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1st
Samuel 1:1-28 “Now
there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, 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: 2 and
he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the
other Peninnah: and Peninnah had
children, but Hannah had no children. 3
And this man went up out of his city
yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD
of hosts in Shiloh: and the two sons of
Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD,
were there. 4 And
when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to
all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5
but unto Hannah he gave a worthy
portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD
had shut up her womb. 6 And
her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD
had shut up her womb. 7 And
as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD,
so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8
Then said Elkanah her husband to her,
Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest
thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten
sons? 9 So
Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post
of the temple of the LORD.
10 And
she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD,
and wept sore. 11 And
she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD
of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and
remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a
man child, then I will give him unto the LORD
all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 12
And it came to pass, as she continued
praying before the LORD,
that Eli marked her mouth. 13 Now
Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not
heard: therefore Eli thought she had
been drunken. 14 And
Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15
And Hannah answered and said, No, my
lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink,
but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
16 Count
not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial:
for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken
hitherto. 17 Then
Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and
the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18
And she said, Let thine handmaid find
grace in thy sight. So the woman went
her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. 19
And they rose up in the morning early,
and worshipped before the LORD,
and returned, and came to their house to Ramah:
and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD
remembered her. 20 Wherefore
it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that
she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked
him of the LORD.
21 And
the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD
the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22
But Hannah went not up; for she said
unto her husband, 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 for ever. 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.
24 And when she had weaned him, she took
him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of
wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD
in Shiloh: and the child was
young. 25 And
they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26
And she said, Oh my lord, as thy
soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying
unto the LORD.
27 For
this child I prayed; and the LORD
hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28
therefore also I have lent him to the LORD;
as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD
there.” Introduction [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED646] “The
first Book of Samuel, my King James version says “Otherwise called the First
Book of the Kings.” I don’t know if
yours says that. Hebrew tradition, 1st
and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st
and 2nd Chronicles are not broken down the way we have it. When the Septuagint translation was done, it
actually broke down 1st & 2nd Samuel and 1st
& 2nd Kings into 1st,
2nd, 3rd, and 4th Kingdoms, not Kings, because
it divided into the Northern Tribes and Southern Tribes, and it's come down to
us, and I think it’s a great way for us to have it, the 1st Book of
Samuel as we look into it this evening, basically introduces to us in the first
7 chapters to Samuel himself, he comes on the scene. And then from chapters 8 through 15, Saul,
the first failed king of Israel. And
then from chapters 16 to 31 and of course into 2nd Samuel, it is
David, and how the LORD
brings him before our eyes, the lessons and the wonder of his life. This takes place still back in the Book of
Judges, this is a time, remember, when every man is doing what is right in his
own eyes, when there is no king in Israel.
This is a transition book, and Samuel is the one who comes upon the
scene, he’s the last of the Judges, he is the first of the Prophets. This is a transition book, from the time of
Judges to a time of kings and prophets. To
the time of monarchy and prophetic ministry, very, very interesting time
period. About 10 years before our first
chapter, the Angel of the LORD
had come to Minoah’s wife, and then to Minoah and his wife, and predicted the
birth of their son Samson. And no doubt
word of the birth of Samson had come to Hannah’s ears, we can almost hear that
as she pleads with the LORD
for a child. As Samuel will be a young boy,
around the age of 10 or so, at the Tabernacle with Eli, Samson’s exploits will
begin. So, this is an interesting time
of transition for sure, as we look at this.
The first three chapters will use the word “Jehovah” [the LORD],
Yahweh, over 60 times. So in this
transition it becomes evident, he’s the main player, invisibly working behind
the scenes, his work manifested in the physical, but over 60 times we hear
Yahweh in the first three chapters, though we’re introduced to Elkanah, to
Hannah, to Peninnah, to Samuel, to Eli, to Hophni, to Phinehas, to all of these
other characters, the prominent character is Jehovah, Yahweh himself, working
behind the scenes. God is about to
change the history of a nation, and he begins as he always does, with a
man. A
Levite Named Elkanah, With His Two Wives Peninnah and Hannah It
says, “Now there was a certain man” it always is, whether it is a
Whitfield or a Moody, he always begins with a man, “of Ramathaim-zophim, of
mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of
Elihu, thee son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:” (verse 1) “an
Ephrathite” that was not his tribe, that was his location, his family is now
settled up in Ramah in the area of Ephraim.
And we find out from 1st Chronicles chapter 6, verses 16 to
38, that Elkanah is a Levite, and that’s why of the sons of Korah, that’s why
he’s settled with his family up in the area of Ephraim. And in the middle of this degraded
time-period in the history of the nation, when there was no king, and every man
was doing what was right in his own eyes, there is this man Elkanah. His name means “Acquired of the LORD,”
or “Possessed of the LORD,”
so some godly mom or dad had given him his name. Maybe they had begged the LORD
for the birth of a son, we’re not sure.
