IF NOT FOR PENINNAH
1 Sam. 1:1-28
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: CREATION DIALOG
1. During the Creation, God visited with one of his angels. He said, “Do you know what I’ve just done? I’ve just created 24 hours of alternating light and darkness on Earth. Isn’t that good?”
2. The angel said, “Yes, but, what will you do now?” God said, “I think I’ll call it a day.”
B. TEXT
1 There was a certain man...from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah... 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 3 Year after year this man went up...to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 [Elkanah] gave [Hannah] a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, [Peninnah] kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year....her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and...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.” 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel. 24 After he was weaned...26 she said to [Eli]....28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. 1 Sam. 1: 1-4; 6-7; 10-11; 20, 26, 28.
C. BACKGROUND OF THIS STORY
1. Hannah lived during a time when polygamy was acceptable, and she found herself compared with, and despised by Peninnah, the other wife of her husband, Elkanah. Peninnah apparently had no trouble getting pregnant, and she was cruel in her taunts of Hannah.
2. Peninnah was spiteful, hateful, hostile and probably jealous. She was an enemy or adversary toward Hannah, possibly because Elkanah loved Hannah more than her. So Peninnah set out to make Hannah’s life miserable.
3. Sometimes things seem to go well for our adversaries while we seem to be omitted from blessings. We need to remind ourselves that “there’s a reason for my delay, but my delay is not denial.”
I. THEY WORSHIPPED DESPITE DIFFICULTIES
Elkanah and his family were devout servants of the Lord, worshippers of God, people who feared God. They attended the annual feasts required by the Law of Moses. To make these trips was difficult:
1. They had to travel by donkey or cart from their home in Ramathaim to Shiloh. Such travel is always difficult and expensive.
2. EVIL PRIESTS. At Shiloh, the notorious sons of Eli were the priests, but Elkanah’s family didn’t let that deter them from worshipping there every year.
3. They offered SACRIFICES to the Lord when they arrived. This was costly. The average steer costs $2,400 and a sheep about $1,000. It seems more costly if you have a small herd. They did it every year.
II. HANNAH HAD A CLOSED WOMB, FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
A. SHE WAS NOT BARREN/STERILE
1. A closed womb is not the same as barrenness. The Bible doesn’t say that Hannah was sterile; it says her womb was closed. Children COULD have come out of Hannah, but God was restraining them. God was developing her character first!
2. Hannah’s closed womb was a deliberate act of God to display His glory in her life. Our delayed prosperity, delayed breakthrough, or delayed deliverance doesn’t mean we’ll never have those, but that God’s delaying them for some greater purpose.
B. PENINNAH’S PROVOCATION WAS PART OF GOD’S PLAN
1. This story highlights that we need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus to perceive things from a spiritual perspective.
2. What Peninnah didn’t know was that it was God who was behind the provocation; it was God who was pulling the strings. Peninnah was merely a tool in the hand of God. God uses trials and tribulation to perfect the saints.
3. Hannah did well not to reply when Peninnah uttered her cutting criticisms; she kept quiet and or went to God in prayer! This is the same response the Lord Jesus made when reviled -- He opened not His mouth!
4. This provocation went on year after year; God allowed it to drive Hannah to prayer. Hannah even had to go to Church (Shiloh) with her adversary! In life there are some people you can’t get away from, such as family members, colleagues at work, and sometimes, church people! God allows these things for our spiritual growth.
5. Hannah was like a rough gem-stone placed into a rock-tumbler, which uses other worthless rocks to polish the chosen rock until it’s smooth & lustrous.
6. We need to thank God for our Peninnahs, for if not for them, we would never become dissatisfied with our situation and press toward God and reach higher ground!
III. GOD PURPOSE? A NEW DELIVERER
A. MOVEMENT TO THE KINGS
1. At that time of history, God was looking for a righteous family to use as His conduit to raise up a new breed of deliverer.
2. The time of Judges was coming to an end, the Priesthood was waning (1 Sam. 2:35-36) especially in the house of Eli, and God was stepping up His plans to bring in a new system based on Kings.
B. HANNAH’S VOW: CHILD BELONGS TO GOD
1. Hannah, vexed, approached God and made a vow: “God if you will give me a baby boy, I will give him back to you, Lord. I just want to be a steward, this boy will be yours.”
