Closed Womb
The events leading up to the birth of the Jewish prophet, Samuel, compose a dramatic story of adversaries, love, and anguish turned to joy. It is a story of a woman's walk through barrenness to dream fulfillment that resulted in the birth of one of the most pivotal people in the Old Testament and Jewish history. The story is told in the first chapter of the first book of Samuel.
Hannah, Samuel's mother, was married to a man named Elkanah. He was a righteous man. Elkanah had a second wife. Peninnah, wife number two, was blessed with sons and daughters. Hannah, on the other hand, had no children because "the Lord had closed her womb." (1 Samuel 1:5-6) The imbalance between the two wives in childbearing created strife as Peninnah intentionally provoked Hannah over the matter. It seems that Peninnah was prone to use the blessing God had placed in her life to throw cold water on Hannah because she did not share the same blessing.
Peninnah's provocation only served to increase Hannah's longing for a child. As the years passed and this longing remained unfulfilled, Hannah became anguished, even to the point of not eating the double portion her loving husband provided her. Then came the fateful trip the family made to the temple in Shiloh. After one of their meals, Hannah went to the temple. Eli, the priest, was seated at the temple door, and he watched Hannah as she knelt down to earnestly pray. As the old priest watched the woman, he noticed her lips moved, but she said nothing. This led him to believe Hannah was drunk. Eli reprimanded the temple visitor, "How long are you going to stay drunk. Put away your wine." (1 Samuel 1:14).
Although the priest's actions seem a bit brash, he should be afforded some latitude. Eli was a priest during the end of the Judges period of Israel's history. This time was described as a generation "who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel." (Judges 2:10-12) During the time of Judges, the Israelites did evil in the sight of God, and they turned their backs on the Lord. It was a bad time to be a priest. Eli's own sons, also serving as priests, were "scoundrels" with "no regard for the Lord." (1 Samuel 2:12). So it is understandable that Eli would jump to conclusions about Hannah's fitness to pray.
Hannah’s is a story of perseverance. The result was the first prophet of Israel. Let us never give up.
However, in this instance, Eli misinterpreted Hannah's desperate prayer for drunkenness, and Hannah let him know. "'Not so my lord,' Hannah replied. ‘I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.’" (1 Samuel 1:15). The priest very quickly backtracked and turned his reprimand into a blessing: "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him." (1 Samuel 1:17)
The following day, Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah, and her brood returned home to the town of Ramah. Later on, Elkanah and Hannah made love, and "the Lord remembered her." (1 Samuel 1:19). Hannah got pregnant and bore a son. She named the child Samuel, a word similar to the Hebrew word "heard by God." Samuel grew, and after he was weaned, his mother took him to the temple in Shiloh along with a sacrifice. After the offering was complete, the mother presented the boy to Eli and said, "Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." (1 Samuel 1:26-28) Eli worshiped the Lord.
Thank you for reading through the detailed account of this story and through all the references. I wanted to thoroughly recount the story to lay out the spiritual nuggets found in it. This story is not just an endearing account of a mother whose desire to have a child was fulfilled; Samuel was not average. This longed-for baby, conceived through the desperate prayers of his mother, grows into the final Judge of Israel and the first prophet. A man who would lead the Israelite nation out of an age of continual conflict with surrounding nations into the time of the Jewish kings and prophets. Under Samuel, Israel would move from a people who possessed a promised land to a nation that displayed the splendor and glory of God to all countries and peoples.
What made Samuel this type of leader? The answers are in the preceding paragraphs, and herein are the spiritual truths we need to understand. It may seem a heavy burden to carry for Hannah. Childless, yet living in a house with a woman who has given birth to numerous children with the same man you make love to. If that's not enough, the other woman is a petty creature who ridicules you for your barrenness! That would certainly drive a person to extremes, like praying earnestly for a child and committing that child's life in service to the Lord. How about the provision of a loving husband who prefers you despite your barrenness? Is it possible that Hannah would have given up on her dream without Elkanah? Absolutely! But God gave her a husband who truly loved her. Then there is the old priest. If it were not for Eli's predisposition to believing that everybody was doing wrong, he likely would have never talked to Hannah. His error in judging her drunk set the stage for a blessing to bring forth a deliverer of Israel. No wonder the priest worshiped God. He was looking at answered prayer and a blessing from heaven!
There is no indication that God asked Hannah to devote her son to serving Him. He didn't need to ask. Hannah was ready to do it because she realized the gift that she had been given was not for her alone. Samuel was for the nation of Israel. God had worked in her life, and through her, God would provide a person to lead her people back to God. Where does the scripture point this out? In Hannah's prayer. The very next chapter of the book includes a prayer said by Hannah. At the end of the prayer, Hannah says something very interesting. Speaking of almighty God, Her prayer closes with "He will give strength to His king and anoint the horn of His anointed." (1 Samuel 2:10b). Hannah was prophesying of a time when her son would appoint the first king of Israel and anoint the second.
So Christian, remember this:
Sometimes God puts barrenness in our lives. That barrenness is not punishment, it is motivation toward earnest prayer. If we will persevere, if we do not give up, God will use us to bring forth someone and/or something that will change the world.