Given Over to the Lord

“As surely as you live, my lord (Eli), I am the woman (Hannah) who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:26-28, NIV 1984).

My Musings – Eli was a priest in Shiloh. He was the second to last judge that ruled Israel before they had a king to rule over them. Hannah was one of those nondescript people that God seems to favor so often, except for one thing. “The Lord had closed her womb.” (1 Samuel 1:5, NIV 1984). For childless couples wishing to have children, this is a big thing. But in that day and culture, for a married woman unable to deliver a child for her husband, it was a huge thing. For Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, it was not such a big deal. For he had two wives, not uncommon during that time. And that wife had given him two sons.

Elkanah was unable to console Hannah. “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. And she made a vow, saying, ‘O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son.'” (1 Samuel 1:10-11, NIV 1984). On one of these occasions, Hannah was praying in the house of the Lord in Shiloh. It so happened that “Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. As [Hannah] kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli [thinking] she was drunk, [rebuked her].” (1 Samuel 1:12-14, NIV 1984).

“‘Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.’ Eli answered, ‘Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.'” (1 Samuel 1:15-17, NIV 1984). Afterwards, Hannah and Elkanah returned to their home.

“The Lord remembered [Hannah]. So, in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.'” (1 Samuel 1:19-20, NIV 1984). In Hebrew the name Samuel sounds like the phrase “heard by God.” After Samuel was weaned, Hannah, the woman who had wept bitterly for this child, took him back to Shiloh, “[presented] him before the Lord, and he [would] live there always.” (1 Samuel 1:22, NIV 1984).

This seems like a very strange thing for Hannah to do, knowing how desperately she wanted a child. Especially at such a young age. But those familiar with the story would have observed a phrase that was omitted from the text of Hannah’s prayer above. “I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head. ” (1 Samuel 1:11, NIV 1984).

So, not so strange. Hannah knew that making a vow to God is serious business and must be kept. The bit about never using a razor on his hair is a bit strange though, don’t you think? Once again, not strange at all. “If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the Lord as a Nazirite…He must be holy until the period of his separation to the Lord is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long.” (Numbers 6:2, 5, NIV 1984). Hannah was serious, not just a vow, but “a special vow.” A vow that certainly must be kept. “He must fulfill the vow he has made, according to the law of the Nazirite.” (Numbers 6:21, NIV 1984).

My Advice – Perhaps Hannah knew also that children are a gift from God. As such, it is not so strange to offer them back to the Lord. In fact, the prayer of all Godly parents is that when it is time (“in the course of time“) that their children will decide for themselves that their “whole life…will be given over to the Lord.” So, if you have children (or grandchildren) make sure that you’ve given your life wholly to the Lord. You cannot expect from them, what you have not expected of yourself.

Postscript: Did I mention that Eli was the next to the last judge of Israel? Well, Samuel grew up to be the last judge of Israel.