As we concluded yesterday's passage we found Hannah so upset by her rival's taunts and by her childless state that she could not eat when the whole family went up to Shiloh for a religious holiday to worship the Lord at the tabernacle. The family remains there for several days and one evening at the conclusion of a meal, which she couldn't enjoy, Hannah leaves the group in despair and goes to the only place she can think to go to feel a sense of comfort: the house of the Lord.
"Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord's house. In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly." (1 Samuel 1:9-10) Eli is still the high priest but we'll learn later that he has turned most of his duties over to his immoral sons, Hophni and Phinehas. The Phinehas mentioned in 1 Samuel is not the same Phinehas mentioned in Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua---that Phinehas was the grandson of Aaron. The Phinehas of 1 Samuel was likely named in honor of Aaron's grandson but he does not possess the godly character of the earlier Phinehas.
Hannah prays to the Lord while the high priest looks on. "And she made a vow, saying, 'Lord Almighty, if you will only look on Your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget Your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.'" (1 Samuel 1:11) I feel certain that Hannah has prayed to the Lord many times before about her barren condition. The Lord is about to answer her prayer but in my opinion it's not because she's made this prayer a particular number of times or because she's making this prayer at His house or because she's promising Him her son will be a Nazirite all his life. The Lord is answering her prayer because it's the right time for Him to answer it.
Here is what I believe: He always intended to answer her prayer in the affirmative. He said "yes" the very first time she prayed it, just as in the book of Daniel we'll find Daniel being told that the Lord heard his prayer and said "yes" the instant he prayed it but that other things had to be put in place before Daniel saw his prayer being answered. (Daniel 10:12-14) The Lord was not ignoring Hannah during the years she was barren. He wasn't cold-hearted toward her feelings of sadness. If He had not given her strength and endurance I don't think she'd have held up as well as she has. He also comforted her through her husband, who was kinder to her "than ten sons" as we were told in yesterday's passage. It's just that the birth of Samuel had to occur at the right time in Israel's history.
There have been times when the Lord sent the answer to my prayers while I was still praying. I love it when that happens, don't you? Don't we all wish it happened that way every time? But then there are those prayers we keep praying for years before we receive what we've been asking for. In those cases the Lord said "yes" the first time we asked Him---before we asked Him, really, because He knows all things and He knows the plans He has for us---but the timing wasn't yet right for Him to fulfill our request. Sometimes we make the mistake of believing the Lord has said "no" because there is a delay in seeing our requests granted. But that is often not the case at all. He is saying "yes" but also "wait".
Hannah is praying in her heart while she weeps. Her mouth is moving along with the words she's thinking but she's not saying anything out loud. Eli observes her crying hysterically and moving her lips with no sound coming out and he assumes she is drunk, as we'll see momentarily. During the era of the judges, when "everyone did as he saw fit", and during Eli's spiritually lazy tenure as high priest, it had evidently become common for some of the people to become drunk during the annual feasts at Shiloh. These pilgrimages to Shiloh and the feasts that accompanied them were supposed to be held in honor of the Lord. But it appears as if the feasts had turned into evenings of debauchery for some. "As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, 'How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.'" (1 Samuel 1:12-14) We'll learn later on that Eli has lost much of his spiritual discernment but here in Chapter 1 he still has enough respect for the Lord to be offended at the thought of somebody having a drunken crying jag at the Lord's house. He says words intended to shame her for her behavior.
"'Not so, my lord,' Hannah replied. 'I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.'" (1 Samuel 1:15-16) In Chapter 2 we'll be told that there were some wicked women who hung out near the tabernacle and engaged in illicit relations with Eli's sons. Hannah says, "Don't mistake me for one of those! I am not here for immoral purposes and I haven't touched a drop of alcohol. I came to the house of the Lord because it was the only place I could think to go where I might feel comforted. I am in great anguish and grief and wanted to pour my heart out to the Lord in a place where I would feel closest to Him."
Eli seems to be moved by this woman's words, although he doesn't know what her troubles are. "Eli answered, 'Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.' She said, 'May your servant find favor in your eyes.' Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast." (1 Samuel 1:17-18) I don't know whether or not Hannah felt it in her heart that her prayer was about to be answered. But we don't have to know that in order to feel better after spending time with the Lord. Many times I've felt comforted and strengthened just from spending time with Him even though I said "amen" without having any idea how things would go. I still didn't know for sure whether the Lord's answer was "yes" or "no" but I knew that whatever He chose would be best. I went on about my day knowing that my needs and wants were safe in His hands. I think maybe that's why Hannah feels so much better that she's able to eat now: she's spent time with the Lord and feels certain that whatever He does will be the right thing for her. She's made up her mind to be at peace with whatever He does.
The religious holiday is over now and families who live outside of Shiloh are making the trek back home. "Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home in Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I asked the Lord for him.'" (1 Samuel 1:19-20) This name means "heard by God".
When the Bible uses the words "heard" or "remembered" it doesn't mean that the Lord is ever deaf to anyone's cries or that He ever forgets about anyone. This type of hearing and remembering indicates action. The Lord didn't merely hear Hannah's prayers for a child; He heard them with a "yes" in His mind. The Lord never forgot about all the times Hannah prayed for a son; the "remembering" means the day came when He answered the prayer.
If our passage today had to be given a theme I think it would be "in the course of time" from verse 20. The Lord didn't give Hannah a son until the right time had come for Samuel to be born. He wasn't ignoring her prayers during the years she struggled with infertility. His heart was never cold toward her distress. His ears were never closed to her cries. At no time was His answer a "no"; it was a "wait". In the right time and in the right way He came through with a miracle. It would not have been a miracle if He'd allowed Hannah to become pregnant within the first year or two of her marriage. That would have been common and expected by most young wives of her day. We often hear people use the phrase "the miracle of birth" but this is actually just the human body doing what it's designed to do. When the body does exactly what it's supposed to do, it's not a miracle. Birth happens every second of the day all over the world. But when a child is born to a woman who is absolutely and undoubtedly infertile, that's a miracle! And that miracle gave Hannah a strength of faith she wouldn't have had if bearing children had come easily to her. It gave Elkanah a strength of faith he wouldn't have had if he didn't know firsthand that this had to be a miracle of the Lord. It gave Samuel the strength of faith to believe in and trust the Lord when He called him to be both a judge and a prophet. It gave the people of Israel a reason to trust Samuel as the Lord's chosen religious and political leader of that time.
Sometimes the answer to our prayers seems like it's taking too long. But the Lord knows exactly the right time to bring it to pass so that it will bring Him the most glory and provide us with an enormous boost to our faith.
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