But this godly name, Elkanah, we find out he’s a Levite, and he comes
yearly to Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was, to worship. And there’s not a lot of that taking place
under the reign of the judges at this point in time, in the nation. So much has failed, and yet we have this man
Elkanah, and it’s very specific to give us his lineage, so we know exactly who
he was. Now he did have some problems,
he had two wives, there it goes, right there, that’s that home blown
apart. He had two wives, that never
works, it never works. I have one, I
have a license and everything, and I’m still getting it down, she’ll testify to
that. I’d hate to have somebody waiting
in line. “And he had two wives; the
name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no
children.” (verse 2) “Hannah,” and
what a woman she was, her name means “Grace,” same as John, Johannan, Joanna, I
have two personally, I have a Hannah and a Joanna. I have grace upon grace, God has blessed me
in that, with two daughters named Grace.
“the name of one was named Hannah, and the name of the other
was Peninnah: and Peninnah had children,
but Hannah had no children.” (verse 2) Now
Peninnah, some say it means Pearl, some say it means “Coral,” the coral that
comes from the sea, the idea of something valuable that came from the sea. But Hannah has no child. Now maybe that’s why Elkanah has two wives,
polygamy is always a problem, it was not endorsed by God, it was tolerated, but
from the beginning, it was one man and one woman. Possibly, rather than divorcing Hannah,
because she was barren, and it was considered a stigma, it you read through
Deuteronomy, read through the Law of God, God said when he blesses a nation and
blesses a people, he’ll bless the fruit of their womb, he’ll open their
wombs. And this woman is barren, and
there’s a stigma attached to that in Israel.
And no doubt she carries that around, and it eats at her. No doubt she has spent much time, her faith,
we’re going to see is formed in the fire of affliction. She has spent much time before the LORD,
grinding out, ‘LORD,
are you mad at me, have I displeased you?
Those around me constantly look at me like there’s something wrong with
me, LORD
I love you, I serve you, why is this taking place?’ Just in our own
culture, our own church, those who have struggled with infertility and gone to
doctors. We watch sometimes the process,
extremely expensive, extremely tedious, a process that can wear out a family,
wear out his finances, wear someone out, and then the heartache of it
sometimes, ‘Lord, why? We just want
one child, there’s over a million abortions in this country every year, if
you’ll just give us one, Lord, we’ll take care of that one,’ and we see
sometimes the struggle in that realm in and of itself, without the stigma. Because Israel was God’s Church in the Old
Testament, added to that was the stigma that she had done something wrong, that
there was sin, that God wasn’t blessing.
Added to that is the fact that, Peninnah has children. If it had just been Elkanah and Hannah, she
could have wondered ‘Is it him?’
But because Peninnah has children, that has removed, Hannah knows the
problem is in her, and it isn’t with Elkanah.
So all of that is leaning upon her heart, this woman, grinding these
things out, no doubt very difficult. And
it says “And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to
sacrifice unto the LORD
of hosts in Shiloh: and the two sons of
Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD,
were there.” (verse 3) From
Ramah to Shiloh, 15 miles or so. Notice
what is says here “yearly” or “year by year,” he went up to worship and
sacrifice unto the LORD
of hosts in Shiloh. And then it gives a
note, “and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD,
were there.” Now,
very interesting, at a time when everybody’s doing what’s right in their own
eyes, this man Elkanah goes year by year to the Feasts, to worship, this seems
outside of his Levitical responsibilities, possibly he’s older at this point in
time, we don’t know. But he’s godly, he
goes up, and it says “he goes up to worship the LORD
of hosts. Now, “the LORD
of hosts” we’ll find in at least 281 times in the Bible. The first time you find it is here, stated
that he went to worship the LORD
of hosts, the first time you find it coming from someone’s lips is in Hannah’s
prayer in a few verses, as we move on, “the LORD
of hosts.” In ancient Israel this was “the
LORD of
Armies,” the LORD
of the stars and the planets in their courses innumerable, the LORD
of the armies of angels, we know 10,000 times 10,000 times thousands of
thousands, innumerable, the best named “the LORD
of hosts,” he’s the LORD
over multitudes upon multitudes upon multitudes, innumerable. But our picture here in the first chapter is
yet, he is a God who stoops to a single broken heart, to a single broken heart,
he’s the LORD
of hosts, he does not change, he says “I am the LORD,
I change not,” and today, with
everything going on in this planet, with all of the tension politically, religiously,
militarily [and at this point in time, 2022, with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of
Ukraine, see https://unityinchrist.com/topical%20studies/America-ModernRomans5.htm]
he still stoops to one individual life.
