Does Having Faith in God Matter? 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Show Notes

Episode 497: 
In this episode, we delved into the story of Hannah, a woman who was one of two wives to Elkanah. While Penina, the other wife, had children, Hannah struggled with infertility, leading to feelings of inadequacy and pain. Despite facing ridicule, Hannah turned to prayer as her source of strength and hope. She made a heartfelt vow to God, promising to dedicate her child to Him if He granted her the blessing of a son. Hannah's unwavering faith and commitment to God's will serve as an inspiring example of trust and devotion.

What is The Bible Guys?

Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.

Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.

Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. We have a great episode in store for you. Great, maybe one of the best ever. Yes, actually, I don't know. Let's shoot for. It, okay, all right, we're gonna give it our best, as opposed to just mailing it in like we've been doing lately. Yea, all right, we're gonna do our best. Have somebody come up to you right before you preach and they go, hey, listen, my neighbor's here today, so you know, just you know, be good. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, do your best today, do your best? Oh good idea? Yeah, good idea. I always say, I always say, oh my gosh, I'm so glad you said that. You know what, I was actually going to shoot for mediocrity, and now that you said that, I'm going to go ahead and actually try really hard. I'll tell people sometimes they'll say, hey, I've got a guest here, so do you know, do your very best or whatever, and be like, oh, I should go look over the message. You see what it is I'm talking about today. Oh, I'll go I should have prepared, man, I should have prepared this week. I knew, I knew I should have been ready. Okay, Well, anyways, you should always assume that anybody on a public stage, in any setting is trying their best. Yes, well, so in this situation, if you are, if you're new to our podcast politics, yes, that's exactly if you're new to our podcast. Chris and I are we both pastor at the same church, Yes, and in outside of Detroit, Michigan, Sterling Heights, and we just are a couple of guys who like to talk about the Bible in fun a practical ways. That's what it's said literally in the role in that. But what we don't do. We always know what the passage is, but what we don't do is come in with a whole bunch of study notes and work it out. We're just literally talking about the words that are on the page, right, and so the whole thing really we're ad libbing. And yeah, so if you listen very long, you'll figure that out. Yeah, it's it's not hard to figure out. It's not hard. Hey, So we're going to start out with a segment that desiree is calling dad joke competition, which is one of my favorites. Yes, the last last time was rough. It was really those those dad jokes were It's probably. The worst batch. Yes, we've ever had. This might be better. Yeah, I like the first one already. Okay for the first one. Yes, scientists get bored after watching the Earth turn after twenty four hours, so they called it a day. Okay, I like that one. Oh no, God called it day okay. Yeah, So I'm struggling with this one. Yep. My daughter was doing history homework and asked if I knew about Galileo. Yeah. I said he was a poor boy from a poor family. Oh that's great, So I can't poor boy from a poor family. There you go Bohemian rhapsody. Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, okay, So I was okay, I was, I was roughing. I was rough on that one. I jah though, very nice. All right. Number two, did you know that milk is the fastest liquid in the universe. No, before you see it, it's already pasteurized. Oh no, nope, it's not even getting a smile. Come on, I'm not even I'm not come on, Okay. As an American, it's sad to see that nothing is made in the USA anymore. I just bought a new TV and it says built in antenna. I don't even know where that is. Built in antenna. That's funny. I don't even know. Where that is. I like that one. It's a funny one. All right, Here we go. I bought a new iPad and named it the Titanic. Now, when I plug into my laptop, it says the Titanic is sinking, sinking, sinking. Two rough ones in a row, there, Chris, Yeah, that was pretty rough. I visited my friend at his new house. He told me to make myself at home, so I throw him out. I hate visitors. That's I love that one. Let's make yourself at home. Okay, get out. I hate company. That's great, that's great. There you go, all right. Number four, I was kicked out because of my Arnold Schwarzenegger imperson Oh sorry, I was going to try to say impersonations, but it says impression. Sorry, let me start over. I was kicked out because of my Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions. But don't worry, I'll be back. Okay, that wasn't worth. They got a giggle, all right, there are two words that will open a lot of doors for you. Push and pull. There you go. Okay, that's kind of a grinner. Yeah that's not a Yeah. Yeah. If I had twin daughters, I would name the first one Kate and the second one duplicate, duplicate. Okay. I got fired from my job as a taxi driver. Turns out customers don't appreciate when you go the extra mile. But I'm from I like that. