Hannah may be one of my new favorite women in the Bible. Her faith is incredible! I'm impressed by Hannah's actions before and after her pregnancy, so this post will be a little different then the previous ones.First of all, Hannah is married to Elkanah. Despite having two wives (I can't imagine living this way today!), Elkanah is a faithful follower of God. (Praise God for all of the great husbands out there!) He makes yearly trips to Shiloh to make sacrifices to God. He gives meat to his wife, Peninnah, and her children, and double to Hannah. You see, Hannah can't have children.
Peninnah treats Hannah horribly. For years, Peninnah makes fun of Hannah for being barren. It goes to such extremes that Hannah cries and stops eating. Can you imagine dealing with this woman? Elkanah tries to console her. Although he is sweet to her, he just can't help her right now. She turns to God for help. She prays and prays hard for a son. So hard in fact, that Elkanah thinks she's drunk! In her prayer, she says she will give her son over to God for life. After she prays, she eats something and is happy and confident.
Hannah becomes pregnant! She has a son she named Samuel. I don't know how long women nursed their children during this time, but as soon as she stopped nursing Samuel, she turned him over to live with Eli, the high priest.
Now wouldn't you want to flaunt this baby in front of Peninnah? Wouldn't you want to just thank God and go about your life, raising the son you so desperately wanted? Hannah is so selfless and thankful that she keeps her promise and leaves Samuel with Eli. She wants to see him grow up in the Lord. What an amazing faith!
5 comments:
I have always wondered why we weren't privileged to have Hannah's prayer recorded. I would have liked to hear her prayer. I just know she was praying so fervently they thought she was drunk. Then in keeping her word to the Lord I think she only saw her son once a year? How hard would that have been? I wonder if she lived long enough to see him grow to be a great prophet?
I love your posts Brooke. You bring up a great point about Hannah. What an amazing woman.
In regards to your comment on my blog....you can call or email me anytime you have a potty success story! :) You crack me up!
It's amazing to think of Hannah's faith. She prayed so hard for a child and then was willing to hand him over to God. I know I don't have that kind of faith. I'm selfish! I want to be with my son! :)
I like the fact that after she prayed as hard as she could, she got up, ate and was confident God would answer. I have trouble "turning it over to Him."
What about Biblical examples for Michael? This blog is getting kinda feminine. Remember, if it wasn't for Michael you wouldn't be pregnant.
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