You and I, as his children, still at any time that we seek him, are able
to have a private meeting with him. He
still answers that. He went up from year
to year to Shiloh, to worship there the LORD
of hosts. Shiloh, where the Tabernacle
is, the rabbis tell us, at this time the Tabernacle was worn in some ways,
instead of having the normal linen fence around it, there was a stone wall
around it. I have been there, very interesting to sit in the hills around
Shiloh, and you can look down on this plateau in the middle of all of these
hills, and there you can see this large rock outline, and you can see where the
Tabernacle of the LORD
stood, where the Shekinah Glory was between the cherubim on the Ark of the
Covenant, and you look there and you think ‘That’s where the LORD
spoke to Samuel.’ And
one of the very interesting traditions in Israel, in those hills around the
Tabernacle site as you look down, there are broken shards of pottery everywhere
as far as you can see. Because they
would boil the meat, partake of the sacrifices, but they believed that you
should eat your portion while you were looking at the Tabernacle, where the altar
was, the sacrifice and the presence of the LORD
was. So you walk in those hills around
Shiloh, anywhere where there is a hill in the way, where you can’t see, no
broken pottery. Everywhere where you
walk out into the open, you get a glimpse of it again, you’re standing in it,
it’s everywhere. So he went up year by
year to Shiloh, and it says “Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were
there. Eli’s very old at this point in
time. We’re going to find out Hophni and
Phinehas are dogs. They’re drunkards,
they’re involved in sexual sin with the women who come to worship, right there
at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. And Elkanah
as a Levite knows that, and he’s not standing outside saying ‘They’re
hypocrites, I’m not going in there, he let’s those kids get away with murder,
they’re having sex right there, I’m not getting involved,’ because people
can do that, they can stand outside and look at the Church [greater Body of
Christ, or an individual church] and say ‘It’s full of hypocrites, I’m not
going to be involved,’ it doesn’t say that, it says “he went to Shiloh to
worship the LORD
of hosts,” not Hophni and Phinehas, they just happened to be there, and that’s
a negative note. But it didn’t stop him
from worshipping God, Elkanah. But it
wasn’t just Hophni and Phinehas, the entire culture of Israel was like that, it
was degraded at this point in time. And
yet there was something in his own heart, and we’re going to find out very much
aflame in the heart of Hannah, that they went, they loved God, and they went
and they worshipped here yearly, year after year at Shiloh. Hannah
Is Barren, Can’t Conceive, But For Her There’s A Special Reason “And
when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to
all her sons and her daughters, portions:” so
they could worship and sacrifice and so forth, “but unto Hannah he gave a
worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but
the LORD
had shut up her womb.” (verses 4-5) “worthy
portion” probably should be “a double portion,” he favoured her in the marriage,
he favoured her. That’s why you just
should have one. The reason, “for he
loved Hannah: but the LORD
had shut up her womb.” very important “but”
here, notice this. Now we know people,
we just wish the Lord would shut up.
But this says “the LORD
shut up her womb.” conception is in his
hands, please realize this, the issuing forth of life, only under the
sovereignty of God, conception and birth.
Death, only in the hands of God, so important for us as we grieve loved
ones we lose, because you can get caught in the arena of secondary causes, and
end up bitter, with doctors and hospitals and people, ‘and if this person
had done this, and what if they’d done that, it’s my fault,’ no, no, the
Bible tells us clearly that there’s a day to be born, there’s a day to die,
it’s written out as it were, God knows it.
And he had shut up this woman’s womb, there’s a very specific reason,
because her first son is gonna change the course of a nation, institute the
Davidic dynasty, make way for the Messiah to come into the world, and prepare
these pews for you and I to sit here and listen to our story [from Samson, to
David, to the Messiah and his death, burial, resurrection and then to the start
of the early Christian/Messianic Jewish Church, which branched out to
Christianity in general, Jewish and Gentile alike]. So God is going to deal with her before he
says yes, he has shut up her womb, he has kept her from bearing. His design, very interesting. “And her adversary” Peninnah “also
provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD
had shut up her womb.” (verse 6) when you have
two wives, that’s the way it goes, one’s an adversary. Look what it says, “for” the reason, “to
make her fret, because the LORD
had shut up her womb.” So Peninnah, always digging in, saying ‘Ah,
Hannah, your name’s Grace, ain’t got much grace from the LORD,
where’s your baby, I got babies…’ And though it wasn’t bad enough, Peninnah’s
always there digging on her, driving in the insults, calling her ‘her
adversary’ here, she’s giving her a hard time.
No doubt she’s jealous because Elkanah favoured her and gave her a
double portion and loved her, and the more Elkanah favoured Hannah, the more
Peninnah gave her the business when he wasn’t around, so this is a bad
situation, two wives and all this stuff.
[Jacob, with Rachel and Leah, same story.] And it says, her complete reason, she wanted
to make Hannah miserable about the fact that God had shut up her womb, what a
mean woman. Now to Elkanah, “And as
he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD,
so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.” (verse 7)
and this went on year after year, “therefore she” Hannah “wept, and
did not eat.” This is a Feast,
they’re there feasting, she’s weeping before the LORD
instead of eating, and every year the same thing goes on, Elkanah gives her a
double portion, he loves her, and Peninnah gives her the business, you know,
when nobody’s watching. So, this sad,
sad scene. And we don’t know, year by
year, it would probably, Hannah is grinding out before God whether in fact she
is in his displeasure or not. But this
must have been, you know, something’s being ground to powder inside of this
woman, and it’s God’s design, it’s God’s design. “Then said Elkanah her husband to her,
Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart
grieved? am not I better to thee
than ten sons?” (8) Now she’s
crying, she’s not eating, bad move, Elkanah.
