Context: The context of this time is the period of the judges, after Israel settled in the promised land, when they were repeatedly lapsing into all kinds of syncretism and idolatry. The Philistines were a thorn in the side of Israel. Actually, Israel was being a thorn in its own side, constantly falling into sin. We see in the first few chapters of 1 Samuel that the priests of the tabernacle were grievously disobeying God. Samuel is the last judge before God gave Israel a king Saul in 1 Samuel 9. That sets the stage for Hannah, whose story we hear in chapter 1. Quick summary:
- She was one wife of two, maybe Elkanah took the second because Hannah was barren. Year after year, Hannah could not bear children. The other wife is viewed as a rival: Penninah provoked Hannah about her barrenness.
- Hannah prays to God about her affliction and vows to dedicate her son as a Nazirite (a comment from one of the men in the group led me to think of Hannah as a microcosm of Israel - her affliction in barrenness is like Israel's during the time of the judges and in the future, cf. Isaiah 54:1).
- Eli sees her pray, initially thinks she is drunk, then blesses her. The Lord remembers her and gives her a son. She names him Samuel, for “I have asked for him from the Lord.”
- She weans him, probably for 3 years since she sacrificed a 3 year old bull at the time of his dedication. Much could be said about this. To end chapter 1, as long as he lives, Samuel is “dedicated” or “lent” to the Lord. This leads into Hannah's prayer.
One of the things I learned while preparing this devotional is that Samuel’s name was given because his mother “asked for him from the Lord,” which is interesting because the Hebrew word for "asked" is actually Saul. When Hannah says, “As long as he lives, he is lent or dedicated to the Lord,” the Hebrew word for "lent" or "dedicated" is actually Saul. Hannah "Sauled" Samuel to the Lord. This makes it a bit ironic when later in the book of Samuel, we see Saul is who the Israelites ask for as a king. God already gave the Israelites a true Saul, a good judge. But that wasn’t enough for them. Even when Samuel warned of what kind of king they would receive, they chose that path. God providentially worked it out according to His will - as He does with all things - but not without a little discipline first.
This all sets the stage for Hannah's prayer, which is structured chiastically – everything matches on both ends of the prayer. The first and last parts of the prayer are similar (vs 1-2 compared to the last part of verse 10): Hannah exalts the Lord, her horn, and the horn of the Lord. Hannah and the anticipated Messiah are both exalted. When we exalt God, God exalts us because we are united with Him. Hannah's and her family's faith are contrasted with Eli's in the rest of the chapter. Hannah also anticipates a king - the true king, the Messiah, not a mere human king.
Then the prayer is bookended (compare verses 2-4 to verse 9-10a) with references to our salvation by the silence of prideful wicked, our enemies who are also God’s enemies. Their strength or might will be broken into pieces by God. Our God is a rock: rocks are great places to seek refuge, but they can also be used to break idols or enemies of God, like we see the great mountain of God in Daniel 2 or in execution-stonings.
Verse 5 then matches verse 8, where God reverses the fortunes of His people who are oppressed or cursed, whereas the wicked who have exalted themselves are now humbled or forlorn – this brings with it a word of caution to us when we find ourselves in blessed circumstances. Whatever we have, we have received from God, and it can just as easily be taken away from us as it was given to us.
Finally, the center of the prayer is verses 6-7, which emphasize that God is in control of all things. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. As I was studying this passage, I came across Proverbs 30:16, which describes Sheol as "the barren womb." It certainly sounds like Hannah understood that she was a barren woman whose womb was a place of lifelessness, and that life could only come from God. Her conception of Samuel is, therefore, a kind of resurrection from death in which God raises up life from Sheol. This is exactly what God did with us when He gave birth to us again by His Spirit. It's exactly what He did in raising Jesus from the grave.
This gives a whole new perspective on how we can view all the passages in Scripture that speak to the barrenness of woman: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Mary (someone noted Noah was 500 when he finally fathered his sons). For example, because Abraham had already witnessed God’s power to resurrect life from death in bringing the promised son forth from Sarah's lifeless womb, when he was asked to sacrifice his promised son in Genesis 22, he could reasonably expect, as Hebrews 11:19 tells us, that Isaac would be resurrected. His initial lack of faith in seeking out Hagar changed - Abraham should have remembered that God initially brought forth Adam's life from dust as a kind of resurrection (cf. 1 Samuel 2:8, 1 Corinthians 15).
One of the comments from the men after I closed my devotional was that we should be careful not to put having and raising children on a pedestal - which is absolutely true. If someone asks you as a married man or woman, "When are you going to start a family," your answer should be, "We started one when we got married." I remember a sermon by Voddie Baucham in which he pointed out that eventually, kids will grow up and leave the father and mother to start their own families. Having and raising kids, while a blessing, is not the be all, end all of life. Eventually, it comes back to where you started: you and your wife.
For any in the church who have anxiety about the issue of barrenness, we have the further encouragement of being adopted as sons and daughters of God. We are all adopted members of our Father's heavenly family in being united to the natural Son. Just so, anyone who is unable to have natural born children (like Voddie Baucham) can consider adoption, which truly grafts a child into an earthly family just like we have truly been grafted into God's family.
Even to those who are not married, we have the encouragement that we can, like the Ethiopian eunuch, rejoice at the prospect of bringing sons and daughters into our family of the church by our witness to them. Earthly family was and should be patterned after the heavenly family. Mother church brings forth sons and daughters only by providing the water of the word, with our Father causing the growth, bringing forth land from water as He did on the third day (!) of creation. We water others by living out God's word of light, being lights before others, which God uses to shine in the darkness of others, just as He did in shining the light of the Truth - the Word of Life, His Son - in us. Likewise, it is God who overcomes physical lifelessness or barrenness that sin has caused. Any kids you give birth to is not by your own power - God kills and raising to life. He gives but can take away. What do you have that you have not received? Be not proud, but humble. Only then will you be exalted.
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