A Worthless Woman

1 Samuel 1:1–2 ESV

1 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. 2 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.

There was this man whose name was ephraim… he had two wives… Peninnah and Hannah, Peninnah had children but Hannah had no children.

To be barren in ancient times was an ultimate tragedy for a married woman. Her husband’s hopes and dreams depended on her providing him with a son to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate.

1 Samuel 1:3 ESV

3 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.

Three times a year all Israelite men were required to be a the central, most important sanctuary to offer sacrifices in obervance of the main religious festivals.

Festivals were a time to rejoice in God’s blessings., especially if there was a large harvest.

1 Samuel 1:4–5 ESV

4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.

Elkanah would distribute portions of sacrificial meat to Penninnah and her children. Family members shared in certain of the sacrificial offerings brought to the Lord. But he provided Hannah a double portion because of his love for her. Perhaps Elkanah knew that which only God knew, that in time Hannah would be the mother of a baby.

1 Samuel 1:6–7 ESV

6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 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.

Peninnah had developed a sibling rivalry of sorts, with Hannah. She had taken to using the blessing of children as a tool against Hannah to hurt her and irritate her. The proper readinf of the word provoke in this passage is that she “kept provoking” Hannah. She didn’t start and do it once, it was an ongoing event for her to harrass Hannah because of her barrenness.

Second, it was the intention, the plan of Peninnah, to irritate her. The word irritate in this passage can actually mean to “thunder” against someone. Peninnah meant to thunder against Hannah, resulting in her perpetual irritation. She wanted to push her buttons… she wanted to get under her skin.

Hannah simply didn’t eat. It upset her, so she stopped eating.

And she wept. She was brought to tears by Peninnah’s actions of irritation and torment.

1 Samuel 1:8 ESV

8 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?”

Elkanah…why do you cry? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad?

Be sure you get this next little tid bit… Elkanah, in asking “Why is your heart sad?” is not asking the obvious. He knows why Hannah’s heart is sad- she wanted children and didn’t have them. And she was being tormented about it. Elkanah is actually asking, “Why are you resentful?” Why are you sad to the point of bitterness?

Some of the best advice I ever received was “stay sweet”. I had been in a tough situation and had gotten advice on several levels, but the best advice that has stuck with me all these years was this, “Stay sweet.” When it was told me, I got it.

One thing I know about pastoral ministry is this- each day is different and trials will always come. But stay sweet. The message is that you will have circumstances that are bitter, and they may be trying to make you bitter, but your task is to separate yourself from the bitter- and stay sweet.

I think that is a reflection of Hannah. She stayed sweet enough in a trying situation… barren, a rival wife slandering her, harassing her, trying to bring her down… and she knew her hope wasn’t in her rival but in her God.

If there were ever a person who should have been bitter it would have been Job… look at these things he said.

Job 7:11 ESV

11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Job knew God could handle his anguish. Job knew he could complain to God from the bitterness of his soul and God could take it.

Job 10:1 ESV

1 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 21:25 ESV

25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.

Job knew that not every complaint of prayer will be answered by God. He knew his bitterness could be until death.

Job 3:20 ESV

20 “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

Job knew that even though his pain was bad, he had to go on living. There was a purpose to the pain… even if he couldn’t see it when he was living through it.

1 Samuel 1:9 ESV

9 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.

1 Samuel 1:10 ESV

10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

1 Samuel 1:11 ESV

11 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.”

Hannah vowed a vow on behalf of her son. It was a vow of separation… a separation to the Lord, a vow of a Nazarite. It included

Abstaining from the use of grapes

Not shaving the hair on one’s head

Avoiding dead bodies.

The term “nazarite” doesn’t appear in the text, but it is presupposed by the text. See verse 11 where it says no razor will ever be used on his head.

Hannah recognized that children are a gift from God and that only God could enable conception and childbirth. Out of her gratitude, if given a son, she would give him back to the Lord. This really wasn’t anything special, as every Israelite Mother was expected to give her child back to the Lord…

Exodus 22:29 ESV

29 “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.

1 Samuel 1:12 ESV

12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.

1 Samuel 1:13 ESV

13 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.

Hannah’s prayer and her praying reveal something about her. She had a conscious, constant, and intimate relationship with God.

Have you ever identified a Christian without knowing they were a Christian? At the undisclosed location of my most recent vacation there were two requirements for her and one for me. A beach and a lazy river. And bikes.

We went to the lazy river,and the young lifeguard had been there for several days in a row and she obviously had taken the job for the summer. And she obviously was bored. After several days I said to her, “you look bored,” and she lit up- yes she was bored but it was her job. We got in the lazy river and we floated and everytime around she knew we were there, but she looked away… Janice said she’s a Christian, there’s something about her. Well, when we left, I said “you hang in there, it only gets better from here,” and she responded, “Oh, I know, but you pray for me. I need it and I believe in it.”

You know, if you watched Hannah pray, and you prayed… you would have understood her circumstance. You would have instantly knew her situation and something about her. But strangely enough, Eli, the priest and the representative of the religious establishment misses that point in the case of Hannah.

