Just when you think you know most of what there is to know about the Bible, it always throws up something you didn't know before, this happened to me this morning, Praise God. I've read about the events leading up to the birth of Samuel several times, but always thought that Hannah was simply in deep grief because of her barrenness, despite her being beloved of her husband Elkanah, It never occured to me that there were two women, two wives, involved in this story. There we go again the Lord witholding something from me, just like He did a child with Hannah, the birth of Samuel was to bring glory back to God, just as this message should, what a parallel there is here. God holds things back until the appropriate time, or I wouldn't be sharing this with you now.
Satan just loves to kick you where it really hurts, and just to make his point very clear he'll get the heaviest boots out with the studs on the soles and the steel toe caps, and like every bully he won't start kicking whilst your still standing up, he starts when you are already floored and feeling helpless.
Hannah's story is what the Bible calls midrash teaching, things that have happened before being repeated again. We see Joseph, beaten up by his brothers, then being cast into a well before being sold into slavery in Egypt. Sarah being tormented by Hagar, Isaac by Ishmael, and Rachel Jacob's beloved emotionally tormented because she could not bear a child, many examples of this within the scriptures.
On several occasions Jesus spoke to the disciples telling them of the hatred the world would heap upon them through persecution and murder, and what did He say? "Don't be surprised," but when Satan does strike, we are very often taken by surprise, we are not ready, and its not always great tradgedies that overtake us, its often little things that happen to us. We are often a little under the weather to begin with, which I'm sure Hannah was. Here they were going up to the temple, poor Hannah, dreading a repeat performance of the previous visits, having belittling condemnation heaped upon her head, by the overbearing Penninah about her childless state.
What does Hannah do? It seems that she found the most secluded place in the temple, where she thought she could hide herself, her tears, and grief, her thoughts, and her silent prayers. But just when she thought things couldn't get worse, good old Ely comes along and humiliates her as being drunk, that's how he saw the situation from where he was sitting. I'm sure that When Hannah quietly tells Ely what was wrong, it doesn't say it in the Bible, but I'll bet he took on a much more fatherly roll and sat and talked to her for some time, before blessing her and telling her she would conceive. Sometimes Satans attacks come right down from the people who should be uplifting those that are downtrodden. The good news is Ely didn't realise at first, he had to discover his own mistake, and then to bless and minister to Hannah's needs.
So what came out of all this? A prophet in the person of Samuel, a great and mighty blessing to the Nation of Israel, but what really came out of Hannah's blessing, accused of being drunk? Hold on a minute, accused of being drunk? Don't we read about this somewhere else in scripture?
"Ah," you say, the Day of Pentecost, didn't the multitudes accuse the disciples of being drunk? "How can we be drunk? Its only the nineth hour of the morning." The disciples had gone through it, Jesus dying on the cross, then He comes back to them, at a time when they were loosing all hope and were frightened for their lives and three wasted years. Now after forty days, Jesus had gone again, this timer into the clouds. "Just when we had Him back He beggars off again, this time for good." "Oh I'll come back again says He. When? Perhaps a million years from now, if your lucky, and if not I'll send you a postcard." I'll bet that's how they felt in that upper room as they prayed that night. Like Hannah they went up into a secluded place to pray quietly, to be together and alone, exhausted and weary, pouring out their hearts to God.
Then like Ely's blessing, but in an instant this time, the blessing came, in a mighty rushing wind, and tongues of fire, a new prophet came, prophesy in that the Apostles told of the mighty things that God had done amongst His people Israel, this time people believed, people accepted what they heard, people got saved, there was love, there was fellowship, and God added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Epilogue, like Hannah you may feel totally like your out for the count, you just want to hide from everyones sight, I wonder if Hannah was just praying out of self pity, not really believing God would do something in her life, hoping but not really expecting. Well the author of this little article has, its a bitter experience.
Sometimes we need to experience God with flesh on, Crying to God often doesn't really help in the circumstances we find ourselves in. Like Ely was with Hannah it needs that touch from a man of God, when not even Hannah's husband could reach that part of her life, only God could reach, and then through just the right person, the one who has the annointing to uplift and encourage. Oh yes Jesus may be our great high priest, but even He has priests under Him, that's where we come in as kings and priests, He needs us to to be vessels of his ministering comfort to our brethren, and we need to receive that comfort from others. MORE THAN FELLOWSHIP, FAMILY.