcoming faith in God and her relationship with the Lord through His word and prayer provided strength for her to cope with the pain. Moreso--to press through to the triumph of a God given victory and to receive that great recompence of reward for that petition that she asked of Him. The gift God gave Hannah in a desire fulfilled, was a "Tree of Life" to her.
Read 1 Samuel 1 and 2
Hannah had deep pain in her life because there was something special she wanted from God. She had borne her husband no children. She was barren in a culture where a woman's sense of worth depended very much on childbearing. Child bearing was the very foundation of a woman's identity in ancient times. Her husband Elkanah had several children through his second wife, Penninah. And Penninah was proud of it! God can give you a word in season Hannah! When Penninah is coaxing your man over to his house with all the childrens needs, there's the anointing! God can change your bitter perspective with a word! Did Hannah ever reply to Penninah: Elkanah is my husband to enjoy and at least I don't have to get up and get the kids a drink of water! By faith...stopped the mouthes of lions. Turned to flight the armies of the aliens! (Hebrews 11) Elkaneh may have taken Penninah to wife because Hannah was not able to bear him the family he desired. Her self-esteem and worth were wounded. Her pain was deepened by the repeated torment received from the other wife, Penninah. The trouble Penninah created for Hannah was due to the fact that:
THE GRACE OF GOD TO BEAR HIS GIFT AND MORE
v. 20. Called his name Samuel...
As she gave this name to her son because she had asked him of the Lord, the word Shemuel must be here considerably contracted; if it express this sentiment, the component parts of it are the following: shaul meEl, "asked of God.' This name would put both the mother and the son in continual remembrance of the Divine interposition at his birth. See on 1 Samuel 1:28.
I once knew a woman intercessor who was a woman of great faith and strength of character who was deeply despised by her husband. She loved God and she was deeply in love with her husband, but she was childless. Many, many years into the marriage and at a time when she had grown considerably older, and when it appeared that she would never bear a child, God gave her a beautiful baby son. I have seen her as the child has grown and he's a sweet boy. Even her husbands attitude changed through this incredible "gift of God."
When God answered Hannah's hearts cry, she was filled with joy! The joy of a desire fulfilled has a marvellous effect on ones countenance. We set our hearts in faith for those things we want from God. God only knows what will come with the answered prayer for hannah. She may now cope with the petty jealousy of her older women friends. But if Hannah will remain focused now only now, with hr new born son, whose birth makes her enemies voices seem as nothing for she exulted in this manifestation of the Lord her Salvation, she will enjoy the sweetness of victory lengthened out throughout her life. She'll know that the same God who opened her womb to bear "Samuel" can warn her prior to meeting that younger female relative, who tells her friends and family members "Well I think it's a crying shame that this poor infant her to be raised by Grandma over there." They should just acknowledge that his birth was an unfortunate little acccident and give him to one of us younger mothers to raise, so as not to embarrass our family. Or that man's cutting remark in Samuel's teenage years "Is that old bat really your Mom sonny boy?" Can these remarks be cutting to a godly couple whom God has blessed? Absolutely. Even to the extent of inferring that the "Hannah of today" has adopted the product of her husbands playing around with somebody else! God gives grace along with His gifts to bear more than His blessing, but all that goes with it.
Those who had thought themselves so terrificly clever, realized that they had a thing or two to learn. The power of the adversary to torture and torment and victimize was broken in a moment's time as God exalted the horn of His anointed. The message was: Hey! You think this is good! You should see what else my God can do! Hannah was challenged to believe God for the "greater works" He promises He will do!
1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. 2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none besides thee: neither is there any rock like our God. 3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath borne seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them. 9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. Lk. 1.46-55 11 And Elka'nah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.
THE BLESSING & REWARD OF FAITH FULFILLED
Verse 28. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord There is here a continual reference to her vow, and to the words which she used in making that vow. The word Samuel, as we have already seen, is a contraction of the words Shaul meEl, that is, asked or lent of God; for his mother said, 1 Samuel 1:27, The Lord hath given me my petition, which SHAALTI, I ASKED of him. In 1 Samuel 1:28she says: hu SHAUL layhouah, he shall be LENT unto the Lord: here we find the verb is the same; and it is remarked by grammarians that shaal, he asked, making in the participle pahul shaul, ASKED, in the conjugation hiphil signifies to lend; therefore, says his mother, 1 Samuel 1:28, HISHILTIHU layhovah, I have LENT him to the Lord. This twofold meaning of the Hebrew root is not only followed by our translators, but also by the Vulgate, Septuagint, and Syriac.
And he worshipped the Lord there.
Instead of vaiyishtachu, HE worshipped, vaiyishtachavu, and THEY worshipped, is the reading of six of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., of some copies of the Septuagint, and of the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic.
And Hannah worshipped, and said, My soul is strengthened in the Lord, whole passage, from the beginning of ver. 26 to the end of ver. 10 of the ensuing chapter, 1 Samuel 1:26-2:10, contains the words of Hannah alone; and that even the clause, He worshipped the Lord there, should be, And she worshipped the Lord there, and prayed, and said, Polyglot Septuagint, as I have stated above.
v 21. The man Elkanah and all his house.
