Heroines of Faith
HANNAH
A Drunken Woman and Sleepy Priest
Samuel's mother Hannah teaches some valuable spiritual lessons to Eli the High Priest, lessons needed today.Hannah is one of the most fascinating women in the Bible, but she is practically forgotten. The story is a model of three major themes which are necessary today for both Jews and Christians.
The story of Hannah begins with the words, "And there was one man from Ramathaim Zophim from the hills of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite." The hero in this story is not the man, Elkanah. In fact after he is mentioned a few times in the beginning of the story and then loses his relevance. The second character in the story is his first wife Peninnah, who is fertile and has children. The third and main character in the story is Elkanah's second wife Hannah, who doesn't have any children because the Lord had shut her womb. The fourth, fifth and sixth characters are Eli the Priest, Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's two sons. This is the whole cast in the first act of this story.
Consider the meaning of the names:
Elkanah = God is Jealous or it can also mean God is Zealous.
Jeroham = He will receive mercy.
Elihu = He is my God.
Tohu = Disorder.
Zuph = Nectar.
Peninnah = A pearl.
Hannah = Favor and Grace.
Eli = My God.
Phinehas = A Bold aspect or a face that you can trust.
Hophni = It is not clear what this name really means, but it could be "My handful."
In the Bible most of the names of the characters play a role in the story itself and the meaning in Hebrew plays out in the end. This is true in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.
The pattern of this story is a classic Cinderella story – "from rags to riches."
Elkanah is a very religious man. Every year he goes to Shiloh with his whole family to celebrate the feast of the Lord and offer sacrifices to the Lord. Some of the sacrifices that are offered were shared with the priests and also shared with people who offered them. In fact, during those times in Israel there was no such thing as eating meat whenever you wanted to do so. "The only place that you could eat meat and the only ones who could slaughter the animal were the Priests or the Levites and there was an altar to the Lord in every city and village. Only after the discovery of the Book of Deuteronomy, in the days of King Josiah, was the practice of killing animals for food allowed by anyone and in any place. The reason for that was the centralization of worship in Jerusalem" (Dr. James E. Priest).
So, Elkanah offered the sacrifice in Shiloh and gave his wife Peninnah and her children a worthy portion of the meat. To Hannah, who didn't have children, Elkanah gave a double portion of meat because he loved her.
Since Peninnah knew that Elkanah loved Hannah, favored her and showed her mercy because she did not have children, there was jealousy between the two women. Peninnah became an adversary to Hannah, provoking her in order to make her angry. This provoking and probably taunting of Hannah by Peninnah caused her to not eat and be unhappy in the house of the Lord and to cry every year for her sad situation.
This is a classic pattern in this kind of story. The evil step sisters of Cinderella do the same – they find the weak point in their target and then dig in as deep as they can in order to draw blood, causing pain and suffering to the poor victim who is already in a disadvantaged position.
This provoking, taunting and demeaning of Hannah by Elkanah's other wife did not happen one time. It occurred year after year in the House of the Lord. Hannah just wept, cried and could not eat because of her bitterness toward Peninnah, who unlike her had children.
Hannah did not have children because the Lord had shut her womb. Obviously, God is ultimately responsible for so many of the events that both bless and beset us in this life. Those that beset us in this life are for the purpose of His Glory and for the education of our souls, to train us for greater things to come.
Elkanah saw but did not understand what was really going on between his two wives. He came to Hannah and asked: "Hannah, why do you weep? Why don't you eat? Why is your heart so grieved?" He then tried to console Hannah with words that not only didn't console her but made things even worse "Am I not better for you than ten sons?" Such a statement in this circumstance only made things worse and rubbed salt on the wound. Elkanah wanted to help, but sometimes trying to help makes things worse. This is especially true in the relationship between "He and She" in many cases.