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, go in the extra mile? Okay? Was that it's a biblical principle. It is a biblical principle, but it shouldn't be applied if you're a taxi driver. Right, correct? Yes, correct. The guys told me. Guy told me the other day he went to Vegas and uh, oh was the guy I had breakfast with? Oh, he went to Vegas and he said, yeah in the cab and they said, oh no, the traffic on the strip is just really, really bad. So he goes out of his way and he goes all the way around and he said it was like he looked it up later, it was like three times the distance and he's like, that'll be X amount of dollars and he goes, well, never again in Vegas. Yeah, there you go. Well, very exciting. And I would say three out of five of mine were good ones. And yeah, I would say I would say two or three out of five were good. Okay. I actually likes get better. It's getting better because we were afraid they were gonna we were gonna have to dock, you know, yeah or something. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, doctor pay. Yeah. We can't be happy. And from from all the dollars that we give, dozens of dollars. Dozens of dollars, that's great, it's terrible. No, thank you, des that was great. All right. Well, today we're launching into a brand new book, Jeff, a brand new book. It's called First Samuel. First Samuel, the first of two. I wonder who wrote it. Let me think Samuel Samuel. Do you think? Yeah, Yes, it's all about Samuel, the whole book Samuel. If you were curious, so is Second Samuel. Yes, it's about Samuel. Israel has been ruled by judges at this time for about three hundred years, and Samuel is Israel's final judge. He's the last one of those judges. Yes. He grew up in the tabernacle as we're about to read as a priest in training under thee the priest Eli, and so, yeah, jump right into it. So the beginning of Samuel's life is really great and I think many people, many of our listeners probably will resonate with this story just a little bit. So says there was a man named Elkenah who lived in Rama, in the region of zeph in the hill country of Ephraim. That's a mouthful. He was the son of Jerehomes, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zeph of Ephraim. Al Canah had two wives, Hannah and Panina. Panina had children, but Hannah did not. Boy. There are a lot of words in that one. Yeah, that was a Hakaba intro. Each year, al Canah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven's armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli, Hafnai and Phineas. On the days of al Cana presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Panina and each of her children, And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had not given her any children. So Panina would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same. Panina would taunt Hannah as they went to the tabernacle. Each time Hannah would be reduced to tears. It would not even eat. Why are you crying, Hannah? Alkena would add, why aren't you eating? Why be downhearted? Just because you have no children? You have me. Isn't that better than having ten sons? I would not advise that. No, that is not a good approach. Right anyway, we'll continue on. Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli, the priest, was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the tabernacle. Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord, and she made this vow, O, Lord of Heaven's armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut. As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her and, seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she'd been drinking. Must you come here drunk? He demanded, throw away your wine. Oh no, sir, she replied, I haven't been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don't think I'm a wicked woman, for I've been praying out of great anguish and sorrow. In that case, Eli said, go in peace. May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him. Oh thank you, sir, she exclaimed, and then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. The entire family got early up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Rama. When Alcanas slept with hand, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, I asked the Lord for him. So there it is so. Samuel, from the very beginning was birthed. Even his conception happened because of a plea of God hearing, you know, meeting somebody in their anguish. So Samuel starts the right way from the Lord. Yeah, I mean, I mean all children are from the Lord. I was gonna say, yeah. But yeah, but a very cool story. Nonetheless, Yeah, the struggle, right, So I think there's many people who struggle with, you know, not being able to have children or whatever. But even before we get into that part, the weird part about this story for us and the West is that it's these two wives that are, you know, struggling, and the closest thing we have is the current wife and the ex wife. Right, But well there's that. I don't think that's legal, but they do it, so, you know, because we don't live in a polygamist society per se. It's kind of an odd thing, but you know, and God is not endorsing polygamy as in fact, God God was against it, but it was a cultural thing. People did it, and it was wrong. It was sinful. And anytime you break God's laws, there's always problems. It's always harder. It's a harder life. Remember that, That's what Moses had said. You choose life or death. It's going to be better or worse based on whether or not you choose to obey God's laws. A lot of people are, oh, my goodness, gracious, A lot of people are confused about that because like great men of God, like Solomon, right, the wisest man who ever lives lived, didn't he have like nine hundred wives? Yeah, thousand wives, yeah. A thousand wives, nine hundred concubines or something like