The bible remained silent about the last judge, Eli. But it was not silent about her greatest priest, Samuel. This, like the story of Ruth which it parallels and which set Samuel and David on a course of shared destiny, as great as that of John and Jesus, is one of the loveliest stories of the bible. Hannah is the unsung heroine, a great woman whose memory will never fade from the bible chronicles.
One of the greatest
men of the bible, Samuel, enters the stage
The two books about
his long, eventful and righteous life, were not written by him and he also died
before the books were completed.
The context of the story
is, however, intriguing. In Judges 17 we see evidence of priests for hire, as
in Micah’s private priest, Jonathon.
It reveals a pattern
of disillusionment, with the priests in every city and tribe, finding it hard
to defend the tithes that supported them, so they had turned to lay work.
As such, Eli arose
after Samson, to judge Israel and also to wear the second crown, of high priest
or Kohen of Israel. It was the first and last time that happened.
He assumed both
offices at the age of 58.
Elkanah and Hannah enter the stage
In the region of Mount
Ephraim of Judah, near to the house of Micah, Elkanah emerged with his two
wives. His lineage is shown in the book of Samuel.
Somewhere along the
way, the legacy of Eleazar had faded from the culture and his lineage his
untraceable after Phinehas.
Shiloh was the
spiritual center of Israel then and between Judges and Samuel, they built a
more permanent semi-temple, where Eli ruled.
1 Samuel 1:3 confirms
that Elkanah, Samuel’s father, went to Shiloh every year to sacrifice to God
and maintain his spiritual vows.
Unfortunately, his two
wives were in a constant state of rivalry, like Sarah and Hagar of old or Leah
and Rachel.
Peninnah gave him
children, but as with Rachel, Hannah was Elkanah’s favorite wife, even though she
was barren.
Peninnah, whose name
means pearl as in the beauty formed out or irritating struggle, contended with
Hannah, whose name means freely given gift.
What a lovely parallel
to a biblical theme tracing to Cain and Abel, where one brought that which was
good to the eye but born of sweat and toil, while the other brought
back to God that which God first entrusted to him.
God favored
Hannah. She had the heart of a true handmaiden of God.
She went to Eli
and appealed for mercy, offering in return an oath to dedicate her son to God’s
service. Though her lips quivered, she made no sound.
Eli thought she might
be drunk, but he sensed her heart and was compassionate to her, for God
prompted him to bless her and to invoke his blessing over her.
She eventually
conceived Samuel. Shortly thereafter Elkanah
prepared to go to Shiloh again. So we know that she had waited another full year to birth Samuel.
She conceived 3 months after Eli blessed her. There is a perfection of timing in
God that can often present as a further delay to an expected promise.
Yet God was faithful
and so was she. She refused to go to Shiloh, revealing that she had taken her
year-long vigil as a time of serious consecration and preparation.
She had learnt that a
woman was unclean after the birth of a male child, for a period of 8
days before he was circumcised, followed by a further 33 days of confinement
(Lev 12).
She was not allowed to
go to the temple or tabernacle and could not present a sacrifice until the child
was weaned and her ritual cleansing was complete.
That extended her
return to Shiloh beyond the requisite month, to as much as a year, for that is
roughly how long a child takes to self-wean.
By then vs 24 says, “the
child was young”. It suggests he was probably walking already or toddling as
the case may have been. It meant he could stand on his own before Eli.
A small toddler
received the blessing of Eli
Samuel then entered the temple under the stewardship of
Eli. Hannah had retained him long enough to bind her heart to her
child before letting him go forever.
What a poignant story.
Truly, Samuel had become her greater sacrifice. She did sacrifice 3 bullocks
and her meal offering, but she found the heart of sacrifice.
It is not in the blood
of bulls and goats, but in the offering of a willing heart as a living
sacrifice to the honor and glory of God. Thank God for great souls like Hannah.
In that sense, she too served God in the temple, through her son, until the day she died. Every day of her life was a perpetual sacrifice, probably reflected in prayer for her son.
However, she had the
last say.
“I have loaned him to God”, was the cry that would follow him to the grave. In so doing, Hannah staked her eternal claim in the unfolding
mysteries of God’s advancing kingdom.
Do we do the same?
Yes, your personal story shares the “DNA” of you and your redeemer, to fix your
place in his realm as an heir and coheir of that realm.
(c) Peter Missing @ bethelstone.com