These words of her husband Elkanah made Hannah so angry that she finally decided to do something about her situation and go to the only One who could really help; to her Father in Heaven, to the Almighty One of Israel, to the Creator of the World. The words that describe Hannah's reaction are: "So Hannah rose up". Everyone had eaten and drunk. After people eat and drink and have a good barbeque of beef and some wine, what they usually want to do is have a sleep; but not Hannah! She got up and went to the High Priest – the representative of God, the one who has access to the Holy of Holies. She came in like a storm, full of anger and bitterness; her skirt was blowing in the wind because she was walking fast and angry. She found Eli, the High Priest, leaning against his chair in the temple of the Lord. Imagine a fat old man with his belly sticking out, his hands folded over his big belly, his chair leaning backward against the wooden post of the temple. Maybe he is even taking a short sleep after a busy day with many guests and sacrifices during the Feast of the Lord.
The key to understanding any story is to see within it the light and shadows. Here is Hannah, full of anger and sorrow, storming into the temple court while the High Priest is relaxed, resting and calm; taking a nap. Eli did not pay much attention. Hannah was praying ecstatically. The Word of God says that her soul was bitter. She was crying and weeping unto the Lord. Finally she took a leap of faith and made a vow. She understood that in order to get answers she couldn't come to the Lord with only demands, requests and a shopping list. There comes a time when you become a partner with God and share what you want to have with the Lord. Hannah understood that in order to get something, she had to promise to give it back to the Lord. She understood this important principle; that you don't come to the Lord empty handed, and at times the answer to your prayers is also the desire of the Lord Himself. We must remember that sometimes God also has requests from us. We are used to thinking that everything from God comes free, but in this case, Hannah had to understand that crying and being bitter would not help her. Hannah understood that vowing to God the thing that was most precious to her was the way to have God hear her prayer and her cry. She had to give her most prized possession and dedicate him in a vow to God's service.
Here are the words that Hannah spoke to the Lord in prayer: "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 male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."
Below are the important points from which we need to learn:
1. Hannah talked to God and did not hide her affliction, but spelled it out.
2. There was no demand, but a humble request, "If you will indeed look..."
3. A request for God to remember his maidservant is an indication that Hannah believed that God is aware of every human being and that He keeps an account of all the issues that beset each one. This idea that Hannah expresses to God with a few words is of great significance for all who believe in prayer.
4. The positive faith that God "will give [her] a male child." The idea is that "if
He looks on [her] affliction," He will give her a male child. This is a positive expression of strong faith in God and in His ability to answer her request.
5. She also did not express any doubt or wavering on her commitment to give her male child to the Lord for all the days of his life, dedicating him in a vow.
These points are worth our notice if we wish to pray effectively and ask God for something really significant. We can all benefit from the pattern of Hannah's prayer when seeking from God a resolution to some of the deepest desires of the heart.
Hannah's story does not end here. The word of God is setting up the dichotomy between the expression of deep prayer and the sincere personal relationship between an individual and the Almighty God, and the obtuseness of the establishment representative, Eli the High Priest.
In this story, Eli the High Priest is a representative of the Religious establishment that should have spiritual sensitivities and understand the deep sorrow of the worshipper, but the opposite is true. Instead of understanding and looking for the expression of spirituality, he turns and accuses the weeping and intensely praying woman. Eli saw
Hannah and instead of looking at her and seeking the highest and best in her, he actually thinks the worst of her and accuses her of being drunk. This is a very important lesson for all leaders, elders, preachers and shepherds in God's service to learn. You are not office holders. Your task is not to look at your service as a job, but as a divine appointment to bridge the chasm between the weight of life in this world and our citizenship in a heavenly Kingdom.