2. It sounds more like a bargain than a vow - "if you will do ______, then I will do _______." Like the soldier who prays, "God, if you get me home alive, I’ll become a minister." Or the smoker who prays, "God, if you’ll help me kick this habit, I’ll work hard to keep cigarettes away from children and teenagers." Or, "Lord if you heal me, I promise I’ll go to church every Sunday."
3. And even if hers was a kind of bargain, it was a vow that she kept. Hannah’s character changed after her encounter with God. She started to live a normal life again (1 Samuel 1:18). Hannah’s heart changed before her circumstances changed! She trusted in God; “she called those things that be not as though they were.”
IV. THE BLESSINGS OF TRIALS
A. HOW ARE YOUR TRIALS WORKING FOR YOU?
1. Paul said “our...afflictions work for us” 2 Cor. 4:17. If there had not been a Peninnah to provoke Hannah, would she ever have contended for a son? Wouldn’t she have been satisfied with her husband’s love?
2. It took a Peninnah to goad her into pleading with God in bitterness of soul and asking for a Samuel. So Peninnah’s purpose in God’s plan was to goad godly Hannah to her destiny.
3. Hannah’s Womb was closed for ‘a reason and a season.’ We must “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations” Jm. 1:2.
B. THE DEVIL TRIES TO HINDER US FROM GETTING TO GOD’S WILL
1. Between us and every opportunity, the enemy stands to keep us from pressing through to God’s blessing.
2. It’s necessary that we fight through our adversary before we can enter our door of opportunity! Once Hannah’s door was opened Samuel came forth.
C. GOD’S BLESSINGS WILL OVERTAKE YOU
1. Though it appears we can never catch up to those who put this world first (like Peninnah), God is able to help us leap-frog light-years ahead.
2. Joel 2:25, “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten...” GOD IS THE GOD OF RESTORATION! He gives back to us those things we lost because we obeyed Him. So it was with Hannah.
3. Peninnah’s children are never named, but Samuel has 2 books of the Bible named after him! He anointed 2 Kings: Saul and David. He delivered the nation from the Philistines and ushered in the rule of the kings. Peninnah was just a footnote of history, while Hannah was one of its headlines.
4. In addition to Samuel, Hannah ended up giving birth to 3 more sons and 2 daughters (2:21)!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: “From Tragedy to Triumph”
1. Marguerite Barankitse’s harrowing journey began in Oct. 1993. In her country of Burundi, tensions had heated to a boiling point between the two major ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, and 100 days of bloodshed took place.
2. Maggie, a Tutsi, went to the house of the Archbishop of Ruyigi for safety. She tried to protect her seven children as well as 72 Hutu friends and their children. But Tutsi rebels invaded the building.
3. They tied her to a chair then stripped her. They wouldn’t kill her because she was a Tutsi. But they did murder the 72 Hutus in front of her and threw her best friend’s head into her lap. Few people would not be emotionally devastated by such a horrible event, but Maggie prayed to God for strength.
4. Maggie negotiated with the rebels to save 25 of her friends’ children which she ransomed. Her own seven children also survived.
5. With no resources, Maggie took in 200 children to feed, clothe, and house. She founded the “House of Peace” in Ruyigi for both Hutu and Tutsi orphans. It grew from one home to a compound with over 3,000 homes plus schools, farms, a hospital, and even a bank.
6. In the last 20 years, the “House of Peace” has provided a safe, loving home to over 20,000 children. Maggie wants the children to be educated so they’ll have better lives. But she also works to successfully reintegrate them into the outside community.
7. “I know I can die in peace now,” says Maggie, “because my children will continue to pass on the message of peace and love wherever they are.” SHE DECIDED – “I WILL NOT LEAVE ANY BEHIND! I will make a difference!” What about you? [https://listverse.com/2014/12/23/10-inspiring-stories-of-people-who-turned-tragedy-into-triumph/]
B. THE CALL
1. What is the Peninnah in your life? You may be experiencing delays, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t going to help you.
2. You will probably agree with me that many of us would never pray if we didn’t face unusual difficulties.
3. What do you need from God today? Do you have an area of heartache? Do you need help with a relationship? Have you lost your Job? Do bills need to be paid?
4. Go before God; He hears you and He’s listening. “The effectual prayers of a righteous man/woman avail much.”
[This is a rewrite of Babatunde Olugboji’s great message of the same title.]