this. So he So it's not that it's not that God ever said that that was okay. It's just that he did what culture dictated, right, and it was outside of God allowed. There's a note in a Life Application study Bible that says husbands, this is about el Cana and Panina. Yeah, it says husbands can be insensitive for many reasons, no doubt, but often they simply suffer from ignorance, no doubt, no doubt. This is el Cana had two wives, which doubled his opportunities to be insensitive. That's hilarious. That's that's really good. Yeah. So you know this, this this marriage relationship causes so many problems because he clearly he loves Hannah. Panina had more children she was able to, and Hannah was not, and so she took that as her badge of honor, and she just put down another And you know, I think sometimes even you know, Paniina is insensitivity. Sometimes we say things we just don't realize how bad it hurts. Oh, it could have been sativity. She mocked her. Yeah, yeah, but it was cruel. But the mocking thing, you know, could have been she's a funny person. She could have had a good sense of humor and she's just talking fun talk about no, no, no no. What I'm saying is there's lots of ways to hurt people with our words. It could have been she was just being silly, but it hurt Hannah deeply. It could have been that she was being mean and it hurt Hannah deeply. And I think that we can do the same thing. I tend to not be a mean person, but I tend to be a silly person who hurts people a lot with my words. So that that's where I was going with that, is it could have been we can hurt people without trying to hurt people. So whether whether Panina was trying to hurt her or whether just the mocking, the teasing, it could have been. Man, you know, it was really easy for you to go to the tabernacle today. You didn't have to get up and pack four diaper bags. Right. It could have been just a jab. It could have been a goofy thing. And then when you go, oh, that was really me saying, Oh, I didn't mean for it to be mean. But a lot of times you just don't realize how bad it hurts other people. I do understand what you're saying, right, and the application certainly is there. Yeah, but I'm gonna go on record and say the Bible says she would taunt hand and make fun of her because. She had no children, because the Lord had kept her from having children. Yeah, So I'm not saying that that's what she was doing. I'm saying you can hurt people with your words even when you don't intend to. Yeah. And I'll tell you what. That's the the whole adage that the word sarcasm. Remember what it means, the word sarcasm, what it means. The word literally means to tear the flesh. That's what it means, which is the humor. By the way, right, this is tearing flesh. So to rip the flesh is to is to hurt somebody or to wound somebody, and uh, And sarcasm is something that you know, we like to say, oh, just kidding, Okay, it's it's not funny unless it's. True, right, So it's it's funny. I like. I like sarcasm. You do too. Sarcasm is fun, but sometimes we go too far with it. I don't think that was the situation here, But what I am saying is the sensitivities of other people. She may have been digging a little and not realizing how deep the wound was. Right, It's possible even then when you're being mean. You just sometimes we just don't realize. And so even in today's society now, I mean, we see children taking their own lives over things that people said online. Right, It's just it's a shocking world that we live in now, where words are so can be deadly. And so in this situation, and here she is, she's just broken hearted. She has nowhere to go, she's fasting, she won't eat, and so she's praying, and el Cana goes, honey, you know, sure, Panana has lots of children, but you've got me. Right, right, And of course he doesn't care because he has much children. Yeah, right, So what a what a pig headed gun. Aren't I all that you need? Are I better than ten sons? That's terrible. Let me let me say this to uh, to the to the people listening who struggle with infertility. UH, it is a just a you know. I remember when I became a singles director and I got hired at a church and I was with single adults who have never been married, and I was talking about the pain that they were feeling. And as I was trying to relate to them, one of them, I remember, looked at me and said, hey, let me ask you a question. And I said, and I said yeah, And she goes, have you ever broken your arm? And I said no, And she goes, then, don't even pretend to know what it feels like to break your arm to somebody else who has a broken arm. She goes, just admit that you have no idea. And I was like, oh, and and then I realized right then and there, I was like, because I was pretty young, I was in my young thirties, I remember thinking to myself, that's a that's a really good lesson, right to not even pretend to understand what those kinds, you know, the pain of somebody who wants to be married. You know, in this case, she was like a four year old woman who her whole life were only desired to be married, and she's not married, right. So that kind of pain, the kind of pain that a that a that a couple may feel when they're trying to have children to somebody who has children, right. So I just think there's wisdom in saying if if you're that person, then find somebody around you who has gone through the same struggle. I would say all humans have experienced pain that others can't comprehend. I agree with that. So a mature way to respond might be to say, I don't entirely understand your pain, but I do no pain. I've had pain