The Great Reversal

Preached by Ben Bechtel

May 8, 2016

It is a joy this morning for me to have the privilege to bring the word of God before you. And it is a special honor to open this specific portion of the Bible to you all on a day we set aside to honor our mothers. This morning we are going to begin our series in 1 Samuel. The books of Samuel (there is a 2 Samuel but they were written as one book) begin historically where the book of Judges left off. And if there is one thing you should remember about the book of Judges from when Jason and Benjamin walked through it last summer it should be that things were not good. This is a huge understatement. The sin of the people of Israel was so great that the tagline for Judges becomes “they did what was right in their own eyes.” Due to their lawlessness and rebellion God allowed them to be oppressed by many people, lastly the Philistines. When we open our Bibles to the beginning of 1 Samuel we will find that the spiritual house of Israel is in similar disorder. We will encounter priests using their position to sleep with women and the people of Israel using the ark as a sort of spiritual totem to gain God’s favor in battle just to name a few unsavory moments. By and large the nation is continuing to do what seems right to them in their blind, sinful eyes. And the nation is still dealing with those pesky Philistines.The book of 1 Samuel when you boil it down is a story primarily about three characters: Samuel, Saul, and David. We will read in the coming weeks about how Samuel is the figure God raises up to transition His people from the era of the judges into the era of the monarchy. We will read of Saul, the first king of Israel, who begins his reign looking like a good king but ends up rebelling against God. And we will read of David, the man after God’s own heart, whom God appoints to be the king in Israel after Saul. It is interesting that this epic book, which contains stories of kings, battles, spies, and the slaying of a giant, begins with the story of an ordinary Israelite woman. This particular story, which we will look at today, tells of how God works through the suffering, prayers, and tears of this woman named Hannah in order to further His saving purposes for the whole world by making her a mother.Let’s begin by reading this story together in 1 Samuel 1:1-2:10 (page 288):

1 Samuel 1:1-2:10

1:1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 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.”21 The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22 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.” 23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 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. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 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. 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 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.2:1 And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.2 “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
 3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. 
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
 6 The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. 
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. 
8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world.9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. 
10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

There are three pieces of this story that we will look at together this morning. In this opening section of 1 Samuel we see a suffering woman, a sovereign king, and a surprising turn of events.

1. A Suffering Woman

This whole account at the beginning of the book of 1 Samuel centers on Hannah. She is the wife of Elkanah, a man of some means in that day and age.1 As we read in verse 3 and following we see that he is also a faithful man who loves God. Each year he would take his whole family up to Shiloh, the location of the tabernacle in that time, to worship God and sacrifice. However, we also quickly find out from these accounts that Hannah is not the only wife of Elkanah. He has another wife named Peninnah. And Peninnah has many children, but Hannah doesn’t have any. She is barren, the ultimate sign of shame for a woman in that time because she could not produce any heirs to continue the family line.And when they go up to the tabernacle to sacrifice, as was the custom, Peninnah receives portions of the meat due to the amount of children she had. All the while, Hannah only receives portions for herself because she had no children. And Peninnah reminds her of this constantly. She rubs it in her face in an annoying and childlike fashion. As Hannah goes up to worship God year after year after year she can’t help that feeling of dread that wells up within her. She loves God and desires to worship Him in the yearly sacrifice but she knows what’s coming: disappointment, mocking, heartbreak. She watches Peninnah feasting with all of her children but she goes back home barren and hungry yet again. How can she eat when all that does is remind her that there are no children to sit around the table with her? She knows her husband loves her and means well by what he said but he cannot begin to understand the pain she feels. In fact, she feels no one can.This is the somber note which sounds the beginning of 1 Samuel. Not only should we take note of Hannah’s great suffering but also her great faithfulness to God. Look at verses 10-14 again:

10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” 12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”

