Women with a Story to Tell: Hannah, Promise and Prayer.

 Hannah (Grace) and her husband Elkanah are making their annual visit to Shiloh to worship YHWH, the Lord God Almighty, and to make sacrifices. Shiloh was a major religious site during the time of the judges and before the time of the kings. For a while, it was the home of the Tabernacle (the tent that Moses used during the Wilderness Wanderings) and the Ark of the Covenant. Later, King David conquered the remaining Canaanites (Jebusites, actually) who held Jerusalem. Then David brought the Ark of the Covenant (which had already been removed from Shiloh) to Jerusalem, and that city became the center of worship for a long time. 

 With the story of Hannah, we are in the time of the judges, and the Tabernacle and Ark are still in Shiloh. However, there was trouble since Eli the priest had two sons who would eventually degrade the worship of YHWH so much that Shiloh would later be abandoned.

 “After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the LORD. 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. She made this vow: “O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head” (I Samuel 1:9-11).

 This is a woman in distress. She cannot bear the shame that society has heaped on her for being childless, nor the dynamics of a household where her co-wife has children and rubs it in every chance she gets. At her lowest point, she throws herself on the mercy of God. She takes a very difficult vow. If she has a son, then she will raise him strictly as dedicated to God. She promises to bring him back to the Tabernacle at the right time and leave him there to serve God at the altar. 

 Remember that the text says that Eli, the priest, was sitting nearby and he was watching the behavior of this woman. Having two wayward sons, perhaps he is right to suspect that she might be drunk. 

 “As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine” (I Samuel 1: 12-14).

 Eli was a priest, but he was not a prophet. He misread the situation. 

 “But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; 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 I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went her way and ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer” (I Samuel 1:15-18).

 Eli does an about face; he realizes that he has falsely judged this woman. He himself suffers the shame of having two sons who abuse the office of priest. The text says that they took more than the priest’s share of meat from the sacrifices and then they seduced the women who served in the Tabernacle. So perhaps Eli felt some empathy with this woman who lived in shame as well.

 Hannah speaks up and explains herself, again reflecting her desperation thinking that perhaps this priest, who initially does not think well of her, might understand and intervene. Eli does the right thing. He offers her peace and prays that God will answer her prayer. Hannah went away comforted by Eli’s words and confident that God would do something. 

 “They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the LORD” (I Samuel 1:19-20).

 The faithfulness of Hannah continues. She did not ask God for a blessing and then hoard that blessing for herself. Samuel’s name comes from two Hebrew words, shamu and el. Of course, by now you know that the ‘el’ on the end of Hebrew names refers to God, elohim. So we have the names Dani-el, Ezeki-el, Jo-el, Micha-el, etc. The first word implies that God has heard Hannah’s request. It could mean ‘asked’ and so the name would be ‘asked from God’. Or it could mean ‘borrowed’ and so the name would be ‘borrowed from God’. 

 Hannah remembered her vow before God, that she would give her son back to God for his service. So, the idea that her son is ‘borrowed from God’ is a good lesson for all of us to learn. Everything good that we have comes from God. It is not our own, our possession, but rather God’s gift. In that sense, then, we are in no position to exclusively possess God’s gifts for ourselves but should give what God has entrusted to us back for his service. 

 That puts a different slant on what we do with our time, our money, and our family. When the offering plate comes around, when the pastor calls to invite you to serve in some ministry, or when your relative departs for some mission and thus leaves the family circle, you are only giving back to God what he has blessed you with in the first place. Be as generous with God as God has been with you.