He says ‘Hannah, why weepest thou?’ and he’s gonna say two
of my “why’s”. She’s thinking “Why?
why? you never listen to me, why, we do this year after year and you’re still
asking me why, what do you mean why?’
That means, to her, you haven’t broken the code, what she wants is
sympathy, she does not want logic.
Girls, God made us the way we are, you have to understand, when
something goes on with Kathy, and she asks me a question, I’m terrified right
then, I know the answer is going to determine days of what happens, and I
really want to give the right answer. Whatever
it is, I’ll just give it, and I’m saying ‘Lord, help Lord,’ maybe if I
faint and drop on the floor maybe she’ll forget [laughter]. Look, Elkanah, this is the wrong thing for
him to say. Let’s just look at it, get
the sense of it. She’s crying, she’s
brokenhearted, his other wife is always driving her out of her mind, and
Elkanah says to Hannah ‘Hannah, why are you weeping? Why aren’t you eating?’ no man could
understand that. ‘Why is your
heart grieved? Am not I better to thee
than ten sons? Why are you crying,
you’ve got me?’ [loud laughter] no
one wants to hear this, this guy’s just like the rest of us [loud laughter
continues], guys, doesn’t it make you feel better? And look, there’s something here, all you
ladies, all of you need to understand, God never gave you a husband to meet the
deepest needs in your life. That is
reserved for the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are certain things that God wants you pouring out your heart and
your soul ladies before him, and there are certain answers and certain things
that only he can bestow upon you, and your husband will never be able to do
that, never. All the guys took an
offering for me to say these things tonight [laughter], I’m just kidding. Again, you remember the woman at the well,
she had five husbands, she was still miserable, Jesus said ‘You’re
drinking at the wrong well,’ it’s not like the right husband is out
there somewhere, ‘if you’d just come to me, I’m the one, I’m the one
whose meant to meet the deepest needs in your life, not some poor guy, come to
me.’ Well Elkanah don’t have it
yet, ‘Why are you crying, why aren’t you eating, it’s fun, why is your
heart so broken all the time? You got
me, I don’t understand, why?’ It’s
nice here, it doesn’t give us Hannah’s answer, we’re spared, it just says “So
Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post
of the temple of the LORD.”
(verse 9) that was the Tabernacle, probably
because there was a stone wall around it at this time, he sat there by “the
temple of the LORD.” Hannah’s
Prayer And
please notice, “And she” Hannah “was in bitterness of soul,
and prayed unto the LORD,
and wept sore.” (verse 10) Please notice, it doesn’t say “she was bitter
at the LORD,”
she’s not bitter at anyone. It just says
the condition of her soul, she was in bitterness of soul, she was worn out
inside. I don’t know if you have felt
that way, I have felt that way. And in
our days when we say ‘Where is your love?’ we have to go back to the
cross, we have to remember what he did there with his Son, to see his love
afresh. It says “she was in
bitterness of soul,” and notice what she did, she prayed. She didn’t say ‘That’s it, God I’m not
talking to you anymore,’ she prayed, she knows where to pour out her soul
and her heart, “and she prayed unto the LORD,”
and as she prayed, it says “and wept
sore.” “And she vowed a vowed a vow, and
said, O LORD
of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and
remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a
man child, then I will give him unto the LORD
all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” (verses
10-11) “O
LORD of hosts,” first time in the Bible from
anybody’s lips, ‘You’re the LORD
of angels, you’re the LORD
of the stars of heaven, you’re the LORD
of all mankind, can I just have one, you’re the LORD
of all of them, the LORD of
hosts.’ “if
thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and
not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then
I will give him unto the LORD
all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” (verse
11)
Listen, three times she calls herself “the handmaid of the LORD
who has refused to open her womb, her greatest grief, three times she says ‘I
serve you, I am your handmaid, remember me in my affliction.’ She’s
not bitter at him, she’s pleading with him.
Her faith again is being refined with fire. We’re going to find out, she’s saying this in
her heart, she’s not saying this out loud, verse 11, very important. She vowed a vow, in her own heart, “O LORD
of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and
remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a
man child,” look what she says, “then I will
give him unto the LORD
all the days of his life, and there shall no razor” she’s
heard of Samson “come upon his head.” Very remarkable vow, because her son’s gonna
be a Levite anyway, and he’s going to belong to the LORD
basically from an age somewhere between 25 and 30 all the way to age 50, and
probably still have some responsibilities in that area. But she says ‘I will give this son from
the day of his birth, all the days of his life he will be yours, and no razor
will come upon his head.’ Now
this is what’s happened. Hannah’s desire
and God’s Plan have come into harmony, because God wants a man, not from the
time he’s 30, he wants one in this day, from birth. God is looking for someone, very
specific. He’s going to use a baby to
change the course of the nation. And
that baby has got to be his from conception, from birth. And now he finally has Hannah’s heart, but
listen, Hannah will have three more sons and two daughters. She’s not going to be deprived, but this
first one, this first one is to be dedicated.