Notice what Hannah does with her suffering—she brings it before the Lord. This isn’t a cleaned up version of Hannah. She is weeping bitterly and deeply distressed. She is broken and raw, laying her hopes and desires before God. And yet she does it with such humility and respect for who God is. Look at how she refers to herself as “your servant.” She is praying with so much fervor and passion that Eli the high priest takes her to be drunk! The fact that Eli does not assume she is praying in the house of God but rather that she is drunk shows the spiritual state of the nation, which we will see even more clearly in next week’s passage. This faithlessness is in direct contrast with Hannah’s faithfulness. Her devotion to the Lord is such that she vows to give up her child, if God grants her one, to His service.One of the things that is so encouraging to me about this passage and the Christian faith in general is that it takes suffering seriously and looks at it realistically. Hannah in this passage is showing symptoms of what we would call depression today. She is not eating and going through fits of weeping. But the Bible does not tell Hannah or us simply to get over our suffering. Nor does it tell us that our suffering isn’t a big deal and it will all work out in the end. God isn’t in the business of cliché truth. Rather, the Bible tells us that we have a God who weeps with us. Jesus weeps at the death of Lazarus not only because His friend has died. He weeps at the death of Lazarus because of the suffering and heartbreak in the world as a result of the fall.Friend your suffering is not trivial. God does not see your suffering as trivial. Whatever barrenness you are experiencing right now in your life, whether that be the actual inability to have children, or the fact that your children have turned from the Christian faith, or physical pain, or death, or financial difficulties, God cares. He is not an abstract God, aloof from our problems. And because of that I cannot lack compassion for others pain. And neither can you.As the people of God, the community that God has drawn together, we care deeply for one another’s suffering. If you are here this morning and you are suffering, we love you and will weep with you. Ladies, if today is a day not that you look forward to, but like Hannah you dread year after year, if Mother’s Day brings more pain than joy, if this is a day, like Hannah, when you feel like no one truly understands or acknowledges your suffering, Jesus and in turn your church family does not require you to put on a happy face. We are not overly sentimental. Suffering is real in our fallen world and we treat it as such. We should be able to find comfort and solace here in the family of God.Also, I want to charge all of us, no matter what suffering we are experiencing, to emulate Hannah. Pour out your suffering to God. Continue to follow Him through the tears. Cast your cares and burdens on Him because He is near and He loves and cares about you.

2. A Sovereign King

In this story, not only are we told of a suffering woman but we are also told of a sovereign King. God is presented in this passage as a King who rules over the whole world. Look at verse 8 from chapter 2 with me:

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world.

God is the very one who set the earth on its foundation. The earth and what holds it up are like a Lego set to God. I grew up in Living Water Community Church which is right down Derry Street here. One of the primary titles that Pastor Mike of Living Water uses for God is “God of the Universe.” How true is this of our God? He holds the earth in orbit. He holds the universe together by His power.What we also see from this passage is that this same God is not only in control of big things in the universe but He is also in control of the smallest details of our lives, even our suffering. Look at verses 5-6 with me again:

5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.

This can be a hard pill to swallow. You mean to tell me, 23 year old with very little life experience, that this terrible suffering you just described in the life of Hannah and the terrible suffering in my life are caused by God? How can the God who commanded humanity to be fruitful and multiply make a mother unable to have a child?2 Does this not contradict His very character and nature? I would submit no.The God of the Bible, the God of the universe, who we saw cares deeply about our suffering and pain, uses our suffering and pain for His own purpose and plan of redemption in the world. The suffering we experience is not cruel and it is not arbitrary but it is incredibly meaningful and purposeful in our lives.You see, suffering has a way of revealing what we truly rely upon. I realized this in my life last August. I found myself less than 5 months away from marriage, with no job and very little money in the bank. I had gotten multiple “no’s” from jobs that seemed very promising and that I was excited about. I remember sitting in my kitchen in Lynchburg, Virginia thinking about seeing my future father in law in 3 weeks and having to give my own set of “no’s” to his questions: Do you have any interviews coming up? Are there any leads? Do you have enough money saved in case you don’t get a job? I realized during that time of trial that my faith was not in the God of the Universe but in money and job security. And it is precisely when we are in a position like this, where what we rely upon is taken from us, that God chooses to use us. In His sovereign plan God causes events in our life to happen so that we will trust in Him.Friends, do you trust Him? Do you see Him as the God of the Universe? Do you see Him as the all wise and all powerful King in your life right now? I would encourage you, trust Him. Trust His plan and His power. Fall in back in reliance upon Him right now where you are, no matter what barrenness it is that you are facing.

3. A Surprising Turn of Events

Our sovereign King not only has the power to take away as the song and verse from Job says, but He also has the power to give. Look at verses 19-20:

And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 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.”

