The Dedicated Son Series

Two days after Pearl Harbor, a man named Bob Feller enlisted in the US Navy and served with distinction in the Pacific against the Japanese. But it wasn’t in the navy that Bob Feller became famous. Bob attained fame as a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, and for 18 seasons he struck out some of the most powerful hitters of the day - Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, and Lou Gehrig. Because of the phenomenal speed of his pitches, he was nicknamed "Rapid Robert", "Bullet Bob", and "The Heater from Van Meter".

In 1940, to advertise the speed of Feller’s pitches, the Commissioner of Baseball hired a sports film analyst to film a contest between Feller and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle (you can still find it on YouTube). It was called - the "100 mph" speed trial. Feller was required to hit a target 12 inches in diameter from a distance of 60 feet 6 inches (the distance from the Pitching mound to Home Plate). The motorcycle had a 10-foot head start, and passed Feller going 86 mph, and yet, in spite of that, Feller's pitch reached the target several feet ahead of the bike. And the pitch was calculated to have reached a speed of as much as 104 mph.

When Bob Feller was 9 years old, his teacher asked him to write an essay about an oak tree, and this what he wrote: “An oak tree can be cut down and sawed into boards. You can make baseball bats out of them. You can also make home plates out of the boards. You can make bleachers out of the boards so people can watch baseball games.” In other words, at the age of nine, Bob Feller was a boy who was DEDICATED to playing baseball. And in today’s text we read about another boy who was DEDICATED to being a man of God from his birth.

“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."… 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." I Samuel 1:20-22

When Samuel reached the age of about 2 or 3 years old (when he was weaned) Hannah was going to take him to the Tabernacle and she was going to leave him there. She was never going to take him home again. From that day on her son Samuel would belong to God and would live the rest of his life at the Tabernacle.

Now, the question is: why would Hannah do that? Well, she was BARREN. She couldn’t get pregnant and she’d gotten to the point where she was desperate. She was willing to do anything to have a child! And one of the most powerful things she did… was pray.

“She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. 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.” I Samuel 1:10-11

(PAUSE) One of the most interesting statements in Hannah’s story was this: “The LORD had closed her womb.” I Samuel 1:5

Now, there are people who struggle with that statement. I read an online sermon by preacher who implied that God really hadn’t closed up Hannah’s womb. The preacher said it was just one of those comments people make when they don’t know the CAUSE of a tragedy or a natural disaster. In fact you’ll hear it on the news when a tornado sweeps thru a town. They’ll say that the tornado was an… “act of God”. Now no one really thinks God caused the tornado…. but that’s just what people say. And this preacher really didn’t think God caused Hannah’s womb to be closed. He believed that this was simply something people said when a woman couldn’t have a child. (GOD CLOSED HER WOMB).

And yet, Hannah didn’t say that God had closed her womb.” And her husband “Elkanah didn’t say…” that God had closed her womb. And the “people didn’t say…” that God closed up her womb. The BIBLE simply says “God closed up her womb.”

And it wasn’t a common saying in Israel to declare “God closed up a woman’s womb.” In fact, there’s only ONE OTHER TIME in the Bible that that term shows up. It happened way back in the book of Genesis. In the days of Abraham the King of Gerar had a nasty habit of killing men so that he could gain their wives for his harem. Apparently Abraham’s wife Sarah was very desirable. And since Abraham had no desire to be killed by the king, he passed Sarah off as his sister. Sure enough - Abimelech took her into his harem. But before the King could take her to his bed, God appeared to him in a dream and explained the situation. God said that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, and that Abraham was His prophet, and that if the King ever touched Sarah – he was a dead man.