We find there’s no price of redemption, when you had a male child you
had to pay the price of redemption, this child is never redeemed because the
child himself is given to the LORD,
very remarkable. And I think of all of
the Prophets, in some ways, amazing personalities in the Old Testament, Samuel
always stands head and shoulders above many others. She says ‘I will give him, if you give
him to me, I’ll give him back to you all the days of his life.’ There’s a need for this in the nation. Is she’s just pleading ‘LORD,
if you give the child, then I’ll know you’re not angry with me,’ I
don’t think so, when we listen to her song there’s a greater burden on her
heart, ‘I’ll give him back to you.’ Notice,
“And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD,
that Eli marked her mouth.” (verse 12) now
it tells us why, “Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved,
but her voice was not heard:” by Eli, it was heard by God, “therefore
Eli thought she had been drunken.” (verse 13) those were the kind of women
hanging out by the Tabernacle, hanging around with Hophni and Phinehas, he
think’s she’s pickled. Listen, it says
in the Bible ‘the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much,’ it's telling us something here, it doesn’t have to be an audible
prayer. Look, I think it’s wonderful for
us to pray together, when you’re praying with others it’s wonderful for them to
hear what you’re praying so they can say “amen.” But there are times when nothing can be
articulated. It tells us in Romans
‘that there are groanings too deep to be uttered that work through our being by
God’s Holy Spirit.’ And Hannah
is pouring out this remarkable prayer, she makes a vow, she says ‘God, if
you give to me I will give to you, he will be yours all the days of his life, a
razor will never come to his head.’ No
one heard that prayer. That means at
some time, Samuel must have said ‘Mom, how did all this happen?’ And she must have said ‘I’ve never
told this to anyone son, but this is the prayer that I prayed in my heart, Eli
didn’t hear it, your father didn’t hear it,’ somehow that prayer, most
scholars assume Samuel recorded this, and then Nathan probably some of it. But the idea is, this is a prayer that wasn’t
heard that was stuck with her then for the rest of her life, and at some point
she told him, she said ‘You know, I poured out my heart to the LORD
of hosts, I couldn’t even talk out loud, son.
And I promised him that if he would give you to me, that I would give
you to him. That’s why your father and I
have left you here, it’s so hard for us.’
But she communicated that at some point
in time, to where we have it written, no one heard it. “Hannah spake in her heart; only her lips
moved, but her voice was not heard:
therefore Eli thought she had been drunken” he assumes she
drunk. “And Eli said unto her, How long
wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.” (verses 13-14) So she’s surrounded with sensitive men, ‘How
long are you going to be a drunkard, put away thy wine from thee,’ adding
insult to injury, she’s there pouring everything out, she can’t say
anything. Yet John Bunyan
when he would read this, he would say “It’s better to have heart with no
words, then words with no heart.”
It’s better to have heart with no words, than words with no
heart. It was said that Martin Luther,
when he could find time, would sit alone with the first three chapters of 1st
Samuel, he felt there was such depth and such tenderness, he would muse, he
would think about it, he would grind through it. Just incredible things here. ‘How long will you be drunken? how long is it going to be until you put your
wine away?’ “And Hannah answered and
said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink,
but have poured out my soul before the LORD.”
(verse 15) now she talks out loud. I’m sure Eli feels terrible. He kind of feels like, you ever say to
somebody ‘Hey, when are you due?’ [laughter] ‘How far along are you?’
and they turn around and cut your throat open, you ever have that happen? and
they said ‘I’m not pregnant!’ you feel right at that moment, I think
that’s probably here how Eli feels, ‘You’re drunk, why don’t you run along
and get rid of your whiskey and drink’ and she said ‘No sir, I
have a broken heart, I’m pouring out my soul before the LORD,’
“Count not thine handmaid for a daughter
of Belial:” like some of these other women,
“for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.”
