Hannah & The God Who Remembers

ME- Clear & Compelling Introduction

I’m a big gift-giver. But, not in the cheap, “Here’s a $20 gift card to Chili’s” kinda gift giver I mean the “Oh my goodness how did you remember!?” kind of gift giver. If you mention in passing that you like this really obscure TV show from the early-to-late 2000s, best believe I've made a mental note and that you will be receiving a piece of memorabilia from said show. I truly see gift-giving as a litmus test of how well you know your friends. How well you remember their interests, what they need, and what they’d like. It’s one thing to say we listen to our friends, it is a different thing to say we remember them. Remembrance is like listening that lingers. It’s a kind of perpetual listening. It’s nice to know someone takes the things we say and puts them into memory.

WE - Transition

It’s nice to know someone takes the things we say and puts them into memory. What if I told you God is like this? What if I told you that even when everyone else forgets you that God simply isn't the God who sees or the God who hears, but the God who remembers? Let me tell you the story of Hannah & The God Who Remembers.

GOD- God’s Word in Context

“How a story begins is important. As the book of Samuel opens, we find ourselves at the end of the period of the judges. But kingship is in the air. The book will, in due course, recount the lives of powerful men and far-reaching political changes. But it begins with the story of a woman in pain. "With all its human interest, Hannah’s story serves a much larger purpose in the book of Samuel."

1 Samuel 1:1–20 ESV

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. 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?” 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.” 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.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”

Problem: The LORD has closed Hannah’s womb. Hannah is barren.

Process: Hannah rises as she seeks the face of the Lord at the Temple of Shiloh. Promises to The Lord that she will dedicate the potential child to Him.

Climax: The LORD speaks through Eli and confirms that she will bare a son.

Resolution: The LORD remembers Hannah and blesses her with Samuel.

Close: “God hears you and remembers you even when others don’t.”

Story

In the opening paragraph, we are introduced to our main characters and are given a good chunk of exposition concerning them. We are told of a man named Elkanah and his two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Elkanah and the rest of his kin travel to Shiloh annually to offer sacrifices to The LORD, and that is where they find themselves at this point of the story. Through Hannah, we are introduced to the narrative’s conflict, The Lord has closed Hannah’s womb. This builds tension within the family as Peninnah (meaning fruitful and having children of her own) provokes Hannah.

Scholarly Insight

“The text does not tell us directly. But if Hannah was Elkanah’s first wife, as may be suggested by the fact that she is named first before Peninnah in verse 2, then perhaps it was her childlessness that led Elkanah to take a second wife. If so, then neither childless Hannah nor second-wife, baby-producing Peninnah (whose name may suggest something like ‘fruitful’ or ‘fecund’) can have been very happy.” Long, Philips V.. 1 and 2 Samuel: 08 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) (pp. 36-37). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

As an answer to this domestic conflict, Elkanah treats Hannah to a double portion of food. Hannah, understandably enough, has lost her appetite. Pro-tip, extra food isn't the answer to someone’s pain of infertility. Elkanah grows frustrated.

Scholarly Insight

“Elkanah’s reaction to Hannah’s unhappiness is worth noting: “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?” This is hardly the response of a patriarch who can see value in women only as childbearers and implies the possibility of a relationship in which love was more important than childbearing. It should be noted, however, that Elkanah was not himself childless. His society gave him the opportunity, and he was apparently able to afford, to have both a wife to love and a wife to make children. Since he had already filled his need for a family to remember and honor him (the only kind of “immortality” known to these narratives), his lack of understanding for Hannah’s unhappiness begins to look less sentimental and more naive or even insensitive.” Women’s Bible Commentary, Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe Eds., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1992, p.95-96.

“The poor man does his best to handle the situation, but we guys are clueless about understanding women. “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” Actually, Elkanah, no. Don't apply a band-aid to a wound. Get her to talk about it more.” John Goldingay, 1 And 2 Samuel for Everyone London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2018, 6-7.