With her whole body and emotion, Hannah was able to express her sorrow and faith. Eli the High Priest could not understand that deep and close relationship between the worshipper and Almighty God. Eli was an office holder. As a kind of religious technocrat he did his job well, but he did not really understand the deep personal relationship that Hannah had with God. The High Priest just did not have the tools to understand. He had seen people come into the temple of God with all kinds of behavior and he automatically thought the worst of them. He had probably seen many worshipers come to the House of the Lord to enjoy the fellowship and eat the meat from their sacrifices and also have a nip here and there and get drunk. Eli said to Hannah: "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!" If he had just been able to see Hannah, year after year, begging for a son, suffering the abuse of Peninnah, Eli could have understood what was happening with Hannah. As a spiritual leader with years of experience, Eli should have had more empathy for the suffering people who came to the House of the Lord with pain and needs that only the Good Lord could answer for them. However, Eli wasan honorable man. All the High Priests had to be honorable men. Mostly honorable men become professional "servants of God."
Hannah answered Eli respectfully but with candor: "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now."
These words of Hannah should and ought to be taught in every seminary or Bible school, and especially to all those teachers and preachers and church workers who want to be professional religious industry workers. Some of us at some point in life attend services sincerely with a true heart, seeking the Lord with the spirit of Hannah – with the pain of Hannah (maybe not for the same needs, but with other painful human needs) that only the Almighty God of Israel and Yeshua the Messiah can resolve. Those who serve God must always think the best of those who come under the shadow of their ministry, giving them the credit and respect that they deserve and need, opening the way of the Lord for the needy and suffering.
We will see that Eli actually learned from this experience. He learned to respect people who had an experience with the Lord; to guide them to hear and answer the Lord in their visions and dreams. He did so with Hannah and blessed her as she was leaving. Later we see that Eli became more sensitive to spiritual experiences and gave Samuel the right instruction regarding discerning and knowing when the Lord was speaking to him, and follow the instructions of the Lord.
Here are some things for us to learn from this story about how the Lord works:
1. It took time for Hannah to get pregnant and have a son. Even when the Lord answers our prayers favorably, it might not be an answer instantly. There is a natural process that has to pass before the answer is visible and positive.
2. Promises and vows we make to God have to be fulfilled and kept. If a person makes a promise or vow to God and does not keep it, the price will be high. God does not forget His children. He also does not forget to give a just reward to all those who diligently serve Him (See Heb. 11:6). To give a "just reward" means that He keeps account and remembers our good deeds and promises, just as He remembers His promises to us.
3. If we sincerely intend to keep our vows and promises to God, we must be patient and wait for Him. We must have an awareness of the "I AM" consciousness, which the Spirit of God plants into our hearts, and communicate our intent to keep the vows and promises we make. Hannah communicated to Elkanah and God that she intended to keep her vow by presenting her son Samuel to serve the Lord all of his life. Hannah keeps Samuel as long as she can – until he is weaned. Jewish Tradition says that Samuel was three years old when he was weaned from Hannah's breast-feeding.
4. God understands our needs and He, too, sometimes waits for us.
5. "Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, "O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the LordD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord." So they worshiped the Lord there" (1 Sam. 1:24-28).
Notice that Hannah did not come to the House of the Lord empty handed. Elkanah and Hannah brought to the Lord a most precious gift – Samuel their son! This was their special gift to the Lord, but there was still a need to bring the regular, normal, obligated gifts, and even triple them as a sign of their gratitude to the Lord. Elkanah and Hannah were so thankful to the Lord and they wanted to show it. For this reason they brought three bulls, not one. When God answers our prayers and the desires of our hearts, we ought to learn from Elkanah and Hannah; to show our gratitude to the Lord in not only words, but also with deeds.
In addition to Hannah's gifts to the Lord, she also expressed herself in a wonderful Psalm of thanks giving. The words were in addition to the three bulls, the bushel of fine flour and the wine skin. Even as Disciples of Yeshua, we must remember that words and praise are not a replacement of our required duty.
Don't be afraid to be like Hannah. Don't hold back when you want something from God. Feel free to pour out your heart, expressing not only with your mouth the deep pain and sorrow in your heart, but with all of you. Show emotions in your relationship to the Lord.
Hannah will always be an example of faithfulness from the worshiper and the faithfulness of God Himself to those who diligently seek Him and His favor.