In this unforeseen turn of events, God changes the fortunes of Hannah and gives her a son. Notice the word remember there in verse 19. For those of you who were here last Sunday, do you recall Benjamin’s example about remembering as it related to the Lord’s Supper? He said telling your wife you “remembered” to take out the trash but didn’t act on it actually isn’t remembering. To remember something is to recall it to mind and then act upon it.This is the way remember is used in the Bible when it refers to God. It is not as if God is sitting up in heaven as a detached father who forgets about His daughter Hannah and then all of a sudden she pops back in His mind. No, God’s remembering of Hannah is God’s choosing to act on her behalf with redemptive mercy and grace. In the midst of her suffering He chooses to act on her behalf and give her a son who would be an instrument of God. God works in the midst of our suffering for His redemptive plan much like He worked in the suffering of Hannah to produce a leader for His people, Samuel. The suffering of the people of God is always purposeful and redemptive in the grand story that God is writing for His glory.Rarely do our suffering, our life, and God’s plan fit so neat and tidy as they do here in this story. What if, unlike Hannah, we do not get to see the redemptive purpose of our suffering in our lifetime? What if God doesn’t act miraculously in our lives to take away the sickness? What if our children who have walked away from the faith never return? What if we never do get pregnant? What if we remain barren, in whatever way, through the course of our whole lives? What do we have to hope in? I think Hannah’s song in chapter 2:1-10 provides us this hope.One of the most famous speeches ever given in America was Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. The content of that speech was forged or driven by King’s own personal experiences of injustice and racism as an African-American man in American society. He uses these experiences to talk about the dream that he has for America. Now, King knew this dream wasn’t just his dream or these experiences of racism or injustice weren’t just his experiences. Rather, he spoke personally knowing that almost all African-Americans in this country shared the same experiences and had the same dream. This is what Hannah does with this song. She takes an experience of how God had personally shown His faithfulness to her and applies it to the way that God relates with His covenant people. She says the way God acted in her suffering is how He will act for all of His people.But how can we say this is true in our everyday lives? Does God actually deliver the faithful from suffering? For every story like Hannah’s there is one where the couple never is able to have children. There seems to be a tension here between what God says and what we see in the world. Look at the end of verse 10 though:

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Now, if you’ve been listening and reading carefully you should at this point say, “What king?” We don’t have a king mentioned in 1 Samuel until chapter 8. What king are we talking about? Well we find the answer in another child born of another woman who would have been considered a social outcast. And this son would not just anoint kings but would be THE anointed King, the Messiah. This supposed tension is resolved in Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus humbles Himself to come to earth, lives as a homeless poor man, and ultimately bears the worst suffering of all—the rejection of perfect fellowship with God. And He did this all on your behalf so that you could become rich, exalted, and blessed in Him forever in an eternal life free of suffering! This is the great reversal Hannah sings about. Jesus was then raised from the dead in power and now sits as the King ruling and reigning at God’s right hand. And He will come back one day as the judge. And when He comes He will judge the wicked and the unfaithful and will lift and exalt those who have placed their faith in Him. Jesus suffered so we could one day be delivered.This good news of the Gospel speaks to two different kinds of people in two ways. First of all, if you are here and you have not repented of your sin and placed yourself under the rule and reign of King Jesus I would beg you to look at the cross. See what He has done! He is the one who gives meaning to your suffering and will deliver you from suffering. He came and suffered so that you can have the promise of eternal joy and residence in a new creation where there will be no more suffering. Look to Him as your King!For those of you here who are believers and who are experiencing suffering I would encourage you to do the same thing—look to Jesus! Jesus not only identifies with your suffering but has suffered God’s wrath for you on the cross. Now He calls you to live in this fallen world where there will be suffering, with the hope that you will live with Him in His good kingdom without suffering forever.This might feel like a happily ever after type truth—you can endure suffering because one day things all be okay. This week Whitley and I both watched the movie The Shawshank Redemption for the very first time. So, bear with me if you’ve heard it referenced in every sermon ever before. It’s still fresh to me. What makes this such a great story in my opinion is that you come to the end and there is a happily ever after ending but not without incredible cost. Not without tremendous suffering. You feel different about the happy ending to this film than the happy ending to a Disney story. This ending has a certain weight and gravity and beauty to it.There is no story grander the Gospel story. It is the story on an ultimate happy ending, the deliverance of God’s people from suffering being one facet of this ending. But it is also the story of an ultimate cost and incredible pain and suffering. There is no weightier or beautiful story than the Gospel. It is only this story that makes sense of our suffering without belittling our suffering. And only the happy ending it promises gives us the rock solid hope to endure the sufferings of this life.

1 Ronald F. Youngblood, 1 Samuel-2 Kings, vol. 3, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 45.
2 Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996), 66-67.