Childlessness, in the Hebrew Bible, is presented as a particularly female problem. There are no biblical stories that center on an infertile man. The imagery of barrenness is never applied to a man. The focus and preoccupation with childlessness in the Bible falls solely and consistently on women. Moreover, childlessness is never presented as a positive or acceptable condition. Every story of a childless woman in the Bible is about how that situation is reversed. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Samson’s mother and Hannah are all described as suffering a condition of barrenness which finds its resolution in divine intervention. In addition to the stories of these five women, the negative image of childlessness is communicated by promises which declare that if Israel is faithful to God, there will be no barrenness in the land (Ex 23:26; Deut 7:14), suggesting that childlessness is evidence not of the blessing of Yahweh but a curse.
There was a woman who was married to a priest. And they love each other and lived happily. But they have a problem in their lives something empty was there in their lives. And especially the woman she faced so many problems in her life. Day by day she has been facing so many rumors in their congregation. In spite of the problems she was facing. She never left the God. She and her husband they praised the God. They have waited for God's blessing in 16th year she was blessed with a gift from God. Both the parents they love the gift what God has blessed. But the mother she was full of love on what God has been given. But she love the God more than the gift what God has been given..
The book of 1 Samuel opens With a single family, but this story ends With the birth of Samuel and his dedication at Shiloh. Samuel is to play a central role in the transformation from a tribal Israel to an Israelite kingdom. Further, this family story introduces not only a main character in the story but also many of the themes and issues that will mark the telling of that story. On one level, 1 Sam 1:1-28 is a family drama. We meet the family of Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. The tension in this family comes from the barrenness of Hannah. Although Elkanah loves Hannah and treats her With kindness, Peninnah taunts and provokes Hannah for her childlessness. With this situation as background, the focus shifts to Hannah. On a visit to the sanctuary at Shiloh, she prays fervently to the Lord for the gift of a child and vows to dedicate any such child to the Lord. The priest of Shiloh, Eli, observes her at prayer and, after initially mistaklng her behawor as drunkenness, blesses the vow she has made. Subsequently, Hannah does bear a son to Elkanah and names him Samuel. After the child 18 weaned, she bring Samuel to Shiloh and leaves him there in service dedicated to the Lord. Throughout this family God is the determining power. It is God Who has closed her womb (v. 5-6); it is God whom Eli invokes to grants her request (v. 19); and it is God to Whom the child, Samuel, is given in service (v. 27-28). God works providentially in the events of this story.
So I entitle my sermon as
Unconditional love of a barren woman
There were woman in the Bible where they faced the problem of barrenness they are Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah, Rachel and Elizabeth. among them Hannah is one of the lady she became a mother by faith towards the God. Where she was introduced as a particular word "barren woman".
Where bible says in psalm 113in vs9.children are blessing from God, children are joy to women, and children are a cause for praise.
1 Samuel chapter 1:1-28
We can find out some of the characters of Hannah
Her passion towards God
Hannah wanted a child so much that she wept and fasted. Her heart was broken over the fact that she could not have a child, but she didn’t have a selfish motive, she didn’t want a child to live out her unfulfilled fantasies. She didn’t want a child to fulfill her own need for love. She wanted a child because she knew that was God’s best for a woman. And although God does not call all women to be married, according to 1 Corinthians 7, He gives some the gift of singleness, and although there are times when for God’s own purposes He makes a woman barren, or a husband, so that no child can be born, it is still the gift of God, His best gift to women to give them a child. Children are, after all, an inheritance from the Lord. And it is God who opens the womb of a mother and makes her heart rejoice. She desired a child because she wanted God’s best. She wanted to honor and glorify God, and she knew the best gift of God’s love ever given to a woman is a child. And what I’m saying to you is that. seeking a child as a gift from God, a special blessing of His love, a fulfillment of the divine intention for women and certainly a hope for the next generation to raise a godly seed. A holy mother longs to have a child. And has she no child, she weeps. It is not a whim. It is not an act of self-indulgence to prove her womanhood. It is that she knows this is God’s best for women, and that her heart is unfulfilled.
I read a story this week of a mother who gave birth to a child, and the child died. And she was reminding ten years later, and said the tragedy was not the death of the child, but the tragedy was the death of motherhood. She could handle in this particular case the fact that the little one had entered the presence of God. She had a greater time trying to handle the fact that she could not be a mother. That’s the heart of a woman who longs for a child. So she was characterized by passion for God’s best.
Secondly, she was characterized by prayer
Prayer of Hannah :
Here Hannah knew where to go, if we look at verse 9. “Hannah rose after eating and drinking She went where the “Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.” The high priest is in the temple. She goes there. She came into the temple greatly distressed. Her soul was bitter, it literally says. And she prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she made a promise, a vow. But notice this. she was a woman of prayer. It’s a beautiful characteristic. She understood that God was the source of children. She understood that God alone could alter her barrenness. Her distinctive virtue was her faith, constant faith. Verse 12 “It came about as she continued praying before the Lord” constant. She remained there. She stayed there. Her heart was broken. She was pouring out her prayers. This is the spirit of true prayer. She began to pour out her heart in honest, open faith, totally dependent on God and given to prayer. She knew it was God alone who would give life in the womb, as Psalm 139 says. So her passion turned to prayer. This speaks of her right heavenly relationship.
