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Hannah (part 1)

This week, we began walking thoughtfully down a hallway. The walls of this hallway are lined with portraits of various women and men. Behind each portrait is a story. And behind each story is a worshiping heart.

We can learn from these very ordinary humans, and what we learn will help you and me get a better grip on God's design for us. We'll understand more about how we can make worship a way of life.

Our first portrait was of two sisters. The second portrait, which we'll begin looking at today, is of two wives. Here's their story, written just below their picture:

She had cause to be bitter: She was barren. Not so, her husband. He had the joy of several children from another marriage. Her childlessness was clearly her fault, not his.

Fortunately for him perhaps, but unfortunately for her, his children and their mother lived nearby. The close proximity of these two rivals brought them into constant contact with each other.

You can readily understand how unpleasant their contact was with each other. One of them had several children - but the other had a devoted husband. Each felt incomplete without what the other had.

The woman with children took every opportunity to tease and antagonize the wife who was childless. Perhaps only the wife who has also been denied motherhood can appreciate the anguish inflicted by a vicious malcontent. It comes in many ways: verbal barbs, condescending innuendoes and disparaging looks.

It may seem unusual, but when the extended family got together for special days of the year, both women showed up for the festivities. Of course, this forced them to be near each other also.

These holidays were particularly difficult for the young wife who had no children. The other woman had no mercy, taking delight at these family gatherings in driving the nonmother to tears and upsetting her until she could not even eat. Year after year, this same sad scene was replayed. For the nonmom, it was a wrenching experience.

Have you ever wondered why God allows these things to happen to good people - while He seems to let people with nauseating morals and rancid character have everything they want?

The plot thickens. In I Samuel chapter 1, we discover that the man involved in this tragic triangle was named Elkanah. Elkanah means "Whom God possessed." Now, why a man whom God possessed would choose to have two wives at one time is a puzzle. J It was not one of his smarter decisions. (He obviously had not read Matthew 6:24, where Christ points out that "no one can serve two masters"! )

However, such an arrangement was culturally accepted at that time and place. In spite of its legal permissibility, though, the relationship of these two women demonstrates clearly that people are people no matter what the century. Putting two women like that together is like combining a delicious banquet with a sensational roller coaster ride: They simply do not mix!

The spouse who had children was Peninnah, meaning "Coral." Have you seen coral rock? Coral is beautiful - but it's very abrasive. As we read this story, it seems that Peninnah was true to the dark side of her name. She was as abrasive to Hannah as coral rock is to tender flesh. Hannah, by the way, means "Gracious," and as you'll see soon, she too lived up to her wonderful name.

In those days, men were known by their father - "Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham" etc. In contrast, women were known by the children they bore - especially sons. That, in a nutshell, captures a major aspect of their culture in those days: Men were known by their lineage, and women were known by their production.

Any of us who have worked in sales or manufacturing know how it feels to be measured by our production: It's great if we're producing well - and awful if we're not.

Well, in this situation Hannah felt awful. Peninnah, her rival, was producing. Hannah was not. No matter what she tried, she did not become pregnant. It was not lack of desire, it was not lack of effort, it was not lack of opportunity and it was not lack of technique. It was, simply, lack of results. God had closed her womb.