SAMUEL--A CHILD FROM HEAVEN! (From 1Samuel 1:all and 2:18-21.)

         1. About 300 years after the Children of Israel had conquered the Promised Land, the Tabernacle--which Moses had built in the wilderness--was at the city of Shiloh, about 25 miles north of Jerusalem. It was still the center of worship for the people of Israel, and every year the faithful would come from all over the land, bringing their bulls, their goats and lambs to sacrifice on the altar of the Lord there.
         2. There was a man named Elkanah who lived in the small town of Ramah in the nearby hill country, and he had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had several sons and daughters but Hannah had none. Year after year, he and his family would journey from Ramah to worship and sacrifice to the Lord at Shiloh.
         3. After sacrificing a young bull, Elkanah left it on the altar fire until all the fat was burned off, as was the Jewish custom. Then he took the meat and boiled it in the Tabernacle's cooking pots. Most of the meat was then given to feed the poor, but the choice portions were always given to the priests of the Lord; the family that had offered the sacrifice would also take as much meat as they needed for their meals that day.
         4. Elkanah's wives and children were sitting down nearby and had spread out their meal when he brought their meat over in a big steaming brass pot. To eat the meat dedicated to the Lord was a very special event, for in a way it symbolised their partaking of the rich blessings of the Lord.
         5. As he had done every year, Elkanah gave a portion of the meat to his wife Peninnah and a portion to each of her sons and daughters. Children are the greatest of all the blessings of the Lord, so this was always Peninnah's moment of glory.
         6. Hannah had borne Elkanah no children, yet he was very deeply in love with her just the same. So rather than give her just one portion of meat, Elkanah would always give her a double portion.
         7. Peninnah sat back and looked with disdain at Hannah. Elkanah got up to return the brass pot to the Tabernacle, and when he was out of earshot, Peninnah's remarks began.
         8. "What a pity that the Lord gave you no children, Hannah!" she sneered. "I guess He knew you would never make a good mother! But look how He's blessed me! Let's see, how many children do I have? One, two, three, four, five ..."
         9. Hannah looked dejectedly at the ground and replied, "But Elkanah loves me just as much as he loves you."
         10. Peninnah sassily retorted, "Does he now?--Even though you bear him no children? Oh what a pity, poor Hannah, that you'll never know what a fulfilling experience it is to bear children and to be a mother, to have children adore and respect and love you! No, Hannah, you are just like a dried tree that bears no fruit, for you are.....barren!"
         11. Hannah had been sitting there with tears beginning to flow down her cheeks, but at this statement, she let out a cry, rose to her feet and ran away. Elkanah was returning from the Tent of the Tabernacle to where his family was eating their special lunch on the nearby grass, and seeing Hannah running away crying, he raced after her.
         12. Catching up with her, he held her and asked, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat?"
         13. Sobbing, Hannah answered, "Every year it's the same! Peninnah keeps provoking me and makes it a constant reproach that the Lord has left me barren and childless!"
         14. Elkanah held his sobbing wife tenderly in his arms and said, "But Hannah, I love you dearly!--And I know you're in love with me! Isn't that enough? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"
         15. Elkanah tried to persuade her to return to eat, but her stomach was in knots and she couldn't. Instead, she excused herself and went to the Tent of the Tabernacle. No one was there except for the priest of the Lord, the old man Eli, sitting in a chair by the doorpost of the great Tent.
         16. Hannah wept and prayed desperately to the Lord and her heart was aching so much that she could not even speak aloud. And she made a vow, saying to the Lord in her heart, "O Lord, if You will only look upon my misery and give me a son, then I will give him back to You for as long as he lives!"
         17. After she had been praying a long time, Eli noticed that she wasn't speaking, yet her mouth was moving and her face contorted in anguish. Thinking she was drunk, he angrily scolded, "How long will you make a drunken show of yourself! Sober up from your wine!"
         18. Turning to Eli with tears streaming down her face, Hannah wept, "It isn't that, my lord! I have not been drinking wine. I am deeply troubled, and was pouring out my soul to the Lord in my great sorrow and grief!"
         19. Ashamed for his harsh words, Eli kindly comforted her, "Go in peace, and may God grant you what you have asked of Him."
         20. Thanking him, Hannah rose and returned to where Elkanah, Peninnah and children were eating, her face no longer downcast. Cheerfully she sat down and ate. The next morning they returned to their home at Ramah.
         21. Later Elkanah lay with Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayers. It was not long before Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him "Samuel", meaning "asked of the Lord". How happy she was to have a child!--And she knew he was truly a bundle of love sent straight from Heaven!
         22. When Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the next annual sacrifice to the Lord, Hannah didn't go. She said, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and give him to the Lord, and he will live there always."
         23. "Do what seems best to you." Elkanah answered. "Only be sure to bring your good intentions to fulfilment!"
         24. So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her son. When he was about four years old, she weaned him and took him with her to Shiloh. There she presented him to Eli, and said to him, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord gave him to me. So now I, in turn, give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be dedicated to the Lord." Then they went home to Ramah, but little Samuel remained with Eli in the Tabernacle.
         25. Each year his mother Hannah made him a little coat and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the annual sacrifice. Then Eli blessed Elkanah and Hannah, saying, "May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one you gave to the Lord." And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters!
         26. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up serving the Lord, and became one of the greatest Prophets and Judges in the history of Israel!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

         27. (1) Hannah longed to have a child, that she might fulfil one of a woman's greatest roles in life, that of bearing, raising, training and loving children. God's Word says, "Children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward! Happy is the man who has many of them!" (Psalm 127:3-5) That is why Godly pregnant women who love the Lord always seem to have that satisfied, contented glow about them--because they're fulfilling their mission as mothers, fulfilling God's first commandment to "be fruitful and multiply!" (Genesis 1:28)
         28. (2) What a contrast this is to the "modern" anti-God trend of promoting abortion, birth control and sterilisation! Just within the last few decades many people have stopped appreciating the blessing of babies and children! Instead, they've even begun to fight against their birth with unnatural methods! God is diametrically opposed to abortion, which is child murder! No matter what other name people call it, it is murder and it is of the Devil! God doesn't like birth control at all!
         29. (3) This story helps to illustrate that God is the only One Who can create a child. You can try as hard as you will day after day, but if it's not God's will for you to have a baby, it won't happen! The Lord is the One who creates babies! The Lord is the One who gets a woman pregnant! There wasn't a child ever born that was an "accident"!--God makes it happen, and He does not make mistakes, so who are we to question it?
         30. (4) Not only was Samuel an answer to Hannah's prayers, but he was also the answer to His people's need for a strong Godly leader. But he would not have been so if Hannah hadn't unselfishly dedicated him to the Lord, to be taught to love and serve God. Because of Hannah's willingness to give him to the Lord, Samuel became what God wanted him to be. Are you willing to give your children to God's service as Hannah of old did?--Look at the reward she received!
         31. What a blessing it is to have children! It's surely worth paying the price of a little discomfort during pregnancy! After all, God is using you to create a beautiful immortal soul! God uses you "weaker vessels" for one of the most important jobs in the whole World--having babies!--Amen?--God bless you! Our children are the only part of this life we can take with us into the next!--And keep forever!--Will yours be There?