Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
In our world today promises are wonderful when honored and kept, aren’t they? Marriage promises, employment promises, athletic promises, political promises… and so many other types of promises. But too often promises are forgotten, broken or ignored, and in the wake of those actions are a great many broken hearts. As you look around your city, your extended family, do you see that to be true?
Yesterday we spent some time with Hannah and her husband Elkanah in the small town of Ramah, Israel around 1100bc. Miraculously Hannah had given birth to her firstborn child after many years of infertility. She and Elkanah had named their son “Samuel” which means ‘heard by God’ because Hannah had prayed diligently to God begging for God’s miraculous work in opening her womb so she could become pregnant and hopefully bear them a son who could carry on the family name. Their hope was that every time someone called out the name “Samuel” it would be a reminder that God does hear and answer prayer!
We can only imagine what those first months and years were like for Hannah and Samuel as she poured her love into her son especially by telling him over and over about the Almighty God of Israel who had answered her prayer and blessed her with Samuel! At the same time, we should assume Hannah’s heart was beginning to grow anxious as little Samuel learned to walk and talk, for soon Hannah and Elkanah would face the gut-wrenching decision regarding the vow Hannah had made to God before Samuel was conceived.
The Samuel record reminds us that “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And Hannah made a vow to God saying: ‘O LORD Almighty, if You will only look upon Your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget Your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” (1 Samuel 1:10,11)
It was a Nazarite vow of consecration. Now, as Samuel perhaps a bit more than 3 years old, with his uncut curly hair flowing down to his shoulders, Hannah and Elkanah both knew the time was soon approaching that they would face the decision of honoring or ignoring the vow Hannah had made! Can you imagine the conversations they had as they watched their son play around their home or sit at the table or lay down for the night? Did they waver regarding Hannah’s vow to God?
We see no evidence of that in the Samuel record, rather it says, “When Samuel was weaned, Hannah took her son, young as he was…and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.” (1 Samuel 1:24) While it does not specify the exact time, I presume it was annual worship trip Elkanah and his whole family took, and they brought with them sacrifices to offer to the LORD.
After they had finished their sacrifice worship, the time came for their presentation of their little son Samuel to Eli. “They brought the boy to Eli the High Priest,and Hannah said to him, ‘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 Samuel will be given over to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 1:27-28)
Let’s pause and watch this amazing ‘defining moment’. It’s a defining moment because little Samuel’s life will never be the same after today, neither will the lives of his parents Elkanah and Hannah. Eli the High Priest’s life was also changing that day for suddenly he now had responsivity to parent, mentor, teach, and guide Samuel in knowing God, hearing the voice of God, discerning God’s leading in his life and obeying God in everything God will ever instruct Samuel to do.
Tears undoubtedly ran down Hannah’s face, Samuel’s too. We’ve all watched parents send their children off to school that first day so it’s not difficult for us to imagine this painful moment, is it? Did Hannah have to tear little Samuel’s hands away from his clutching her skirts and place his hands in the hands of Eli? Did Samuel cry out loud, begging his parents not to leave him? Did Eli have to pick little Samuel up in his arms and carry him, kicking and screaming, into the Tabernacle, away from Hannah and Elkanah? What could possibly bring comfort to Hannah’s breaking heart now? What could her husband say or do?
But wait a moment, look. Hannah has turned her tear-filled eyes upward toward heaven, opened up her arms and with hands uplifted, Hannah is praying! She’s not screaming out to God in pain, she’s praying, and her words are actually praise! Listen to her: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my strength is lifted up. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in Your deliverance, O LORD. There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one beside You; there is no Rock like our God…” (1 Samuel 2:1,2)
How is this possible? The little son Hannah has longed for, prayed for, waited on God so long for, is now in the care of Eli the High Priest, a man she really does not know at all. Never again will little Samuel sit at her table or lay down in her bed. Samuel is now given over to the LORD…whatever that will mean for him here at Shiloh under the watchful eye of Eli.
How long Elkanah and Hannah remained at Shiloh after that ‘defining moment’ of fulfilling Hannah’s vow and entrusting their son to Eli, we don’t know. I suspect it was that very same day, that Elkanah and Hannah began their journey home to Ramah, without Samuel. The record only gives us this one statement: “Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli the High Priest.” (1 Samuel 2:11) What exactly does it mean ‘the boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli the High Priest’? I do not know.
Samuel was probably between 3 & 4 years of age. Eli would immediately begin teaching Samuel everything a little boy normally learns from his parents. But in addition, Eli would teach Samuel the wonderful history of this magnificent Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle, the place where men of God had encounters with the living God! Eli would teach Samuel all he had ever learned about God and the history of God’s people Israel.
As people came to worship God at Shiloh, Eli would explain why they came, what the significance of their sacrifices were, and how to help them meet with God. There would be little time for playing normal childhood games. While I presume many children lived in the town of Shiloh, Samuel was taught to remain at the Tabernacle, learning about God and serving the people who came to worship God.
Meanwhile Elkanah led his family, including his dear wife Hannah, back to their home in Ramah. For Hannah, oh the price now of honoring her vow to God. Everywhere around their home Hannah saw little reminders of Samuel and she was flooded with precious memories. Every day, many times a day she wondered ‘what is Samuel doing’? She prayed for him, oh she longed to see him and hold him. Oh, the price of honoring her vow to God!
How God comforted Hannah in these days, weeks and months, I cannot tell you, but one thing she did the record tells us is: “Each year Hannah made a little robe for Samuel and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 2:19) Perhaps Hannah began sewing that first little robe very soon after they returned from leaving Samuel at Shiloh, and with each stitch, I imagine Hannah prayed, both thanking God for His miraculous provision of Samuel, asking God to bless and protect Samuel, and probably asking God if He would be kind enough to bless Hannah with another child?
Now friends, let’s pause and ponder. What price have you paid to keep your promises, to honor your vows before God? In fairness we must also ask, and what price have you paid when you broke your promises, especially your promises to God?
As we listen to this worship song, let’s reflect deeply on what we’ve seen and heard today, and give serious consideration to how important our promises are!
Today’s Scripture is 1 Samuel 1:24-2:11.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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