(verse 16) now look, he doesn’t know what she’s asking for. And listen, Eli answered now doubt, the Holy
Spirit coming on him, and said, “Then Eli answered and said, Go in
peace: and the God of Israel grant thee
thy petition that thou hast asked of him.” (verse 17) ‘It’s when you seek me with all your
heart,’ the LORD
says ‘I’ll hear you,’ very interesting doesn’t know what her
prayer was, he’s overwhelmed with her character, she feels she had some
breakthrough in her heart at this point, she said ‘You give him to me,
I’ll give him to you,’ Eli steps in, he apologizes, she receives this
as prophetic, “And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy
sight. So the woman went her way, and
did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.” (verse 18) Now she’s better, something was generated in
her heart of faith, she walks away from this encounter, she said ‘LORD,
you’ve heard me, LORD
it’s going to happen.’ You
know, too often, I go to the Lord, and I pour out my burdens, and then I say ‘Thank
you Lord,’ and I pick them up again and leave with them. You know, you give ‘em to him and take them
right back again, you give them to him, you take them right back again. Because here we are in the 21st
century, here we are in logical, scientific America, and is he really standing
there, is he really real, does he really hear our prayers, does he really
care? We’re bombarded with sensory
things, and then we’re called by God’s Word to be sensitive to his Spirit, to
believe in his presence, to understand that he’s there. And so often I’m guilty of giving something
to him [in prayer, a prayer-request], ‘Oh Lord, this is breaking my heart,’ and
I feel like he allows me to pour it out before him, then I just pick it up
again and take it with me when I go. And
sometimes I think he lets me do that because he knows I’ll be right back again
the next day. Because if you’re anything
like me, sometimes when he answers a prayer, then we forget about him until
we’re in a jam again. Desperate
situations make desperate prayers, that’s been very much the history, spiritual
history of my life. Don’t look at me
like you don’t understand what I’m talking about. Samuel
Is Born, His Name Means “Heard of God” It
says, ‘so she got up, and she ate and she was no more sad,’ “And
they” Elkanah and Peninnah-head, “rose up in the morning early, and worshipped
before the LORD,
and returned, and came to their house to Ramah:
and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD
remembered her.” (verse 19) The
Feast is over, this is not mandatory, they’re doing this in response now. She must have got up the next day and said ‘Honey,
up, come on, just one more time, let’s go to the Tabernacle,’ something was
stirring in her heart, they get up the next day, beautifully, and it says they
worshipped the LORD,
“and returned and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD
remembered her.” Ramah,
Ramah means “the heights.” Now that
doesn’t mean he forgot about her. It
means in regards to her petition. “Wherefore
it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that
she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked
him of the LORD.”
(verse 20) and there was no son in Israel more
prayed over than this one. In fact, ‘she
called his name Samuel, because I’ve asked him of the LORD.’ “Sama” is the idea of “heard,” “El, God,”
“Asked of God,” his name is Samuel, “Heard of God.” What a name.
Listen, we’re going to look at a few verses, you don’t have to turn there,
and I’ll tell you where they are, you can just listen to this. This is Psalm 99, it says “Exalt
ye the LORD our
God and worship at his footstool, for he is holy. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel
among them that call upon his name, they called on the LORD,
and he answered them.” Samuel,
listed first amongst those that call upon his name. This is Jeremiah chapter 15, Jeremiah
is pleading with God not to let Nebuchadnezzar destroy Jerusalem. God has told Jeremiah what he’s gonna do,
Jeremiah’s heart is broken, he’s pleading for mercy, he’s asking God for mercy,
“And then the LORD
said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be
toward this people…Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,” think
of the company that God in his estimation puts this man in. In the Book of Acts it says
this, “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that followed
after,” Acts 3:24 telling us he was the first of the Prophets. Now, Abel had prophecied, Abraham had said
things, but there was an Order of the Prophets that began, there was a School
of the Prophets that began, in former times they were called Seers, he now
establishes an Order in Israel of Prophets.
In chapter 13 of the Book of Acts it says “And after
that he gave unto them Judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years
until Samuel the Prophet.” And
it tells us this in Hebrews chapter 11, it says, “And what
shall I say more, for the time would fail me to tell you of Gideon, and Barak,
and of Samson, and of Jephthah, and of David also, and of Samuel and of the
prophets,” again, putting him at the head of that Order. So this man God had been waiting for, this
baby, this would be one who would stand up and God would be able to say to
Jeremiah, ‘Hey, though Moses or Samuel stood before me, I wouldn’t
respond this time.’ That’s how
much sway this man would have with God, his name “Heard of God.” Imagine, he grows up under Hannah, one of the greatest prayer-warriors we see in
all of the Old Testament, he learns from his mother. His name is “Heard of God,” imagine
that, being in school, ‘Hey Heard of God!’
You know, you’re going to play football, ‘Hey, I’ll take him,
I’ll take him, what about Heard of God, no don’t take him,’ just Heard
of God. His whole life, he’s
reminded, ‘Samuel, Samuel, you’re a man that’s Heard of God, you live
because your mother was Heard of God.’ His very name means prayer. It says “Wherefore it came to pass, when
the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and
called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD. And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went
up to offer unto the LORD
the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. But
Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, 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 for ever.” (verses 20-22)
You know, how hard is this, the child is
growing, she knows she’s made a promise to the LORD,
and one of these days gonna make the trip up to Shiloh and drop him off with
Rotteny and Phinehas, with a bad environment.
It says “But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I
will not go up until the child be weaned...” that would be three to
four years in this culture, there was no formula. So a number of years would go by, “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 for ever. 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.” (verses 22-23) ‘don’t forget
the vow you’ve made, don’t forget how this is supposed to roll out, you stay
with him, I understand, until he’s weaned,’ but then there’s coming a time, let
the LORD
establish his word, remember your vow, the child is the LORD’s.’
“So the woman abode, and gave her son
suck until she weaned him. And when she
had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of
flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD
in Shiloh: and the child was
young.” (verses 23c-24) some translations say “a three-year-old
bullock,” it’s a point of argument, the amount of an ephah of flour here is
equivalent to what we would necessarily use for three bullocks, ah, doesn’t
matter. She took the sacrifice, “and
one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the
LORD
in Shiloh: and the child was
young.”