He and the whole of his family, Hannah and her child excepted, who purposed not to go up to Shiloh till her son was old enough to be employed in the Divine service.
And his vow...
Probably Elkanah himself had made a vow to the Lord on the occasion of his wife's prayer and vow; in which, from his love to her he could not be less interested than herself.
v 22. But Hannah went not up-- The baby Samuel would have been just a very small baby at the time of the next Passover Feast. Hannah did not take the baby at this time, because he was not weaned. He will need to stay with his mother, until he is weaned. This will give Hannah some time with him, but it will also take a burden off Eli. He was not equipped to care for a tiny baby. She had no intention of breaking her vow to the LORD. She would keep her vow, since the LORD had done as she asked. I Samuel 1:23 "And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him."
Men only were obliged to attend the solemn feasts (Ex 23:17). But Hannah, like other pious women, was in the habit of going, only she deemed it more prudent and becoming to defer her next journey till her son's age would enable her to fulfill her vow.
v 23. Until thou have weaned him. See: Genesis 21:8".
...The Lord established his word.
Or, may the Lord establish his word-preserve the child, cause him to grow up, and make him a blessing to Israel.
v 24. With three bullocks
The Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic, read, a bullock of three years old; and this is probably correct, because we read, 1 Samuel 1:25, that they slew eth happar, THE bullock. We hear of no more, and we know that a bullock or heifer of three years old was ordinarily used, see Genesis 15:9.
One ephah of flour
A measure of about three pecks, or seven gallons and a half.
A bottle of wine nebel yayin, a skin full of wine. Their bottles for wine and fluids in general were made out of skins of goats, stripped off without being cut up; the places whence the legs were extracted sewed up, as also the lower part; and the top tied. See Clarke on Genesis 21:14. and "Mt 9:17". These three things, the ox, the flour, and the wine, probably constituted the consecration-offering.
v 26. As thy soul liveth.
As sure as thou art a living soul, so surely am I the person who stood by thee here praying.
v 28. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord.
There is here a continual reference to her vow, and to the words which she used in making that vow.
The word Samuel, as we have already seen, is a contraction of the words Shaul meEl, that is, asked or lent of God; for his mother said, 1 Samuel 1:27, The Lord hath given me my petition, which SHAALTI, I ASKED of him. In 1 Samuel 1:28she says: hu SHAUL layhouah, he shall be LENT unto the Lord: here we find the verb is the same; and it is remarked by grammarians that shaal, he asked, making in the participle pahul shaul, ASKED, in the conjugation hiphil signifies to lend; therefore, says his mother, 1 Samuel 1:28, HISHILTIHU layhovah, I have LENT him to the Lord. This twofold meaning of the Hebrew root is not only followed by our translators, but also by the Vulgate, Septuagint, and Syriac.
And he worshipped the Lord there.
Instead of vaiyishtachu, HE worshipped, vaiyishtachavu, and THEY worshipped, is the reading of six of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., of some copies of the Septuagint, and of the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic.
This and the following chapter are connected in most copies of the Septuagint and Vulgate thus: And Anna worshipped, and said, My soul is strengthened in the Lord, whole passage, from the beginning of ver. 26 to the end of ver. 10 of the ensuing chapter, 1 Samuel 1:26-2:10, contains the words of Hannah alone; and that even the clause, He worshipped the Lord there, should be, And she worshipped the Lord there, and prayed, and said, Polyglot Septuagint, as I have stated above.
FOR THOSE DIFFICULT, DIFFICULT PLACES IN WHICH YOU'VE HAD TO WALK
Though the Lord frequently places women on my heart to pray for this which God has been showing to me regarding believing Him for his gifts is not necessarily limited to women and children, for God is no respector of persons. (Romans 2)
I had a best friend since childhood who went with a specific man for many years. He'd knock her around. Her young son died under rather mysterious circumstances, and she never got over it. I tell you this because sometimes women live in denial concerning their circumstances and they and their families suffer such terrible things. One day she developed a fatal illness and died. Her blood, like the blood of Abel seemed to soak into the ground, crying. She left several children behind. The family member mailed me the funeral notice and I wept, remembering when she and I were kids together. How many women with MS symptoms have actually suffered brain damage? I was in a restaurant with my husband when a couple came in to eat dinner with her parents. The woman was in a wheelchair, and her husband was pushing the chair toward a table. God spoke into my spirit and said: Her condition has been caused by physical abuse. In visions God shows me people who are going through hard times. There are women in dependant situations who are afraid that they will starve if they leave. There are kids growing up in blended families created by multiple marriages which are enduring the hatred or siblings and physical abuse. God cares! Jesus is the answer to all of our needs. The Lord has ways of balancing things out. We read of this in the scripture. God out-blessed Jacob in spite of a father in law who was bent on defrauding him. God brought judgment on David's wife Michael when she despised him for dancing before the Lord. The Lord gave the persecuted wife Hannah, a spiritually sensitive son that grew up to be a judge, prophet and deliver in Israel who taught the people "the good and the right thing to do."
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