1 Samuel 1:19-28
As we introduce the birth of Samuel, it is important to look at what is happening to the people of Israel. They were led into the promised land by Joshua, and that would have been a timeline of around the end of the fifteenth century B.C., to the latter part of eleventh century B.C., when Samuel came on the scene a period of around 300 years. If you go to Judges 17:6, it becomes apparent that people then as is true today, had a head theology and not a heart faith. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
By the time of Samuel’s birth, there had been about 14 judges appointed by God to lead his people, some rescued them and brought them back, while others were part of the problem. Eli and his two sons were at the time of Israel’s moral and spiritual descent, and Eli had ruled over Israel for 40 years. Samuel would be the last of the judges and would be the one that saw the transition from a theocracy to a monarchy.
I’m sure that both Elkanah and Peninnah both saw the change that had taken place in Hannah’s life, she was free from the bondage of being childless, she had a promise from Eli, and she believed God had spoken to her through him. The next morning before going back home to Raman about five miles from Jerusalem, Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the Lord. One would assume that Peninnah was back at the camp taking care of her children.
Now if Hollywood made a movie about this, we would have a wild love scene and within days she would be pregnant, but that is not the account we find in Scripture. In verse 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.” It gets interesting in verses 21-22, “The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.”
We need to turn back to the book of Numbers 30:10-15 and find out Hannah and Elkanah were in total harmony on the vow to the Lord. If not all the husband had to do was speak up in opposition on the day he hears them, then her vow is null and void.
So we see Hannah staying home till the child is about three years of age and then he and also she is ready to fulfill the pledge made to God. The Lord knew her heart, and it gave Hannah time to pour truth and wisdom into this gift that God was going to make the last judge of Israel. Verses 24-28, “And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child, I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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