No doubt he’s between three and four years old. “And they slew a bullock, and brought the
child to Eli.” (verse 25) whose very old, some feel he’s about 90 years old
at this point in time. “And she said,
Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that
stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.”
(verse 26) ‘Remember, in my heart? and you thought I was a drunk?’ no
doubt, he remembers, ‘pouring out my heart.’ “For this child I prayed; and the LORD
hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
therefore also I have lent him to the LORD;
as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD
there.” (verse 28) and the idea is “to
return to the LORD,”
the Hebrew more probably ‘the one who was asked for of the LORD,
I’ve lent him to the LORD
as long as he lives.’ ‘He shall be lent, the one I have asked for, is now given
back to the one I asked, he shall be lent to the LORD,’ “And he” more
properly I believe the Hebrew, “And they worshipped the LORD.” Our
Children Are On Loan To Us From God Look,
we got a very interesting picture here.
This woman knows this child belongs to the LORD,
as you and I should know about all our children, they are on loan. You have a stewardship over their lives, and
you will give an account for their lives.
It was something that Kathy and I communicated to all four of ours, that
“This is the Book we live by, not because I’m a pastor, if I was a
carpenter, if I was in the computer industry, this is still our rule-book, And we’re going to live by it because the Lord
has lent you to us, we love you, we would give our lives for you, but you are
his, not ours, and we will give an account one day.” And I wish all parents understood the
reality and the power of that. Sometimes
we feel with some parents we’re battling the parents for the well-being of
their children. The things they let them
see, the concerts they let them go to, the malls they let them exhibit, the
books they let them read, I’m thinking ‘If Jesus were standing right in
front of you, and you had an overwhelming sense Oh this is Jesus’ kid,’ would you then let that kid do those
things? Because that is the rock-bottom
Biblical truth about our children. It
says in Malachi one of the reasons that he hates divorce is because he wants a
Godly offspring, he wants a heritage in our children, he wants them raised the
right way. And it isn’t about being cool
and slick and savvy by the world’s standards, because the truth is, there ain’t
anything more cool, more slick and more savvy than walking with Jesus Christ,
there just isn’t anything in this world more genuine or more real than
that. There’s an African proverb that
says this “The ruin of a nation begins in the houses of its people.”--in
Africa, recognized, “The ruin of a nation begins in the houses of its
people.” Confucius says this “the
strength of a nation is derived by the integrity of its homes.” The strength of a nation is derived by the
integrity of its homes. It doesn’t take
a village to raise a child, it takes a mom and dad whose on fire for Jesus
Christ, and knows what’s right and knows what wrong is, and who are committed
to those values in the lives of their kids.
Your kids don’t need buddies, they got buddies, they got buddies in
school, buddies they hang around with.
When my kids were growing up, I didn’t want to be their buddy, I was
their Dad, I was the whacker, they had buddies, they didn’t need other buddies,
they needed a Dad. I longed for the day,
of course, they come to maturity, and they reach that age where God says to
them ‘Come, let us reason,’ and he begins to honour that ability
in their conscience, and then it becomes a different job for us. Because you’re used to saying ‘Why? Because I’m 240 pounds and I’ll crème ya,
what do you mean Why?’ And then
there comes a point you realize ‘This is my brother and my sister in
Christ,’ there’s no longer just the child God gave me to raise, and God
honours that ability for them to reason, and you long for the day, as it were,
that you become buddies. But at 20 and
25 and at 27 and 29, we realize how much fun it is with your brother and sister
in Christ, to hang around with them and talk to them, start to get them to open
up. But until then, they are desperately
in need of a Mom and a Dad, and not a buddy.
I have said to mine, ‘Tell me now, where the battle lines are drawn. You want to go to war, we’ll go to war,
because I would rather go to war with you and have you not like me, than to be
your buddy, and have you like me, and watch your life ruined, I will fight for
your life if you won’t fight for your own.
Go away today and come back tomorrow, and tell me where the battle lines
are drawn. And if you want to go to war
we will go to war.’ And I’m so glad
they said ‘No, Dad, we’re not gonna go to war.’ We’re going to see the influence that a
Mom can have in the life of a child, between birth and four years old. She’s gonna leave this kid in the Tabernacle,
in circumstances that are not wholesome at all, and this kid has the ability to
hear the voice of the LORD,
and to respond. She has woven into the
fabric of his young life things that will stay with him all of his days, and
will make him a man that has affect on men this evening. Thank God there was a Mom back then that was
dead-serious about her responsibility to this little Prophet she had standing
in front of her. And so should we
be. Think of Sunday morning, 5,000 kids
under 12 that go through here on Sunday.
Imagine if they were 5,000 Samuels and Samuesses, imagine how this world
would be touched. Listen, this evening
as we journey through this, if you’re grinding in your heart over something,
and you feel like ‘The Lord’s not hearing me, you know, I’ve put this before
him, is he mad at me?’ no, look, you need to remember that 2,000 years ago
on the cross, all of that stuff got settled.