He sees Hannah praying, and her mouth is moving but no sound is coming out.

1 Samuel 1:14 ESV

14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”

How long will you be drunk? He really misunderstood her.

We’ve gone to bike week many times. And one of the sad realities of bike week is the number of motorcyclists that get killed that week. And often the number killed is the result of accidents… but some are the result of drunk driving.

You can see the drunkenness in someone that is drunk. Eli missed the obvious and misunderstood the important.

Eli didn’t see a praying woman he saw a drunken woman. And he couldn’t have been more wrong.

1 Samuel 1:15 ESV

15 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.

Hannah corrected Eli’s thoughts and observances. Hannah had not been pouring too many drinks.... she had been pouring her soul out to the Lord.

Hannah used an idiom for her praying. She had been pouring alright.... it was her soul she was pouring out before God.

Psalm 42:4 ESV

4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

Psalm 62:8 ESV

8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

Lamentations 2:19 ESV

19 “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”

1 Samuel 1:16 ESV

16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”

1 Samuel 1:17 ESV

17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”

The priest got it, acknowledged it, and blessed it. He said, may the God of Israel grant your prayer.

1 Samuel 1:18 ESV

18 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.

A pivotal moment. She left, she ate, and she was no longer sad.

Please note… she had not conceived yet, she had not been with her husband yet, she was no longer fasting, and she was no longer sad. She was walking in a different light and a different confidence.

1 Samuel 1:19 ESV

19 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.

Hannah now enjoyed worship. She became a different person. And the Lord answered her prayer.

1 Samuel 1:20 ESV

20 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.”

Hannah had a baby.

Samuel. “Name of God”.

The Worth of a Person is Found in the Depth of Their Soul

The worth of any person is found in the depth of their soul not in the appearance of their circumstance.

Visible Circumstances Are No Indicator of Invisible Realities.

(Faith is not a badge) T-shirt from Daytona Bike Week.

Hannah was first in Elkanah’s heart but last in the way things appeared. You would have never known it by the way things looked. This story shouts that Elkanah loved Hannah. He gave her a double portion. Very likely, he married Peninnah only because Hannah could not have children- not because he placed her in an equal position.

The outward translation of this situation for Hannah was that God had forgotten her.

When people looked, they would think God had forgotten Hannah.

When Hannah looked, there were times Hannah may have thought that God had forgotten Hannah.

But when God looked, and Hannah was childless, God saw a seed sprouting, a plant being strengthened, and fruit that on the vine that was waiting to be picked. Because God sees things we don’t.

The very child that is a result of this story illustrates this point wonderfully. Samuel, the baby eventually born to Hannah, would grow up to be a great servant of the Lord. And in 1 Samuel 16, God tells him to go to Jesse and find a new king for Israel. Jesse had 8 sons… the first on, Eliab, stands before Samuel and he sees a king. God doesn’t . 6 more sons come by, and none of them are king. Finally, God brings David by… and in the greatest passage ever David is described…with words that don’t look like a king… ruddy or redheaded, handsome, and beautiful eyes.

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

When Peninnah looked at Hannah, she saw a barren woman who she could make the aim of ridicule, a weak woman, a barren woman… but God saw Hannah.

Hannah was a survivor.

Past Performance Is No Indicator of Future Results

But Hannah was childless. In this society barrenness, an outward issue, said something about who you were. The lack of a child on the hip was a mark of God’s disfavor in your life.

Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

You and I have no idea of what God is going to do. Our job is to trust that whatever he does, it is what He’s chosen to do.

We walk by faith and not by sight. Past performance is no indicator of future results. His ways are not our ways. We walk by faith and not sight.

If I’m broken today it does not mean I can’t be whole tomorrow. Past Performance is no indicator of future results. His ways are not my ways. We walk by faith and not sight.

If you are hurt today it does not mean you will be hurt tomorrow. Past Performance is no indicator of future results. His ways are not my ways. We walk by faith and not sight.

If you are sad today it does not mean you will be hurt tomorrow. Past Performance is no indicator of future results. His ways are not my ways. We walk by faith and not sight.

Here’s what Hannah knew: Though she was childless today, it does not mean she would be childless in the future. Past Performance is no indicator of future results. His ways are not my ways. We walk by faith and not sight.

What I love about Hannah is this: She doesn’t change after she has a child. Hannah changes after she prays.

1 Samuel 1:18–19 ESV

18 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. 19 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.

The Depth of One’s Faith Determines Survival of Spiritual Sabotage

Hannah had a target on her back. Peninnah used the obvious to attack Hannah.

Satan uses physical weakness to destroy spiritual health.

You have not been successful until you’ve survived the sabotage.- Ed Friedman

The Worth of a Person is Found in the Depth of Their Soul

Job.

Hebrews 11:1–40 ESV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Visible Circumstances Are No Indicator of Invisible Realities.

Past Performance Is No Indicator of Future Results

The Depth of One’s Faith Determines Survival of Spiritual Sabotage