Hannah

1 Samuel Chapter 1

Imagine you were going to write a TV drama about a terrible home situation.  You don't want a mean or absent father, that's been done before.  Drugs and alcohol, that's cliche.  Bad teenagers, yep, we've seen that a million times.  Why not try something plausible, with an underdog, an oppressed hero that we can cheer for.  An antagonist that will oppose the hero, who we will love to hate.  Depression and elation, competition and vindication.  You would be hard-pressed to write a better drama than Hannah's story in the Bible.  

"There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 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." 

Ephrath (an Ephrathite is from Ephrath) - means "fruitful" also the name of the town that later came to be known as Bethlehem

Elkanah - God has purchased

Hannah - Beauty or Passion

Peninah - Pearl

Zuph - honeycomb

Ramathaim-zophim - name of the town where Elkanah lived

Ephraim - the hill country west of Jerusalem named for one of Joseph's sons

Our hero Hannah had a big problem.  She was one of two wives, she was barren and her co-wife Penninah was not.  Her husband Elkanah was very kind and loving, but Hannah's deepest desire was to be a mom, to have some beautiful little children to call her own. 

"Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.  On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.  But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.  So it went on year by year.  As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.  And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” 

Every year Elkanah would put his two wives and the kids in the station wagon, strap some goats and a bull to the roof, and they would head to the temple at Shiloh to sacrifice to God.  

Here we greet our antagonist, the second wife.  Not only does Penninah have children, she knows that Hannah is brokenhearted about being unable to have children.  She rubs it in Hannah's face every time Elkanah isn't looking.  "Hannah, will you make breakfast for MY kids?  I'm not feeling well."  "Hannah, are you putting on weight. . .maybe you're pregnant.  Oh wait, that will never happen!"  Penninah's joy comes from seeing Hannah cry.  Penninah heckles her mercilessly.  She taunts, she picks, she snarls, and Hannah endures month after month and year after year.  

Hannah's name means "beautiful," and it's possible that Penninah is jealous of her because of her beauty.  It's also possible that she is jealous because Elkanah shows Hannah favoritism, giving her the double portion of meat, trying to cheer her up when she is down; which is all the time.  Or maybe Penninah isn't jealous, maybe she just loves to be mean (kinda like the bad fairy tail witches).  

Ipod's hadn't yet been invented and Taylor Swift would not be born for another several thousand years. . .there was little consolation for Hannah.  There was nowhere to hide from bully Penninah, they shared the same house!  The only thing she Hannah could do was thing she had been doing for years. . .pray that God would see her misery and have mercy on her. 

"After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” 

Hannah wept bitterly.  Life is awful sometimes.  Horrible things happen, terrible situations arise.  God loves us, but does not always shield us from pain.  Hannah weeps and pleads her case to God.  She prays through sobs, she prays from a totally broken heart, she prays out of desperation.  We learn from Hannah and countless other stories in the Bible is that God has special love for those who suffer. 

Suffering.  One of the singular aspects of Christianity is that we believe Jesus is God in human form.  Which means we believe our God experienced suffering and death firsthand.  Jesus suffered by his own choice in obeying his Father's will.  Our God loved us so much that he deliberately chose to suffer.  So when Hannah is taunted, Jesus knows how it feels for he too was mocked.  When she cries and despairs, Jesus sympathizes, he wept and experienced such anguish that he sweated blood.  Likewise with us, when bad things or hurt comes, we have a God who literally knows how we feel.  

Hannah makes a bargain with God - "if you give me a son, I'll give him to your service and make him a Nazirite".  The ancient Jews had two sorts of priests, one sort that came from the tribe of Levi - these men were priests by their birthright.  Then there were Nazirites, who were born normal people but took a vow not to cut their hair, drink wine, or defile themselves with dead bodies.  The Nazirite is vowing to work in God's service rather than be a farmer or shepherd or run the family business.

"As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.  Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.  And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”  But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” Then Eli answered, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”  And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” 

Put your thinking caps on - why was Hannah's prayer answered now, as she explains it to Eli?  Surely she had prayed for years and years beforehand - why just now does Hannah finally receive the promise of a son?  

In the Old Testament we see priests acting as middle-men between the people and God.  The priests would offer sacrifices on the people's behalf and sins were taken away.  God would speak, not directly to the people, but to a go-between like Moses or Samuel or Nathan, who would relay the message to the people.  There was a big veil in the temple, separating God from man, and only the priests could go behind the veil, with a bell around their ankle and a role around their waist, lest they make a wrong move and perish.  What is sinful could not come in contact with what is holy.  Sinful man needed at sinless middle-man to approach God on his behalf.  The middle-man is known as the High-Priest and his job is what we call an intercessor or advocate.  In Hannah's case, Eli was the high priest and intercessor, praying on Hannah's behalf.  When the priest prayed, God granted Hannah's request.  

Let's pause on the story for a second to look at how prayer works today.  We live in what we call the "new covenant" with God. . .Jesus came and died and rose again to establish a new way for us to receive forgiveness of sins and to provide a new template for how we interact with God ("No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you". John 15:15).  What we see with Hannah's prayer is a picture of what is to come after Jesus.  So it is no longer an earthly priest who intercedes for us, but rather Jesus is our high priest and his Spirit our intercessor.    

Check out these verses:

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need".  Hebrews 4

Romans 8:26-28 - "the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as one ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unexpressed groanings. And the one who searches our hearts knows what the mindset of the Spirit is, because he intercedes on behalf of the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. . ."

"What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, together with him, freely give us all things? Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ is the one who died, and more than that, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." Romans 8:31-34

So how does prayer work under the new covenant?  With Jesus as our high priest, we don't need a middle-man, we can pray straight to God!  We pray to God the Father as best we can, asking for the desires of our heart.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us (groaning) and turns the prayer into exactly what God wants to hear.  God says, "Jesus, that sounds like a good idea, lets do that", and they send the Holy Spirit to take whatever action is needed to answer prayers for our good and to achieve God's purposes. 

Back to our story and hero, I think it's amazing that Hannah believes immediately.  "Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad". Her face is happy, she regains her appetite - her life is immediately changed even though nothing had changed yet.  God's promise is sure as the sunrise and sunset - when he says He will do something, it surely will happen.  Hannah believed, and sure enough, 9 months later, the unpossible has happened and she is holding a beautiful baby boy who will change the course of history.

Takeaway thought - Hebrews 4:16 - "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  

"Before the throne of God above, 
I have a strong and perfect plea.  
A great high priest whose name is love, 
who ever lives and pleads for me.  
My name is graven on his hands, 
my name is written on his heart.  
I know that while in heaven he stands, 
no tongue can bid me thence depart".

"While God’s ultimate purposes are unchangeable..., His immediate will is flexible and open to change through the prayers of His people. A personal God, who loves and cares, can be solicited in prayer. Prayer can work miracles because God makes Himself dependent on the requests of His children."  Bloesch

"If we do not pray for the things that we might get by prayer, we do not get them. If He wants something done for which no one prays, He will do them without anyone praying. If we pray for things contrary to His will, He refuses to grant them. Thus, there is a perfect harmony between His purpose and providence, and man’s freedom."  Thiessen