He’s not gettin’ you, he’s not gettin’ you, he got Jesus 2,000 years
ago. Now as we’re his children he
chastens us, he deals with the children that he loves. But the price has been paid in full, he loves
you, he is 100 percent completely pleased with you, because he who knew no sin
became sin that you and I might be the very righteousness of God, and when God
the Father looks at you sitting here this evening, he sees Jesus Christ. If you’ve extended your faith and you have
received that by faith, yes we make mistakes, we’re still growing, he sees
Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus said in
John chapter 17, he prayed that we might behold his glory in heaven before the
world was, that we might understand that the Father has loved us as he has
loved him. You know, I’m growing in
that, I’m growing in that. I know it
more than I did 10 years ago, or 20 years ago or 30 years ago as a new
Christian. But he loves me with the same
love that he loves his Son Jesus Christ with.
Don’t let Satan have you this evening stand in any distance, and don’t
ever let anyone tell you, no Peninnah-head tell you because you’re prayer’s not
being answered, God’s mad at you or he’s forsaken you. Maybe he’s maneuvering you right into line
with his plan, right to the place where you’re gonna give your all to him and
he’s gonna give it all to you in regards to that life-circumstance. Parents, please, you know, a couple years ago
we asked in our first grade class in Sunday school, 2nd grade class
and 3rd grade class, how many of the kids had seen The Titanic, and
over half the kids in those grades had seen The Titanic. Now I didn’t go see it. I wanted to see it, because Robbie’s voice is
all through the background of the movie, but I heard there was a scene in there
I just didn’t need to see, I didn’t need any help being sinful, I was born with
it, I’m an expert at it, I don’t need any movie to get any help from it. ok? [If you’d get the DVD, Pastor Joe, and when
you get to that part you just use your almighty Remote, and fast-forward
through that scene, you could enjoy the movie and what it tells us, that our
modern Titanic world is headed for destruction, just before Jesus comes back to
save the world from total annihilation, see https://unityinchrist.com/topical%20studies/titanic.html] But that movie was PG-13, and we had 1st,
2nd and 3rd graders in our church seeing that movie, and
I’m thinking, ‘Does Hollywood care more about our kids than we do?’ They’re on loan, they’re not ours, they’re
the Lord’s, we’re gonna give an account one day. And look, the wonderful thing for any of us
is, tonight, we can say ‘Hey Lord, forgive me, I want to take hold of this,
Lord. Help me, give me wisdom, speak my
heart, open your Word to me.’ There’s
always a fresh beginning with him. There’s
always a fresh beginning with him. And
on the other side of the equation, are those of you who were raised in the
wrong kind of home, whether it be abusive, or under a drunken mother or father,
sometimes sexual abuse, sometimes abandoned by divorce, and you struggle,
struggle and struggle, because you overlay all of that on your Father in heaven,
and that isn’t at all who he is, you have a Father, and he is the
best Father. And he never leaves us,
never forsakes us. There is no human
that should ever spoil his character in our hearts. And I know that can be a struggle. I’ve talked to Christians who said “You
know it’s hard for me to lift my head and say Father, because of what I’ve gone
through.” God’s Word and God’s Holy
Spirit will take you past that point.
Because some of my heroes always break glory, Mike McIntosh, Danian
Tile, grew up in abusive, abusive homes, no dads, and they are changing the world for Jesus Christ, he will even take
that heartache, he will redeem it, and he will turn it into a burden for the
lost and brokenhearted, and he will light a fire with it, that can change this
world. Let’s stand, let’s pray, I’ll
have the musicians come…the rest of us, we have our own stuff, we’re going to
be lifting our hearts, the Bible says we’re still growing in grace and in the
knowledge of who he is, the Bible says in the ages to come, he’s still going to
be revealing his mercy and his grace to us, we’re still in the process of
growth. Paul prayed that we might
comprehend with all the saints what is the height and the depth and the width
of God’s love towards us in Christ, and I’m still growing in that. Paul said ‘I have not yet apprehended
that which I have been apprehended for,’ Paul himself said ‘I
haven’t yet taken hold fully of what he’s taken hold of me,’ he was
still growing in it. So as believers,
we’re going to be lifting our hearts to the Lord. But if you don’t know him, and you’ve never
come, and you want to change that this evening, not playing church, please, not
playing phony religious games, but come to the Saviour, come to his love, and
say ‘Lord, I’m empty, I’m a sinner, I need forgiveness, wash me, cleanse me,
let me start afresh.’ If that’s you,
you come…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on 1st Samuel
1:1-28, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500
Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
related
links: We
are a modern Titanic in this world, headed for destruction, before Jesus comes
back to save the world from total annihilation, see https://unityinchrist.com/topical%20studies/titanic.html
With
everything going on in this planet, with all of the tension politically,
religiously, militarily, and at this point in time, 2022, with Vladimir Putin’s
invasion of Ukraine, see https://unityinchrist.com/topical%20studies/America-ModernRomans5.htm Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED646
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