I maybe can't talk about, yeah, right. And and I think that if you are feeling, if you're like that woman who says, don't even pretend like you understand my pain, you understand pain, right right, So maybe for her, like, if you are going through pain, don't be resentful for somebody who's trying to connect with you. Right right. So that's a bitter bit. I was a fault, yeah, probably so, but I was at fault. But we can give permission to people to say to try to make a connection. Go If they're being dismissive, that's one thing, right, But yeah, if they're trying to say, if you're trying to say, hey, I get it pain, you know I I've had a lot of pain in my life, a lot of pain in my life, and so I every once in a while you'll be dismissed because what you're trying to do is empathize and somebody else goes you have no idea what you're talking about. And in my mind, there's a touch of narcissism in that moment when when the other person refuses to allow you to empathize right at all? That there's right, So there's there's brokenness on both sides. That pain causes us to do really weird things, and we're not always at our best when we're in the middle of pain, right Well, Hurt people hurt people, that's right. Hurt people hurt people, and so so we just have to understand that that. I think one of the best notes I've ever read in the Life Application Study Bible is right here in this story. What I'm not joking, Listen to this, It said in the one for verse ten says hand, and I had good reason to feel discouraged and bitter. She was unable to bear children, she shared her husband with a woman who ridiculed her, Her loving husband could not solve her problem, and even the High priest misunderstood her motives. But instead of retaliating or giving up hope, Hannah prayed. She brought a problem honestly before the Lord. Each of us may face times of barrenness without when nothing comes to birth in our work, our service, or our relationships. It's difficult to pray in faith when we feel so ineffective. But as Hannah discovered, prayer opens the way for God to work. What a great note. She had every reason in the world to be bitter, every reason in the world to be angry, every reason in the world to just give up and quit. And instead of those things, she could have been resentful towards her religion. She could have been resentful towards her spouse, she'd be resentful towards other family members, she could be resentful against God himself, against religious leaders. And instead she just went to her knees to God because only God could answer her prayers. Right. Yeah, and I love her response because most of us don't respond like Hannah response, right, And maybe that's why most of us don't get the miracles Hannah got. Well, it's faithfulness that endures, all right. So here she is just you know, believing that you know, prayer is the best thing, and prayer matters. And so you know, Eli, as we all know, well, for those of us who know the Bible, he wasn't in a good spot, no, right, the high priest, he wasn't the best on his best behavior. Why would he ever walk up and just assume that she's drunk? Right, What a goofball? And we find out that he's just really not in a good spot later on. But but yeah, you're right. The faithfulness of Hannah, you know, looking to God and believing in God and that never wavering is pretty admirable. And then her willingness to say, God, more than anything, I want a baby, and then to say, and I'll give the baby back to you is what a commitment, right, because a lot of times I want more than anything, I want a baby. When God finally gives a baby, then we hang on so tightly and it's like this, you know tiger mom kind of mentality. Just fight everybody fight everything, hang on tightly. This is mine now, and we almost get to the point where the gift becomes the God instead of the gift giver. Right, And so even in her prayer, she was saying, I will not make this child more important than you. And there is something to that that when we're going to God and we so desperately want to think. We want to be married, we want a child, we want this job, we want this college opportunity, we want Oh God, you know, I'll do anything to get it. And really we're almost worshiping the thing that we want rather than worshiping the God who gives. And so from the very beginning she's saying, I will not allow this. I'm praying for you to give me the my heart's desire. There's nothing my life I want more. But I want you to know this, It's not going to be more important than you. And I think that you know, when we have that brokenness, that disappointment, that sadness, that hole in our life, we also have to be I think, cognizant of the fact that we're tempted to make what we think would fill that hole in our life more important than God. And she doesn't and I think on every level. You know, we talk about this sometimes, we've talked about different people in the Bible that seem to have almost a perfect reputation and no real negative things. And here's another one. Hannah. There's nothing negative about her right in the Bible. She responds the right way every single time in this and it's just it's really a beautiful thing. So I think she's a woman that we should all look up to and aspire to be a little bit more. Like now her story really becomes amazing. You know, God does show up and she does have the baby. I hate to spoil it tomorrow, but that's what happens. Yeah. Well, you know the book's written by Samuel, so I think we figured that part out all right. Well, that's our time, so we will see you, hopefully next time on the bubble guys. H