There were a couple in the New Testament .they were also facing the same problem. They were Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah they prayed for a male child. The devout couple couldn’t understand how they were serving God, yet they were childless. However, in the fullness of time, Elizabeth did conceive and her son’s name was John. We know him as John the Baptist. God could have opened up her womb and given her a child long before He did, but God’s had a purpose for Elizabeth’s barrenness.
Israel was barren and had expected the coming Messiah long because He came as Jesus as the hope of the Israel when Israel was in hopelessness like was Hannah had a hope in hoplessness that God will open her womb with this hope Hannah became a dedicated mother It was in the fullness of time that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus had a purpose for coming to earth. When His time was up, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that God would take the cup from Him, but He said, “Let thy will be done.” He went to the cross and bore our sins. Your barrenness can be turned into blessings. Trust that God will use your barrenness for your greatest good.
Thirdly, she was a woman of promise:
not only of passion and prayer, but would you look at verse11. “then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” That last little part was a Nazarite vow, described in Numbers 6:3 to 6. If a Jew wanted to take a vow of total consecration to God, he would not cut his hair, no concern for physical appearance, not drink the wine, abstaining from the celebrations and all of that, living as God-centered life. Many Jews took a Nazarite vow for a short period of time. Three of them in the Scripture were lifelong Nazarites: Samson, John the Baptist, and this child, Samuel. All their life long, totally devoted and consecrated to God. So she promised God, “I’ll give You this child, I just want to be fulfilled as a mother, I just want to raise a godly son to give back to Your glory. And if You give him to me I’ll give him back.” This is her promise, to present her child to God. That’s the essence of a godly mother. While praying for a child, she prays for that child not for a wrong reason but a right reason, to turn that child back to God, from where the child came. That’s the essence of a godly mother to give the child to God.
I remind at this time where My mother in law had only one daughter,at the age of 13 her daughter was died. and she prayed to God give me a male child and I will kept his name as Mosses. As she kept the promise. He was dedicated to God's ministry. Like wise she kept her promise the same with a daughter. So Hannah made her promise.
Women of purity :
The next thing we see about Hannah as purity. Here Hannah interacts with Eli, the priest at Shiloh. Eli was the high priest, “It came about when she was praying continually before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. So Eli was sitting there watching her, and she was in there pouring out her heart and weeping and crying. And she was speaking in her heart. She wasn’t speaking out loud, it says in verse 13, only lips were moving. So Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli decided to play the spiritual role. “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you,” he says to her. And Hannah is so gracious, and answered and said, “No, my lord, I’m a woman oppressed in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. You misjudge me. Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman.” That tells us a little bit about drinking wine or strong drink and its relationship to worthlessness regarding women. That’s an Old Testament attitude. “Don’t consider me like that. I have spoken until now out of my great concern and my provocation.” Then Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you’ve asked of Him.”then she went home, and her face was no longer sad.” She could eat now, and she wasn’t sad. You say, “Why?” I’ll tell you why: because she had patient faith. she casts her burden on God, and that’s the end of it. She walks away. She eats. She is no longer sad.
By seeing that we learn that she was a woman of virtue. She was a godly woman, she was a pure woman. She had a right heavenly relationship. She had the passion for God’s best. She prayed in faith to God. She makes a promise to God and shows the motive of her heart. And now we find her purity.
Dedicated her child to the God
Like many women today, Hannah struggled with the pain of barren. She wanted God's grace on her to be a mother. In her sadness, Hannah didn't say anything against to her husband, there was nothing he could do about it, and she didn't fight back when Peninnah distressed her. Instead, Hannah trusted God through her prayer.
That's a beautiful characteristic about her. She understood that God was the source of children, that God alone could alter her barren. Her distinctive virtue was her constant faith. In First Samuel 1:12 says, "It came about as she continued praying before the Lord". Her prayers were constant. She stayed there praying with a broken heart, and she prayed with tears. She knew where to go with her problems.
If we see Hannah was willing from the start to give the child back to God, for life (1 Samuel 1:11). It wasn't about her. It wasn't about getting what she wanted. It was about self sacrifice, giving her to that little life to give him back to the Lord. After coming to that place in her heart, after expressing her desires to the Lord in prayer, she experienced the peace of humble devotion to God
Hannah was quite different from many today
If we see today’s context where a lot of woman are facing the problem of barrenness. where they have been treated badly .especially in our place where a Barren woman is not invited to any function, especially for marriages and even if they come on the road people will go back to their house thinking that as a bad omen. The barren women is tortured by her family members even in some cases her husband may marry another woman.
By knowing of all the story about Hannah. Her faith reminds us in so many ways.
She knew where to take her problems. she trusted God only, She believed God will bless me, Her commitment towards God's plan on her, She praised the God. For what he has done in her life.
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