Action Step

Too often we try to cure someone’s pain at a rapid rate. We get frustrated that someone is upset when everything is going well in our lives. We must be people that walk through people's pain as opposed to just trying to get rid of it at a moment's notice. “There is a difference between curing and healing, and I believe the church is called to the slow and difficult work of healing. We are called to enter into one another’s pain, anoint it as holy, and stick around no matter the outcome.”- Rachel Held Evans We are in the slow and steady business of healing not curing. And no amount of food will ever cure the pain of infertility. It is almost as if Elkanahs wants to forget the situation, Hannah’s situation. When we actively choose to forget the pain of the people around us we in turn forget a piece of them.

Hannah rises from her place and enters the temple of Shiloh to make her plea to God for a child.

Scholarly Insight

“To the narrator, and presumably his audience, childlessness was not understood as a physical phenomenon, but as a decision of God – and, indeed, in some instances as a punishment from God (see Genesis 20). Hannah seems to agree with this understanding and takes her case directly to Yahweh. If it is Yahweh who ”closed her womb,” only Yahweh can give her children. She goes to the temple and vows that if Yahweh will give her a son, she will, in effect, give him back to Yahweh as a temple servant. This vow is in itself telling: far from wanting a child for emotional comfort, she is offering to forgo the pleasure of having him with her while he is growing up. She seems simply to want to give birth to a son.”Women’s Bible Commentary, Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe Eds., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1992, p.95-96.

It is here that we encounter the climax of the narrative, in which Hannah vows to dedicate the child to God and give him up to God's service. The LORD answers Hannah’s plea and promises her a child through the help of Eli.

Scholarly Insight

In Israel one gave the firstfruits of animals and of the harvest to Yahweh, probably in hopes of receiving in return the blessing of continued fertility.... If Hannah’s offer to dedicate her firstborn to Yahweh can be seen in this light, her motives are more complex. She does not simply desire the societal status and relief from rival-wife torment that bearing a son would bring but also “offers up” her firstborn to Yahweh in hopes of receiving morechildren in return.Women’s Bible Commentary, Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe Eds., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1992, p.95-96.

She then goes back to Elkanah, lays with him, and gives birth to a boy named Samuel. God remembered Hannah even when others chose not to.

In a book that centers around the royal monarchy of Israel, it can seem irrelevant to include a story of a barren woman. But the story goes to show that even the characters that we deem“insignificant” and/or “minor” have major impacts in God’s story. No one is insignificant in the eyes of the Lord, all are important and are cared for by the Creator God. To God, all people are worth being put to memory, even the “smallest characters.”

YOU- Application

Maybe today you are walking through a time of pain and hurt. Maybe it's recurring. Maybe it's been around for a while. Maybe, like Hannah, you too have been overlooked and have been crying to God. Perhaps, you walked in today and this is your first time or your millionth time. Whatever the case, I pray that this story washes over you and reminds you that if God remembers the story and prayers of a lowly barren woman in the middle of the Ancient Near East, He remembers you as well. Your story matters to the Creator of the Universe. He has put you, your words, your pains, your joys, and everything in between, to memory. They run through His mind and never go unnoticed. He is the God who remembers.

WE- Vision

As Image Bearers, we are called to be God’s representatives in the world. When we read/listen to the story of Hannah this should propel us to be people who both trust that God remembers us, and also be people who remember the ones around us. In this sense, we both grow deeper in our relationship with the Lord as well as the people we encounter on a daily basis. If God considers each person significant and worthy of remembrance maybe we ought to look at everyone the same way. Maybe we’d learn to love deeper, care gentler and remember more names! Maybe we would better reflect the Image of God within us.

Bibliography

Evans, Rachel Held. Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2015.

Goldingay, John. 1 And 2 Samuel for Everyone. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2018.

Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2001.

Long, V. Philips. 1 And 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020.

Newsom, Carol Ann. Women's Bible Commentary. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.